November 19

Unbelievable day today, thanks to Uday. Blown away.....trying to process it all!! He met me early and we went by taxi to the Hare Krishna Consciousness Temple. The biggest one I think in India. So so so many pics....see below.

 Arrival at the temple

 Very ornate and lovely

 The veg restaurant below

 Below we saw this lady with yoga mat

 We met the yoga teacher...we will take his class tomorrow!!

 Amazing inside.

 All the chandeliers were lit up bright. Everyone was dancing ( very simple ), clapping, singing. I joined right in. Here the lights were turned down. Was amazing.

 Below, we faced this statue of Hare Krishna. We filed by, and touched his toe.

 Chandeliers on. Lots of white robed guys. Men danced in one section ( way more men than women ) and the women on the right ) They sang various songs in Hindi (?)

 Then we all got one of these candles, and waved it in small circles. We filed around the back, and got a sweet liquid, very tasty, poured with a small ladle into our hands. There was a sweet soft fruit given at the end.

 Pic of the lit up area at the back of the temple....the people faced different directions.

 Hare below

 Here we sat and sang

 Outside the temple was this group of figures depicting birth to death

 More legends, stories...

 All in glass cases

 Then below, we took the taxi to Khar Danda. Uday took a half day off, and came with me to the school. He helped a lot with the kids, as he speaks Hindi. Below, I wanted to show you the old fashioned iron, with burning coals inside. Ironing is a favourite occupation here! ( In the heat!!lol!!)

 Our Muslim taxi driver agreed to a pic....white cap, white robe, shows Muslim affiliation.

 In Khar Danda, the bricks on the wheeled carriage

 Concert time at Khar school

 Uday took these pics. These are the very young ADD group that I have taught. Hard to fix actions and English words in their heads. The actions of course denote the English words, as all my Mills Haven colleagues well know.

 Heart felt...below....

 Jazz hands

 The girls were the stars of this class......!! Not all but some, were very good!!

 Below I took a pic of the guy in the white checked shirt. He is blind. Ravi, really dark skinned, moved his hands to do the actions.

 Back at the station. R10 for the ride...about 25c!! The show shine business is huge. Most guys were leather shoes....not many runners in India. Men do NOT wear shorts. The cultural norm is for men to hold their buddies hand, or put their hand over his shoulder. Way more men around than women.