Some Homes that I Love in Mysore!

One of our favorite things to do here in Mysore is walk everywhere we go.
Unless we get caught in a Monsoon downpour..which can come unannounced at any moment.
We are Never without our Umbrellas/Sunbrellas (you use them on Very hot days as well here!)

I love the homes here because None of them are alike.

None. Of. Them.

Unlike the cookie cutter homes where I come from, where more often than not you have the same home, every other house on some streets.
Which I dislike very much.
I Love being different and Love the homes that are as such!

Here are just a few....

 These two are the same home...

 I love the balconies on this home!!

 

 

And if you Love Purple, Like I Love Purple..then this ones for You!!!

 

Oh, and by the way. See that sign on the fence that says "Beware of Dog" in Hindi and English? I bought one for my back gate ;~)

And just for the record. I am not one of those women who Love Big Homes..in fact, quite the opposite is true. I grew up in those..and knew how much staff was required to keep it up and so, my Favorite one is the one right above! It is Right up my alley!! Cute, Clean, Compact and Adorable~

 

 This is Meena and Mahesh's home sweet home for us until November! A place we return to again and again when we visit Mysore! That is our room up top~we have the upstairs with full rooftop terrace. It is Divine and we Love it here!

Chewing and Smoking...

 

The SuperMoon lit up the sky here in India so brightly that it looked almost like it was daytime.

 

 

 

This Elephant was painted onto the rock wall that fences the Shiva Temple down the street from us. It looks 3-D because of the way the rock was painted. It's really very cool.

 

 

and then there's this one...

Chews and......

 

SMOKES!!! Oh lord what have we done....
Durga!!!

 

 

My Best 6 days in India

were spent with Peda.
She lit up our days and gave us more Joy in those 6 wonderful days than we could have ever hoped for.

I never thought for a moment we'd be leaving here without her.
But she just wasn't strong enough.
She has an infection and a fever and it took her so fast.

Yesterday I just wasn't feeling right. I was so sad. From the moment I woke up I was in a funk and could Not snap out of it.

I told Ray that I didn't want to leave Peda alone even for one second and we didn't.
We even got our food to go at Green Leaf so I could be with her.

She wasn't acting herself in the afternoon and wasn't walking right. I knew something was very wrong..
A vet looked her over and told me she needed to get an IV in her and get her on an antibiotic first thing in the morning.
I wanted to ask her to please do it last night..but she had plans and I didn't want to interfere.
I thought first thing in the morning would be OK.
I would keep her warm and hold her and love her and she would be fine.

Last night we were getting ready for bed and I told Peda that if she had to go I would be OK. That is it was too painful for her to stay here with me, I would be fine and I would see her again one day...

Moments later Ray took her out to go potty and she did, but when he came through the door she started to cry. She Never cried before. Never made a peep actually.
I Knew something was terribly wrong and ran to get her from his hands and took her in my arms and she cried again.
Ray said he thought she was dying...
and she was.

We both cried as we told her it was OK to go, and what a Good Girl she was and how much we Loved her.
She took 5 deep breaths and she was gone.
It was so peaceful..her face..she was so relaxed in my arms and hearing Ray and I tell her those things. Because they we all True. She was the Smartest little 6 week old baby we had ever seen.
She knew to go potty outside and she knew her name. She knew what "eat" meant and she Loved watching our every move.
Her mind was strong, but her little body was not.

I went downstairs in tears to tell Meena and her family what had happened and they were so dear and so loving.
Mahesh offered to take us to where his business is located and have a proper burial for her this morning at 7:00 am.
Ray went, I could not move from the bed...my eyes had swollen shut from the tears that I could not stop from flowing.

Peda stayed with us in her bed all wrapped up in her blankets until this morning when they took her to her resting place.

Mahesh bought flowers for Pedas grave on the way there.

towards her resting place..

digging her grave...

I sent my scarf to have her wrapped in..

Mahesh brought incense and lit it after she was buried..

They took such loving care to see that Peda had a beautiful burial for us..

She is in a beautiful, peaceful spot below the foot of a coconut tree...

 by a little water way..

and she can rest there in eternal peace. Away from any harm, no more pain, no suffering...and she is happy there. I know that...although my heart aches for her to be here with me. It wasn't meant to be.
But I will keep her safe in my heart and never forget those little dark button eyes that looked into mine with such pure love.

The Best 6 days I can never forget, with Peda.

 

It's not a dream...

I can only imagine what she must be feeling.

On one hand I can see how she must miss the other dogs..
there were SO many around and all she heard was barking and yelping or the crying out.

But the Peacefulness for her now must feel like nothing she has ever known.
She has Never had this much in her 6 weeks of life.
Nor has she had so much Love!!! Or a comfortable bed, blanket and roof over her head...

