The Death of the Postcard Edited by Adrian Barber

Introduction
Srinigar Leh Manali Shimla Gangotri

Many of us have not been fortunate enough to visit

Rishikesh
Amristar lands such as India, but most of us feel that we have some un-
Varanasi derstanding from television, a good book, or maybe a friend,
Delhi
all of us however have a ‘picture’ of what it may look like,
Agra - Taj Mahal so what would an army of international travellers with digital
Jaisalmer cameras aim to ‘picture’ on their trip to India? The Death of
Digboi, Assam the Postcard reveals this - a more intimate, a more personal, a
Jodphur ‘secret’ India, one of glimpses through bus windows, snatched
images in stressed out rickshaws before prolonged relaxation
Pushkar
Kolkata
at the destination and the resulting balcony ‘view’, the‘room’,
Mumbai the ‘bathroom’ or perhaps ‘my food’.
Photographs of the self, ‘My feet’, ‘My Hands’ -the
Goa India personal, the memory, in many ways the ‘ego’ are combined
with long established traditions of landscape, portrait, wild-
life, still-life and ‘icon’ collecting. “Why do you think we
photograph food?”, I asked one traveller,“Perhaps we ‘eat’ the
food first with our eyes”, she replied, “and the feet?”, “I don’t
know it just looks good.”
Nationality of photographer Caption Nationality of Sender The results of ‘Postcards’ show that the camera is no
longer a ‘capturing’ device, but also a playback and editing
machine that enables travellers to show others, ‘My family’ or
‘My house’, but it is when this imagery is combined with the
e-mail correspondence that wider themes of health, politics,
love, marriage, babies and of course the ultimate conclusion
- that of death can be seen, repeated by all nationalities - the
common themes in the correspondence of man.
Step into the hustle and bustle of a typical travellers
experience in India and read what they send to their friends
and families and the replies they recieve from back home...
by Adrian Barber
Subject E-mail Caption
My Home
T.L “That’s Vancover, we’d just got there, my friend bought my yacht.”
T.R “That’s my parents place in California

Dear Customer,

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Also, remember you should re-confirm your outbound and re- Received
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B.L “That’s our backyard in London - we were living and working there.”
B.R “That’s my grandparents house in Portugal
T.L “That’s my Mum and a friend (Gaz), she’s doing a farm up...”
T.R “That’s my family (part of them), I have a very big family.”

When I do leave...

...I have to go to Philadelphia (east coast of US) to see my

cool daughter and hang with her for a bit... She is trying to
talk me into taking her with me to India, should I actually get
it together to go, and that would be so cool since we haven’t Received
done any traveling together since southeast asia when she was
pre-teens..

Soo, here are a few questions:

How long will you guys be there, if I end up there in the heart
of winter should I forgo my Rishikesh destination until it
warms up and head south? I haven’t much India time under
my belt, just Calcutta and other unsavory places on the way to
Nepal, but I imagine Goa must be touristed out and expensive
these days, is it warm during the winter?

Looking for a place to hang out there while the weather

turns... I am such a tropical wuss!! I get cold here in Lima!!

Meanwhile, I am sure you guys are piling up lots of interest-

ing stories to regale me with down the road.. Thanks for
sending the picture postcard CD by the way, it was way cool!!
Are you doing the same sort of thing in India?

B.L “Mum - she came to India for a few weeks.”

B.R “This is like a memory of my mother - she smokes.”
My Family
My Airport
T.L “The little plane is ours - Bangladesh Airlines - cheapest and best.”
T.R “My sister saying goodbye to me.”

We did it!!

We got married and now we want you to Received

come and celebrate with us!

Private rooms, private bar, finger food and DJ

- all we need is YOU!

Party on! We require your presence, not your

presents!

For flight information to Cork, please visit

www.corkairport.

ie. Hotel and B&B information to follow!

B.L “This is the airport in Turkey, it’s Starbucks - you know? the coffee?”
B.R “This is the terminal in Israel.”
My 1st Day
T.L “My first picture in India, a ride in the rickshaw.”
T.R “That was the Pahar Ganj when it flooded, a river in the street - 1st day in Delhi

I arrived in India “prepared.”

I read Lonley Planet cover to cover (at least 10
times), read and re-read the sections on safety and
solo female travelers (result: I brought pepper spray
with me...just in case), health (paying special at-
tention to the section on mosquitos and malaria, Sent
as there is something in my blood that tends to at-
tract the pesky little buggers), weather, train travel,
dangers and annoyances, regions to avoid. I packed
an umbrella and a rain parka (it is monsoon season
afterall!), deet, a mosquite net (yes, I am paranoid
of mosquitos), an inflatable pillow, antibiotics, im-
modium and pepto bismol (for travelers dirrhea),
tylenol (for fever), vitamins (to strengthen my im-
mune system), malaria pills.I paid a fortune for shots
to immunize my body against diseases unknown in
the United States. I even packed a bandana that when
soaked in water for 5 minutes stays cool throughout
the day (I thought it would help with the heat...don’t
laugh!!).
However, the moment I stepped out of the Kolkata
International Airport and onto the terrain of this vast
subcontinent, I realized that nothing can prepare you
for the rich, chaotic, crowded, noisy, maddness that
is India.

