Milk

When we lived here in the 1960s and 70s, our milk was delivered daily by a village doodhwalla, or milkman. These men would milk their water buffalo then walk miles into town from their villages carrying their metal containers of milk. Because the milk was so rich, they would sometimes water it down a bit at a local stream. The more well-to-do doodhwallas had mules, on which they would tie their milk containers. The sound of the mule bells was a constant, as the main road into town ran just below the school. Once our liter or two of milk was delivered, it needed to be boiled for 20 minutes to be sure it was bacteria-free. (All our drinking water was boiled like this, too -- no water filters available then.) If you've ever boiled milk on purpose or accidentally, you know it must be closely watched to avoid boiling over.

Once the milk was cooled, it was skimmed of the rich pure white cream. The cream was made into butter or, sometimes, whipped and served with dessert. Many people also used the cream directly on toast at breakfast -- wonderful with jam on toast or chapatis. The skimmed milk was used in tea and cooking. For drinking, we added Bournvita, a malt mixture, although we didn't drink it much.

Today, we still see the doodhwallas on Tehri Road. However, most of them are riding in Jeep-like vehicles loaded with the milk containers and a dozen or so people. A few are seen walking and only once in a great while is there a mule.

Milk can be bought at a dairy in town (we get our yogurt at one). It is in sealed plastic pouches, and must be boiled. We buy our milk in long-lasting boxes as shown below. We get double-toned milk, which means that skim powder and water are added during processing to lower the fat content. Taaza is approximately similar to 2% milk in the US. Fully skimmed is available, but more expensive. We use a fair bit -- milky chai in the morning and sometimes on cereal. (However, I prefer my meusli mixed with yogurt -- plain, never sweetened or flavored.)

An Interesting Day

As the old Chinese proverb, sometimes called a curse, supposedly says, "May you live in interesting times." Yesterday was one of those times for me. Near the end of an ordinary working day here in the office, I turned my head to speak to someone. Suddenly, with no warning, I was overcome with vertigo. I managed to complete the conversation with him, he turned away, and Dan arrived. We were planning to walk into the bazaar for supper, the first we've managed given the number of evenings we've been out in friends' homes. I felt worse and worse, just kept my head on my desk. I managed to get up and go down to the bathroom on the main level. As I was hobbling down the stairs, holding on to the railing, our old friend Dolma, who is one of the school nurses, met me. She took one look and realized that I wasn't right. She said I should go to the Health Centre. After I got back and told Dan, I gathered my things and we headed there (fortunately, it is nearby, just below our office). They took my blood pressure, which was quite high (something I've never had). As I sat there for a while, it came down just a bit. They called a taxi and sent me over to Landour Hospital. Dan carried the two pillows, blankets, and a roll of TP they sent with me in case I was to be admitted. The emergency room there is very laid-back. My BP was still high, but a bit lower than earlier. The doctor came in and asked me some questions. He is an anesthetist, formerly an ENT, and only has been here for about ten days. He lowered my head twice in opposite directions and the vertigo went away. I was still quite nauseated, so they gave me two shots for that. The second one helped right away and I felt much better. The taxi returned to drive us back to the school. Although I was feeling better, I decided to spend the night at the Health Centre, as the walk to our house (in the dark) felt quite daunting at that point. Ruth, the nurse on duty, was very helpful. She got me some toast and herbal tea (a Trader Joe's Bedtime teabag -- I wonder where that came from!). I felt a bit better, as I'd had nothing to eat since lunch. I took off my outer clothing and crawled into the bed. I had my iPod and put my multiple Chanticleer CDs on shuffle -- the perfect thing to lie and listen to. Dolma came on duty at 8:00; I was glad to see her! I drifted off to sleep soon after 9:00 and slept quite well. This morning I feel quite all right and my BP is in a normal range. I will head down to the house later in the morning and get a shower and change. My expectations for the weekend are a lot of R&R!

A similar thing happened to me once before, in 2005. It was the first day visiting Mussoorie with our granddaughter Jasmine. I suspect that it was altitude-related. This may have been, too, as the doctor suggested, but it seems odd that it would hit nearly two weeks after arriving on the Hillside. Last time they didn't take my BP, so I've no idea if it was elevated. That time the nausea was worse, but I did manage to sleep through the night and was fine again in the morning.

