Flat 202 And The Neighborhood

Shrikant and Charanya have a flat in the Jubilee Hills neighborhood of Hyderabad. It is a 30-minute walk to the Eye Institute in a very nice district of the city. This will be our home for the first two weeks of our stay here. Hopefully this will give us enough time to get our bearings in the neighborhood, learn where to shop and eat and also what to avoid before we move to our own flat at the end of next week. Their flat is very cozy and has fabulous marble floors throughout. (see front porch photo) There is even a little shrine room in the house with its collection of holy figures, Ganesha (the elephant god- the remover of obstacles) and Vishnu (the most human of the gods and the redeemer of humanity). I will share lots more about the many gods in the Hindu trinity and gods from the Muslim and Buddhist faiths as we travel around India. These religious images are found everywhere.

Bedroom / Dining Room

Shrine Room

There are two toilets in the house. Guess witch one we are using :o)

There is a small neighborhood Hindu temple just across the alley from the flat so we are awakened at sunrise every morning with drum beats calling people to prayer. There is also the chanting call to prayer in the afternoon at sunset. We were able to watch a bit of a service on our walk the other night (see video).

The neighborhood bustles with activity first thing in the morning. The women come outside and wash the pavement and entryways to their houses with water and then draw elaborate Kolam on the sidewalks in front of the door. Kolams are a symbol of auspiciousness. It is Hindu belief that the geometrical patterns & designs applied with rice flour at the entrance to a home, invite Goddess lakshmi into the household, and drive away the evil spirits. Also, the reason for using rice flour is that they are providing food for the ants & other small insects. Here is a photo of Kolam in front of Shrikant & Charanya’s front door.

The other thing that happens is the cart vendors come down the streets selling fruits, vegetables, coconuts, household items, etc. You can tell when they are approaching because they sing very loud chants that echo down the lanes to announce their presence. Here is one movie. There will be more later.

At about noon every day, there is a power cut for 1 to 2 hours, similar to the brown outs we experience in the US in the heat of summer. The ones here happen year round and daily household activities are planned around these outages. There has been such an increase in the middle class that there are many more electronics, appliances, etc. being plugged in (remember the population here). The current grid just can’t deal with the demand and is in the process of being upgraded to deal with this increase. Solar energy will end up being a booming business here as the climate is perfect for it. In this region it is around 80 degrees here with soft breezes and minimal humidity.... just like California.

Here is a picture of the neighborhood from the porch of the house.

More Tomorrow............