Every morning on my way to the studio I stop by the same East Village bodega to pick up my sundries for the day and exchange a few words of Hindi with the polite Gujarati brothers who run the place. Sometimes, when I'm using the ATM at the back of the store, I can catch a glimpse of the Krishna shrine set up in the janitor's closet if the door is ajar. I could say I go there for the cheap coffee, because it's on my commute, or because they execute transactions at the register with the deftness and speed of a stockbroker at closing bell, but it's really for the rare peeks of that little Krishna.
My friend Nicole promised me before P. and I moved to India that the place would seep into my bones whether I liked it or not; that it would toy with my psyche, punish my body, crush my spirits, and yet keep me coming back for more.
Nic, you were right.
Pictures above from our adventures up the Assi Ganga River, Uttarakhand, India, October 2010. Part I; Part II. More India posts here.
Life experiences that impact us like that are so amazing. I feel like I haven't had enough of them sometimes, but I cherish the ones that I have had. It's all part of the human growth experience and I love it. And I love to hear about other peoples.
ReplyDeletehuman growth, for sure. xo
Deletei'm starting to feel funny about the fact that i've yet to meet a monkey, particularly as i've been giving a lot of monkey-related advice lately. perhaps your monkey is telling me something.
ReplyDeletevaguely related, my favorite tweet yesterday, from @howardtayler:
This has made me happy all day: "Not my problem" in Polish is "nie moj cyrk, nie moje malpy." Literally "not my circus, not my monkey."
THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD. Kidchampz for the win.
DeleteOh India. Wise woman, this Nicole. I first visited India last year during an epic trip with many, many stops and my time in India is easily the hardest to justly explain to others ... and myself.
ReplyDeleteagree with all of the above. even now, a year and a half since we left, i'm still tongue-tied when ppl ask me "so, you lived in india for a year. what was THAT like?"
DeleteBeautiful photographs Lily- they reawaken my dream of wanting to go to India...
ReplyDeletethanks ingrid. if you can ever swing it, GO. :)
Deleteso interesting and beautiful. i love all of your india posts.
ReplyDeletethank you brittany! i want to do more frequent posts in general, but especially some revisited india posts. xo
DeleteIs that a porcupine quill? Quite rad.
ReplyDeleteYes! I found three of them while hiking. Still have them. xo
DeleteI love your photographs Lily.. they're so exotic, how fantastic a journey you're having!
ReplyDeleteIt seems I must go to India now.
ReplyDeleteI was going to ask about the quill too. To me these images are so visceral yet remain enigmatic. I love them. Maybe one day I'll experience them for myself.
ReplyDeletexo
cortnie
C, porcupine, yes. Thank you, friend;) xo
DeleteYour transactions at the register analogy has me smiling all day:)
ReplyDeleteyou really capture that rawness and beauty of the everyday that is india. what you capture so well are the colours, the chaos, the smells and smiles.
ReplyDeletei keep re-visiting your kerala pictures as i will be spending sometime there in december.
thanks so much for posting your beautiful pictures and words.
You know, it finally left me. But it took maybe a decade. And you were there so long. Ah well, I look forward to your scarves.
ReplyDeleteLPC, do you feel that? That is me sending you a big internet hug. I CHERISH your India posts, and look forward to swaddling you in Indian textiles. Soon, dear friend, soon.
Deletebeautiful as always, m'lady.
ReplyDeleteand hey. thank you so much for your break up email advice last spring. i knew if i dropped you an email that you would deliver, and your words of wisdom really helped. as you can see, i'm alive and well, doing my thang, kicking ass and taking names. i took your advice and went for a drastic haircut and made a drastic move across the country as well. maybe someday i'll see you around the east village. thanks again!
Ah that blue and red;-)
ReplyDeleteShe is completely right.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are moving there in about 47 days....
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Tracy, so good to hear from you! Back to Kerala? Where? SO EXCITING!
DeleteHey, Gurl! My print making class (The Shop of Love) is having a H'ween party on Wednesday and I'm making a couple o batches of your killer coffee cake, they were a big hit---moar recipes, plzzz
ReplyDeleteWe will be in Mysore!! I will be keeping a blog..
ReplyDeletehere is the link!!
http://chaiboyandlotusgirlinindia.wordpress.com/
Yes, were Over the Moon Excited!! xx
Told you so. It gets under your skin in a way no where else in the universe can, not even the Mojave.
ReplyDeletexoxnic
ps you guys are missed here, btw.
(and how much do I love seeing it from your POV, let me count the ways...)
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ReplyDeleteHi, I just found your blog via instagram. I hope you are ok after this bad storm! Really fun reading here. A delight!
ReplyDelete