B.L “Calcutta - when I arrived.”

B.R “This is an expensive hotel in Mumbai - 3000 rps - our first night.”
T.L “It’s just a seat infront of me on the bus to Leh.”
T.R “It’s just a local bus.”

leh and its surroundings (i guess the whole of

ladakh) is amazing- i can’t begin to describe it; its
simply surreal. we’ve had a few sunny days here
and while sitting in one of the rooftop restaurants
waiting for sunset, it almost felt like an afternoon Sent
in the beach but with 5000m-high snow-peaked
mountains surrounding us. we’ve done some trips
around to some monasteries which were beautiful-
its a strange feeling going to those little villages
with a monastery looming over and monks run-
ning around- like going back in time.
_
the bus trip over here from manali was one of the
most beautiful ive had in my life and definitely
with the most powerful scenery. i dont even re-
member being so impressed in the andes. huge
mountains and gorges and the landscapes and col-
ours constantly changing. we had a great group of
people as well so it was fun, but also very bumpy
and the second day was a bit long. still, it was
worth every minute.

B.L “It’s of the roof of the bus between Kasol and Bhuntar, Kullu.”
B.R “That’s our sleeper bus to Srinigar, Kashmir.”
My Bus Journey
T.L “That’s my room in the Yes Please Hotel in Delhi - it’s an Israeli place.”
T.R “My room in Varanasi.”

Hello hello Everybody!!! (shalom shalom)

I just got to the Jewish house, I was all the day on the
road. The first thing I did is to go to the internet and the Sent
telephone, what a good child I am.What the hell am I doing
here? On the plane I just realized I am leaving and it was
pretty hard, I am already here it so I’ll figure it all out soon.
Don’t you think? Please don’t be surprised If I come back
in one week.
We met many Israelis on the way here and it was a breeze
and its much less dirty here than I thought – even Bombay!
Anyway we’ll go and find Ayelet tomorrow. We didn’t eat
all day because we didn’t know what to eat. So its good
Dad that you gave us those candies.

By the way, did you find all the stuff I left at home?

Regards Everyone!!!!!!!!

B.L Unknown location

B.R “Our houseboat - we never get to live like this - like Kings!”
My Room
My Bathroom
T.L “My Indian-style bathroom.”
T.R “My friend took a shit on the floor, not this bathroom just like it.”

The heat reaches 30º C by 7 am and the cock-

roaches thrive. Moths the size of birds fly into my
room and my lovely skinny cats wait for dinner.
Sent
The only moment of cool is the bucket of water
over my head from the well. How I love this mo-
ment.

Just in case you were wondering, I have mastered

the art of the right hand (for eating) and the left
hand (for wiping). It really isn’t that bad, and
as an environmentalist, you would hope I could
do without toilet paper. The bathrooms here are
diverse. Aside from the foot squat type, the other
common one is a cement floor with a water bucket
and a hole in the wall. Not quite sure how this one
is functional yet.

B.L “That’s near the place we crossed the river in Manali”

B.R “Look at the rust! A prison! The Maisons Lake View Resort, Goa”
My Insects
T.L “That’s Vashisht, but the first time I was here a few weeks ago.”
T.R “This is in Daramkot, in the Shanti House.”

And the fan turns on and off with the electricity, throwing
sticky air across my face and neck. Sunrises come at 4am
and brings cool (+28ºC) evenings at 6 or 7pm. I sweat
through the night moving from under my mosquito net to
the cool cement floor with the heat of the rising sun.
Sent
I am very lucky to have my own space here, my own room,
bathroom, kitchen, although I haven’t cooked yet. Eve-
rything is very cheap, I think I have spent $50 since I’ve
been here. The mangos are fabulous, and cost about 10
cents. I have eaten far too much greasy food since I’ve
been here, everything seems to be cooked in heaps of oil.

I am going to have to start cooking for myself I think.

Mmmm, the cucumbers and lady fingers in the garden are
delicious. I took a nap under a tree that had peach-like
fruit on it. Kind of like peaches, but not juicy at all.

B.L “Rishikesh”
B.R “He was so mad about the lizards - that’s why I made the video.”
T.L “It was in Rajasthan, I couldn’t believe it.”
T.R “That was when I was sitting on the toilet in Shimla.”

i fear katie may be rocking up in Palolem, which is

where i am at the moment. I’ve been hidieously an-
tisocial and told her i just need some space, but i’m
sure she’ll find me so she can give me all the juicy Sent
details about the Israli.

