A little bit closer to getting into the Christmas spirit ... or?

I am desperately trying to get into some sort of Christmas spirit! With all the usual signs - you know, the markets, the lights, the cold, the short days, the julbord, the glögg, the Christmas concerts everywhere, the announcement of this years Christmas gift (!), etc - virtually absent, I find it a challenge. In addition, the sun is shining and it is 26 degrees, well, at least in the afternoons.

Today I took off together with some fellow Nestlé partners to visit the much talked about Aman's Christmas Collection in Noida. Noida, you ask? Yes, well, sort of an appendix to Delhi in the east with the Yamuna river as the only visible indicator of having crossed to another city - and indeed to another state, Uttar Pradesh, or UP for the initiated :-)

This fellow greeted us at the door - ok, maybe a start ...

Inside ... well, it is an export company that is open for sale only a few weeks per year, and only when it is too late to export Christmas decorations. Everything was covered in a rather substantial layer of dust!

The collection ranges from "quite nice" to "you must be kidding me!" Sorting through stars, ribbon, gift bags, stockings, wreaths, birds, butterflies and ... yes ... the much loved traditional Christmas elephants was a little surreal and very dirty! 

Above a whole wall full of Christmas balls.

These lovely heads sticking out of the wall ... gave me the creeps to be honest :-) I just could not help but thinking about their potentially painful death, then the beheading ... well, a gruesome story.

Nevertheless, we left the facilities with no less than 3 full shopping bags! Did we not have enough Christmas decorations already? Will we spend Christmas at home in Gurgaon anyway? DON'T ASK, please.

I think the bottom line has to be ... tiring!

Dusherra part 5 - Ellora caves

World Heritage Sites - Ellora Caves  - link

"The Ellora caves, locally known as ‘Verul Leni’ is located on the Aurangabad-Chalisgaon road at a distance of 30 km north-northwest of Aurangabad, the district headquarters. The name Ellora itself inspires everyone as it represents one of the largest rock-hewn monastic-temple complexes in the entire world. Ellora is also world famous for the largest single monolithic excavation in the world, the great Kailasa (Cave 16). The visit to these caves is enjoyed maximum during monsoon, when every stream is filled with rainwater, and the entire environ is lush green. The monsoon is not only a season of rains in this part, the local visitors are attracted to visit these ideal locations to have a glimpse of the mother nature in full bloom."

 We were lucky to visit just towards the end of the monsoon in the beginning of October. It did rain a little during our holiday, but on the day we visited the incredible Ellora Caves it was dry.

Well, first things first of course

These guys were conveniently placed ... just next to the drop-off. From here we had to walk a little bit...

... which is difficult with gravel in the shoes ...

"The caves are datable from circa 6th - 7th century A.D. to 11th - 12th century A.D. In total, there are nearly 100 caves in the hill range out of which 34 caves are famous and visited by many tourists, out of which Caves 1 to 12 are Buddhist; Caves 13 to 29 are Brahmanical and Caves 30 to 34 are Jaina."

We started with the Jain caves. In the ceiling of one of them we found this gorgeous Lotusflower. If you would like to explore more about the significance of the different statues, this is a good site to go to.

This godess is sitting under a mango tree ...

... and if you look closely you find ripe mangoes and monkeys out to get a delicious meal.

This man has been standing there so long you can see roots growing around his body.

Imagine being the one with the hammer putting the chisel to this wonderful vase wanting to make an opening in all four corners. One mistake and ...

After the Jain caves moved on to the very VERY impressive Kailasa (cave #16).

"The Kailasa or the Kailasanatha, is the unrivaled centerpiece of Ellora. This is designed to recall Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva – looks like a freestanding, multi-storeyed temple complex, but it was carved out of one single rock, and covers an area double the size of Parthenon in Athens.Initially the temple was covereed with white plaster thus even more increasing the similarity to snow covered Mount Kailash." - link.

Walking up towards the entrance we spotted this bendy guy. There is not enough yoga in the world to make me do that, ever!

Again this is all one single rock and the whole thing was carved out. As opposed to the caves in Ajanta, the Kailash is carved from top to bottom and is not inside a cave.

This man was a guard at the entrance of the big temple. Take a close look at his ears ...

I think that hair must have been planted there ...! Well pruned in any case :-)
Once you pass the "hairy" man, there are 2 impressive elephants much like this one standing guard, one on each side.

The whole temple is completely symmetric, i.e. dividing the area in half lengthwise, the two halves are identical.

Imagine the architects' discussion as they stood on top of a rock planning the work - "ok, right here 3 meters down we must save a bit to cut out an elephant, and then the same over there. Here I would like a flying angel, and the same on the opposite wall. Let's get the hammer and chisel out then!"

The whole temple is resting on elephants - brilliant illusion! We only see the front of them, but that is enough.

Our guide told us that it took about 200 years to finish the Kailash, which means that the original architects would have had to pass on their ideas and the plan to the next generation, and then on to the next generation ... an amazing feat in itself.

 

Close up you can see that this god is really flying - his clothes fluttering in the wind.

Upstairs is a church-like room where people still go to offer and pray.

Hindu devotees offering to a lingua, a phallos symbol.

