Tuesday -
I made jackfruit pancakes with a little banana in the mix too. Although the batter cooked through with a softer middle, it was still delicious. I think with some lime or honey/maple syrup it might be even more delicious.
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| Jack-Cakes Mix |
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| The Start of a Long Road of Trying New Things |
Augustine arrived and we discussed India again, focusing on NGO's and more of India's past. Then Augustine and I went for a walk to the local fruit store to purchase some fruit, including jack fruit, guava and coconuts. While coconuts is nothing too out of the normal for Australia, when Augustine cracked open the coconut, he did with such might that it exploded everywhere, including all over him. It didn't make the coconut any less delicious though.
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| Our Local Fruit Store |
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| Store Counter |
After lunch at Udupas, Debbie, Sherrie and I went for a walk and then caught a tuk tuk to Ulsoor Lake.
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| Holy Cow |
Ulsoor Lake is a quite a big lake in the middle of Bangalore, quite close to us. Due to previous pollution, it had once set on fire sending a huge plume of smoke into the sky, of which local officials did not know how to extinguish a fire on water. However, in recent times, it seems they have done much work to negate such an issue rising again as it looked quite clean and even had some floating solar panels near the shore.
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| Solar Panels on Ulssor Lake |
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| The Real Life Water Temple Mission |
However, when walking around the town, some of the drainage canals can still be seen to be quite polluted.
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| Rare Sight of What an Auto-Rickshaw's Meter Looks Like |
We then went to Mahatma Gandi Rd, where we did not stay long, only visiting a bookstore.
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| M.G. Rd |
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| M.G. Train Station |
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| All Your Dowry Needs |
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| Just What the Librarian Ordered |
However, as a nice change of social situation, a man began and continued conversation with Debbie as a focal communicator.
In general, so far, the majority of men will only start conversation with me, and mainly put focus on me as a male. While this type of social construct can often be seen in Australia, It seems slightly more evident here, at least from my perspective.
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| An Underpass on the Way to Commercial Road |
We then walked back to Commercial Rd, where we split ways.
I ended up in a store and chatting to some men from Assam and Africa. One was also an avid photographer, but unfortunately there was language barrier between us two, although we still full-heartedly attempted to converse. I of course, have unfortunately forgotten their names.
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| Friends for a Day |
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| Proudly Showing their Wares |
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| The Camera I've Been Enjoying Photographing With So Far |
With Baba's as a meeting point, we eventually all reconvened and was a pleasure enjoying tea with Baba, Mudasir and Shakeel once more, whilst we (students) were all together. As usual, conversation flowed and time whisked away. But one of the stand out events during our conversations was the pleasure of meeting another one of Baba's friends, Imaan. Imaan informed me of details around Hajj, an Islamic pilgrimage, which sounded very interesting. People completing the pilgrimage would earn the title, Haji. Baba really stressed how much of a spiritual person Imaan Haji was, and Imaan Haji's knowledge certainly showed it. Having such an open and free discussion around religion, spirituality and general morals and ethics was great.
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| Baba's Wares |
Unfortunately, time slipped away as normal, and we found it to be 20:30 again, so we made our way home to Udupas Veg again, before managing to crawl home before we passed out.
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| Our Friendly Tea Server at Udupas |
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| The Gatekeeper of the Menu |
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