16-21 january 2011, another post

silk weaver

this is another photo from varanasi. it was monday morning, and my auto-rickshaw driver offered to take me on a tour of the muslim quarter where approximately 20,000 silk workers live and work. he dropped me with one of the local residents who naturally turned out to own a shop that sold silk cloth; after showing me some of the workrooms (where the men had to work by natural light as the power goes out in the mornings), he tried to sell me scarves and saree material.  my driver then offered to take me on a tour of the spice market, so i turned him down.

16-21 january 2011

from sunday to friday i was in varanasi, the holy hindu city on the ganges. i went up there to take photos of the ghats (palaces overlooking the river that various kings and princes built over the centuries) for five days.  i will write more about the experience later, but as i took nearly 2,000 photographs - many of them destined for the trash bin - it will take me a while to sort through my thoughts.

a sadhu, or hindu holy man

varanasi is an ancient city with narrow winding alleys and busy markets, but most of the activity centers on the ganges where pilgrims come from across india to bathe in the waters. the place is also crawling with tourists and "seekers of alternative lifestyles," let's say - i.e., latter-day hippies. it made for interesting people-watching.

corpse being bathed with water from the ganges prior to cremation

the highlight of the trip was the hour i spent photographing the cremations on the banks of the ganges at the manikarnika ghat. most of the photos you'll see on the internet of the manikarnika ghat are taken from the river or from a distance, because photography is strictly off limits inside the ghat - unless you're willing to give the headman 6.000 rupees, which is what i did.  more photos to come.

january 15, 2011

advertisement for adoption

it may seem like everything i do lately is tied in with blue cross.  it's not true - i'm also learning yoga and having long lunches with other spouses - but today, i did go down to the shelter to prepare some postcard-sized shots of dogs available for adoption. this is one of them.  who wouldn't want to come home to this face?

january 11, 2011

the puppy i wrote about on january 7 died yesterday. they either die or get adopted; either way, it doesn't pay to become too attached ...

january 9, 2011

chennai open

last night was the final of the men's atp chennai open. capping off a week of world-class tennis, stanislaus wawrinka of switzerland won the singles competition; leander paes and mahesh bhupathi of india won the doubles competition.

padma lakshmi was there, making her my first paparazzi shot.

january 7, 2011

this poor guy
(taken with my cell phone camera)

i've been volunteering at the blue cross animal shelter for just over a week now. most of the time i end up playing with the puppies since there isn't always something immediate for volunteers to do. each time it's different: in addition to the work i did on december 30, i've cleaned up cow poo, i've held a rope to immobilize a cow that was having a broken leg treated, and i've helped wash dogs with mange. (they fought being tied to the tree, but they didn't seem to mind the shampooing itself; and none of them were upset enough to bite, a risk that only struck me after i'd begun the washing.) today i gave water to the puppies and marginally helped clean up the puppy yard. part of the problem is that many of the staff don't speak english, and my tamil is incredibly limited, so when i'm plunked into a situation the staff eventually decide that it's easier to do the work themselves than to play charades.

as i moved about the yard, picking up various dogs and playing with them, i kept finding puppies that were so dehydrated - and possibly suffering from other diseases - that they couldn't move. i'd bring them to the vet where they'd get a shot, and then i'd feed them water and milk through a syringe.  (i also picked up a dead puppy that some other puppies were using as a bolster, so it could be taken away. this is less awful than it sounds, but only by a small amount.)  finally, i decided to do something about this dog, who with a skin disease that i can't even find on the internet. the vet gave him a shot and then instructed me to put skin cream on him whenever i come to the shelter. this may be his was of saying "quit bothering me, go do it yourself", or he may just realize that if i'm going to bring him puppies anyway, he might as well put me to work. at any rate, i have to believe the dog is grateful for the medical attention.

december 30, 2010, continued

i took these photos at blue cross of india, an animal shelter in chennai where i have started volunteering. the shelter takes in homeless and injured dogs and cats, as well as injured and neglected livestock - pigs, cows, horses, geese - and even small animals like guinea pigs and rabbits.

blue cross conducts a trap-neuter-release program for adult dogs and cats, and holds the puppies and kittens it finds for adoption. in my two visits there, i could see that the place is stretched to capacity: as a no-kill shelter, it has to hold the animals even if they are sick and treat them as best as they can.  thus, while i was able to while away the hours socializing the puppies for adoption (a.k.a. playing with them), i had to avoid the mangy ones that simply weren't thriving, and the staff didn't seem able to fully segregate the sick ones from the healthy ones. i also found myself doing triage, identifying wounded puppies and bringing them to the veterinary staff for treatment. in one of the pictures below, for instance, you'll see a puppy lying on its side and covered with flies: the insects were congregating around a few-days-old wound, and from time to time the puppy would cry out and convulse.  i finally brought him in where the staff cleaned his wounds (and cleaned out his ears after i pointed out that they were full of black spores) and gave him a shot. they then put him in a segregated cage.  the puppy was definitely more alert afterward, and i'm going to check on him when i go back on saturday.

there is a yard for motherless puppies, plus three overflow bins. i wanted to dive in, like a kid in front of the ball pit at chuck e. cheese.	more puppies.	one of the amputee dogs on the grounds.
one of the operating rooms.	street dogs recuperating post-sterilization.	owned dogs recuperating post-sterilization. this is better, but i'm not sure by how much.
one of the two puppies i took to the vet from the puppy yard.	the same guy after treatment.	one of the puppies that adopted me while i was visiting.
they treat cows too.	a puppy in need of treatment.	another puppy who exemplifies the challenge of the "no-kill" policy. he was a very good model, in part because he can't walk - his two back legs are paralyzed. he was glad for the attention he got, but who is going to adopt this one? who is going to keep him clean?

abby has told me that i'm in trouble if i bring any puppies home with me, and i think one dog is enough for now, but you can see the challenge involved.