I’ve found heaven here, and i don’t know if i can

even begin to explain to you how wonderful it is.

the thing is Palolem beach itself has been utterly

spoilt. it’s covered with expensive resturants and
tarpaulin lined shacks. when i arrived i nearly turned
around and left but i dragged myself (literally) all the
way down the beach, past the ‘executive’ accomoda-
tion and collapsed infront of a tiny idyllic village.
I’m now the proud inhabitant of a little lean to build-
ing, and forgive me if i go all mushy on you, but it’s
perfect, and with candles at night, under the mosqui-
to net i feel like a fucking arabian princess.

B.L “That’s the view from my room in Kasol, Parabatti”

B.R “The view from the Prison, Baga - Goa.”
My View
T.L “That’s in my home in Tel Aviv - Israel.”
T.R “Belgians - they needed passport for Nepal - my camera can do that.”

just wanted to let u know that i am still in vashisht.

i was suppose to leave this morning but then i met an Israeli
guy who suggested me to join him for nice trek here in the Sent
area, we might go tomorrow, for 2-3 days, if the weather will
be nice with us.....

hope to see u anyway, somewhere... please let me know what

is your plains.

and small request- if its not too bather- would u be kind to

send me some more pic from our day together, of u, of me, of
u and me.... but - only if its o.k - don’t bather too much!
thanks.

much love

B.L “If there is no mirror in the room, I take a picture of myself - this is when i woke up.”
B.R “At the top of Barallacha, on the way to Leh.”
My Self-Portraits
My Food
T.L “Fish and Chips on the houseboat, Srinigar.”
T.R “A thali - it was a good one.”

No 3

At the moment my favourite food is lassi.

The place has beautiful textiles, but to go there Sent

I have to take a rickshaw.The lassi are just 10
rps, (less than 30 Yen) and to go and come
back its just 10rps.

We are going to the city only for lassi and just

lassi – really the most fantastic lassi experi-
ence!!
The creamy crust of the lassi is the most sub-
lime taste.

The guidebook (CHIKYUUNO ARUKIKATA)

says the best lassi in one in the world is in Agra

I can’t wait!

B.L “This was a holiday for us - Rosh Hashana.”

B.R “Hello to the Queen - we had it yesterday”, Pushkar, Rajasthan
My Rishikesh
T.L “Rishikesh Bridge.”
T.R “This is a self-picture in Rishikesh.”

So how long will you guys be there?

I have been moving in that direction mentally for some time

now, I kind of got hooked up here with a Limeña who has
a good job and is very undemanding, and of course it is so
cheap living in Peru, I just sort of keep coming back.. I Received
would love to be ashrammmmming in India somewhere, but
I love not having to deal with the Muslim world down here in
South America... Here they will steal everything you have but
more than likely not kill you at least...

You have to let me know how long you will be in India!!

When you say the beatles ashram do you mean the Maharishi
mahesh come and give me all your money yogi’s digs? How
cool that must be... I really gotta get outta here!! Please stay
in touch I wanna visit you guys!!!

Gotta jet for now, going to rent a motorcycle

and hit the jungle!!!

Hasta Luego amigos

b.L “I got a great one of a monkey on a bridge.”

B.R “It’s a festival with colours - I like it, I look like a DJ”, Holi festival
T.L “That’s in Manali.”
T.R “My foot in Vashisht, Manali.”

Alright Becks!

we’ve ground to a weed induced stop in

Manali for a while. planning on staying until at least
friday. Sent

Katie is going up to Leh, the road is apparantly now

o.k but James and I are going to head down to
Rishikesh to avoid the risk of getting trapped there if
the rains turn. are u coming to Manali?

thre’s no rafting because the water is too high or

something, but it may be possible in Leh.

hope ur having fun with the monks.

our gusthouse is called Purmina.

Love x x x xx x

B.L “Did you do it? It’s near Manali.”

B.R “It’s a big ball you roll down the hill in Manali.”
My Manali
 T.L “Er, that was Monday... I think it was Monday”, Charis (marajuana oil) and opium
T.R “That’s my girlfriends hand in Rishikesh - 3rd Eye, River View.”

how i envy you that youre travelling through india and

experiencing how many wonderful things.

ive diwali is a beautiful festival...im looking forward to the Received

photos. were doing fine.

it was hard for assi to get used to just working without

idan..but hes been busy setting up his workshop downstairs
and hes been getting some jobs...but crossing fingers....he
is meeting the production team for mardi gras tonight and
hopefully everything will go well. the guy wants assaf to
be his right hand man in the workshop.

the hours im not looking forward to...because apparently it

will be about 70 hours a week. but if it gets us a bit money
well its a good thing.

