And now a little plagiarism for your reading pleasure....

It is a common misconception throughout the Western world that the cow is seen as a god or deity within the Hindu religion. This is used to explain the banning of the slaughter of cows in India. This is not the case.

The cow was possibly revered because the largely pastoral Vedic people and subsequent generations relied heavily on it for dairy products and for tilling the fields, and on cow dung as a source of fuel, fertilizer, and psilocybin mushrooms which naturally grow out of the animal's own excrement. Universally, Hindus still use cow dung for various purposes; the burning of cow dung creates an insecticide to repel mosquitoes, and ash formed from cow dung is used as a fertilizer.

Hinduism is based on the concept of omnipresence of the Divine, and the presence of a soul in all creatures, including bovines. Thus, by that definition, killing any animal would be a sin: one would be obstructing the natural cycle of birth and death of that creature, and the creature would have to be reborn in that same form because of its unnatural death.

 Tests indicate that cow dung also contains Menthol, Phenol, Indol, Ammonia, Formalin and its bacteriophages eradicate pathogens and is hence a recognized disinfectant.

"OH, I love India".....said the cow.

The English Middle School Phaltan from our front door....

Pomegranate Trees Grow on the side yard....

Our Roof Top Apartment...to sleep under the stars !

Sunita...here to teach me how to cook Indian food

Our first Moonrise on the roof Phaltan India

Our first Sunset on the roof in Phaltan....

Let's start with the best view...and break us all in slowly....

This is the view from the rooftop looking out to the back of the house. This is where we will have our barbeque's...everyone is invited.

View from the front door....

Why don't we save the other views for later? We'll take it in small doses.

A Feng Shui Reading begins on the outside of a house....

The entryway is important in feng shui....I am told this is a voodoo (in case you didn't catch that already...) to ward off evil. This voodoo doll will be replaced by a light bulb...you know, bring in the light keep away the "dark".

Sarah continues the Feng Shui reading...Do you like pink??

I've got them all doing a reading on the ceiling problems....

The bedroom...Do you like pink??

The kitchen....Are you tired of pink??

Bhaja Caves

These caves were excavated one to two hundred years before Christ was born. It took six to eight hundred years of excavation to create what you see in these pictures.
The rafters in the main hall, Chaitya Hall, which help resist the inward thrust of the mountain are made of teak. Two thousand year old wood...

Bhaja Cave Carvings

He rests....where one rested two thousand years ago...

Though he cheats...his head rests on a "backpack"...I don't believe they had pillows back then....

Stone windows

This is a stone window...imagine being able to chisel into solid stone without "accidentaly" "breaking the window... 

These are ancient bathroom views....Bhaja

Views of the mountain side

...a hammer and a chisle...individual marks...two thousand year old markings...

Mango Tree...no mango's today...March is the season.

Company...noisy company...they were full of complaints...

Coming back down...Bruce and Krishna taking a break...waiting for Sarah...

Laundry in the spring at Bhaja Cave

The Sacred Hindu Bull

The Brahman cattle have a greater ability to withstand heat than European cattle. They have more sweat glands, and also an oily skin, thought to help repel pesty insects.  They have a short hair coat that is smooth. They are also more resistant to parasites and disease.  Plagerized from wiki.

Surviving concrete...the Banyan Tree...representing immortality.

Giant Ganesh

Ganesh,  the Hindu god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles, son of Shiva and Parvati. This fella sits way off above the highway we drove on today on the way to Bhaja Caves.

The art of communication...so much to learn...

I have to take an antibiotic everyday to help guard against malaria. I can't swallow pills so I was looking for applesauce to empty the capsule into. We asked the front desk if they could send up a dish of applesauce. They hesitated and said that they didn't have any applesauce redi made They would make a bowl of it and send it up, it would take one hour.  I know things move slowly in India so I didn't think anything of waiting an hour while they whirled some apples in a blender.

About an hour later our applesauce arrived at the door. The bowl was hot...I opened it up to find that they had prepared a large bowl of apple gravy, complete with parsley, cinnamon and cloves. Now all I needed was a ham.                                                              

I had a cement block in India... I mean a house!

So, here it is, our humble little abode. I would show you the view but I think it is going to take a little getting used to for me before I share :)

Some of the scenes along the roads of Phalton and Baramati India...

One of the many tent villages along the roads. It seems to be always busy...people carrying laundry, bundles of sticks, pots...squating with one chore or another....children playing...I have been told that these are tight knit small communities. I would like to learn how they manage with food and clothing.