For all of you that have a love affair with all things food related, here are some of are some of the tastes on our plate from India.  Let me start by saying that most Indian food does not photograph well. The pictures in no way take you on a wild sensory taste explosion, however the food does.

I had no better food in India, than the food that we ate at the ashram.  Because we received whatever food they made that day, we hardly know the names of the dishes, so bare with me.

Breakfast

Chai out the ying yang

Lunch

Veg pastry

Most of the what was served is South Indian food, with a couple of Northern dishes.  Delish!

*Take a look back on the food we’ve eaten around the world:

New Zealand  / Indonesia / ThailandCambodia & Vietnam

Hi friends.  It’s that time again.  We’ve got a round of your photos to start off the week.  Many thanks to this week’s contributors.

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Jo – New York, New York
My Tibetan friend invited me to a Tibetan Celebration of the Dalai Lama, where they were wearing regional costumes and performed regional dances. I was the only westerner there and I felt like I was getting a secret peek into a glorious and exotic world!

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Mom – Lakewood, Ohio
Just a pup

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Paul – New York, NY
NY Comicon 2012


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Brendan – New York, NY
Sleep No More at the McKittrick Hotel

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We’d love to post your photos next week. If you’ve got something, send it our way!

(Ashish, Spring 2013 via here)

I want this sweatshirt.  I’d wear it all the time.  Sometimes I come off so serious – here, in pictures and in person.  It’s mostly not true.  Occasionally, it is.

While reading the book Shantaram on my iPad, I took notes of some of my favorite quotes in the book. I thought maybe you would like to see them.

(image via Spineless Classics)

Guilt is the hilt of the knife that we use on ourselves, and love is often the blade; but it is worry that keeps the knife sharp, and worry, that gets most of us in the end.
~Chapter Twenty-One

There is no meanness too spiteful or too cruel than when we hate someone for all the wrong reasons.
~Chapter Eighteen

Love goes on forever because love is born in the part of us that does not die.
~Chapter Twenty-Six

Love makes men big, hate makes them small.
~Chapter Twenty-Eight

Everything you ever sense, in touch or taste or sight or even thought, has an effect on you that’s greater than zero.
~Chapter Twenty-Eight

We know who we are and we define what we are by references to the people we love and our reasons for loving them.
~Chapter Thirty

No love, is no life.
~Chapter Thirty-Four

Love is the passionate search for truth other than your own; and once you feel it, honestly and completely, love is forever. Every act of love, every moment of the heart reaching out, is part of the universal good: it’s part of god, or what we call god and it can never die.
~Chapter Thirty-Four

The only kingdom that makes any man a king is the kingdom of his own soul.
~Chapter Forty-One

We carry oceans inside us, in our blood, in our sweat. And we are crying the oceans in our tears.
~Chapter Eighteen

Just a couple of lessons learned along the way…

If you are with someone for 4 months straight, force yourself to spend some time apart.

They do not call it rainy season for nothin’.

The practice of being at peace in every situation is a significant one.

You will never have the same experience that some one else had.  Don’t expect to.

India is organized chaos.

If you don’t enjoy someone’s company, don’t keep it.

*Image via here

A Crown of Autumn Leaves
by Annie Finch

Our voices press
from us
and twine
around the year’s

fermenting wine

Yellow fall roars
Over the ground.
Loud, in the leafy sun that pours
Liquid through doors,

Yellow, the leaves twist down

as the winding
of the vine
pulls our curling
voices—

Glowing in wind and change,
The orange leaf tells

How one more season will alter and range,
Working the strange
Colors of clamor and bells

In the winding
of the vine
our voices press out
from us
to twine

When autumn gathers, the tree
That the leaves sang
Reddens dark slowly, then, suddenly free,
Turns like a key,
Opening air where they hang

and the winding
of the vine
makes our voices
turn and wind
with the year’s
fermented wine

One of the hanging leaves,
Deeply maroon,
Tightens its final hold, receives,
Finally weaves
Through, and is covered soon

in the winding
of the vine—

Holding past summer’s hold,
Open and strong,
One of the leaves in the crown is gold,
Set in the cold
Where the old seasons belong.

Here is my crown
Of winding vine,
Of leaves that dropped,
That fingers twined,
another crown
to yield and shine
with a year’s
fermented wine.

*Images from top to bottom: 1/2/3/4/5

The Indian sunsets will take your breath away.

Where do I even BEGIN with India?  I could write it a love letter to this country that would last an eternity, and beat it up at the same time. There are moments when I am on the verge of tears from the stress of traveling here; then there are moments when I feel certain I belong, and should stay here forever and ever.

Just some flowers falling from the tree in the most beautiful way possible.

After Vietnam, India opened her arms to us with the warmest embrace and we really needed it.  We were able to stay at our friends apartment in Chennai, and spend what turned into almost 3 weeks at the Babuji Ashram. A typical day at the ashram went like this:

6:30 am – Meditation (Let’s be honest, I skipped some/most)

7:30 am – Breakfast

9:00 am – Meditation

10:00 am -12:30 – Reading in the air conditioned library

12:30 – Lunch

1:30 – 4:30 – Nap or Rest (Definately not burning any calories)

5:00 pm – Meditation

6:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Watch the sunset from the highest point I could find

7:30 pm – Dinner

9:30 pm – Bed

Seems pretty awesome, huh?  Without getting too dramatic, or going into crazy detail, the time we spent at the ashram was amazing.  It was a rest from traveling and the daily experience of searching for our next meal, and we spent time apart.  It was peaceful, empowering, deep and fun.  We loved it and I know I will think fondly on the time we spent there for the rest of my life.

Bay of Bengal

After our 3 weeks stay at the ashram, we headed to Mumbai (Bombay).  This city is insane.  I have heard a lot of numbers, but I think the population is 20 million.  We walked through a market that was offically the craziest and most chaotic place I have ever been in my life.  I would be lying if I told you that we took Mumbai full on, but we didn’t.  We chilled out.  Met awesome travelers.  Saw some sights. Took some train rides.  And saw the ocean.  It took us a couple of days to regain our stamina and now it is off to Jordan.

Everyone swims in ALL their clothes.

I can’t wait.

Everybody feeling good about the week ahead?!  I hope so.  But before it’s time to get down to business, we’re taking a look back to see what you’ve been seeing.  Much appreciation to this week’s photo contributors.

Lauren – BedStuy, Brooklyn
A warm and seasonal welcome at Dr. Loni‘s Soul Food Saturday.
Thanks for hosting everyone.  It was wonderful!

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Janna – Chicago, IL
Walking by the “The Bean”

The view from Shedd Aquarium on a rainy day.

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Bridget – Columbus, OH
Weekend visit to Cbus.

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Juani – Toronto, ON
Octoberfest. I was kicking myself for bringing a costume, then wimping out on wearing it because about 40% of attendees did.

Bavarian grilled cheese with curry ketchup and a pickle.

The best hefeweisen I’ve ever had – and I’m a hefe lover. It was like banana bread with an after taste that just wouldn’t quit.

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Show us the world through your eyes.  Send over a picture and we’ll post it next week.

Email me, yo. Lauren @ sisterdisco.com