Blue crab II

My sleep situation was between nil and none last night. Concerned about home and other things, but more about that on another day!

Mornings here in New Delhi, India are a cacophony of sounds, sights,and smells. I listened this morning as this heavily populated city began to awaken from it's partial slumber. I say partial because this city is always awake in some way or another.

I have never seen what could be called minor amounts of traffic here. Two lanes of traffic become 4, with motorcycles and bicycles competing for the inches to spare. Any time the cars stop, bikes of all types push their way through the throng, hoping to get ahead of the pack. Speaking of stopping, when the cars do stop, all sorts of vendors selling various trinkets approach the cars. Along side of the vendors are the beggers, especially if they see someone that looks like a foreigner. Tapping on the windows, have been taught to ignore or look away, but sometimes I catch glimpses of them and it breaks my heart. Accidents are also frequent,  with many of the cars bearing scuffs, scrapes, and dents. The fender benders are usually not reported,  with drivers just stopping in the road to fuss at each other and then the horns from the stalled traffic start adding to the confusion. The horns,  my word the horns are of every pitch and varying degrees of loudness and length of beep. The traffic is not for the faint of heart, with cows walking down the road and pedestrians stepping off the curb at random points, putting their hand out as if to stop traffic. They also glare at the drivers, almost daring them to make contact with their bodies. Then the horns begin their symphony again. At least on my 4th trip to India, I am not trying to put my foot through the floor for a brake. I am becoming slightly more at ease with the traffic in our drivers capable hands.

The area of the city we are in is CR park. Each block of houses has it's own green space where people go to walk and exercise  before the heat of day becomes too unbearable. Each park also has cow gates to prevent the cows from making themselves at home on the grass. Each morning,  there are several calls from the street to come and see what wares the vendors have for sale. Each vendor has their own call so you know who is outside. Their calls almost are songlike and are very loud so they can be heard through the open windows hoping for a breeze. Need a broom? He has brooms, dust pans, straw whisks,  scrub brushes, and mops. There may have been buckets as well on his bicycle cart. Need vegetables?  They come as well, piled high, beautiful, and ripe. Need fruits? There is another vendor that provides for your table. Lastly but not the least, (and I'm sure there are more)is the man that calls for your garbage, the crows following him remind me of seagulls hollering mine! mine! I also spotted a craftsman with his canvas bag and wooden box carefully picking his way through the rubble in the street, headed for a house project. Speaking of house projects, there are 4 in this section alone, I saw an almost impossible sight. Two men, on two separate bikes carrying enormous amounts of rebar for building. The rebar is larger and thicker than ours and they bend it in half in order to strap it to their bikes. The bikes are carefully pushed through the narrow street, made even narrower by the cars parked in every direction.

The streets are so narrow and corners so blind that the cars and motorcycles  beep their horns to warn they are coming through. Add to this the noisy racket of birds, people talking, singing, and traffic from the main road, and you have mornings in New Delhi!

All this comes drifting through the window as I paint in Christinas makeshift studio on the third floor. Mornings are beautiful here,  especially during monsoon season.

Blue crab II, Acrylic on canvas, 12x12
Day 66 of the 100 days-100 paintings 2018