Well, it is now official.  I have been declared a geek by my wife and by others around me. I guess I always knew that if I was cut, I would bleed ones and zeros. Whatever led to this observation, you might ask?? Well, that is a rather interesting story.

A couple of nights ago, Ruth and I were discussing the distance that is between us. I made a comment that it was 9,000 miles and she said, yeah 1/2 way around the world. This confused me for a moment because the circumference of the earth is close to 25,000 miles so it seemed like 1/3 the distance. I was then reminded, yeah, that is the distance at the equator, not the distance at our latitude north.

Old memories came flooding back as Ruth mentioned that. Many years ago when I was in the USAF, I had to write a program (in COBOL, no less) to calculate the distance on a globe between two points. This formula is called the great circle distance routine. There is also a trig formula that allows you to calculate the radius of a sphere at different points. And then an easy formula to derive the circumference from this radius. (Thank goodness for the Internet and the ability to find the formulas through a search!)

So, since I am too lazy to do all of this math by hand, I decided to write an excel formula. This is where the fun came in, I could not get it to work. As much as I struggled, I just could not get answers that made sense. Until I slept on it. I then dredged up a long lost memory from 25 years ago that you cannot plug a degree into a Cosine. You have to convert it to radians first.  Once I did that, the formulas worked as advertised.

So, for those of you interested, here is the excel formula....

=((2*PI())*6378*COS(RADIANS(A2)))

• 6378 is the radius of the earth at the equator in kilometers.
• A2 is the cell where I place the latitude that I am interested in
• 6378*COS(RADIANS(A2) calculates the radius at that latitude
• 2*PI()*(the above result) gives you the circumference at this latitude

Now, where all of this math fails is that it works on a perfect sphere and the earth rather bulges at the middle.  But for my purposes, it worked close enough.

So, Atlanta is at latitude 33 and Hyderabad is at latitude 17, or 20,875 and 23,803 miles respectively.   Hmm, still not quite 1/2 around the world.

This leads to the next bit of geekiness. If the circumference does not show it. What does the longitude show? Atlanta is at longitude 84 degrees west and Hyderabad is at 78 degrees east.  Ok, so, just what does that show. Well, Greenwich England is considered to be 0 degrees longitude. The east and west designations are from this point. Longitudes run from 0 to 180 degrees east and west from this point.  So two points at 78 degrees longitude east and 102 degrees longitude west would be on opposite sides of the world.  Hmmm, Atlanta and Hyderabad are not quite on the other side of the world. However, they are close enough and Ruth is proved right once again! (When will I ever stop doubting her?) 

I could go on and on about the thoughts and math that I performed to understand all of this, but I have bored many of you already! I think this is all summed up nicely by a coworker who told me that we all have a little bit of geek in us. I just think that, in my case, the disease is more advanced than most!

December 22nd, Chowmahalla Palace, Charminar and Salar Jung Museum

Today was a most interesting day that entailed a lot of walking. We started off the day at Chowmahalla palace. This was the residence of many of the Nizam's (rulers) of Hyderabad over the centuries. The last Nizam donated the palace to the state of Andhra Pradesh in 1971 and in 1990 it opened to the public for their viewing. It is a splendid place that is quite large. Each of the Nizam's added his own buildings and his own architectural style which leads to quite the jumble of styles throughout the complex. One of the most impressive areas is chandeliered throne room that contains easily 20 crystal fixtures. The throne itself is on a raised pedestal that is covered in a rug and cushions. It is here that the Nizam would receive guests. All in all Chowmahalla is well worth the visit if you get the chance to visit Hyderabad.

Walking on from Chowmahalla we head towards Charminar. I have written about this place many times before so I will not bore you with it here. However, on the way, Ruth and I strolled down a place I call 'Bangle Alley'. Many of the stores here specialize in these bracelets that are worn several at a time. The name bangle comes from the sound they make when they cling together as you move. Below is a photo of the store where Ruth purchased several.

After doing the shopping, I also took Ruth up in the monument itself to get an overview of the old-town area. This time I did not hire a guide as I have been here so often I can almost give the same speeches! Today was unusual because of the number of people at the monument. I have never seen so many here at the same time. One of the guides I have used before said it is because school is out for a holiday and many families are traveling to visit relatives. It made for a very exciting climb up and down the minarets though.