B.L “That’s Perry’s hand”, Vashisht, Manali.

B.R “That’s the Sati’s in Rajasthan.”
My Hands
My Feet
T.L “That’s Wor Lek - the most beautiful place.”
T.R “This is my Croc’s and those are Ohad’s - he took my shoes and I took his
from the restaurant.”

I just spent the last three days in the Great Thar

Desert on a camel. Sleeping on the sand under a
starry sky during a meteor shower and waking to
pink sunrises........amazing. Sent

camels are great, huge, strong, slow. it was the ulti-

mate way to relax. If ever I am at a point in my life
where things are going to fast and i just can’t slow
down, I will definitely go on a camel safari.
so relaxing and what a beautiful desert.

we were blessed with a bit of rain one night and the

camel man wrapped us in a tarp - not too fun - but a
good experience. actually got to swim in small lakes
twice! it has been raining this year, in the desert, not
good for the planet, but good for the safaris...

can’t believe i will be home in 2 weeks. very excited

and sad at the same time. can’t wait for the next
adventure!

B.L “My foot in the desert in Rajasthan.”

B.R “My shoes and the view of Leh.”
My Jeep to Leh
T.L “That’s the lake I told you about on the way to Leh.”
T.R “The pass to Leh - yeh, he looked freezing”

hi,

in the begining of September I will go to Leh.

Vashisht is near Manali.

I still dont know when my knee will get better so for now I Sent
am here.

I want on sunday monday to start my way to Leh.

I want to travel with you but I am not confident enough to
take anyone on the bike on the Manali-Leh road.
its a very tough road and suppose to be the second
most dangerous in the world. so I don’t want to risk
anyone.

The weather is pretty cold in Leh .

about 10-20 c.(http://weather.cnn.com) and getting colder. but
I will b in kashnmir at the end of september not the beging.
so if you want to meet there we’ll have to do it in the end of
september. I have to go to Leh before the roads close...
so I have to go to Leh first and than Kashmir.

I would love to see you.

when ever is a good time for you. I will let you know whats
going on with me.

B.L “Did you see it? - it made me laugh.”

B.R “The landscape was amazing...”
T.L “It’s Dal Lake in Srinigar.”
T.R “This is the most beautiful place in Kashmir.”

whats up

i dont want to sound passive but this could be my last

e-mail (hopefully not) because tommorow im going to
the army like many more people in the nighborhood we
could be stationed along egypt border or if the peace talks Received
wont work then up to lebanon. im not scared or anything
because i’ve already been in the shit but this a all new kind
of shit so it’s a little unnerving.
it seems that you and tali enjoying yourself in kashmir (if
you still there). by the way how is the sweaters there and
do they play zepplin all day long?

B.L “They asked me to take a picture to see if my camera was a gun.”

B.R “That’s the weed in the Lake.”, Nageen, Srinigar
My Srinigar, Kashmir
T.L “That’s on the way to the waterfalls near Rishikesh.”
T.R “Thats when the demonstration started, she looks like shes pointing a gun, its against
the guy whos being hung by the Indian government.”

hey man.

i’m safe and my family too.

although the missles that fell on haifa missed my mother by a
hundred meters.. she got really scared shitless but now she’s Received
ok..
i’m on stand by and actually i will know tommorow if i’m
called back.
what’s worse than going back to the army
and fight hezbolla is me missing a few exams i still have to
do..

finishing my second year , 1 left to go.

i have been doing a lot of volunteering this year and im ex-
osted,
i really need to finish the exams and take a break.

B.L “The Elections - the streets were very nice - no rickshaws, no cars, not so many people.”
B.R “That’s a demonstration in Dal Lake, we were on TV but we missed it...”
My Politics
My Border
T.L “The Pakistan side is killer - they put on a hell of a show.”
T.R “That’s the border, it’s like a football match.”

> whats up with u?

> where u at now, rajasthan?
> well this is what ive been up to since dharamshala:
>
> first stop- amritsar- the golden temple. i decided Sent
> to go there in the end and thought it was one of the
> most beautiful man-made things i have ever seen. of
> course i think the atmosphere there added to my
> affection for the place. stayed in the temple dorms
> and had a really good time.

> i also went to see the

> guard change ceremony at the border with pakistan -
> hilarious! everything seems to b a big event in
> india and everyday is a festival!!

> from amritsar i

> took a train to haridwar and stayed there for a day
> before heading to rishikesh.

B.L “It was more Panto than serious, the soldiers were serious I suppose...”
B.R “The border - they do it everyday.”
My Faith
T.L “Amristar - it was beautiful, spiritual and peaceful.”
T.R “A stupa in Leh - yes they’re mostly Buddhists.”

