Parties and Protest

On Sunday, we wanted to have a farewell party for Milind. Helen and I went outside to get some groceries at the supermarket. They didn’t have cream, though, so Milind led us around to about six different little shops and bakeries until we found a (very overpriced) carton for sale. Worth it, though, as Helen is going to make Banoffee Pie again. That’s definitely a recipe I’m bringing home. While searching for the cream, we came across this cool temple just one block down from the main road…

We prepared some diverse, delicious food. I made more no-bake cookies, Sahima made an Afghani rice dish and accompanying curry/gravy, Mari made fried plantains; we had pappads with raita (yogurt with vegetables), chocolate pudding, and dahl. It was delicious.

And Monday was the Fourth of July! During work, Usha took Huyen and I to the greenhouse where I got to try cross-breeding a soybean flower. It was more basic than I expected; you use a tweezer to emasculate (remove the pollen) one flower (and make it the female), then take some pollen from another flower (now the male) and dust it on the female flower. And that’s it,.

Just cross-bred this flower

It felt so weird not being home; during the day I kept thinking how, while I was about to eat dinner the parade was going on at home, and as I was waking up it was the fireworks. But fortunately my friends were really nice and thought we should throw a party. So after work and a trip to the gym, we began to bake again. This time the menu included potato salad (with paneer), Indian-spiced nuts, fried chicken, corn salsa with more pappads, Indian-style ramen, another Banoffee pie, and leftovers from the night before…

Potato salad with paneer

Corn salsa

Banoffee pie!!

The full spread

Very proud

We also set off a cracker. J

Happy Fourth of July!!

We have today off from work because of a strike/protest in the city. Here is what I understand: During partition, Hyderabad was a sort of unique case because it was ruled by one powerful nizam. It was supposed to be broken into 2 or 3 states, but became only one – Andhra Pradesh (of which the city of Hyderabad is now capital). Since then, there have been frequent political protests from people still opting for the split into another state, Telangana. So now supporters of Telangana have called for a 2-day bandh (or strike protest). This means busses/auto-rickshaws aren’t running, of course, and some trains have been closed for security measures. So the people living outside can’t get to work, so the offices are closed. However, it’s a bizarre sort of strike – it’s already been decided that this Saturday will be made a work day to make up for it. Oh well, it feels a bit like a snow day now.

So on the day off, I went on a bicycle ride around the campus perimeter with Helen, Milind, Phillip and Nina. You can rent bikes for 10 rupees/hour. The bike I got was much too small, and it was one of the most uncomfortable bike rides of my life, but still it felt good to get back on a bike after a month. We saw some peacocks and a mongoose! Here are some pictures from around campus…

(Planting rice)

Can you see the peacock?

Also, the Ganesh statue was painted yellow today...