Endless Vodafone India Mobile Phone Spam

On my second day in Delhi, India, I bought a local SIM card from Vodafone India. Before the line activated to make an outgoing call, I got an inbound call. Picking it up, the caller surprised me – it was an automatic telemarketer call. Phone spam less than an hour after activation.

And the phone spam never stopped.

My entire time in India, I would get spam text messages and spam calls – 3-4 per day – in Hindi and in English promoting third party services and products. So it wasn’t even Vodafone spamming me through my mobile phone, but India’s version of late-night telemarketers.

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Sounds of Takeoff and Landing in Lufthansa Business Class on Boeing 747-400

Traveling in business class is different in many ways from travel in economy class – especially in the sounds of takeoff and landing in a Boeing 747-400.

Business class in Lufthansa’s 747 jet airplanes is right up front, the forward portion of seating curving inward to form the nose of the aircraft. The forward business class seating, where I write this from is also just below the pilot cabin and above the forward landing gear.

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Delhi Metro Rail Mass Transit System: a Modern Taj Mahal

The New Delhi mass transit system “Metro” is a modern Taj Mahal in its beauty, scale, and achievement for the nation of India. This I have come to believe after riding it through the city center and visiting its newest stations, still under construction.

First the act of riding the New Delhi Metro system

Unlike so much in India, the Ne Delhi metro system is amazingly efficient. You can buy a ticket from the automated kiosk or from a station attendant. Prices are dirt cheap – maybe $0.30 per ride, anywhere along the system. And well worth the money.

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I see Lenin! Soviet Socialist Iconography in Nepal’s Maoist Protests Posters

First, the upper half of the poster is framed by imagery of missing Maoist members, reinforcing the message of sacrifice and martyrdom for a greater cause. Flags showing different manual labour tools frame the lower half. I am not sure if these represent different unions, but they’re a direct copy of Soviet posters that use the flags of all the Soviet states.

Upper half poster imagery

Next the upper portion of the poster contains a Soviet and a socialism reference. In the upper left, the hammer and star flag over the world is a direct descendant of earlier USSR flags over the world produce by the Soviet Union.

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On the Worship and Value of Red Bricks in Kathmandu, Nepal

Bricks are of great value in Nepal. You know this even before you arrive, as brick kilns sprout like grass across the Kathmandu valley, conspicuous in their number as you approach KTM airport. They populate the countryside – more than houses or roads – producing millions of red bricks.

Do not be fooled into thinking that this means red bricks are common. No, even though you see them piled everywhere from street corners to back yards, they are very valuable.

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