Red Roofs and Green Doors

Corrugated tin roofs painted red and wooden doors painted green predominate:

The snows again

We walked up to the top of the hill this morning to have breakfast at Rokeby's.  The snows were out in full glory, though with a bit of a haze in the air.  This is a view I never get tired of, and have to take pictures of every time I am fortunate enough to see the snow-capped mountains.

 Bandar Punch (ca 21,000 feet)

 Pepper Pot in the foreground, the Gangotri peaks appearing behind and to the left (source of the Ganges river)

 

Do you recognize this view?

This morning I wandered around the campus with my camera and took photos of some out-of-the way spots and views.  If you have been to Woodstock School, do you recognize these?

Rangoli

This is the first really warm sunny day after a long cold spell . and this coming Monday is the Indian festival of Holi.  The 1st and 2nd graders spent this morning making rangoli in the Quad.

First, they worked in pairs to make small rangoli using powdered color: 

Then they worked together to make a large rangoli out of flower petals:

More weather

I've been working hard in the Archives and haven't done much exploring yet.  Partly because the last two days have been particularly cold with persistent heavy rain, strong winds, and some thunder and lightening. There are breaks - and when they come, great views!

I'm hoping that by this weekend the skies will have cleared enough to make it worth walking to the top of the hill.

Environmental stuff

Back in the U.S. in my real life, I am involved in a group of folks that are working to cut our carbon footprints, so I am becoming much more aware of environmental issues and choices.


Here are some random related comments --

This is such a beautiful place, here at about 7000 feet in the first range of the Himalayas, in an area of protected forest, but of course it is not immune to the pressures of modern civilization. The city of Dehra Dun, that lies at the foot of the mountains here, has grown tremendously now that it is the seat of government for Uttarkhand.  If you look out at the lights at night, it seems like almost three fourths of the Dun valley is filled with lights, and these continue on up into the hills as if Mussoorie and Landaur are now just suburbs of Dehra.

Electricity: All electric outlets have switches so there is less chance of wasting 'phantom' power.  At the YWCA where I stay in Delhi, one has to insert one's room key in a special slot for the small hot-water geyser or the air conditioner to work.

Here in the hills, at least this week, the power has been going off a dozen or so times a day, and then the School's generator kicks in ... likely run on diesel.

Water: Right now there is adequate water, but that changes through the seasons.  The typical way of bathing in India is with a 'bucket bath,' which uses much less water than a shower.  Put a bucket under the tap and run the hot water until it gets hot, then add in cold as needed.  With a half-bucket one can get a decent cleaning; with a full bucket one can wash thick hair or have enough water left to wash out some clothes.  Pour a couple of mugs of water over the body, soap it up, and then rinse.

Plastics: In my last posting I complained about all of the plastic laying about.  There are spots here on the hillsides that have become dumping grounds for plastic.  Not good!

Sewer: Landaur is building a sewage treatment facility! The edges of Tehri Road are being dug up and pipes installed.  The facility is to be built below 'New Road' about half way between Woodstock and Wynberg-Allen schools.  It will be very interesting to see if it actually gets built and works as intended.

Right now most sewage likely goes down the mountain into the local streams, or into cesspits or possibly septic tanks.

Creative Writing

When I was young I wanted to be a writer.  Pearl Buck was a guest at the school when my class was in 7th grade and I was so inspired by her (don't ask me what she said .. I don't remember).  When I was a senior in HS, I was on the editorial team of the literary magazine, Motif, which was intermittently issued from 1965-2006.

This year's seniors are hoping to revive the magazine and one young woman came to the archives to look at old issues and write a short description of the magazine.