We did have a humorous event here when Ruth was approached by several teenage girls to say hello. As part of the conversation they asked if I was her husband. When Ruth responded in the affirmative, one of the girls replied "you are very lucky!" to which the rest of the young ladies agreed. I have never been more embarrassed as when Ruth readily agreed with them.

Leaving the Charminar monument, we headed down the street of shops. I made sure to take Ruth through the area that specializes in Saris and different fabrics. Upon exiting the place, Ruth exclaimed that she was overwhelmed with the color and the entire area. That was the exact reaction I was looking for as I took her through the area.

Leaving the market place, we headed over to the Salar Jung museum. This museum houses many different items collected by the Nizam during his lifetime as well as additional collections from the region. This is a fine place to get a glimpse of what palace life must of been like as well as some of the local crafts that are produced. As no photography was permitted in the museum, I suggest you read up on the place through this link.

The only thing I would like to share of this museum is a piece titled "the veiled Rebecca". I have seen many marble statues in my life, but none that have compared to this piece. I could of spent many hours just marveling at the beauty and workmanship on this piece. It will always hold a place in my thoughts and heart as the pinnacle of the art of sculpture. Please note that I did not take the embedded picture, this is from the museums web site. The covering on her face appears to be fabric but is, in fact, marble.

After a long a tiring day, we returned to the hotel to freshen up and then head to Indi-Joe's for dinner. It was a nice end to a nice day.

December 23rd - Nehru Zoo

What can I say? Ruth and I are both zoo people. And when one of the best zoos I have ever visited is here in Hyderabad, I have got to take my bride there for a visit. So this morning we had Sidhar drive back down to the Charminar area to visit the place. The zoo is neatly tucked into an area that appears to be mostly commercial and if you did not know it was there, you could easily drive right by it.

The zoo is over 300 acres in size and much of it is open to wander around. The animals are kept in areas that mimic as close as they can the natural environment that can be created. And unlike U.S. zoos, many of the animals are easily viewed with nothing more than a moat and a small fence between the animal and the public. (Some of the more interesting cats are behind some significant fencing, but this is the exception).

The zoo is also home to a pride of white tigers. During our time today, there we 6 on exhibit and they were for the most part very active. There was one who spent the entire time scratching at the door to be let back into the protected enclosure. Below are the photos of the day.

"I've been mobbed!!!"

This was uttered by Ruth after we had a visit from a bunch of school kids. I had been telling Ruth about my experience with the kids here and that if you say hello to one, before you know it you have a crowd around you. Well today it happened to Ruth. As we were touring the zoo, a very cute little girl waved at Ruth and said hello. Ruth smiled back, waved and said hello. Before you could say "what happened?" we were surrounded by 50 kids wanting to say hello and shake our hands or just touch us. I was greatly amused at the look on Ruth's face when the episode was over. She has since coined a phrase "kid-mobbed" that explains it all too well.

After four hours walking around the zoo we headed back to the hotel for a nice afternoon shower and a quick nap. Tonight's meal was at Angeehi. This is a nice Punjabi restaurant in which we ordered a spiced paneer and vegetable dish, an order of white rice and lastly one of my favorite India dishes, Dal. What a great meal to end a great day!

Saturday, 22 September

After a LOOONG work week, Jason and I decided to do some interesting things this weekend. Because of the weather forecast,  we decided to head down to Charminar today. Charminar is located in the central of old Hyderabad and is surrounded by little shops and carts selling many different things. The picture to the left shows the Charminar at the end of the street and you can see just the throng of people in the area. We spent a couple of hours walking through the shops and talking to people in store fronts and on the street. It was a much different experience than the last time we were there. I think it shows how much I have changed since I have been here. The last time I visited, my head was on a constant swivel looking around me. Because of this, I did not actually SEE anything. Today, I spent time looking in the stalls, talking to people and just enjoying myself!  I will make one observation though, security was every where today. There was a very large police and military presence. I think this had to do with the heightened state of alert because of the religious festivals this weekend (more on this later).

After finishing the visit, we headed to a store named "Music World", I will give you three guesses on what they sell there! This was a very large store that had a significant section on European and U.S. music and videos. However, there was also a large section on the regional movies and music. I purchased two items while I was there.  One was a CD on the music of India that contained one CD on just the drums and another on the various musical styles and I also bought the soundtrack CD from the movie Chak De! India. Both of these CD's are very good!

