Travels

Highlights of the Summer Session 2, 2010 (not in any particular order):

Victoria Memorial (the memorial made for Queen Victoria in Calcutta at the peak of the British Raj)

Botanical garden (this has the largest and oldest living Banyan tree)

Dakhineswar temple (the holiest of the Kali temples in India)

Tipu Sultan Mosque (a mosque right in the center of Calcutta built about 500 years ago)

College Street (the intellectual heart of Calcutta with booksellers lining the street)

Sunderban outskirts (the Ganges delta where all went on a boat ride)

Cognizant (the IT Giant of India where we heard from the one of the VPs - Raja - an old schoolfriend)

St. Paul’s Cathedral (the center of the old British parish in Calcutta)

Presidency College (one of the oldest academic institutions in India)

Anand Restaurant (vegetarian South Indian restaturant where a lunch can be had for under $2)

Peshawari Restaurant (the upscale restaurant at Sonarbangla serving food from Afghanistan)

Silver Chimney Restaurant (the first restaurant by Salt Lake swimming pool where we all ate dinner)

Bira rural home (the place where we all did fishing and the fish that was caught was fried and served)

City Center Mall (the place where we all went regularly for meals and shopping in Calcutta)

Handicrafts Fair (the place selling all the Bengal handicrafts)

Grand Hotel (the old Victorian era hotel where we went for afternoon tea)

Mani Square Mall (another major mall in Calcutta)

Ambience Mall (the largest mall in Delhi where we all ate at the legendary Nirula's restaurant)

Leh palace (the 1,000 year old palace that is the epicenter of Leh)

Japanese shanti stupa (11,000 feet and relatively new Budhist stupa)

Leh town (at 10,000 feet the center of Ladakh District with its numerous shops and restaurants)

Himis monastery (at 10,000 feet that represents one branch of Tibetan Budhism)

Kargil Road (that meanders through the Ladakh range and leads to the 1999 Kargil battleflield)

Indo-China friendship road (that connects Leh to Srinagar)

Shey palace (at 11,000 feet with one of the largest Buddha statue in the World)

Indus river (Ladakh)

Ganges/Hooghly river (Calcutta)

Jamuna river (Agra and Delhi)

Primitive restroom (at the restaurant outside Shey palace, where everyone went neverthless)

Budhist scholar (who came and spoke to us about the basis of Budhist philosophy)

Sunshine café Leh (where we all ate together)

Leh Tibetan refugee shops (these were all over Leh and some students did ethnographic research there)

Alchi monastery (1,000 years old continuously operating monastery where I was rebuked by the monks)

Picnic by mountain stream (a spot that was chosen randomly and provided a peaceful place to eat)

Tibetan kitchen (the restaurant that was always crowded in Leh)
Confluence of Zangstra and Indus river (where one could see the different colors of the water)

Dinner at Namgyal place (with Mr. Dorjee who treated us to a fantastic meal)

Mitra dancing to Swati singing (somewhat emberassing but fun)

Khandri-la highest motorable road at 18,000 feet (the treachosous drive upto a point where it was nearly impossible to breathe)

Delhi guest house (spread out over three houses in CR Park with G1373 becoming the congregation point)

GK 2 market (where we went for the first lunch in Delhi)

Swagath restaurant (the restaurant where we ate the first lunch in Delhi after coming back from Leh)

Falling sick (Erin, Tracy and somewhat Kiki and Tania)

Driving around Delhi (to see the epicenter of Indian politics)

Humayun Tomb (that was the prototype for the Taj Mahal)

Qutab Minar (nearly 600 years old minaret in Delhi)

Pizza delivery (to the guest house in Delhi)

Chinese delivery (to the guest house in Delhi)

Tere Bin Laden (funny movie that some of us watched)

Taj Mahal (enuff said)

Temple in Vrindaban (that some visited while the car was being repaired)

Broken car (one car pulling another on the highway tied by rope)

Agra Fort (one hot day)

Irritating guide (at Taj Mahal that we all hated)

Meeting Rana (Ananda's school friend who helped explain the importance of the TMC political party)

Meeting Raja (Ananda's school friend who helped explain the position of outsourcing)

Meeting Rohit and family (Ananda's school friend who invited us all to dinner at his place)

Meeting Dr. Mitra (Ananda’s cousin) family

Meeting Swati’s parents

Meeting Ananda’s mother

Swati and Srijoy leaving early in the morning

Akshardham (the massive temple complex in Delhi)

Commonwealth village (seeing this from the road to Akhardham)

Jama Masjid (one scary place in the epicenter of Muslim Delhi)

Red Fort (the light and sound show and sodas at the resturant)

Moti Mahal Restaurant (in Daryagung where Indira Gandhi and Kennedy have eaten)

Rickshaw ride through old Delhi

Autorickshaws in Delhi

Kuki (ask the students)

Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (the blocbuster we all went to see together with me doing real-time translation)

Nehru Place restaurant where we all ate the less expensive Baluchi food

Ansal Plaza (the oldest mall in Delhi)

Mirchi restaurant (in Ansal Plaza where we all ate lunch)

Hotel Swagath (in Mahipalpur where we stayed a night and left our bags when we went to Leh)

Free days (when nothing was programmed and all did their own things)

Lotus temple (the Delhi center for the Bhai faith)

Kalkaji market (where we went for luggage shopping)

Naivedam (the South Indian restuarant from which we ordered food and eventually went to also in Kalkaji)

CR Park Market 2 (our home address for the autorickshaws)

Connaught Place in Delhi (where we went for shopping and then lunch at the Chinese place)

The evening gatherings at the central houses

The sleepy streets of Delhi in the early morning

The Ajmer Shatabdi at 6 am from Delhi to Jaipur with breakfast on the train

The traffic jam outside Jaipur station

Umaid Palace (the heritage hotel with the terrace restaurant in Jaipur)

City Palace (this is the center of the Man Singh's dynasty in Jaipur)

Jantar Mantar (the curious astronomical garden of Jaipur)

Indiana Restaurant (the traditional Rajasthani restaurant with music and dance)

Taking the autos back from the restaurant and conversation with auto driver

Bidis (a very traditional tobacco smoking product)

Amber Palace (the large palace on top of the hills which many reached on elephant back)

The restaurant in Jaipur where we ate lunch

The remote temple to Hanuman which is inhabited by hundred of monkeys and millions of flies

Quick shopping in the Pink City

Waiting room in Jaipur station

Ajmer Shatabdi back to Delhi with dinner on the train

Tere Bin Laden (movie with some of the students)

Aisha (movie with students)

Birthday dinner for Erin at Oh! Calcutta restaurant

Lecture at Jamia Milia University

Lunch at the University cafetaria

Dinner at the Delhi girls' house

Hotel International Inn the night before leaving India

The Delhi rains the day before we left India

And then it was over

Labels: Highlights