All posts by Deirdre Straughan
Traditional and Modern Entertainment in Delhi
Traditional dancers from I’m not sure what region of India, filmed at Dilli Haat. I have no idea why the guy in the background decided to get in on the act; the dancers seemed pretty puzzled about it, too.
The next night, we had drinks and dinner (and more drinks) at DV8, a pub restaurant in Connaught Place. The DJ very obligingly played all the really old music we requested (scribbled on napkins with fountain pen), and the bartender performed flaming tricks for the camera.
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Woodstock 150th: Back to Delhi
shot Nov 2, 2004
Most of the group left Mussoorie Monday morning in Sanjay’s buses. Anne and I took the Shatabdi back to Delhi that evening (about half the seats were occupied by Woodstockers), joining Marilyn at the Park Hotel where the three of us shared a room. Tuesday we shopped all over Delhi, visitedJantr Mantr, and Marilyn flew out Tuesday night after an excellent dinner at the Park’s restaurant. Anne and I were joined by Yuti on Wednesday for still more shopping, then had dinner, drinks, and music with Yuti, her husband Sumit, and Pinder (who had meanwhile been in Chandigarh, shopping for furnishings for his new home in Nairobi).
shot Nov 2, 2004, 1:15 mins, 3.9 MB
We wrote song requests out on napkins and gave them to the DJ, who was probably wondering who these old fogeys were.
Anne and I shared a car to the airport at midnight and kept each other company (thankfully – Delhi airport is awfully boring) until our flights left around 3 am.
Next?
We’re all agreed that we want to see each other again, often, and soon – and preferably more of us. The open question for the moment is when and where to do that. Sanjay has suggested a regular appointment each year in Mussoorie, around the first week in November. Which is certainly fun, but not convenient for everybody, especially those who have kids in US or European schools.
One possibility would be to piggyback on the WOSA-North American reunion next June 23-26, in Silver Bay, New York. And some of us are looking into other suggested reunion spots, such as Italy and Iceland.
Jantr Mantr in 2004
| Nov 2, 2004 – 2:40 min, 9.2 MB
360 kbps video, 24 kbps audio |
Woodstock 150th: Hanifl Center
Lots of broken image links to fix… when I have time. Meanwhile, you can see the full gallery here.
Hanifl Center terrace
We were the first large group to stay at Hanifl Center, and a very pleasant residence it was, with comfortable beds (some private double rooms, some with four or eight bunkbeds), incredible views, and almost enough hot water (entirely solar-heated) for everyone to take showers in the morning (or whenever they got up).
Sanjay had made all the arrangements, including bringing up three cooks and a busload of supplies from Bombay. Excellent hot breakfasts (pancakes – with peanut butter!, cereal, parathas, eggs, toast) were provided there at Hanifl, other meals varied, though many were in fact cooked by these same talented cooks.
 
On the morning of Monday, November 1st, Dick Wechter invited us up for tea and biscuits to watch the sunrise over the snows. I didn’t wake up in time, so was a bit late for the actual sunrise…
