I am going to post some new things very soon.

Tomorrow is India's Republic Day.


Ready for the first day of classes at the Doon Institute, Dehradun, India:




Illustrations I made to accompany the story I wrote for class this week:


Relaxing on a break:

Lyrics from the song "Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aaye", film "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai". It is a very sad song. Yogendra-ji assisted me in some translating. Here are the lyrics that I copied down in Hindi. These lyrics are heartfelt! And very sad!:


"Khata ho gayi mujhse
kaha kuch nahin tumse
iqrar jo tum kar pate
to dur kabhi na jate"

All the best,
Grant

Last week was a bit rough. Some of us here fell ill and things didn't go so well. Everything is back on track now.

Over the weekend I came home and found this guy relaxing on my bed:


I am having a suit made for myself. Dehradun is an education hub of North India and so there are many students of all ages. As a result there are many nice school uniforms to observe. I went to the local school uniform shop today and convinced them that I am studying in Doon Institute's Hotel Management course and that I need a uniform. My suit should be ready after two days time. They gave me this in advance.


The following is a transliteration of a story that I told in class today. It is a love story about a man called "char aankh" (four eyes). He has four eyes. The story was originally written the Devanagari script and read aloud with some accompanying drawings. I will post an English translation later:

CHAR AANKH KI KAHANI

char aankh javaan larka hai. voh haveli mein akela rehta hai. usne haveli banvayi. haveli "night club" (nait klab) ke paas. haveli nadi ke kinare hai. char aankh is nadi mein roz roz nahata hai. jab char aankh nadi mein nahata hai voh kehta hai: "a-re! thand lag rahi hai lekin acchi lagti hai!"

ek din nadi mein nahakar char aankh ne apne dost se phone par bat ki.

char aankh: hallo, prince bhai?
prince: kaun bol raha hai?
char aankh: main char aankh bol raha hoon.
prince: char aankh! kaise ho yaar?
char aankh: barhiya hoon! aaj tum kya kar rahe ho?
prince: main park ja raha hoon. kya tum mere saath chaloge?
char aankh: ji haa, main aaounga. main tumse cinema aur khilauna ki dukaan ke bic milounga.
prince: thik hai, phir milenge:
char aankh: khuda hafiz.

char aankh prince ke saath park mein per ke nice baitha tha. voh kuch nahin bol raha tha. is liye prince ne char aankh se kaha: a-re yaar kya hua tumhe? aaj main tumhari char aankhon mein pyaar dekh sakta hoon. kya tum kissi rani se mile?

char aankh: ji prince yeh sac hai. meri dimaag chal gaya. maf kijiye.
prince: aisi koi bat nahin yaar lekin mujhse kaho kya hua?
char aankh: a-re yaar main nahin so sakta hoon. lagta hai mujhe prem rog ho gaya.
prince: kya bat hai! prem rog! shabash! tumhari jaan ka nam kya hai? tum usse kahan mile? voh kahan rehti hai?
char aankh: uska nam sapna hai. main usse "night club" mein mila. voh "khwabon ki galiyon" mein rehti hai.
prince: accha, pas hi toh hai, "nafrat ki deewar" ke samne hai, na?
char aankh: ji ha
prince: toh ab tum kya karoge yaar?
char aankh: pata nahin. main kya karu kya kahu? main mar jaounga.
prince: a-re chup! aur mujhse kaho "night club" mein kya hua?
char aankh: "night club" mein sab log nac rahe the. main janewali tha...lekin main nahin gaya.
prince: kyon?
char aankh: kyonki sapna andar aayi.
prince: akeli thi?
char aankh: nahin. apni saheli ke saath aayi aur aake gana gayi.
prince: kaunsa gana?
char aankh: "tum paas aaye, yun muskaraae...tumne na jaane kya sapne dikhaae..."
aur is ke bad mujhe prem rog ho gaya. lekin main aashiq nahin hoon. dar lagta hai. pyar meri zindagi mein nahin rahega. agar sapna mujhse pyaar nahin karti to main mar jaounga.
prince: chup raho! tum bakvas keh rahe ho! sapna tumhari hai aur hogi... sirf tumhari.
char aankh: lekin kaise?
prince: aao mere saath.

char aankh prince ke saath gaya aur "wheel of time" (veel auv taim) ke nice baitha tha.

char aankh: voh kya hai prince?
prince: voh "wheel of time" (veel auv taim) hai. in mein gyan hai aur yaha par sab kuch hai. is sthan ka nam "chill house" hai. yaha par "si-di-plaiyr", "di-vi-di plaiyr", aur bahut "glaimor".
char aankh: accha, samajh gaya.

is ke bad prince ne char aankh se dil ki batein kahin. aur char aankh khush tha.

usne kaha: dhanyavad dost! aaj mein sapna ke ghar jaounga aur usse kahounga: meri jaan, mera pehla pyaar, mere sapnon ki rani! mere bahon mein aao! ham saath saath rahenge! khush hamari hongi!

prince: shabash yaar!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vocabularly list for my story. I handed out copies of this to my classmates:

Today's lunch:


Straight from the heart,
Grant

Television




We are situated on a main road here in Dehradun: Subhash Road. This is an auspicious month and so many marriage parties pass by on the road every night. I walk out of my back door and watch everything from the balcony. There is lots of music and dancing and fireworks. The bands that perform the song are very nice. They play versions of popular Hindi film songs on trumpets and various horns, and are often accompanied by live male vocals piped through large metal megaphones.

