Our Neighborhood

We lived in an eclectic neighborhood. People of many different religions were represented there.  It was not uncommon to see people who were of different castes around the neighborhood, too.




This was our apartment. We lived on the first floor and our entrance was around at the side of the house. The bottom floor windows that you see was our living room.



Our landlords were Muslims. They were very nice people and I enjoyed my visits with them. They were hard working people who prided themselves on their rise in financial security and cultural tolerance. The husband spoke very good English and told me that he had been abandoned by his father at 54 days. His mother was very poor and uneducated. She was not capable of raising him. He said he was "scratch" (nothing). His aunt took him in and raised him.  He has worked hard, as well as his wife, and now they have "all of this" (he gestured  with his hands). So we lived in his "all of this". The neighborhood is full of homes like the one in which we lived. The owners live in a portion of the home and plan for the rest to be income property or to provide a place to take care of their loved ones. Each home is architecturally unique but set up similarly as far as living quarters go. If one has outside space it is usually a rooftop or a small courtyard.

This was our "outdoor" space - a small courtyard - or really carport, where Chase kept his scooter and the entrance to our apartment

The mornings began quietly for the most part. People would be walking for health, going to school or beginning their day around their home. You would hear a motorcycle, truck or bus passing by (honking at the intersection).Every morning the paper recycling guy would come by calling, "PEY-PA" to alert folks that he was making his rounds. There was an old Hindu man who would go through the streets with his dressed up Indian cow blowing a horn, I suppose chasing away evil spirits. On special days he might have a chanting crowd with him. Each morning the cleaning people would come by and sweep the sidewalks and generally clean up around the outside for a very small amount of pay. They used brooms made out of sticks which made a loud scraping sound but were very efficient. The cows merhed and the dogs barked. The early morning pace was slow.



I was concerned when I saw Chase using what I thought was a stern voice with these men, in light of the "weapon" that one was carrying (you can't see it well in these pictures but it was a long very sharply pointed iron stick).  It turned out to be a discussion about them doing some clean up around our house and the instrument was a yard cleaning impliment.  Chase was refusing to let them clean up because the landloard already paid a crew to do such work.

 The whole time I was there, construction was going on across the street. An apartment building was being remodeled. Painting, welding, woodwork, and cement work  were constantly going on. This was the first place that I was alerted to the scaffolding commonly seen at construction sights.  Yikes!! It was not until New Year's Eve that I realized the workers were actually sleeping there. Shalom was the name given to the apartments.

Yes, that is a man hanging from some very questionable rig, doing work on the building

We lived in Kalya Nagar neighborhood. The Coffee Day at 9th Main was our near location that we would give rickshaw drivers. To get a rickshaw we would walk down the street and to the corner where several rickshaws would be parked. As we begin walking down the street, we pass the corner trash pile and then come to neighborhood businesses.  First is a small store where we bought water in 5 gallon bottles. Then there are a couple of other local businesses including a small clinic and a chiropractor. As we round the corner we pass a pharmacy and a spa and several fruit and veggie stands.  At the corner was the corner store.  They stocked items that we might need on the spur of the moment such as milk, butter, and yogurt.  They had many items but were not a better price.  You pay for convenience any where you go in the world.  As I said earlier, across the street was the Coffee Day, a coffee house chain that was similar to Starbucks.  Coffee Day, however, didn't open until 10:00 am or so...a little late for early morning satisfaction!  Across on the other corner was an ancient Hindu temple area.  On holy days there would be many people lined up to pay tribute to their gods.



9th Main Coffee Day, you know?



I decided to purchase some India postage stamps.  We discovered there was a post office "next to the Coffee Day".  I decided that I could take this on by myself.  Chase almost insisted that I wait and let him go with me.  He kept pressing, so I took off my jacket and waited.  Ajay got up from a nap and we set out on foot to find it.  As we neared the Coffee Day, I was looking to see if the store next to it was a post office. Chase turned up the street and kept walking.  I was confused, so I asked him why we were going this way.  He casually said, "Well, I don't think it is next to the Coffee Day.  I think it is near the Coffee Day, maybe down this way.  In fact, I'm not even sure it is a post office.  It might just be a postal drop box.  We have to keep walking this way and see."  Sure enough, we found it and it was, indeed, a post office building - that I would have never found alone.  We entered and Chase talked with the employee explaining what we wanted using his perfected Indian English.  We purchased 24 postage stamps at 5 rupees each (approximately 10 cents - US).  They were zodiac signs.  The post office was one of the messiest buildings I have ever been in.  People were gathered there and seemed to just be hanging out.  It was not only messy, but also dirty.  I still loved the adventure of it all.

Getting around the neighborhood seemed daunting to me when I first arrived.  I wish that I had been able to spend a couple of more weeks there because just as it was time to leave, I was feeling more at home.