Kunskapsskolan teachers made a rangoli for my exhibition !

so what's a rangoli ?

it's a folk art from India in which patterns are created on the floor in 

living rooms or courtyards using materials such as

coloured rice, dry flour, coloured sand or flower petals

they are meant to be sacred welcoming areas for the Hindu deities

my exhibition wasn't such an event but I asked if we could make one

just because it's so pretty and it's so India..

a couple of the teachers where happy to do it

so nice and so welcoming

I really need to learn how to .....without any pattern....

wait...no...

maybe it's better for me to have one..

it is supposed to look nice and welcoming

and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't

again thanks to all of you who helped me out !

Photo exhibition at Kunskapsskolan Gurgaon

Thank's to all and everyone who came to look at my pictures 

and an extra thank you to ALL of you at school who helped out !

it was a fun afternoon

nerv wrecking but fun

if anyone had told to me two years ago that I would be having a photo exhibition in India

I would have laughed and thought that they where crazy

and yet here I am...I have done it....

it was especially fun to show some pictures from back home 

since the exhibition was at Kunskapsskolan... 

lots of comments from parents about how beautiful it looks around Abbekas 

I actually think this was the first time ever that Abbekas was being marketed in India !!

I promised my friends and family back home that I would show some pictures of the pictures...

....pictures at an exhibition....

by ??

 anyone who knows who did that song ?

my friend Kathy who's always up for fun photo shoots...

most prominent guests where the Ambassador of Sweden to India

Mr Harald Sandberg and his wife Else..

almost all of the pictures have been posted on my blog..

this time in bigger sizes though..

some framed and some canvas 

but I tell you...it was difficult to choose pictures...

and this is just some of them...

and yes this is what I looked like...

again 

a big thanks to all and everyone !

Today is all about walls

what goes where on which wall ??

I guess it will take a while until I have everything where I want it to go...

for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about...

it's my pictures for the exhibition tomorrow !

this one I would like to hang on my wall at home though...

even better if it was the real thing...

all done in stone !

I so like this tree...

the real thing you can find at the Oberoi in Delhi

well, I better get back to hanging pictures

hope I see you tomorrow !

Garden of five senses

is a really nice park....

it has restaurants, a maze, an amphitheater, art and loads of trees and flowers,

many spots to sit in the shade and have a picknick for instance...

I have been here a couple of times and I haven't found it very crowded...

there's always plenty of young couples "in love" "hanging out" though....

and one of the times I did find it really disturbing with all of them i"in the bushes",

guards with Indias weapon nu 1, the bamboo stick where actually chasing couples out from the bushes at that time....

anyhow...

some pictures from inside the park so that you get a hint...

close to the entrance these elephants hang out...too bad that there's no water...

up by the amphitheater you find this huge sculpture ...

 garden of peace

often they have camels for the kids to have a ride...

or as lawn mowers !

amazing toes...theye are so big !

if you walk up the hill you'll find this view of Qutub and the surroundings...

you find a lotus pond with really nice seatings in the shade around it...

hope you'll enjoy !

Dinner and a bath.... at the same time

easy piecy.....

if you're a buffalo that is

hey ! what are you ?

there's two of you .....hmm...strange things are happening around here...

well, at least the owner didn't fall down when he saw us...

he just stood there and it kind of looked like he was thinking the same thing..

two white women taking pictures of us...hmm...

strange things are happening around here.

Nuh in the district of Mewat

at least I think it was Nuh...

it was such a long time since me and Kathy went to this place so

I had  totally forgotten about these pictures...

until today that is..

close to the hills and out in nowhere it seemed... this "Disney" like temple popped up..

well, the entrance was Disney then it was just a plain temple but with a natural spring way up in the hills...

it's fascinating how the idols are worshipped and how important all these adornments are..

up up in the hills you find the natural spring with holy water....it was really way up there and it was a hot day so we did not hike up there...

but someone did...you can actually see that she's getting water in a cup...

amazing....nothing else is out here...well, besides villages...and 

it was tomato country....

too bad that the tomatoes doesn't taste that much here....

I'm not sure they have had their pictures taken before !....

cutie...

when driving home we learned that the district of Mewat has the highest crime rates in the area !!

we didn't learn it the hard way though..it was my driver who told me...

good to know...

if he had told us before driving out there I'm not sure we would have gone !

Children living a life in poverty

just outside our compound lives a family that are workers on a house that's being built

I see the kids every day...

taking care of the smallest one, swinging in a piece of cloth in a tree, 

or just doing nothing...

one day when they where out swinging I walked over with my driver to talk to them

it's Anitha and Sunitha....a little shy at first...

then Anitha wanted me to meet her younger sister who just woke up....

her name is Lakshmi...

Anitha was so proud of her younger sister....

this is their home...

they spend their days around this spot...

they don't go to school...even though there are government founded schools (like Sankalp welfare foundation)that are free and where they get uniforms and a free meal a day plus some education..

 still so many of the children don't get to go...they need to help out or work or just don't get to go...

these children live a very different life than what we are used to...

when I see them I do wonder if they have eaten ?

did they do something fun today ?

when winter comes will they have enough clothes and shoes ?

will they ever be able to read ?

it must be a very hard life

and sometimes it's tough to be a bystander