Hi chuchi, its good to hear from you, im really well, im hav-

ing a great time but its really hot, i spend all day sweating but
im with really beautiful people and i have revolutionized the
ashram, they say that since i arrived the tranquility and the
silence are over, because i laugh and play so much, you know Sent
how i am.

Im becoming spiritually cleansed but sometimes its difficult,

but im really happy and i think of you a lot of the time, im
learning how to live the present, and im involving myself
with life and the lifestyle of these people, i go dressed as an
indian woman and i blend in with everyone. The other day
was a special one because it was Krishna’s day and i was in a
totally indian party, dancing and (partying), it was a lot of fun
and the people were great, i dressed in my sari and everyone
was smiling at me, you’ll see the photos.

B.L “It’s a military place infront of a temple in Srinigar - a mosque?”

B.R “That’s Bamboo Baba in Vashisht near Manali.”
T.L “That’s Diu in Gujurat - it was so beautiful, apart from the drunk Indians.”
T.R “We got drunk and I don’t really know why, but we ended up in bed together
and we took this picture.”

We got to Delhi this morning, exhausted but happy...

we want to leave tomorrow, but we still don’t know where...
Omkareshwar was great, we had spacial experience, and i feel
like i am learning India from the beginning, with some ad-
vanced experience.... Sent

normal conversation between indian people and us (after they

watched and stared at us for a while)
t- mean “they”
u- mean “us”
t- “hello, what is your name?” / “what is your good name?”
u- “avital” / “shula”
t- “which country?” / “where are u from?”
u- “israel”/ “italy”/ “india”
t- “what do u think about the Indian culture?”
u-”very nice, we love it”
t- “what do u do in your country?”/ “what is your job?” /
“what is your profession?”
me -”i am a teacher of theater” (i want to impress them)
t- ? (they don’t know- “theater”)
me-”like acting and directing....”
t- “oh!” (their eyes r open)
(yara says that she is waitress in a restaurant)

this is it more or less, sometimes, if they have good English

they start to speak too much, sometimes they like to invite us
to their city and their home, and they also like to suggest what
B.L “That’s henna - a holy cow in Rajasthan.”
and where we should visit in India....
B.R “It’s an Indian Ozzy Ozbourne!”
My Humour
T.L “That’s in Delhi from the hotel roof.”
T.R “Jodphur, watching the sunrise.”

Hi sweetness,

After departing ways with you I travelled Rajasthan,

it was hectic but worth it. It’s the typical India
that I imagined India to be, hustle and bustle, dust,
temples, forts and a camel safari, plus way too much Sent
charis.

I’m now in Goa but had my passport and money

etc stolen 3 days ago, I have not yet been able to
contact my embassy, bank or insurance company and the
day after this happened I found out my grandfather
died. It’s been testing few days and I expect the next
few days will be the same with organising new
passport, visa and money.

Sorry, I don’t mean to be a downer, I’m fine, the beach is

lovely and I’m labelling it all as: “experience”. I’m glad
to hear you’re having an awesome time and it’s a good
thing you emailed me because I lost everyone’s email
addresses in the theft. Anyway, if we loose contact,
don’t hesitate to contact me in the future if/when you
come to Australia and we can possibly catch up.

Enjoy your travels my friend.

B.L “That’s Corbusier’s High Court in Chandigargh.”

B.R “Amristar, my favorite place so far.”
My Architecture
My Portraits
T.L “Nakeisha’s 1st photograph (of Gaz)” - Age 3, (received)
T.R “That’s in Varanasi, he just took a bath.”

I have met many lovely people. I try to explain my home

to them and help them to understand that the movies are
not what it is like. I don’t know if I get through. The big-
gest challenge is working with the malis (that means gar-
deners). They speak no english and body language doesn’t
always cut it. Although, I have been impressed at how far Sent
you can actually go without words. I have managed to
learn a few words in Assamese and Hindi, but am not able
to form sentences yet.

My mornings lately have been spent working on the dem-

onstration garden, making compost and wiping the salty
sweat off my face. I have very much enjoyed these morn-
ings, with the 3 gardeners and the helpful volunteers. Each
day is different, but there are lots of smiles when I am at
the garden. I have been trying to spend the afternoons
sorting out all the different projects taking place here,
which has been a huge challenge for me. Trying to work in
a place that you don’t speak the language, don’t know the
culture, don’t know much about agriculture (which is the
focus of the projects), I often wonder what the heck I am
doing here. But I think with patience, I will be able to find
my place here.

B.L “I like it, you can see a reflection of me in his eye.”

