Around Vapi

Why wait for the weekend to post interesting pics from Vapi?

The bungalow under "deconstruction" is now ready for rebuilding:

Only the walls and servants' quarters are left standing. The brick and concrete rubble were hauled off after the huge amount of rebar had been removed by hand, cut into shorter lengths, and sold as scrap metal.

Just a reminder of what the plot looked like two weeks ago.

While on the topic of remodeling:

What do you do with a tree that is too close to your wall? Just cement it in place! Our neighbor re-vamped his wall over the past couple of weeks, and simply incorporated the tree into the new wall.

More on India's pollution problem:

While most of the soot and oil in the air can be attributed to industry, and vehicles add to the the smog, roadside trash fires add a substantial amount of smoke as well. As you travel the roads, it's not unusual to see a half-dozen small fires like this  in a 100-meter stretch of road. All contributing smoke and ash to the environment. If plastic or tires get into the mix, the smoke can be quite black.

And on to the domestic side of life:

Why does Indian food taste so good? It's not only the spices; it's also the fact that most of it is fried. I'm not sure whether it's vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter) in those 5-gallon tins. These tins are a major household recycling item. It's common to see a man pushing a handcart collecting empty tins in the neighborhoods.

This cute calf is only a few weeks old. It's usually tied up to this gate, but Mama is never too far off. This particular bungalow has what I call a "cow port" in the back (where an American home would have a "car port").

This is a photo of the marble floor in our laundry area. (Doesn't everyone have a marble laundry room?) Today was the first time I noticed the definite slip-fault in the pattern.