On the outside wall we also found an underground demon trying to break the castle where the king and queen live with their entourage - by shaking it.

You can discerne the king and queen (in the middle) holding on for their lives as their house is shaking.

Back outside we took a little break then walked along to visit the Buddhist caves 1-12. 

After the Jain and Hindu caves, the Buddhist ones looked almost plain ...

...then we entered cave number 10 and found the Seated Buddha

"The main hall, with its impressive colonnade, is focused upon a huge teaching Buddha, seated in the bhadrasana pose on a lion throne. The main image is flanked by standing attendant bodhisattvas: Avalokitesvara (with his long-stemmed lotus and what may be a ruined Amitabha in his jata headdress) to the left and Manjusri (a stupa in his crown) to the right."

The illusion of wooden beams in the ceiling is perfect. Our guide started singing the OUM, which blew our minds completely - the accoustics were like nothing I have ever experienced.

Someone has had enough of temples for one day. Chalo - let's go!

Just one more picture ... please.

Melbourne Cup 2014 - at the Australian High Commission in Delhi

2014 Melbourne Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2014 Emirates Melbourne Cup was the 154th running of the Melbourne Cup, Australia's most prestigious Thoroughbred horse race. The race, run over 3,200 metres, was held on 4 November 2014, at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. Protectionist, ridden by Ryan Moore and trained by Andreas Wöhler, won the race by four lengths, becoming the first German-trained winner of the Melbourne Cup. Red Cadeaux placed second and Who Shot Thebarman third, with Red Cadeaux the first horse to place second on three occasions.
The total prize money for the race was A$6.2 million, with the winner receiving $3.6 million,^[1] as well as a solid gold trophy valued at $175,000.^[2] Hosted by the Victoria Racing Club, the Melbourne Cup was one of four major Group-1 races held at Flemington during the Spring Racing Carnival (the others being the Victoria Derby, the Crown Oaks, and the Emirates Stakes). An estimated $800 million was wagered on the race,^[3] which was attended by 100,794 people.^[4]

Race favourite Admire Rakti placed last and died shortly after the race of a suspected aortic rupture. Another horse, Araldo, shattered a hind pastern when frightened by a spectator after the race.^[5] He was later euthanised. - This I did not know until this evening!

Imagine the excitement!

Around 400 people gathered already at 8.30 this morning to cheer the horses in Melbourne on! Mostly women and everyone absolutely gorgeous with lovely dresses and hats or fascinators. I must admit to my ignorance ... until 3 days ago I had never heard of a fascinator ...

A friend from Australia told me that the country stands still when this race is on. Some companies gave their employees the day off, but that was not very popular ... no fun celebrating on your own at home! No, everyone wants to be at work all dressed up, with a drink, watch the race together then not work anymore that day :-) Sort of like in the 70s and 80s when Ingemar Stenmark raced down the slopes - Sweden stood virtually still - well, without the drink then maybe ... ;-)

Some Swedish friends were there of course.

My omnipotent and beautiful neighbour

The best dressed lady of the day

The best dressed couple of the day - designers in home made suits! Wonderful

... and petite moi with a very sore throat (should have been in bed really, but, hey, can you blame me?! I'll sleep tomorrow ...).

Must have bet all the money already ...

Bang on 3pm (in Melbourne) it starts and we were there, champagne in hand of course - What? Too early you say? Not in Australia :-)

By the time everyone had realized that the race was on, it was over ... just like that! I was waiting for the next race, but, alas ... that was it!

So, we directed our attention elsewhere ...

Then, as per usual it seems, on to ... the dance "floor"

It must have been at least 30 degrees in the shade - the dance floor was unfortunatelly not there ...

Let's get that bottle open!

 Good job!

 Cheers

Did my horse win? ... yeah, right ...

This all looks very decadent of course, and it is!!! And because all the money collected on this day every year goes to charity everybody is more than happy to pay too much for it all. Expensive raffle tickets are sold en masse and the prizes are fantastic: hotel nights, travels, jewellery, art, vouchers for brunches/lunches/dinners/spa treatments/massages, clothes, and much more, all donated by different companies.

This particular event is arranged every year by ANZA and all the proceeds go directly to STOP.

This is an excerpt from the ANZA home page:

The STOP movement is spearheaded by Dr Roma Debrabrata (and the underlying Ramola Bhar Charitable Trust) but works with a vast network of grassroots organisations to combat trafficking of women and children across India and the SAARC Region.

STOP is recognized by the United Nations as one of the most effective organisations focused on the prevention of trafficking, rescue & repatriation of victims and prosecution of traffickers.
More information about the STOP movement and can be found on our website www.stop-india.org.

How were charity funds spent from the last Melbourne Cup?

These funds have been used by STOP to:

• Immunize rescued girls against MMR, Hepatitis B and Cervical Cancer,
• Complete a structural engineering review of the STOP home and develop a detailed plan for building upgrade works and ongoing maintenance, and
• Commence emergency repairs to the STOP building.

ANZA Committee Members work closely with STOP to ensure all funds are effectively and sustainably spent.
In addition charity funds have been distributed for one off donations to Baas Educational Trust and the Habitat for Humanity - Uttarakhand Disaster Appeal.