After finishing at the music store, we headed back to the hotel and freed our driver for the day. A couple of hours later, it was time to walk over to City Center to do some snack shopping and grab some dinner. Unfortunately, the restaurant that I wanted to go to did not open until 7pm. As it was only 5:30, we decided to go to McDonalds.  About the time we got there, there was a massive power outage in the mall. So, we just did the snack shopping and then headed back to the hotel.

Sunday, 23 September

Our goal for today is GET OUT OF THE CITY. I should explain. I have been in India for 6 weeks now and have not be out of the city of Hyderabad (other than the side trip to Ramaji film city). So during the week I spent time searching the Internet trying to find something close, but interesting. I came across the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, Ethipothala falls and Nagarjunakonda.  Nagarjunakonda is a very old Buddhist ruins (dating tot he third century) that was going to be submerged when the dam was built. The archeologist spent a year studying the ruins and then brick by brick moved the entire settlement to a hill top in the same are. Now it is only accessible via a boat trip across the lake.

So, since this looked very interesting and appeared close (my books said 75 kilometers), we set out at 9:30 am on the adventure. The first problem was that our driver did not want to take us. He stated that it was going to be a 5-6 hour drive and that it would be better to take two days. I was devastated and we talked Kham into taking us back to the hotel to reconsider out options. After a quick bite of breakfast, we checked at the front desk of the hotel to ask what else might be in the area. She informed us that the dam we wanted to get to was only 3-3.5 hours a way and we could be back before sunset. SO she marched out the front door and convinced Kham to take us. Thank you Taj Deccan! So, after an hour delay, we were on the road again.

I will not bore you with the details of the three hour drive other than to say it was great getting out of the city. One of the things that came to the front of this drive was the fact that we are in a sub-tropical region. Once out of the city, there were palm trees everywhere!  It reminded me of the time spent in Puerto Rico and the time spent with Ruth's parents in middle Florida.

After close to three and a half hours, we finally arrived at the reservoir. As I understand it, this lake is one of the primary sources of drinking water for the city of Hyderabad. It was an absolutely stunning lake. The way it sits in the valley and the surrounding country side is quite the sight to see.  (There is another story here, this weekend is starting the conclusion of the Ganesh festivals where the idol of Ganesh is carried to a water source and placed in the water along with a prayer for his return in the next year. So being a very large water source, there are many people carrying their idols to rest here. I will talk about this more later in the story)

After another 20 minutes skirting the lake, we came around a bend and saw the first signs of the dam. The first part of the dam is a very large earthen structure that you used to be able to drive over. This is closed now for obvious reasons. Driving down the side of the hill and into the valley below you get an idea of just how large this earthen dam is. It rises easily 200 feet into the air and the base must be a 1/4 of mile thick.

After a short drive, you come across the hydro electric part of the dam.  Again, this is a  massive structure and we are told that it is one of the largest dams in India. We spent quite a bit of time here admiring the engineering of the structure. One of the things I also noticed here is the structure of the bedrock around us.  It seems that this entire area of India is covered in this broken rock look. I cannot imagine the effort the engineers had to go through to get the dam into a solid base in order to withstand the forces of the water that is contained behind the dam.

13 kilometers down the road is the falls that we were heading towards. These falls are a popular tourist destination for the locals and there are a couple of different ways to view them. One is to pay the 15 rupees a head to get into a private garden area that over looks the falls. Another is to take the foot paths that are around the area and hike into the falls. Guess which one we took (it was not the hiking!)  The park area was quite stunning and had a number of very nice overlooks on the falls.  This is where a couple of different items happened. One was the number of folks in this area that wanted the picture taken with the large American. I had one father place his son next to me without my realizing it to get a photo of his son next to me. Once I saw what was going on, I pulled Jason along and put the boy between us so dad could get the photo. Dad appeared very happy to get the picture, his son less so!  A little later, I was approached again by a gentleman that wanted to have his photo taken while shaking my hand. This is the same sort of thing that happened to me at Ramaji film city and certainly made me feel like an attraction. It is a good thing I like people and I expect my smiles removed all sense of fear and trepidation of those around me.

