Saturday, January 2, 2010

Beginnings and Political News

Arriving at an airport in India doesn't mean that I FEEL like I have arrived in India, but when we passed the HUGE statue of Ganesha (the popular elephant-headed god) that I remember from my previous time, I felt like I was in India again. It was dark, but I think this photo that I found on the web is the same statue. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-l3O7o5jJVE/StrLu3ijSlI/AAAAAAAAFoY/28cCEsr5COc/s400/100_0039.jpg. Ironically, Ganesha is the god of “beginnings” and invoked at the beginning of rituals and ceremonies (or long stays in India).

The biggest political news around here is that the neighboring state of Andra Pradesh will likely be split into two states. The new state will be called Telangana. Supporters of Telangana have wanted a separate state since Indian independence. Hyderabad, the current capital of Andra Pradesh, will be the capital of Telangana. The big question is which city will be the capital of the new, smaller Andra Pradesh. Bangalore is the capital of the state of Karnataka which borders the Telangana area. The US State Department has a travel advisory for Andra Pradesh so we may not spend much time there. Here is a link to a map of India. http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/map-of-india-political.gif

On Jan 1 we went to register the girls at their school and heard that the government is suddenly closing the schools from Tuesday to Friday for a census. The girls will have 6 days of vacation -- probably the only 6 vacation days the whole time that we are here. The girls and I are going to Delhi and Agra – Taj Mahal, here we come – and probably won’t post during our trip. Eric will work because the government isn’t closing the companies for the census. Maybe he will post on the blog while we are gone.

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