Thursday Morning Humor

This morning I was poking around, running late, and decided to put the garbage pail between the front door and the screen door. I figured the pickup man would come just as I got into the shower. (We can't leave it out on the porch because of monkeys, although we haven't seen many around recently.) I tried to open the door and found that the outside bolt was closed. I panicked and phoned Dan. He didn't think he had done it, although he might have, automatically. I can't imagine that someone would have walked by and done it. For one thing, we are at the end of the downward path. And I think I would have heard something. Dan asked if I could get out another door (didn't think of it myself!). The one in the dining room is padlocked on the outside, but there is one in the kitchen behind the fridge and I got out after undoing 4 bolts! Walked around the house in my robe and slippers and got in the front just fine. Anyway, the garbage man didn't even come! We've told them we don't need it picked up every day but it's hard to know which days they'll be there. Great way to start the day!!

Random Photos

Helen, a visiting volunteer alumna, took the following picture from Tehri Road near South Hill. We do see cows around with regularity; in fact, they can be nuisances. Owners of cows in the area let them wander during the day to find vegetation to feed on. This picture is amazing! It is a bit difficult to tell, but the hillside that the cows are feeding on is almost vertical. Somehow these cows made their ways up or down the tiny paths and ended up perfectly aligned.

On a quick trip to the bazaar on Monday we passed this wall being built. The location is behind the Kulri Methodist Church on the short-cut road down the front side of the hill, avoiding the bazaar congestion. It didn't look very sturdy as they were building it, but maybe it will last through at least one monsoon. Notice the worker near the front is on his mobile phone.

These four students were practicing tabla (Indian drums) in the Quad the other day. The sun was bright, so the shadow is quite stark. Many of our students take Indian music lessons. This afternoon (Wednesday) Dan will be sitting in on the auditions for the Advanced Student Recital, coming up in a couple of weeks. There are 32 students trying out!

More Socializing!

On Monday we were pleased and somewhat surprised to have three visitors from the class of 1980. None of them knew the others were planning to be here at this time. That class graduated the year we left Woodstock and we felt especially close to a lot of them, some of whom are good friends to this day. Tim Weidman is doing an around-the-world trip with his family, Glenn Davis and his wife are visiting after many years, and David Rand is visiting his daughter, who is studying at Woodstock in the SAGE program. Darab (from the same class) and Naz Nagarwalla invited all of them (and us!) for dinner. Momo, also a member of the class of 1980, came, too, bringing food from the restaurant at Doma's Inn.

L to R; Dan, me, David, Naz, Momo, Tim, Glenn, Darab

The Five Guys

Sunday in the Baz with Dan

Yes, on Sunday we walked to the bazaar. Up from our house to the New Road, across toward the school residences, then up the old Dhobi Ghat path to Cozy Korner, just below Woodstock Villa. From there the path was the usual, along Tehri Road to Mullingar, and through the bazaar. We went back to Agarwal's Vegetarian where we ate, then up Kulri Hill to Broadway Optical, where my new glasses had arrived. When I tried them on I was quite disoriented, but the manager assured me I would get used to them. After we were home, I tried them again and realized that they were badly wrong. I think that the prescriptions were switched between my eyes; they are definitely better if I look through the opposite lens. So a trip back (probably by scooter) is in the cards.

Along the New Road, I was looking for the stinging nettle and dak leaves, which are quite common. I saw this plant, which I've never seen before. The nice big leaves are covered with sharp thorns! It is a bit hard to see, but this plant has great natural protection!

A sharp curve below Cozy Korner. This was the old Dhobi Ghat Road that was slightly motorable in the old days before the New Road was built in the late 1970s. But now there are steps at the top (Tehri Road) and bottom (New Road). Part of it is nicely paved, like this; part is stony and not so nice.

The following photo shows a landslide just west of Woodstock Villa. This is a common sight during and after the monsoon.

One of the large rocks that came down in the landslide shown above. It has been moved slightly away from the rest so the road is still passable. Dan is standing beside it to show the size.

A new sight in town is several bas-relief painted murals. This one is on the hill going up to Landour from Picture Palace.

I've posted this before, but here are the poories and potato curry we had for Sunday brunch.

As much as I love poories, I decided to have tandoori roti instead. Delicious and no grease at all!

The State Bank of India is a landmark at the top of Kulri Hill. As I was standing near the bookstore waiting for Dan to buy a paper, I noticed that the veranda is being used for parking! Off to the left there is a ramp up from the road. The proliferation of vehicles here is quite amazing; they are everywhere, parked in every conceivable place, and some not so conceivable.

