India Blog!

This beautiful statue was displayed in the village next door to a farm I went to today. A business associate and his wife invited me down to their farm just a couple of hours outside of Delhi, and when I got there, we took a walk down to the village and toured the house of the Indian equivalent of a landlord (who used to manage all of the farmers of the village). There are currently no lord-serf relationships as such anymore, but the owner of this historical building rents it out like a hotel to travelers touring through the area. He also rents it to the producers of Hindi music videos and modeling photo shoots, because it provides a nice "ancient India" backdrop.

The house is really something. Apparently, it's been cleaned up quite a bit, although many of the features of the house are still original, and the format is much the same as it ever was, with a courtyard being the focus and hub of the whole house, and long, corridor-like rooms serving as the main living areas and bedrooms. It must be kind of a magical experience to stay there, with all of its creaking doors, old oil lamps, and elaborately chiseled old bed frames.