Sunday morning, we started off in Pankil's old neighborhood. His grandparents had lived there, and the whole family was living in the old house until a couple of years ago. They still go and stay there on certain festival days, when travel into and around the city is difficult.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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This small temple (with the blue walls) is the family's favorite temple, but it was quite early in the morning, and the door was closed. So, we were just standing outside talking, when we hear the voice of a lady from the balcony next door. She must have asked Pankil where I was from, because he answered in the local language, and the only thing I got was "America". Now, as an American, when you travel around, you never know what to expect when meeting people, they may be welcoming, or they may not be. But in this case, the very nice lady welcomed us and invited us inside.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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This Oil Lamp inside the temple is lit continuously.
"Knowledge chases away ignorance as light chases away darkness".
In the photo up top, the lavender structure is a "Lamp Tower". Its an octagonal four-story tower, and each of the "pockets" you can see on the walls, all around and all the way up, will have an oil lamp in it...for certain holidays.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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This lady was sitting there in the temple, and I motioned to her, asking if it was ok to take her photo. Pankil translated, and she started to move. I thought, "Oh no, I hope she didn't think I wanted her to move." But she didn't, she was just repositioning. She placed her hands together, in what Pankil had told me is a sign of respect, and let me take her photo. Nice lady.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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This is the lady who had invited us in. She visited with us, allowed us to walk around, and me to take photos. Then I asked her if I could take hers, so she straightened up, and posed on the stairs. Another nice lady.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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The door of the temple...
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Pankil explained that this is likely a "street dog" with no owner, who has taken up residence on this door step. The owner of the house lets him stay on the step, and occasionally tosses him some scraps of food. In return, the dog keeps all other humans away from the house. It's the kind of relationship, between human and dog, that has existed for some thousands of years, and it doesn't matter what language the human, or the dog, speaks.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Cows. They are all over. Some owned and producing milk for their owners, some older ones are "turned out" when their calving days are over. The lady (behind the pole) is feeding them. You can see water troughs people have put here and there. These were eating at the curb just in front of the Central Library of Vadodara (...our next stop.)
All in all, being from Texas, hot weather and the sights and smell of cattle nearby...
...didn't seem so different from home ! :-)
More to come,
- Mark W. Laughlin
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