The entire walk, with stops for lunch, picking up eyeglasses, a bit of shopping, picking up shoes from the mochi (shoemaker and repair), and a bit of a rest for me at the top of Mullingar on the way back, took three hours and fifteen minutes. I did well, but was happy to hang out at home the rest of the day!

Friday and Saturday

Friday morning I was literally shocked when I tried to take a shower. There is a short or something in our hot water heater. I managed to get the tap turned off and headed up to school to request a repair. We had already asked for a plumber to fix the leaky taps in the bathroom and kitchen. The electrician/plumber came in the afternoon. He fixed the taps but said the geyser (hot water heater) would need to be taken down for repair. He suggested letting it heat up, then turning the power off when showering. I found out that it needed to be unplugged, too, so we are now able to shower safely. I suspect when this house was last fixed up and the water heater installed, the wiring wasn't upgraded quite enough. A bit scary when the power is 220 volts!

After a busy week, I was happy to spend most of Saturday relaxing at home. We were (again!) invited out for dinner in the evening. Former student Marian and Tina were staying at Rokeby Manor and asked us to join them for dinner. Mark and Annie, our next-door neighbors, were invited, too. Both of us couples went by motorbike, we on the scooter from the New Road and M&A on their cycle from the school gate.

I took a few pictures with my iPod but they turned out pretty grainy. I need to figure out how to get better ones, as I've seen other people with good clear shots. The people shots are quite terrible, but the food is better, so here it is. Everyone ordered something different and all the dishes were delicious.

BBQ chicken w/veggies & mashed potato

Fish and chips

Mustard chicken w/ veggies and mashed potato

Mutton biriani with raita

Ratatouille

Veg lasagna

Thursday Evening

Our busy social schedule continued on Thursday, as we attended a dinner honoring a visiting alumnus from 1949. I enjoyed talking with his wife for a while as we ate. The Whitemans' wonderful cook Naveen again provided incredible food. Some of it shows below. There were two chicken curries, a paneer dish (crumbled cottage cheese), roasted mushrooms and peppers, raita, and chapatis that kept coming fresh one after the other. And a lovely dessert of kheer made with real saffron as well as apple crumble and ice cream. We were glad that the walk home was relatively short -- the dinner was at Doshisha, just above the "New" Road, so not as far up the hill as school.

Wednesday Evening

Yes, two posts in one day! Sometimes I have too little, sometimes too much. Last evening we went up to see friends at Shanty, a house near and just below Sisters' Bazaar. We had a great visit!

We arrived just before sunset. I went up onto a balcony above the main house and got this great shot of the Winterline, which is clearly in evidence. Reminder to new and old readers -- that line is not the horizon, it is an atmospheric phenomenon that happens here in the winter time.

Momo enjoys his hookah, as does Dan.

Here is a closeup of the chest you can see in the above picture.

 

Momo's mother Doma was staying with them; she will head back to Delhi next week. The Tibetan shops are closed right now due to Metro construction, but should be open again soon, she says. We first met Doma when we moved here in 1968. We always try to stop by her shop whenever we are in Delhi.

Tsering loves to cook in the kitchenette that is attached to the living room. Main meal elements are prepared by the cooks in the kitchen at the other end of the house.

Starters included nuts, little barbecued sausages with dahi-based sauce (dahi=yogurt), as well as some chicken bites and little pork chops. The main meal of rice, curry, dal and roti was served later. Too much food!! And all delicious.

It turned out to be quite a day for me -- walking from our house to work in the morning, then walking up to Shanty (about a similar distance or perhaps a bit further), and ending up at 11:00 pm walking all the way down to home. Almost, but not quite, as hard as going up!

Coffee Time

One of the great things about being here is that we have a coffee break every morning about 10:30. There are usually snacks, some from the school kitchen, others brought by staff members. (I usually bring some special treats from the US to share.)

On Wednesday we had an alumnus and his wife visiting and amazing refreshments! Bill and Norma seemed to enjoy their visit with us.

Cheeses and crackers, chocolate cake, and fruitcake from the school kitchen!

Our lovely receptionist Immu working at her desk.

Fall Weather

At 5:00 this afternoon (Tuesday) I went out to our front yard area and took these two photos. The first is toward the southwest, the second to the northeast. You would never know that at 3:00 we had an enormous rain and hail storm that went on for nearly half an hour. If you have never been under a tin roof in a hailstorm you can't imagine how loud it is!

