David Kotz

Coorg

At the end of our Kerala trip (see previous entry), we drove up into the Western Ghats to spend a few days at the Orange County Resort in Coorg [location] [in 2021, I think that resort is now at this website]. Coorg is famous for coffee plantations and cool green hills. Read on, and check out the photos.

Kerala, Part 4: Kochi and Kannur

Back to the Kerala coastline for two nights, then back up into the Western Ghats.

Back on the coast, in Kochi, we stayed one night in the peninsula of Fort Cochin [location]. The highlight there was a visit to the harbor front, where we stopped to help some fishermen work the famous “Chinese” fishing nets – an ancient technology introduced to the area by Chinese fishing fleets hundreds of years ago and still in use today [location]. Read on and check out the photos from Kochi and photos from Kannur.

In Kochi, Andy, Pam, Mara, and John help raise the Chinese fishing nets in Kochi. At rear is our driver, Ashok.

Kerala, Part 3: the hills

Up to the cool ridge of the Western Ghats.

After our visit to the backwaters, we headed inland and uphill, to the cool ridge of the Western Ghats. Although we stayed only one night, we took a boat safari through a tiger refuge, watched demonstrations of Kerala martial arts and traditional dance, toured a spice plantation and a tea plantation, and rode elephants. Read on, and check out the photo gallery!

We finish our elephant ride in the hills of Kerala. David, Mara, Andy, John, Pam.

Kerala, Part 2: the backwaters

Exploring the backwaters on a kettuvallam.

After a swim on the beach at sunrise, we left Thiruvananthapuram and drove north about 4-5 hours to Alleppey, gateway to the famous Kerala backwaters [location]. The “backwaters” of Kerala are an extensive network of brackish lowland lagoons, lakes, and canals that have been developed over centuries into rice paddies and villages. We spent two days exploring this interesting area. Read on, and check out the photos!

Our kettuvallam, the Bay Pride, seen from the water. (Kerala backwaters.)

Kerala, Part 1: the coast

A few days on the famous Malabar coast.

I’m stepping back to December. All our January travel kept me from sorting the 2,500 photos I took on our travels through Kerala and Dharamsala in December. Read on about the First stop: Kerala (December 12-20).

Trains – and luggage

Read the rules carefully.

When I visited IIT Madras we took the train from Bangalore to Chennai. Before we left I checked the luggage regulations. I was struck by some of the rules, notably,

dead poultry are not allowed as luggage.
live poultry, on the other hand, are ok. The fee: Rs30 (60 cents).
elephants are ok, too; Rs1500 ($30).
horses Rs750 ($15).

This post was transferred from MobileMe to WordPress in 2020, with an effort to retain the content as close to the original as possible; I recognize that some comments may now seem dated or some links may now be broken.

Mumbai terrorist attacks

What lessons can we learn?

Today, the kids and I spent the afternoon at the park and then went out for dinner in the center of town. All seems normal. Indeed, it was very pleasant to watch so many families out to enjoy the playground, with dozens of children running, swinging, and climbing, eating ice cream and popcorn.

And yet, as we waited for a table in the restaurant, the television shows nonstop news coverage of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, 1,000 km from here [Location]. Although Bangalore seems to be going about its business, in talking with people it is clear that many are shaken. Despite the fact that terrorist attacks are all too common here – something like six attacks in the past six months, in various parts of the country including Bangalore – the nature of this one was different. One IT executive who has lived here for 10 years told me that this was the first time he was scared… in large part because this time they weren’t just placing a bomb and then running away, but because they were brazenly and openly attacking people.

Photo by Arko Datta/Reuters – snipped from the New York Times.

The media attention also made a big difference. This incident played out live on television, over three days, and that has a significant impact on people. The psychological effect, which of course is the whole point of terrorism, is amplified by the media.

It remains to be seen how things will change as a result of this incident. There are elections coming in a few weeks, and the politicians are already making terrorism a major election issue. I’m hoping that they can all learn a lesson from watching the families at the playground today. Muslim families, Christian families, Hindu families. One little girl – a Hindu – was helped onto the swing by another girl’s mother – a Muslim. This is India.

More IISc wildlife

I finally got some good pictures of the black Kites.

I’m not sure whether the RSS feed highlights new photo albums, so here’s a quick entry to point out that I’ve added another small collection of IISc photos. Plenty of flowers, and I finally got some good pictures of the black Kites. [location]

An Indian Obama?

Could it happen in India?

Ever since the election, the media has been full of stories about Obama, and editorials about whether it might be possible to have such a thing happen here in India– a minority elected president. Perhaps a Muslim, or a Dalit.

In today’s Times of India, there is a very interesting opinion piece by Ashutosh Varshney about why he thinks it won’t happen:

“First, party establishments cannot easily be challenged until there are open intra-party elections for the leadership of political parties.”
“Second, the US has a presidential system, India a parliamentary one. Since a US president is elected by the whole nation, a presidential system creates a national political arena.”
“Third, to mobilise citizens for vote, one has to speak in a language that the citizens can understand.” The India electorate is multilingual.

Why I love living on campus

We live in faculty apartments on the campus of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in Bangalore.

When we visited Bangalore last August, the prime mission for our visit was to find a place to live. Many expats live in some of the snazzy new apartment complexes or walled-in gated communities of villas. We live on campus at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and are so glad we had that option and made that choice. [location]

Forest path in the center of IISc campus.

it’s like living in a park, with trees and wildlife everywhere
there is lots of wildlife (check out my photos, or this amazing Flickr album, by a grad student)
I walk to work (2 blocks!), skipping the numbing traffic of Bangalore most days
it’s quiet – because there’s no traffic and there are lots of trees
the air is cleaner – because there’s no traffic and there are lots of trees
it’s safer – because it’s a gated community with guards at all the gates
the power, telephone, and water are reliable, unlike other parts of the city (which suffers through 4hr power outages most days)
there are many on-campus services, including a restaurant and little independent shops: tailors, hairdressors, drycleaner, travel agents, copiers, bookstore, bike repair, vegetables, milk, bread, sundries
we have access to facilities like the gym and pool
my kids’ schoolbus stops at the gate on the edge of campus
my kids can safely play and bike in the streets
there are lots of kids in the neighborhood, and they all speak English; my kids have friends
they have free kids movies on some nights
the neighbors are all professors, and friendly.

It’s not perfect, to be sure – there is a surprising amount of trash around, and a clear lack of maintenance. But this is so much nicer, on the whole.