T.R “In Leh at a Buddhist festival - I just loved the colours.”
My Flowers
T.L “It’s not a flower anymore, if you go close enough, it’s just colours.”, Leh
T.R “I don’t take many picture...”, Manali.

hi darling,

australia is great we are staying at the gold coast in abeuti-

ful green valley with many rivers and lakes and animals
and special plants.

we went to a trip to visit all the surrounding hippi villages. Received

the most amazing thing here are the people. i have never
seen such nice and lovely people. all the time smiling and
offering help. living in a house with another couple obvi-
ously has a few difficulties. i am having litle difficulties
with the husband because he is very milatant. but we are
having fun.

we decided that decision regarding coming back to israel

will be after the vippasana course we will do in four days
from now, i am gonna serve, the are supposed to be many
kengeroos there. exciting.

i am very happy to har u are enjoying india. i also wish

i could be there with u. maybe we will go back through
india on the way back. but for that i will have to earn some
dough.

if u are in dharamsala u should say hi to my friend tashi

which was my painting teacher, otherwise enjoy leh.

B.L “I don’t take pictures of flowers, but these were just so beautiful...”, Kashmir
B.R “I like flowers and nature - that’s just near Vashisht.”, Manali.
T.L “Gangotri - where Shiva received the Ganga, near Rishikesh.”
T.R “That’s the woods near Manali.”

Hello to everybody!!

A quick small mail, just to give you the news.

2 days in Delhi: a difficult experience! A sea of people, pollu-

tion, above all, the shocking difference between the poor and Sent
the rich.

We left for Haridwar, seat of departure for many Hindu

pilgrims. The ambiance changed there: we discovered the
Ganges, the Sadhus, and we started to see the Himalayas.

Now we are in Rishikesh to rest from all the emotions: we

must say that trekking over 5 days between 3500 m and
4500m altitude, to meet some ‘bad sikh’ (really they were
very sympathetic) to take a bath in a freezing lake at 4300m,
crossing the Valley of the Flowers (magnificant), falling
sick...

We returned by jeep with driver (16hrs), but the hill collapsed

and blocked the road, so we couldn’t continue. Some crazy
bus nearly threw us down the ravine, and it was like this
every time he overtook....it’s not easy!!!

In a few words - we are still alive.

Kiss to everybody.
B.L “That’s Pangong Lake near the China border, Ladakh.”
B.R “We went to the start of the Ganges - Gomuck Glacier.”
My Landscapes
T.L “Buffalo in the streets in Varanasi.”
T.R “The buffalo in the Ganga.”

A land of mysteries, palaces and rituals. Where the smoke of

a burning corpse drifts over the Ganges touching the shoul-
ders of those bathing in the ghat and I do not cry.

The sound of a mantra mixes with the morning chai-wallah

and the slapping of soapy clothes on the pavement. The light Sent
has not lost all of its darkness yet and the painted richshaws
are still quiet.

I am in a dream here where rationalization and systematic

reasoning do not follow a familiar path. Where conversation
is as important as daily work and the only punctual event is
the call to prayer.

In a land where the word for yesterday is the same as tomor-

row it is no surprise that traditions hold strong and everything
is late.

Each state has different greatly from the next - different

foods, clothes, rituals, religions, architecture and languages.
There are 100’s of languages in India! But, Oh holy cow you
seem to be so consistent across the country! You will not
become a hamburger in India! But why camel are you turned
into that bag I want so badly? And great elephant there is so
much more to you than your husks! I will share my roasted
peanuts with you if you promise not to trample me!

B.L “Varanasi - the buffalo.”

B.R “I’m just interested in nature...”
My Wildlife
My Baby
T.L “Baby Monique, Nakeisha and Simone.”, England.
T.R “My best friend in Israel, she’s got two months to go.”

nitsan is doing well. he is finding his voice and likes to talk

well he makes a high pitch screech (wrong choice of word)
and he smiles at everyone and anyone. he loves standing
but also just lying on the floor looking at his toys or watch-
ing television. it is so hard to believe how fast he is grow- Received
ing. the photos im sending to you...he was 17 weeks old. it
was rare cold day during spring that he had to wear his tur-
tleneck sweater and jeans. he has two friends. joshua, who
is a month younger than nitsan, is flying with his parents to
new york (his mum is italian american) and yos, who is a
month older than nitsan and is jewish.

we have been slowly working through muli’s visa papers.

there is so much to get through and they ask so many ques-
tions about where and how we met and how long has our
relship been going, etc etc. the process is very intrusive but
hopefully if everything goes well, assaf will be given a per-
manent visa straight away mainly because we have nitsan.

B.L “Baby Monique, Nakeisha and Simone.”, England.

B.R “This is the puja for a new baby, after 11 days they give the name.”
My Birthday
T.L “In Varanasi - a friend of a friend’s birthday.”
T.R “My 23rd Birthday”

Dear friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am still in Rishikesh and refuse to leave…………….

Will get out of here probably sometime next week!!!!!