The next thing that happened is that while I was attempting to take a picture of the falls while  leaning over the rail, I was interrupted by a monkey who was more interested in eating his roasted ear of corn rather than be bothered by a mere photographer. Needless to say, I immediately switched the focus of my camera from the falls to the monkey. When I switched to the video camera, the monkey had had enough and did a false charge at me. It certainly made me take a step or two back. (see the video below)

The trip to the falls also brought one other thing to light. In the states, when you have a falls of this size, the government does all it can to keep people away from it (much to my chagrin) In India, if you get hurt doing something stupid, it is your own fault. The government is going to take no responsibility for your actions. I think that India has this idea right.  As you can see from the photo to the left, folks are all over the falls. These two gentlemen are on a ledge that is about halfway down the falls. They had to climb down the rock face and then traverse a small ledge to get where they are. All along the falls, top and bottom you could see folks getting right up to the falls to enjoy the spray.

It is probably just as well that Jason and I did not hike to the bottom of the falls or I might of been right in there with them! (Someday remind me to tell you the story of Hemlock falls and the time meet feet and head decided to switch places)  The falls and park that we were at is also a very popular picnic spot as you can see from the picture below.

Finishing with the falls, we were planning on taking the boat ride over to the Buddhist ruins in the middle of the lake. Unfortunately because of our late start we missed the last ferry of the day. Well, just dang, and other epitaphs. I was hoping to go see them. But I guess there is always a time in the future. I will be here several more months though!

Since there was nothing left to do in this area, we decided to head back to the city. During the drive back,  we kept seeing a number of vehicles of all sizes transporting the Ganesh idols to the lake. These vehicles would be filled with happy, singing people dressed in orange headbands or flowers in their hair. They would wave to anyone who  anyone who made eye contact with them. It seemed to be quite the party. I do not know all there is to know about this festival, but you can find more on it here.

I also had another humorous incident on the drive home. Because we were enjoying the fresh air on the drive so much, we came back with the windows of the car open (ah, the smell of green instead of diesel fumes). In one little village, we got stopped due to an accident up the road (which we did not know about at this time). In this small village was a rather significant market going on with lots of people around. I was taking this opportunity to take some video of the happenings when three little girls saw us in the car. Once they realized I was filming, they all smiled and waved. I waved back to them and they had the typical pre-teen reaction to a male paying attention to them. Embarrassed giggles and then running to hide behind mom and dad. After a couple of minutes, they poked their head out again to which I waved again. This produced the same result. It was quite cute and if you want to see the video, it is in the post below.

Traveling a little further down the road, we came upon the source of the traffic jam.  It appears that one of the trucks had a minor failure in the rear axle of the truck and proceeded to dump gravel all over the road. The other truck you see is being filled, by hand, with the contents of the truck that suffered the failure. This is one of the first serious incidents that I have seen since I have been here. I suspect that the truck was traveling at some speed and then hit the divider. It must of been a spectacular accident!

After the long drive back, we had Kham drop us at City Center again hoping to grab dinner. While Jason and I had packed water and snacks for the day, we did not have lunch. Again, I was hoping to eat and India-Joe's, and again they were closed. So once again, another meal at McDonalds (I don't eat there this much in the States!)

So, all in all, it was a very good weekend. Would I make this drive again? Probably not. Would I like to get further out of Hyderabad and see more of the country? Absolutely. However, I think I would like to spend more time in the smaller towns and villages and less time in the cities. From what I saw today, India has so much more to offer than the concrete, dirt and dust of the city. I very much enjoyed the pastoral vistas and the markets in the small towns. I can honestly say, that I have enjoyed this weekend much more than anything else I have done since I have been here.

I also recommend viewing the video below to get an idea of what we saw and to have a chance to laugh a bit!

I know that this entry has a strange title, but it was a strange day. So, please bear with my tale as I explain it all. Today Gulshan and I decided to head down to Golkonda fort. Our intent was to tour the fort and then stay for the laser and light show that is scheduled nightly. During our trip to the fort, we got off of paved roads and wound up on a really rough dirt road. This lead us through the first gate that is about 5 km from the main fortress.  Upon arriving, we were the last ones let inside. The cost for Gulshan was 5 INR and mine was 100 INR (about $2.50). We also decided to hire a guide to tell us what we were looking at.

