Sandhya Jain - Fulbright Blog

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Return to India

I'm sitting in the USEFI office in Delhi, and the past three months have melted away. I am eating my meeti dahi vada from Saravana Bhavan (they have a restaurant in California), drinking mango shake. sigh, just like old times.

My immediate clue to my re-arrival is the overwhelming urge to sleep that I am fighting right now. I was up at 3am today; not a good sign for a speedy recovery from the travel. There are differences, too. For one, the weather is warmer and less humid than when I left. The sky is a clear blue, something I don't think I have ever seen in Delhi before. And the email office is on a different floor, where strangers who walk in think that I'm the secretary. Hmm, this could be fun.

In brief, my plans for the next few weeks is as follows:

Jaipur -- interview Muhammad Khagzi Hussain (hand papermaker) and Shammi Sharma, Kripal Singh, and Dwarkalal Prasad (artists).
Mumbai -- return to the Prince of Wales Museum to take pigment samples and see how their conservation lab is developing
Kangra -- visit a private collection of Kangra miniature paintings for potential exhibition.
Delhi -- perform conservation treatments with INTACH and other private conservatos in the area.