Ready to deal with it all again and the good news is I ‘m Sent
feeling much better and me and my stomach is revived again.
India……………………..

Good for everyone!!!!!!! I apologize to all you that have

wrote me a personal e-mail and I didn’t find the time to reply,
lots of thanks for the Mazal-tov (trans. Happy Birthday).

Now I write on blind (slang. No Hebrew Keyboard) and its

really hard the computers here are really annoying, finally
you get electricity and then the keyboards stuck (in English
it sounds better), annoying……….. but would can you do?
Indian quality!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway have fun in life, life doesn’t wait for you!!!!!!!!!!

Love and miss you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

B.L “Nakeisha’s 3rd Birthday party”, England

B.R “My birthday cards in the ‘Prison’”, Goa
T.L “Yes, she looks sad, I’m leaving.”
T.R “My boyfriend in Israel.”

hey babe...

i know about zizo’s party and i think i might go...

alla bemet.
everything is good here, i kind’a got stuck cause i Received
brooke my arm weeks ago but it will be ok..

the war is still continue-the hizballa are bombing

half of the country all the time and they say its just a
metter of time untill the rockets will get to tel-aviv..
so as you see its all the same..

ma tzeela? ke tal?

whats going on in india??

XXxx

B.L “My girlfriend...”

B.R “That one was for our girlfriends, we made it with the moon.”
My Lover
T.L “She got married three weeks ago, just before I left, it’s like a Hen party.”
T.R “We became like the guests of honour at this Indian wedding.”

Well has you might of guest nothing as happened here in

blighty, oh apart from a drug related shooting at the bed and
brekfast across from the park near the sheds.i am now offi-
cially in gangsters paradise. (Bang go the house prices) But as
long as they’re only shooting each other i dont mind. Received

Yang yang Micky as been in touch again, I think i’m going

to take her out again on sunday (no more mr nice guy) i’m
gonna try a bit of the old Boothy magic, i let you know how
she turns me down. Ha Ha.

Sarah is in good spirits, she’s been free of Kai for two weeks
so she’s been mooching about at the fringe festival in Scot-
land and visiting her mate Julie in workington, who has got a
bit of a thing for me apparently, But she’s married so i’ll leave
the magic wand in it’s holster.

i’ve might of sorted a wedding video for next summer with a

girl at work, i’ve told her to get some prices and that i will try
and do it a little cheaper as a wedding present, she’s a punter
so she’ll get some rediculous price so we should’nt have a
problem beating them.

Not much else to report on, apart from it’s Andy hulmes Wed-
ding tomorrow so it looks like i’m on the piss again.

B.L “Nagarkhot, my sister was getting married and I wanted to photograph my spirit - to be there.”
B.R “A Kashmiri Hen night, before the wedding to happen soon.”
My Marriage
My Health
T.L “I had a dream about my boyfriend in hospital the night before we left.”
T.R “This is in hospital - I just wanted to show the cleanliness of hospitals in India.”

Hi, Hope that you are both OK and that all goes well. The
weather is dreadful here - it seems as though we are paying
for a nice early summer.

We are going to Royal Bolton tomorrow to have the wrist

plaster removed. It will be uncomfortable for a while, but Received
your mum will be glad to move on one more stage. She is
working hard to help herself by excercising her neck muscles,
but understandingly, progress is slower than she would like.

You may remember that we were planning to have two

week’s holiday in Marmaris, Turkey from 22 September.
About a week ago we decided to cancel after talking to the
Consultant about possible stresses on the flight. It turned out
to be a good decision in view of the recent bombings in Tur-
key - we shall do something later, probably in November.

Rachael and Alison are coming here later to have a meal with
us and do some elementary French language. Gillian is back
from the USA now, although we haven’t seen her much of
her.

Look forward to hearing from you.

lots of love

B.L “A boy needing to see the dentist in Varanasi”

B.R “He said, ‘I’m blind’, then he said, ‘let me see the picture.”
My Taj Mahal
T.L All this preperation for this stupid picture - send a postcard
T.R Somebody took it for me, but it doesn’t look like he got it quite right

I arrived with a restless spirit,

but India has since beaten it out of me.
The repressive heat and humidity. The
soffocating pollution. The daily assaults
by touts, selling everything from mar-
ble statues of the Hindu god Ganesh to Sent
plastic keychains. The insessant honking
of horns from taxis, rickshaws, motorcy-
cles, bicycles (sometimes I swear I can
hear the cows in the street honking). The
bug that feasted on my butt and thighs,
leaving behind 40 (yes, I counted!!) red,
itchy welts.

Just when I think I can’t take it

anymore and am about to call China Air
to change my return flight, I find myself
standing before something magical, some-
thing that transports me out of “hell”
and into heaven, something that makes me
realize why people return again and again
to India. The Taj Mahal. A masterpiece of
white marble, a majestic tribute to love
that will disolve the love cynic out of
anyone who stands before it.