A little background history of the fort. History says that the fort started when a shepherd boy found an idol on top of the hill and a mud fort was constructed around it. The hill was called Golla Konda in the Telugu language which literally means Shepherds Hill. It is believed in 1143 that the fort was upgraded from it's mud origins and the current layout started to take shape. After the initial fort was conquered, the present fort took it shape beginning in 1507.

The photo on the left is the main entrance into the fort itself. It is protected by a curtain wall that prevented charging elephants from breaching the gate. The black square at the top of the photo is a place where Boiling oil could be dropped upon invaders. The walls themselves were never breached and only by a bribe was any invading army allowed in.

The present name of the fort of Golkonda is a mix between the Muslim word Gol meaning round and the Hindu word Konda meaning hill. As the present fort winds all over the hill, this is a great name for it.

Once inside the gates, there is a room that was built to echo the sounds within it so that an alarm could be sounded upon the top of the hill over three kilometers away. A simple handclap is echoed many times and amplified by the natural shape of the entry hall. To prove this, our guide clapped his hand in the center of the room and it echoed all over the grounds. He stated that this was to allow the kings guard a chance to know that the gates had been breached. The photo at the right shows the fort as you first enter the gates. To the right was the army barracks and to the left was the armory. At the top left of the photo is the watch tower whose sole purpose was to listen for the sound of the clapping hands to sound the alarm.

In the process of climbing several hundred stairs, we came upon this sight. This is the fort layout as it exists today. In the far distance of this photo, you can just make out the original entry gate and closer in (the white building on the middle left after the park) is the second gate. In it's day, this must of been an incredible sight to see. The pathway we took up passed several water tanks that were manually filled through pumps by four lakes in the surrounding countryside.  Each time water was moved to the next tank, it was tested to see if it had been poisoned by a little of the water being used on the animals. If the animals dropped dead, the tank was emptied and it was known that the water was not pure. The engineers also built curtain walls to protect the water tanks from being poisoned by arrows. Too short and the arrow hit the wall, clear the wall and the arrow missed the tank. Who said that our forefathers were dumb?

Strange as it may sound, Golkonda fort is filled with various places of worship. There are Hindu temples and Muslim mosques throughout the grounds (see above). You may note that the mosque on the right bears a striking resemblance to the Charminar, this is completely on purpose. One of the kings that lived in this fort built the Charminar for one of his brides. It is good to be the king.

The architecture, planning and opulence of this must of impressed visitors as they first arrived. I know it impressed me. The steps to the top of the hill numbered more than 600 hundred and were spaced so that horses could be used to climb them. Our guide said that when the king and queen ascended the stairs, they were carried on couches. In order to keep the couch level on the stairs, the men carrying the front were short and those in the back were tall. Once the carriage reached level ground, they were changed for men of the same height.

As we reached the top of the hill, we stopped to have this photo taken. That's Gulshan on the left and me on the right. As you look over our shoulders, two things should stand out. One is that we are at the top of the hill and the second thing is the storm clouds on the horizon. These will play a major part in our story before the end of the tale.

It is also from this point that the clapping hands from below could be heard. To prove this our guide had one of his compatriots stand in the entry chamber and clap his hands. We could easily hear this over the hustle and bustle of the town below. Our guide then clapped his hands and said that the echo in this area could be heard throughout the complex and could call reinforcements to the gate. It continues to be a source of amazement that our ancestors had all of this figured out before the oscilloscope was even dreamed of.

While approaching the audience chamber behind us, we walked onto an elevated platform that looked down both sides of the ridge. This is what we saw coming at us.. As you might expect, we were a little concerned to be on top of the hill while a storm was coming in. On the way down, the heavens opened up and the rain came on strong. Water on the granite steps that have been worn down over the centuries and have slipped a little made them extremely slippery. So it was a very cautious trip down the hill.

As you can see from this photo, the rain was coming down hard. Although we had intended to stay for the lighting show, we both decided that we were drenched and the thought of sitting in a chair for another hour or so to watch the program was not something to contemplate. So we said goodbye to our guide and walked out of the fort. During the walk out, we stopped in several other rooms of the fort including the burial chambers, the harem chambers and the judgement chambers.  We also walked through the camel stables and other places within the fort, which, by the way, is now inhabited by bats. One can never forget the smell of guano!

Once outside, we hooked up with our driver for the return trip home.

