Category Archives: Reblogged

Reblogged: The Taj Mahal – Finally!

Reblogged is a series of blog posts on my life in India coming from the weblogs I set-up. It’s an attempt to put the stories all in one place! The post The Taj Mahal – Finally! was originally posted on October 15, 2012, a month after I’ve taken the trip on September 9. Another post is connected to this one, which will be posted as a Viahera Vlog. The visit to Agra was a side trip before attending the official meetings of the Volunteer Committee (which I was a part of) at the VSO India office (read: no extra cost charged to VSO) to discuss policies for volunteers and put forth comments, opinions and suggestions from volunteers in India for improvement in programme support and effectiveness of volunteer placement and organisational partnerships.

Before coming to India, I only know a few things about this sub-continent and what stands out among these is the Taj Mahal. I barely know the story about Taj Mahal before I came here, only that it is a must-see monument, one of the seven wonders of the world.

The Taj Mahal
Oh hello there!

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#100Days Photo 29: The Small Pond and the Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia

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During the first time I set foot in Malaysia back in 2010, we only had one day and between Melaka, Genting Highlands and the Batu Caves, we decided to play with the clouds. It was only during the month-long Southeast Asia backpacking trip that I made it to Melaka and to the Batu Caves, both thanks to my fried Rajie who took time off her busy schedule to tour me, Lalai and Tetet! 🙂 Anyway, Batu Caves, as the name suggests (in Tagalog, batu, well bato, means stone), is a series of caves and cave temples inside a limestone hill. Batu Caves is a popular tourist spot and Hindu temple site around 13kms north of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. The area is surrounded by birds feeding on corn kernels the visitors throw around and by a small pond of ducks and koi fish. You’d need to climb up about 8-10 floors worth of stairs, alongside monkeys that can be pretty violent when they see food, to get inside the caves and the temples. Rajie, at the time at least, was not a devout Hindu so we were not sure whether the stories of Kartikeya (the massive golden statue at the foot of the caves to which the cave temples are dedicated to), and his family (daddy = Shiva, mommy = Parvati, brother = Ganapathi) and the peacock he’s riding, were as accurate as the scripts or just made up bedtime stories! It was quite entertaining though. 🙂 After visiting the caves, you might want to relax your legs and knees a bit and stay a while by the small pond, watching the ducks and koi fish glide and swim. Or, you can also pay a visit to Lord Hanuman, the monkey god, farther on the left.

Reblogged: Bodh Gaya: the journey to Nirvana

Reblogged is a series of blog posts on my life in India coming from the weblogs I set-up. It’s an attempt to put the stories all in one place! The post Bodh Gaya: the journey to Nirvana was originally posted on October 15, 2012, two weeks after the experience. Another post preceded this one, which has more text to tell the story of a full day’s trip to Bodh Gaya with VSO co-volunteers Julie and Amanda. This was part of the vacation I called “The Pilgrimage” as we visited the holy cities of Bodh Gaya and Varanasi.

 Ok. Actually, I just can’t think of an apt title at this moment that I am writing this. Hahaha 🙂 But, yeah, you can pretty much say that this post indeed is about the journey of Buddha, not necessarily into Nirvana but in the achievement of enlightenment. Also, this will be about the journey of me, Juls and Amanda as we tried to understand what Buddhism is and how it has began here in India.
 
my favorite of the snaps at Bodh Gaya: the “pilgrims” with the Giant Buddha

Reblogged: Bodh Gaya: the land of Buddha’s enlightenment

Reblogged is a series of blog posts on my life in India coming from the weblogs I set-up. It’s an attempt to put the stories all in one place! The post Bodh Gaya: the land of Buddha’s enlightenment was originally posted on September 30, 2012, written on the day things happened. Another post will follow after, which has more photos and videos as the way to tell the partial story about a full-week’s trip to North India with VSO co-volunteers Julie and Amanda, with their friend Laura. This was part of the vacation I called “The Pilgrimage” as we visited the holy cities of Bodh Gaya and Varanasi.

Oh yes! The stuff I used to hear from my history teachers is now coming into life! I am, at present, in Bodh Gaya, where prince Siddharta Gautama, later popularly known as Lord Buddha, was said to have achieved full enlightenment.

Reblogged: Weekend in the Village (Part 2 – Getting Up-close and Personal)

Reblogged is a series of blog posts on my life in India coming from the weblogs I set-up. It’s an attempt to put the stories all in one place! The post Weekend in the Village (Part 2 – Getting Up-close and Personal) was originally posted on May 20, 2012 via the Project365: Volunteers for Change weblog I set-up with my VSO volunteer batch. I spent a weekend with the family of my colleague and friend Charu at her mother’s hometown in Taloshi, Mahad, Maharashtra. This is a two-part story for the events and scenes from May 4-8.

You’ve already read/seen how a day in an Indian village goes by. Well, it’s kind of a special day with the festival and all but still, it would look something like that. More or less. 🙂

That said, this post focuses on other aspects of Indian life, not just in a village but also in a bigger picture. Are you ready to get Indianised? :p

Water

Everyone needs water. Some more than most. Especially during a festival when everyone seems to have remembered where they came from and decided to pay homage to their roots. It’s an almost non-stop sight–women queuing for wells and tap areas and walking about with one or two jars on their head. Some include one for the side/hips too!
Queuing for Water. Young, middle-aged and old women (I’ve seen a couple or so men too) fill their water jars (tin and copper) to keep a steady supply at home (I guess for cooking and drinking)

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