July 29th, 2010
kassiakarr
Oh, this photo does so much to sum up about how I sometimes feel in India (though definitely not to this same, somewhat ridiculous extreme!)

Oh, this photo does so much to sum up about how I sometimes feel in India (though definitely not to this same, somewhat ridiculous extreme!)

July 27th, 2010
kassiakarr
It comes from a deep-rooted conviction that if there is anything worthwhile doing for the sake of culture, then it is touching on subject matters and situations which link people, and not those that divide people. There are too many things in the world which divide people, such as religion, politics, history, and nationalism. If culture is capable of anything, then it is finding that which unites us all. And there are so many things which unite people. It doesn’t matter who you are or who I am, if your tooth aches or mine, it’s still the same pain. Feelings are what link people together, because the word ‘love’ has the same meaning for everybody. Or ‘fear’, or ‘suffering’. We all fear the same way and the same things. And we all love in the same way. That’s why I tell about these things, because in all other things I immediately find division.
Krzysztof Kieślowski
July 22nd, 2010
kassiakarr

Living, barsati-style

Last week I shifted into a place closer to where I’m working in Gurgaon, which I share with a few other guys from the office. It’s a barsati apartment, which is essentially a top-floor apartment with separate enclosed rooms and a lot of open patio space.

Living in Gurgaon isn’t thrilling, but it at least cuts down on terrible commute time from Delhi. Plus it’s pretty interesting to see the city in its various levels of development - right now it looks like a sea of scaffolding. The neighborhood I’m staying in is no exception; pretty much all of the buildings immediately around the house are under construction.

Besides the construction lot views, there are also views of ubiquitous Gurgaon high-rises: 

The flat itself is neat. My favorite bit is the spiral staircase leading up:

And I’m slowly making my room into a nest. I bought some curtains, a rug and some sheets (note the space pillowcase, brought from home); next steps include getting a table and a sewing machine. 

July 20th, 2010
kassiakarr
I know, I haven’t written much lately, but that’s because I have a wealth of words which are best accompanied by pictures, for which I have a backlog of several rolls of film, all of which I have to take into the city to be developed and scanned, which will be soon, soon, soon.
Meantime here’s a blog I found and love: A Journey Round My Skull.

I know, I haven’t written much lately, but that’s because I have a wealth of words which are best accompanied by pictures, for which I have a backlog of several rolls of film, all of which I have to take into the city to be developed and scanned, which will be soon, soon, soon.

Meantime here’s a blog I found and love: A Journey Round My Skull.

July 15th, 2010
kassiakarr
It’s the book that reads me.
It’s the TV that watches you.
It’s the object that thinks us.
It’s the lens that focuses on us.
It’s the effect that causes us.
It’s the language that speaks us.
It’s time that wastes us.
It’s money that earns us.
It’s death that lies in wait for us.
Jean Baudrillard.
July 10th, 2010
kassiakarr

Namaste, konnichiwa!

Members of my family and others who have lived with me for prolonged periods know of my immense love for all things culinary and Japanese. I taught myself how to make sushi a few years back, and since then have kept a steady stock of sticky rice, rice vinegar, shoyu, nori, furikake, and wasabi paste in my kitchen. I’m a Japanese food addict, to put it plainly. While I love sushi, it’s time-consuming to make, so most nights of the week I typically make myself some concoction of sticky rice and toppings for dinner - fried egg, avocado, tofu, etc. I call it “deconstructed sushi.”

This has obviously presented a slight problem while living in India. The first year I lived here I craved sushi like mad, and was elated when I finally discovered a few decent sushi restaurants in Bangalore. While Indian food holds a close second to Japanese food in my list of favorite international cuisines, I don’t cook Indian food very well (save for a few simple dishes, like uppuma), and after a while I start to miss having my standard sticky rice meals for dinner. I was ready to pack a five pound bag of sticky rice and some furikake into my luggage for this current stay, but gave up when my bags became overwhelmed with other necessities. I figured I’d just have to hold out and make do with the occasional meal at a sushi place in Delhi.

That being said, I was beyond happy to discover this week that there is an exclusively Japanese grocery store, Yamato-ya, in Safdarjung Enclave in South Delhi! With a large Japanese expat community in Delhi, there’s definitely a demand for it. I went today and it was better than Christmas:

There was everything I wanted and then some. I also discovered that there’s a Japanese-run organization that produces fresh organic tofu and miso at their headquarters in Allahabad!

Here’s what I came home with: sticky rice, kelp-flavored sushi vinegar, instant miso, soy sauce, wasabi paste, chopsticks, and a few different types of furikake (aka seaweed-based rice seasoning). Yay!

And here is what was my dinner tonight, the old favorite, sticky rice with fried eggs and bonito furikake, topped with soy sauce and a dab of wasabi. Hey Delhi, you can be 100+ degrees and humid everyday, but I won’t care a bit as long as I’ve got my Japanese food.

