IndoEthnoExp. Part IV. Panaji, Karwar, MangaloreMapMay 23 — June 13, 2015 There are lots and lots of vegetarians in India. And its very important for Indian vegetarians that no meat whatsoever enters their kitchen. Its about as important as kashrut for Jews or halal for Arabs. And restaurants dont want to lose any clients. Therefore, there are usually two kitchens in every restaurant — one for vegetarians and one for non-vegetarians. ![]() PanajiMap
Ive heard a million stories about Goa and I got the impression that its awful, all beaches full of downshifters with first world problems. ![]() Theres no paranoia in Goa airport like there was in Jammu. But there is an armed soldier — he guards the entrance to the toilets. ![]() They sure do love their luggage tags in India. They adorn their hand luggage with them, which has the added benefit of creating jobs for a million Indians, who dont do anything else apart from sitting next to the baggage carousel and stamping these tags. ![]() Rubbish bin at the airport. ![]() Incomprehensible Goan sign. ![]() All of the speed bumps in Goa are marked with a sign saying speed breaker”. Theres even an arrow pointing to it for those who are particularly thick-skulled. Here it is”, — says the arrow. Then again, theres also another version — this arrow says, its over there”. ![]() Unexpected beauty. ![]() Panaji was one of the most unexpected discoveries on this trip. It turns out its brimming with well-preserved Portuguese colonial architecture. The pavement mosaics didnt make it to our time, but the houses, streets and spatial planning are for the most part alive and well. Thats funny, I wonder why none of the beach holiday lovers told us about this? ![]() Who would have thought that this is what Goa looks like? ![]() Or this? ![]() Or this? ![]() Todays Goans dont value heritage very highly. On top of that, they have questionable taste. For instance, can you guess what kind of cemetery this is? ![]() Its not actually a cemetery. This is an open-air archeology museum. Next to every rock theres a sign saying architectural element”. Or Corinthian pilaster”. Also in Goa. ![]() Crosses can be seen everywhere throughout Goa. The Catholics call the shots here. ![]() Vasily Karavaev lives in Panaji. He fasted for seven days in preparation for his trip — he was going to drink iboga. However, for our sake Vasily postponed the start of his trip and showed us around a wonderful abandoned ancient fort. Vasily likes to call himself the Russian Shantaram because he spent eighteen months in a Goan prison. Now he translates books and also writes his own, selling them on the beaches to Russian tourists. ![]() A guy straightening something up in another guys pocket (a pen or pocket square, fuck knows what) so that it looks better for the photo. ![]() A porter with a traditional Indian moustache, the kind you always saw in Jules Verne novel illustrations. ![]() How many padlocks can you fit on the metallic shutters of a jewellery store? ![]() Classic Portugal. ![]() A nice building looks nice even when its been abandoned. ![]() Metal detector at the train station. Going through it is optional. ![]() I liked Goa very much. And it wasnt because of the beaches, not at all. Although the beaches here also get top marks. Even someone who despises swimming as much as I do has to admit it. ![]() KarwarMapThe only interesting thing in this town is the balconies and windows. ![]() Thus you can focus on studying the details of the local train station. Cellphone and laptop charging stations abound in Indian train stations and airports. ![]() Emergency hammer on the train. ![]() Electrical hazard. ![]() In Indian trains shit falls straight onto the train tracks (in contrast to trains in the USSR, where already by the middle of the XX century the pipe coming out of the crapper was bent to one side). Also, when the train stops at a station no one locks the crappers, because Indians are not afraid of shit. ![]() In every home or office there is a battery of on-off switches. You can only figure out which controls what by trial and error. Heres a clue — the button next to a given knob turns on that particular knob. The knob in turn controls a fan. Which knob corresponds to which fan — thats the main mind-boggler. ![]() A basic suburban train. Notice the number of fans. Rather hard to live without them in India. So far this year already one and a half thousand people have died of heatstroke in the streets. So if you dont want to die of heat stroke, you better get to grips with even the trickiest on-off switches. ![]() By the way, the done thing among Indian women is to leave their sides bare. For ventilation purposes, ostensibly. ![]() The country has a relaxing effect on those who spend some time here. Here is a European tourist sprawled out on a platform. Shes too lazy to even crawl as far as that bench. ![]() Its surprising just how much India has in common with the USSR. I have the feeling that all of the railways were built not by the British, but by Soviet specialists. Also, its absolutely certain that the Indians inherited the Soviets ice cream recipe. The last time I ate such creamy deliciousness that tastes just so was when I was a child and it cost 48 kopeks. Here its sold in 30 gram portions in nano-cups. ![]() Its very simple to count in rupees. One rupee is 83 kopeks. So the easiest thing to do is to imagine that all of the prices are in roubles and that at the end of each day they give you almost 20% off everything youve bought. And the rupee sign is somewhat similar to the rouble sign. Plus it sounds like the Russian short form for rouble: rup. ![]() MangaloreMapIn parts it really looks a great deal like Africa. ![]() A lively city. ![]() With somewhat odd architecture. ![]() Indian newbuild housing — tasteless and cheerless. ![]() Traffic police on patrol. ![]() |
may–june
|
may–june
|
may–june 2015
IndoEtnoExp. Part IV. Panaji, Karwar, Mangalore
← Ctrl →
|
may–june
IndoEthnoExp. Part V. Panaji, Mahe, Kozhikode, Coimbatore, Chennai, Trivandrum |
may–june
|
© 19952025 Artemy Lebedev |