There are a number of skylights in our office and several were leaking. There were hailstones lying on the floor in the welcome area. Above my desk I heard noises and looked up. There appeared to be a man crouching on the skylight and shouting. Soon a second man joined him. We called someone in and they sent out a rescue crew. Evidently they were doing some work on the roof and were caught unaware when the storm blew up. (And it did blow!) The painted tin was slippery and they were afraid they would fall. In the end it turned out all right. Too much excitement for one afternoon!

Surroundings

As you know, we are on the first ridge of the Himalayas. There is enough great scenery around to fill books of photographs. My small efforts of yesterday afternoon are more prosaic, but show some things close to our house.

Looking toward the first part of the path up the hill, just outside our gate

Strobilanthes on the khud just below our fence (view is straight down)

Overgrown front garden - mums are budding

Playing flat below our house

On the wall in our dining room is a huge framed map of the entire Mussoorie area. It is a Survey of India map from 1968. I think I have a copy at home. A visiting alumna was curious about some of the houses and was looking for a map. I photographed the school area for her. Unfortunately, many of the houses are just numbered, not named. The legend is along the side of the map and too large to photograph properly. She'll just have to come to our house to see it in person.

Of course, what's missing is a way to truly see the elevation changes!
Double-click image to see full amount photographed.

Miscellany

I haven't quite gotten into the swing of things here yet -- I forget (or neglect) to take my camera so I don't have many pictures to offer. Here are a few things that have happened in the past couple of days.

On Saturday, we walked up to Tehri Road and out (and up) to Oakville. Our friend Ellen was visiting her local-resident son and her other two sons (and wives) were there as well. Had a wonderful visit. From there we went up still further to the Chakker and Sisters' Bazaar. The Prakash store has all kinds of wonderful things, so we picked up some supplies, including bottled mayonnaise and mustard (one of the major changes in food availability over the past years). We walked along the ridge to Char Dukan, where we had bun omelets for lunch at Anil's Cafe. The buns are slightly sweet and grilled, the omelets have onions, tomatoes and chills, quite greasy but very delicious. I also had my favorite fresh lime soda -- sada or plain, no sugar or salt. From there we crossed the hillside heading down toward the school, past the Edgehill Estate, now a dorm (and right by Uncle Tom's Cabin, where we stayed a few years ago). By the time we got home I was pretty tired and my calves were protesting.

Dan went back into the bazaar to get a repair on the scooter and picked up some samosas for supper.

Sunday we went into the bazaar for our regular poori brunch. We took the scooter from the "New" Road but found the road going up to the Clock Tower area was pretty bad. I went to Broadway Optical and ordered my new glasses. In the afternoon Dan took the Bullet (motorcycle) out for a ride to Suakholi just to check it out. He came back with a wireless router and set it up in our house. So now we don't have to connect to the ethernet cord to get online. In the evening we were invited out to dinner with friends in Doshisha, the house just above the New Road.

This morning (Monday) I made it into the office about 9:00. It took me 25 minutes -- my backpack was a bit heavy and that slowed me down. All this hill climbing will be good for me! Back problems seem to be doing all right -- no major episodes so far!

One of the fun things in this office is meeting visiting alumni. One old friend, Margo, is here working in the archives. A former student showed up for a visit today; she and her friend will be staying until the 15th so we will try to get together again.

New Home in Mussoorie

On Friday we took the Dehra Dun Shatabdi train. It arrived in Dehra Dun about 12:45, where a taxi was waiting for us. [It is usually better to hire a taxi from Mussoorie who knows the road and school location than to take a chance on one that just happens to be at the station.] When we got to the school gate, the guard had the keys to our house ready for us. Mrs. Chelvam, the school hostess, had arranged for our stored boxes to be delivered to our house, so we headed down.

We are staying in Hill Haven, the lowest house below the back school gate. Someone commented, rightly, on my Facebook post, that it hasn't always been the lowest. There was a large house that went down the khud at some point, I think in the late 1960's around the time we first came to India. There is still a flat area that can be used for games just below us. Just above us is Eastwood Cottage, which has two apartments, above that Sunnywood, a two-story house. Above that is the "new" road that bypasses Mussoorie. Just above the road is Doshisha, also a duplex. The entire group of houses known as Eastwood Estate was owned by the Methodists in missionary times. This morning I walked up to Tehri Road just below the school and it took me about 17 minutes. That should come down a bit as I get used to the altitude and the amount of walking here. The majority of the path has steps, so it is quite steep. I've no idea how many feet up; I'd love to know.