July 4th, 2010
kassiakarr

These last two and half weeks have been all about re-adjusting. As of right now, the most major thing has been getting used to the weather. For some reason, this time around my body is really not taking to the climate. This is likely (well, obviously) because I’m living in one of the hottest parts of the country at the end of an intensely hot summer, so the heat has really been unbearable. I was sick enough to have to stay at home several days this last week, not doing much besides sleeping, reading, internet-ing, and getting up to grab a bucket of water to re-fill the cooler with.

And that’s been another adjustment: getting re-accustomed to living without the 24/7, fail-safe amenities we enjoy in the west. My friend Meera’s water tank has been broken, so we have to fill buckets in the morning and evening to make sure we have enough to bathe, wash clothes, flush the toilet, brush our teeth, wash the dishes with, etc. throughout the day. Water only comes from five to seven in the morning and five to seven in the evening (normally it fills up the tank so there’s water throughout the day, but this is the aspect that’s not working!), so the last few days I’ve managed to drag myself out of bed to relieve Meera of the task in the morning. It’s really not a hassle — if anything it’s a very good reminder of the tasks I normally don’t have to complete and the services I take for granted on a daily basis.

Thankfully, it started raining today, and the forecast seems to promise a continuation of rain throughout the week. Hopefully this is the Delhi monsoon season everyone’s been telling me is around the corner, and the weather will start becoming significantly more bearable. If not, I’m geared up to start heading for the hill stations (and significantly cooler weather!) these upcoming weekends!

June 30th, 2010
kassiakarr

Dairy shop signage, New Rajendra Nagar.

June 29th, 2010
kassiakarr

I’m in Delhi! Reached a few days back. I’m not completely settled in yet, but have already been running around the city with my friend Meera - Saturday we did some epic fabric shopping at Nehru Place. We went to one store that was literally STUFFED with every possible type of fabric you could want - so much so there were huge piles scattered on the floor, and everywhere else was stacked from ground to ceiling. Next step: finding a tailor!

June 24th, 2010
kassiakarr

Just a quick note to say that I’ve enabled comments on posts via DISQUS. You should be able to comment via Facebook and Twitter, too! Let me know if there are any bugs! kassia [dot] karr [at] gmail [dot] com.

June 23rd, 2010
kassiakarr

Kya drama hai!

Unluckily, I have been a little sick and have spent most of the last two days indoors. I spent some of that time channel surfing, flipping through Indian daytime television, which is mostly a barrage of dramatic Hindi-language soaps. Watching them reminds me of watching Spanish telenovas while channel surfing back home, enjoying the so-bad-it’s-great acting without actually understanding any of the language. My Hindi is better than my Spanish, though, so I suppose I could make the excuse that watching them might help me grow accustomed to the language… but really, it’s worth it just to see the over-the-top soap opera medium done Indian-style.

June 22nd, 2010
kassiakarr

The monsoon’s a-comin’! The monsoon’s a comin’!

Not sure if you can see how quickly the clouds are moving in this short video (shot moments ago from the balcony of the apartment I’m staying at in Kormangala)… man. Wish I could have picked up the Sanskrit chanting in the distance, too. Eerie scene.

Disclaimer: this was taken with my iPhone - it’s the best I can do since my Zi6 stopped working. :(

June 21st, 2010
kassiakarr

Book Stores of Bangalore

Blossom Book Store, Church Street, Bangalore


After a full day of flying and layovers in New York and Delhi, I reached Bangalore. I’ve mostly just been taking it easy, to avoid exacerbating my jet lag - staying inside under fans, reading, working on some design stuff, watching a lot of World Cup matches, etc. Yesterday I made it into the city, to the shopping area around Church Street and MG Road. I was trying to find a particular book: “Up the Country” by Emily Eden, so I stopped into a few bookstores. A few hours of searching later, that particular book hadn’t surfaced, but I did get a good reminder of how amusing book stores here can be:

The “Women’s Interest” section at Higgenbottom’s on MG Road was comprised mainly of cross-stitching books.

Want to know when your husband will die? There’s a book for that.

This German IKEA catalog was available for purchase in the “Design” section.

Another shot at Blossom. This book store is amazing; I have never seen so many books crammed into such a tight space.

And this one’s pretty much self-explanatory.

I was hoping to start shooting some video, but sadly, I went to turn on my little Kodak Zi6 camera and found that it has inexplicably died. Some searching online has revealed that this is a not-uncommon problem, but sadly in my case I have no way to send it to Kodak to have it repaired. I don’t know what I’ll do in the meantime, as I had really been looking forward to video blogging - I suppose my iPhone camera will have to do for now!

June 13th, 2010
kassiakarr
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]
June 10th, 2010
kassiakarr
Today, in Pictures I Took: found Jesus on the sidewalk in Somerville.

Today, in Pictures I Took: found Jesus on the sidewalk in Somerville.

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@kollyglot

Writer-photographer-researcher living in Delhi.

You can see my more right-brain influenced work here.