Now to pay off the other part of the title. During our ride in, I had mentioned the dirt roads that were severely wash boarded. I was wondering on the ride in what could of caused this. Well, on the egress, we found out why. The area does not have good drainage and a little bit of rain can cause fairly interesting flooding. During the drive I saw at least two manhole covers lifted completely out of the ground by the rainwater. The exit road was about 3 feet deep in running water and because it was a single lane road, it was backed up for blocks. Our driver decided to take a back road around the issue and this lead to even more interesting times. One of the roads we traversed kept getting deeper and deeper until the car in front of us had the water up to his windows. Kham decided that this was not a smart idea and made a left onto another side street. We were able to travel down this road for some time until we had to come to a screeching halt.  At a crossroad, there was a fairly significant rapid. This was caused by the water running down the hill and hitting a curb and the base of houses. Kham decided that he could not continue straight, so he turned left into the oncoming rapid. At this point the water was 1/2 way up the side of the car and started to come in around the seams (at one point, there was 2-3 inches of water on the floor board).  Undaunted, Kham continued up this road until the water cleared and we were free from the flooding. I can not imaging what this area is like during heavy rains as we only got less than an inch of rain in the time we were there.

Once onto more major roads, we thought we were home free. But about 2 miles form the hotel, the car decided to just quit. It appears that the car overheated due to the traffic jam we were in.  After 15 minutes or so, the car cooled down enough for us to finish our journey.

All in all, it was a fantastic day and even a little rain could not sink our little ship or our enthusiasm for the day.  I will leave you with one last photo. This is a panoramic of the building on top of the hill. Notice the rocks that are laying about and imagine trying to build in this area!!

“Life is Color!” Gupreet

This quote above was given to us by Gupreet when he met us to show us a new service apartment. Gulshan had commented on the bright color of his turban (It was a bright orange).  I can think of no other quote that describes what I have seen of India better.  Everywhere you look, you are assaulted by color. From the blacks of the burkas to the multi colored saris. Everywhere the eye rests; there is a rainbow of color.

This was even truer this evening when there was a wedding going on at the hotel I am staying at.  The ladies in their multi-colored dress and the men in their dark suits and bright shirts are a reminder that life goes on and joy cannot long be contained.

I would of liked to have been down among the guests as the wedding was going on, but did not feel like intruding on the family celebration of a new life together. So, I got to vicariously attend by overlooking the pageantry from my second story window.

So the pain and sorrow of yesterday gives way to the hope a new life together today and tomorrow.

Anyway, for now, I hope you enjoy the color of the photos.

It is with great sorrow and sadness that I pen these words this evening. As I was out enjoying the city after the afternoon rains, cowards decided to bomb two areas in Hyderabad. Both of these places were areas that would attract innocents. One was a city park that was conducting a laser show. As you can imagine, it was jam-packed with families and children to enjoy the festivities. The other was a restaurant, again an area frequented by families.  I am certain that these places were targeted because of the world wide horror that it is going to spawn. There is no place in this world where these types of acts can ever be justified and only the cowardly take on those who have no way to protect themselves. So, an evening of fun and adventure with the family turns to tragedy. And because the cowards were afraid to show themselves and speak openly of their issues, 30 or more people lost their lives and over 50 have been injured. How many others are impacted because friends or family have been directly affected by this warrantless act?  It is far easier to hide in the shadows to do these dastardly deeds than it is to come in the light and let all see and hear you.

Truth be told, it could have easily been one of the four of us who are here hanging out together. We had just left the area in which the bombings occurred and were not aware of the tragedy until our hotel manager contacted us to suggest we return to the hotel. He had recommended that we visit the place where this had occurred and we only left because we were getting hungry. It is an amazing world in which we live that an act of this nature can be broadcast around the world in minutes. Within 20 minutes, all of our cell phones and blackberry’s were going off with family, friends and coworkers checking in to see if we were OK.

My only prayer is that the cowards who committed this senseless act are caught and rapidly brought to justice. Although the damage and loss they caused to those innocents tonight can never be taken back.

So I will end this entry in the same vein in which I started it. I pray for whatever comforts that can be found for those who are affected by the events of this night. I also pray for the children, who did not need to see the horror that man can inflict upon man, will not be scarred and additional hatred brewed.