Goa? ... Again?

Long week-end, cheap flights, "short" journey... Yes, we flew again to Goa in April, although we were there in February already.

Do you know how it feels to be on an almost empty beach for 3 days, doing nothing, enjoying the heat, the sun, the sea, fresh fruits and fish?

Well have a look at that, pictures will tell more than I could.

Check fotos.web.de/cam_in_india/Goa_April_06.

Let's go crazy at the colony

This is it, we have moved to the MICO colony. The Bosch Village. Well, the place where most expatriates at MICO Bosch settle when they come to Nashik. It is a very nice area, very green, beautiful gardens. 7 "bungalows" have been constructed around a way forming an oval ring, in the center of which palm and mango trees dominate everything. A pool, a tennis court and a fitness room make the place to a perfect Club Med! Even if this is not really India anymore, this is a great place. It is very different from where we used to live before (see "our nest").
But it is also nice to live there. Definitely a feeling of security. At the moment the colony is moving at the rythm of the world cup. We invite each others for games of the French, German, Brasilian teams. If we are lucky at 8.30 pm, if not, at… 00.30 am!

The house is which we moved is quite big, and is new. We live on the first floor, whereas the Kleissner family will move into the ground floor. It is actually far too big for us, but let's not complain: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a big living room and dining room, a big kitchen, a cold or storage room, 3 verandas (one of them is the typical space you need in India in the entrance to receive guests which you would not let enter the house yet, another one is planned as a laundry, we made a "breakfast room" out of it, and a third veranda with sight on the colony, in which we decided to make THE bar of Nashik :o)). A "servant" room (I hate this word) including another bathroom was built up a little aside of the rest.

So enough space to receive you all whenever you want to come to Nashik!! We had the chance to be able to influence the design of all furniture in the house as we had them done by a friend of ours, Adwaid. Most of them are in dark teak wood, quite simple but still exotic. I think pictures will be self explanatory (they'll come). The tiles in the bathrooms are spare parts from the swimming pool (dark-bright blue mosaique) - groovy! Only a couple of things are still missing, like curtains, and deco stuff. The rest is great!

I thought the south of France was hot...

... but I was wrong.

Hot season in Nasik: one of my most hardcore experience over here until now. From the 1st of May until the first rains, in the first week of June, I realized what is real heat. Constant heat. And constant movements from AC rooms (18 degrees) to outside (35-40degrees). I couldn't do anything. I was so tired all the time, it was incredible. You go out and you are literally surrounded by a hot blanket. Your body gets overwhelmed within a second. And you hear Indians telling you: well yes, this is hot, but go to Napgpur (500km east of Nashik, in the middle of the country) and you will get to know hw 47 degrees feel. No thank you! That was enough for me.

Everything around is very dry. The countryside is brownish-orange. Fields look desperate. And you feel like you are 20 years older than you are at every movement you do!

And then comes the first rain. It met us while we were having a party outside, for Alex's birthday. We could hear thunder and storm far away from us and didn't think it would be with us so fast. And within a second it was raining cats and dogs! We had to leave the place very quickly but went all wet anyway. The rain had the smell of summer rains in Europe. And it cooled down the temperature immediately, bringing them down to an "acceptable" level.
So we thought: wow, this is the monsoon. BUT: no, that was not the monsoon. From that day it rained a couple of days long at the same time for the same time, but it stopped again. The weather became warm again, but not as hot as before. The monsoon was late this year. From what I could see and what I can understand (which is not always obvious here), I think the monsoon is starting now. One week ago we had violent rains at night, and now there are days when it rains for several hours.


And with the monsoon comes a litteral "metamorphosis" of the landscape. The surroundings of Nashik look very different now. No more Brown, no more orange, no more dry fields, no more killing sun. Now the sky is either grey or deep blue with deep big clouds. It is funny to realize how happy you are to see a cloud when you haven't seen one in months. The nearer the rain, the darker and the lower the clouds. This is the background. And down on the ground, green green green. Fields, trees, grass, mountains, everything is deep green. So far it has rained in a shy way I think. The Indians are used to much more than that. They say in the middle of the Monsoon the fields are submerged with water. The streets are flooded, if you want to step out of your car you fill it up with water. We'll see.
´

Even if Indian do not want to experience the same Monsoon as last year (some of you might have seen pictures of Bombay floded), they all pray for at least a "regular" Monsoon, necessary to a healthy and prosperous year to come (on an economical and social point of view). No rains would be a catastrophe!

