Thankful in India :: Electricity

This past weekend I was out to dinner at a local restaurant with my family and some friends of ours. It is a place we go to often not only because we like the food, but because it is a nice family run place. These guys on Saturday night were trying to run their business with power coming and going, back up generators kicking in, and some kind of an inverter hooked up to a truck engine in the parking lot. I give them so much credit for rolling with the situation. People all along the coast here are just trying to get their lives back to normal.

What was so weird for my husband and me was that the first time the lights went out, we both shot a glance at each other and instantly remembered our time in India. Specifically in Agra where the Taj Mahal is located. A truly amazing place to see, and somewhere I continually get inspiration from. 

I love the stone inlay, particularly all the carnelian. It's translucent look gives such a beautiful, warm feeling. 

India is a place where the old traditions and the modern world bump up against each other. In Agra you can see how population growth has affected the air quality. These pictures we took in Agra, while not the best, shows the Taj Mahal from a window in the Red Fort from across the river. You can see the haze in the air from the traditional use of 'cook fires,' which are open fires to cook your meals. At night there are not a lot of city lights, or street lights, and you can see the glow of cook fires way out into the distance.

When we went out to dinner we came across the sweetest little boy dancing in traditional dress while his father played a sort of part flute, part recorder. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of him, but a quick google search found pictures that really brought back that sweet look on his face as he danced. We headed into the restaurant that had bare light bulbs hanging from cords in a web from the ceiling. Just after we ordered, the lights went out. It was pitch black. I mean we held up our hands in front of faces and you could not see them. The lights didn't come back on for at least 3 minutes ... a very long 3 minutes when you're wondering what is going on. After the second or third time we lost electricity, we got into a rhythm and didn't let it slow us down the rest of the night.

So, as I continue my list of things we were thankful for while traveling in India, it includes electricity and the ability to see my husband's smiling face over our curry dinner, which by the way was out of this world.