Hill Haven is a roomy two-bedroom, two-bath house. It was great to have our luggage already here. Mrs. C. had arranged for a coolie to bring our trunks from the school attic and also to carry our suitcases down from the taxi. We had a flurry of unpacking and Dan made a quick trip to the bazaar to pick up a few items. We had tomato soup and peanut butter on white bread for supper. Today we got some brown bread and a few more supplies.

Front gate and door with luggage being delivered

Dan enjoying the living room

Dining room (kitchen off to right, living room to left)
The map on the wall is a 1968 map of all of Mussoorie

Kitchen view from door (that's a bag of fresh samosas in front of the stove!)

Kitchen (door on far right wall)

Bathroom -- can't see much, but tiling and shower are very nice

In Delhi

We left home at 6:40 on Tuesday morning, October 2, Gandhi's birthday. This trip has become quite routine for us. It is about one hour and 20 minutes from our house to the Clarion Inn at Michigan City, where we can park our car and leave it (yes, free for two months!). The CoachUSA bus leaves from there at 20 past the hour throughout the day. [That leaves enough time to get a cup of coffee or tea at the gas station nearby.] We try to get an early bus, checking into our flight before the crowds get there. It does mean a wait at the airport, and O'Hare's International Terminal is NOT the best place to wait around. Inside security there are no restaurants or bars, just some kiosks with sandwiches, magazines and Chicago tchochkes. At checkin, our nice clerk offered to change our seats from two aisles to a side window/aisle combination without a middle seat, so we did it. This plane is a 3-3-3 configuration and last spring we took to aisle seats on the middle group, which meant no climbing over anyone (or having them climb over us). There is only one place with two seats on the side, at the back of the middle section. But the seats reclines as much as any do and it was nice not to be next to other people. I brought my First Class Sleeper this time and found it really helped my comfort level. I've had it a few years and used it once but hadn't bothered to bring it after that. Since I've developed some back issues, I figure it is best to do everything I can to be comfortable.

Immigration and luggage pickup were fairly quick at the airport, which had signs advertising IGI (Indira Gandhi International) Airport as the number two airport in the world! The new terminal is certainly a tremendous improvement over the old.

Coming out of the airport we crossed the first traffic lane to the official pre-paid taxi booth. For the princely sum of Rs. 350 (ca. $7) we got a rickety old Maruti minivan to bring us to our hotel. This time we are staying in Dan's favorite place in Paharganj, the Cottage Yes Please. The rate is only Rs. 1000 per night, including A/C and internet. 

We settled into our room, showering and getting out the necessary items for two nights here. (Packing carefully means only having to open one of our two large suitcases before we get to Mussoorie!) For supper, we went about a block away to a hole in the wall where we had veg thalis. Sorry, forgot to take the camera or the iPod. Probably still a bit dazed from the trip (good excuse, anyway).

We both slept quite well (with a little pharmaceutical help). As usual in Delhi, Dan went out around 6:00 this morning to pick up some freshly made chai. He brings it back in a plastic bag. This hotel doesn't provide glasses, so we bought two glass mugs last evening. We are both quite addicted to having chai first thing in the morning wherever we are!

There are two small restaurants right across the street from Cottage Yes Please (love that name!). We went to the Malhotra this morning. There were a few tables outside on the street, but it was noisy and busy. We prefer the relative peace and quiet inside on the lower level.

Many, many tourists are in this area, known for its inexpensive lodgings. The menu is quite international.

But we like our porridge. Here it comes with bananas and honey, very nice. Unfortunately, a photo of a bowl of porridge isn't all that appetizing! Porridge here is almost always dalia, cracked wheat. This was cooked with milk and was very tasty and satisfying. Chai and buttered toast rounded out the meal. Now we are ready to face the day!

Coming and Going

We've been back from Virginia for ten days and it's time to go again. There are so many beautiful places in the world and we are fortunate to have lived in and visited many of them. The hills of the Himalaya are amazing and I always look forward to seeing them. My friends in Virginia can't imagine why we would leave such a beautiful place. But Goshen has its own beauty, as well. The maple trees are beginning to turn the colors of fall. This tree is in front of our neighbor's house just across the street. The second photo (not all that good!) is of the moonrise looking out of our front door. We were watching the Ryder Cup golf match on TV and they had a great shot of the moonrise in Chicago. I realized we must have it too and hurried out to shoot it. 

My India blog should be up and running by the weekend, assuming good internet access. See you back here soon!