More pictures? Try fotos.web.de/cam_in_india/Dry_summer_-_to_Trimbakeshwar and fotos.web.de/cam_in_india/Dry_summer_-_Bicycle_ride

Growing Nasik

As you might have read before, Nasik is a "small" Indian town with over 1.5 mio inhabitants. The figures vary; but for sure, the population is steadily growing.

All Nashikites you will ask how much the town has changed in the past few years will tell you that there was a tremendous evolution. Most of them will start with the climate: Nashik is becoming warmer every year. It used to be considered as a hill station, kind of space where people were happy to spend a few days to escape the heat of Mumbai for instance. But now that more and more cars are overwhelming the streets, now that the industry are developing tremendusly, they say the climate is not the same anymore. Heavy monsoon one year, delayed monsoon the next year… They will also tell you how many beautiful trees there used to be in Nashik which were cut for the sake of roads…

All kinds of "western" shops have appeared in the last few years in a specific area of the town: Big Bazaar is proudly settled on College road. It is the only shop in town which is similar to our supermarkets in Europe. Mac Donalds opened this year! A LG shop has come, a furniture shop with an IKEA-like concept is there, a Sony shop is coming… For our European standard a lot of things are missing. Somehow you get used to it, and Nashik is not so bad, after all. I said earlier that I would die for a piece a beef or any meat… It seems that I got used not to eat anymore of it.

The core center for shopping for tradtional Nashikites is old Nashik. There you can find all typical Indian things, with a street dedicated to each "corps de metier": jewelliers, kitchenware, sarees, mens clothes, spices, vegetables market…

This is a very lively and loud place, gathered around the most important place in Nashik: the Godavari river.
This is one of the main holy rivers in Nashik, where every 12 years millions of Hindu pilgrims from all over India gather 12 days and 12 nights long for the Kumbha Mela.

It is a place of prayer for many Nashikites and it seems that the life of the town has naturally found its place there.

To come back to Nashik's evolution, the industry is booming. The main companies here are Mahindra & Mahindra, one of the biggest car makers in the country. MICO-Bosch (where I work) is quite important with probably over 3000 people. Thyssen Krupp is there, EPCOS, ABB, Samsonite (around Nashik). And many many midle sized and small Indian companies have settled here and keep the industrialzation pace in the region. Renaut is starting its Logan at Mahindra and Mahindra (probably under a joint venture kind of allinace, but I am not too sure), which will bring some French families here. So we won't be anymore the white exceptions in town!

Nashik is also THE vineyard of India. I know of 3 wineries around the town, and I think there must be even more of them. This industry also brings a couple of French Wine consultants here, who are requested to come by Indians in order for them to stabilise there process. One of those wineries is settled right next to the town, along the Gangapur dam. They have a terrasse with sight to the fields and to the moutains around, it is beautiful. And it is the only bar in Nashik! The wine is fairly good, I have to say, and even if I am not a wine expert anyway, I find it pretty good. It gives us a flavour of "at home"!

More pictures? Try fotos.web.de/cam_in_india/Nasik

Holy Trimbakeshwar

In February, when Greg's family was with us, we went to Trimbakeshwar. It is a small village which you reach after 20 minutes drive on a good road north west of Nashik. When you get there it seems to be the end of the world, as the village is surrounded by moutains and you don't know what is behind. Trimbakeshwar is along with Nashik a holy city for Hindus. Many of them come for a pilgrimage at least once a year. It is said that the Godavari river's source is there! The village as such is very lively, full of people, markets, shops, temples...

Once you have passed walk the village, you reach the mountain situated behind it, which you can start climbing provided the weather is not too hot. When we were there in February, it was quite warm but still ok. We climbed up the mountain and reached one of the highest spots of it, to discover that the world is not finishing behind it, but that a beautiful landscape is there, a plain or plateau which seems never to end.

The way to the top is a challenge: you meet monkeys and believe me they are scary! They were blocking our way while waiting for us on the side of the path, staring at us, making strange noises. But the moment Greg threw his bottle of water to them, they left us alone. They were more attracted by the shining item more by us!

When you reach the top you find a Hindu temple, aim of the Hindus of all ages who climb the mountain every day. You see many many people up there, some of them very old, and then you think that those people must be very fit, and very dedicated to their god. Have a look at the colourful pictures, thanks to the sarees of the women climbing there.

At the temple Greg went to the priest, sat in front of him and repeated word by word the prayer in sanscrit. Strange feeling to watch this!

On the way down we stopped by to drink one of these very sweet Indian teas at a family's house. If you call them early enough they can even cook for you. Very kind people, never ending smiles on their faces, children watching us as if we were directly landing from Mars… Usual picture here!

More pictures? Try fotos.web.de/cam_in_india/Trimbakeshwar.