Category Archives: Every Day Life One of the things I love about India – and which always surprises me – is the extent and beauty of the countryside. As of April 2023, India was estimated to have overtaken China as the most populous country in the world. In spite of that, you can drive great distances through an agrarian landscape, […]  Like other Indian cities, Madurai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu offers up some magnificent palace and temple architecture. But, it was the life in the streets that I loved best. I was travelling around South India with a small group. We had driven to Madurai from Thanjavur the day before, stopping to visit […]  Nestled at the foot of the Hajar Mountains are some of the oldest villages in Oman. This is a rugged, desert region with little rainfall. Settlements could only survive where ground water was available. But, where water was found, it was ingeniously managed. Using a type of irrigation system developed 5000 years ago in Persia, […]  Puducherry / Pondicherry, in Peninsular India, is known for its colonial charm. The colonial period there began in 1521 with the Portuguese – the first Europeans to conduct textile trade in the region. The Dutch and the Danes followed in the 17th century, but it was the French who had the most enduring influence after […]  Any visitor to these pages knows I love markets. I love the insight they give into the lives of the locals: What foods do they eat? How do they barter or trade? How do they engage with (or not!) the foreigner in their midst? How do they interact with each other? I love the apparent […] |
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