B.L It’s a self-portrait - we had some trouble...

B.R I took several, I wanted to take an imperfect picture of the Taj Mahal
T.L “Assi Ghat in Varanasi.”
T.R “The boat - Varanasi.”

We arrived in Varanasi a few hundred hours later. The

hours are longer when you are being stared at by all twenty
men within eyeshot, oh and yes, here was my second breast
attack- through the barred window of the train from behind
this time. I have to give it to him for inventiveness and i
did give it to him in obscenties that came from my mouth Sent
at quite an impressive volume! But, apart from that, I love
the train... I love waking up in a different place and feel-
ing the wind coming through the bars and watching the
landscape change and people watching from the top bunk.
Also, the array of food that you get offered is incredible.

Anyway, Varanasi... well Varanasi is a really special place.

It is one of India’s holiest cities and is on the huge Ganges
river. Its so wide that you can almost not see the other
side. It is famous for Indian classical and going to die- we
chose the first option and observed the second. We haggled
our arses off to get on a boat to got up the river and see
all the ghats- this is where people bathe in the holy river
(fully clothed of course) and wash their clothes. About
a hundred metres upstream you have the funeral pyres
where hundreds of bodies a day are burnt and the ashes are
distributed in the Ganges. People literally hang out wait-
ing to die there. Its not a very pretty sight. But Varanasi is
a very spiritually charged place and certainly has a charm
of its own- the dirty narrow streets are really interesting to
wander around.
B.L “Holy Water”
B.R “One lonely tourist looking at her candle.”
My Varanasi
T.L “I saw this about an hour ago.”
T.R “It’s a dead body - they’re holding it on the roof.”, Varanasi.

hey,

did you get my other emails? i dont think so.

we are in rishekesh. we both have some vile disease and
are dying. i am so convinced. im dying!
it turns out we were very wrong about our rabies
advice!!! i mentioned it to my mum and she freaked. ap- Sent
parently it gesticulates for between 2 and 8 weeks and then
you just die.

my mum spoke to a nurse in london who demanded

to fly me home immediately!!

anyway, they were so worried, i got into an absolute state

as couldnt find a hospital open to get a vaccine and it had
allready been 10 days, but i’ve had a shot now and have
to get four more and they’ve givne me antibiotics which
i cant keep down and make me puke all night! it’s gross.
tamsin thought i was being a complete hypochondriac until
she started puking everywhere and now she has much more
sympathy!!! im sure i’ll be fine but i somehow managed to
work myslef up into such a state of paaranioa over it all!

so now its wednesday i guess we missed you again - damn

it! i would love to see you. it is really nice here.

B.L “The burning ghats - your not allowed to do photos, so I did it from the hip.”
B.R “That’s the burning ghats behind the Taj Mahal in Agra.”
My Death
T.L “What do you mean all my photos are deleted? I have a virus?”
T.R “Yes, that’s Christmas time in Canada.”

Hows India? I miss it like crazy!

Been back home and doing some horrible warehouse job

(the first temping thing i could find!) for a couple of weeks
now. Lauren forwarded me ‘Death of a Postcard’, very
cool that you used my photos! Received

Are you going to publish it as a book on that lulu website?

I’d have to order it!

Lauren and I are looking into going on a major trip togeth-

er next summer, taking a TEFL course in the Phillpines
and then setting lose across asia to work for a while. i dont
know if itll happen or not but im hoping!

Until then i guess ill be jsut be going some god awful jobs,
it depends what i can find! Speaking of which, any chance
you can give me a contact for that christmas trees job in
Scotland? I’m probably not going to do it but id like to
have it as a fall back method to get some pretty quick cash.
it would be great to hear how its all going for you two,
ill try and remember to send you some emails soon (i’m
useless at stuff like that!)

Enjoy yourselves,

B.L “There are ones on there of me and my boyfriend, and erm...”

B.R “I’m back there in January”
My Return Home
Back T.L “Sunset in the desert.”, Rajasthan
Back T.R “Wow, did you see the sunset tonight? - I took some photos.”

Thanks for the mail!

It make me remember the time in “River View”, as

long as you Dan and Co were there was it a funny
time. But after your going some problems back Received
home arised. My wife and I find out, that we both
become to different, already years ago. Now I am
a week and a half at home again, separate from my
wife and about to start a new life. Curious. I see it
as a chance.

Never again - a krishna fucked gopi!

All the best

Back B.L “Robbing me sunsets now? Saving your skin again, half-way round’t world and this...”
Back B.R “It’s just a documentary thing for me - I’m just trying to capture as much as possible,
not necessarily the best pictures.”