Big Hooplah in Hyderabad!

Sorry for the delay, folks! I almost made it out of India without getting sick, and I had this great post planned, along the lines of, hey, we drank the water, we ate all the street food we wanted to, and I didn't get sick once! I think I caught Linda's cold, though. I'm feeling a little better now, don't worry.

Let's catch up: 

We got to Hyderabad! 

Linda's wonderful mother took us in, and cooked us all kinds of delicious food. It was a long train ride from Kolkata, so we were happy to get a chance to stretch our legs and take a walk around Linda's neighborhood, where we met some puppies, who were adorable.

Then we hung up some flags!

On the right here is Jyothsna Phanija, a local Hyderabad poet, her husband in the background.

And Jennifer Robertson! She came all the way from Mumbai, and guys her poetry is fantastic. I can't wait to start exchanging poems with her, the stuff she writes is just amazing. In the foreground here is Linda's mother.

Here's some of the flags everyone made! This one's from Jyothsna's husband, Radha Krishna.

A poem Jyothsna wrote, which Chris put on a flag for her. Jyothsna's been blind since birth.

Here's one I made! On the train, Linda woke me up from my nap and suggested we try writing some haikus. After my first haiku didn't cut muster, I took extra long thinking out my next haiku, so long that I'd only figured out the last two lines by the time this photo was taken, 20 hours later from when she told me to write it! I finished my nap, though.

Here's a poem by Jennifer!

Ping making a flag.

Here's one already up, I don't think I've seen it before.

Later in the night we all got a little rowdy and the ladies convinced Ping to try on a saree. This here's poet Rochelle Potkar, helping put it on her.

The ladies adjusting the saree to show more midriff.

Oh, and she looked fabulous. Who doesn't look fabulous in a saree?

Chris and Ping showing off their dance moves. I did the best I could to compete on my one functional leg

Housewives draw these on their doorsteps every morning to bring Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

This was a nifty little alter. On the side there's Kali, she's always got her tongue sticking out.

The next day was the huge event we all came to India for!

I bought a fine suit of Indian garb for the occasion.

  It was at the grandiose ITC Kakatiya Luxury Hotel, so luxurious Linda was worried they wouldn't let us hang the flags up, which was in fact exactly what they did. Instead, the help insisted on doing it for us. Chris was a little incredulous.

Checkin the knots.

This here's the hotels' executive Chef, Sekar. He oversaw all the petit fours and high tea and whatnot.

On the left in the red right there is famous Telegu moviestar, Kamalinee Mukherjee

All the big media outlets came to cover this big event for India poetry.

Chris read his "Anus of America" poem about New Orleans and the Mississippi River -- it was awesome.

Jyothsna reading her poem.

Believe it or not, this whole event was sponsored by a milk producer. This here guy's the exec they sent over to the event. The look on his face the whole time said, "I knew poetry and milk is as winning a combination as it sounds." There were free milk samples after the reading.

And it was Ping's birthday!! Happy birthday, Ping!

Poet Mani Rao with Jennifer

More flags were made.

And doesn't that look fabulous! Ping asked Chef Sekar if he ever wrote poetry. I said, we're eatin it right now, Ping!

And to top it off, we all got these trophies at the end! Read the bottom: "Oliver St John, Poet, New York!" It's official now! That's the milk company's logo at the top.

The next day Ping was overjoyed by the prospect of bossing around Chef Sekar in the Kitchen. 

That's right, Ping and Sekar had gotten along so well, he'd actually agreed when Ping said he should let her show him some Chinese recipes. The next day was also Indian Independence day.

Gandhi.

And here's Chef Sekar! What a smile! I'd be smiling too if I'd won all those international cheffing awards.

Me, Chris and Chef Sekar, all wearing stylish hats. Sekar showed us around his kitchen.

This guy's in charge of the sweets! You can tell by his sweet face.

Here's the tandoori chef! Opening up that tandoori oven for us.

Inside the tandoori oven.

I don't remember what this guy does!

Meat.

Here's the pastry chef! He's also 2nd in charge after Sekar and takes over when Sekar's out of town. He does a lot around the kitchen. He has his thumb in many pies.

The Chinese food chef! Ping asked him if he spoke any Chinese. He didn't.

Thats the first beef I've seen in India, in it's non-living form! Ping wanted me to document her cooking with Sekar, so I didn't get any photos with my own camera, which is too bad. She had a blast, though. "Now remember, you must never, NEVER boil the dumplings! Only simmer, or they'll come apart." Sekar took all this very well.

We helped ourselves to deserts.

Goodbye Hyderabad!

 By folks! That's it for now. The next day we all went home, and I got sick, so there aren't any very good photos. I'd like to say thank you so much for following me on our Indian adventures! To all the friends I made: you guys rock! To Linda Asok: Thank you so much for your hospitality, your generosity, and for showing us around these awesome Indian cities! I had a blast. See you next time!