Sincerely,
Grant

The weekend was nice. On Friday night we bought vegetables and sweets and cooked a very good meal. On Saturday I went for a walk around town with my classmates and we followed the sounds of blaring bhangra music to a super fancy party being held by a local Punjabi family. They had an elaborate archway set up at the entrance, and I asked a man who was leaving the party if it was a private function and if we could go inside. He welcomed us. We took a quick peek and then I went for a brief spin on someone's scooter.

There is a new restaurant in town called "Cafe Indiana". They serve "mocktails", some of which have memorable names: "Hawaiian Smooch", "Angel Lips", "The Beach Sexy". If you go to "Cafe Indiana" you can hear a wide range of music, including a smooth jazz remix of The Godfather Theme Song and classic Backstreet Boys tracks.

Now the week has started again. I will be posting some more detailed information regarding my studies sometime this week. I will begin posting stories I have written in Hindi as assignments for class.

The weather here in Dehradun right now is exceptional.

Here are some pictures:







Today I ate this for lunch. It cost Rs. 30.



Well, all the best. Take care.

Straight from the heart,
Grant

TODAY

kal raat barish hui hai...aur aj mausam accha hai...bilkul
saf hai...sab log dehradun mein bahut khush hai...

Last night rain happened, and today the weather is very good...
completely clean....Everyone in Dehradun is very happy....

Rajpur Road, Dehradun (View from inside Kumar's Sweets)


This is what I had for lunch today (pav bhaji). It cost Rs. 40:

I took this photo from my balcony today:

Hanging out in the neighborhood:


This is for Miguel. It says "Chill funky" in Hindi:

Class is going well. Our session begins at 9am and includes several parts: lesson with Yogendra ji, group work and individual conversation practice with our monolingual tutors. We have begun working on our written compositions (1500 words in Hindi), as well as our weekly assignment. The weekly assignment is to tell a story in Hindi. The story has to be at least 150 written words. By the end of the course we should be able to tell a story for about 30 minutes. I am going to write a three part series about a character named "Chaar aankh" (Four eyes). The stories will deal with his life, his dreams, and his loves.

Last weekend our teacher, Yogendra ji, took us to one of his favorite places to eat in Dehradun. You can eat as much you want for Rs. 12.

My clothes hanging out to dry


I tore this poster down from a wall near Kanak Cinema in Dehradun. I met the theater manager last week. According to Yogendra ji he is notorious in Dehradun. The name of this particular film is "Jungle Beauty".


Notes from today's class


On weekends we may go visit some nearby cities as a class: Rishikesh, Haridwar, Mussoorie. Now it is time for dinner.

All the best,
Grant

Today was Guru Gobind Singh's birthday. Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth guru of Sikhism. I walked out of a local cinema at around 4pm and found the celebrations in full swing. There was a long procession going through the main area of town-----lots of music, lots of people, sword fighting, etc.



Today was also our first day of class. There are five students total. They are all from Australia. So far we have just been reviewing texts, grammar, etc. The final assignment due at the end of the course is a 1500 word composition in Hindi. We are given the freedom to write about anything.

All the best,
Grant

Okay I have some catching up to do. My last night in Delhi (New Year's Eve) was spent in the company some lawyers and their Canadian counterparts. The setting was a rooftop. We were having a party. The party was being hosted by Harsh Dobhal, a friend of a friend. Harsh and his girlfriend Anuradha had helped me out when I arrived in Delhi by providing me with a place to stay. Harsh is a human rights activist and is involved with the the Human Rights Law Network. Here is a link to their website if you are curious:

www.hrln.org

Now I will share some photos from that night.








Back to the present time. I am in Dehradun now, and my Hindi course begins tomorrow. Since I arrived I have just been loafing around town and doing some enjoyment. Last night I shared a meal and some fine beer with Yogendra-ji and another one of the students from Australia, Stephanie. This was a Garhwali meal prepared by Gita, who was one of our tutors this past summer. Today Anil's mother and father came to Dehradun from their village, Sainj (Anil is a dear friend to Garrett and myself). His mother is very ill and has come to the city for treatment. Hopefully she will begin to improve. I spoke with her briefly and the first thing she asked me was "Apka bhai kaha hai?" (Where is your brother?). Well, now, photos from Dehradun.

My room


Me, inside of a closet, inside of my room.


A view from outside of my room


Our classroom


Mr. Kapoor, the owner of our hotel, gave me these as a New Year's gift. Mr. Kapoor is a dear friend of Yogendra-ji, our instructor.


While I have been loafing around town I have also been in search of certain items. Today I was searching for a sweater in Paltan Bazaar, which is one of Dehradun's main markets. I did not find that sweater. But I found these instead.






Straight from the heart,
Grant

Happy Noo Year



My New Year's Eve was spent on a rooftop in Delhi in the company of some wild lawyers and a few Canadians.

I left Delhi today in the early hours of the morning and traveled by train to the city of Dehradun. Dehradun is the capitol of Uttarakhand state. It is the gateway to the hills.

Tomorrow, when the computers in this cyber lab are running a bit faster I plan to post pictures which will illustrate these events.

Straight from the heart,
Grant