Sometimes she just stares up at me and looks deep into my eyes almost as if she wants to tell me how much she loves me for taking her away and giving her all of this.

This morning I was lying in bed and I have her doggie bed right next to me so I can reach down in the night if she starts to cough and I can rub her tummy and tell her it's OK.
But this morning I was lying there and looking down at her while she slept and all of a sudden, she popped her head up and turned around to face me and looked right at me..I wondered if somehow she sensed how I was feeling about how Blessed I am to have gotten her.

Timing is Everything they say.
I Believe that to be True.
Especially now.

One of my lifelong dreams was to adopt a street dog in India and bring it to the US and give it the Best life it could ever imagine.

Well, there's another one to check off my bucket list!

Peda has healed me from the pain I felt of having to have left my darling Bindi behind. Of course I knew I would go back to get her, we could never live without her...
but it was a 7 long months of missing that wonderful feeling of having your loving little "person that wears a fur coat" by your side all the time.

Now I have Peda and now Bindi has a new little sister to look after when we get back.

It's funny how people keep saying how much Peda looks like a Chihuahua...
It's funny how life will bring you just the right little surprise just when you least expect it as well...
Can you see the vertical line on her forehead there (the white one) It looks like a Bindi! Yes, she is Truly an Indian dog!!

Ray wanted to be sure that while were here staying  here in Meenas home, since we have the top level with a balcony..that Peda would be very safe and secure. You see she is so small that she fits in your two cupped hands. We decided to put up some mesh screen to be sure she would be extra safe. She Loves lying on the bricks that are on the rooftop terrace as they hold in the warm heat. She is a Happy girl and she wags her tail a lot now! She almost knows her name, loves to be talked to, loves when it's time to eat and is Very happy to have a Mommy and a Daddy who love her to the Moon and Back!

“Sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never even knew you had.”

Moving forward with our plans...on Indian time..

Today was the day we met with Savitha, the Chairman for PFA.

Her driver picked us up in front of Vishnu Bhavan at 3:30 and drove us out to her home.

I had no idea how sick she really was until I laid eyes on her actually.
She is bed-ridden and her eyes seemed so sad. My heart went out to her when I saw her.

We were greeted by a large, older dog and came to find out he was a street dog himself and now is her constant companion watching over her and lying under her bed as she rests.

He wasn't too pleased Peda came along, so he was reassigned to the adjoining bathroom to wait until our visit ended.
We talked a lot about PFA and about how she used to go almost everyday until she was diagnosed with Diabetic Neuropathy and now she is unable to go hardly ever.
She said that she has lost the feeling in her legs and feet and got burnt because of it.

There is so much to do and she feels quite helpless and my heart honestly went out to her so much that it hurt. Because this is her Passion. Her Baby and what she lives for and not being able to go is so hard for her.

She never had children. She is my age and the animals are her Everything.

She told us about the new enclosures for the dogs and how they will be divided into different sections to protect the ones who are sick, injured, disabled and the puppies.
It is being constructed Now as I write this and will be delivered to PFA once it is finished.
(I have no date on that).
We talked about the feeding trough that we want to have built to protect the dogs as they eat, so that there is no more fighting.

Savitha really liked the idea and we were just getting down to talking about getting an estimate and her husband came into the room and the conversation shifted to a whole new discussion...
We had a 6 pm appointment and the driver had to leave as well so we didn't get to finish up.
Savitha was lying down in the bed and seemed so drained too...

So we took our leave and told her we would come back very soon and see her again so we could finish up on the nuts and bolts to getting this built ASAP!

 

Welcome to your Beautful Life Peda!

Peda, Pheda or Pera (Kannada: ಪೇಡ, Urdu: پیڑا, Hindi: पेड़ा, pronounced [ˈpeːɽaː], Marathi: पेढा) is a sweet from the Indian subcontinent, usually prepared in thick, semi-soft pieces. The main ingredients are khoa, sugar and traditional flavorings, including cardamom seeds, pistachio nuts and saffron. The color varies from a creamy white to a caramel colour.
As with laddoos, pedas are sometimes used as prasad in religious services

On my last visit to India I fell in Love with Mysore Pak an Indian sweet with a slightly caramel flavor. I LOVED them!!
This time around I have fallen in Love with Pedas.
Below is a photo of what they look like and they are not as sweet as Mysore Pak, smaller in size and one is Perfect in the evening with a cup of Chai for dessert!

Then I met her....
 

She is a teeny, tiny little sprite of a baby that was wandering around the grounds of PFA.
I noticed her on my first visit, but as there are so many dogs running around the grounds I didn't focus entirely on her at first glance. But then I saw her again later on that same visit and I asked about her.

It seems as though she was born approximately around the time we left the US to fly to India..her mommy pushed her out of her womb and then she died.
She was born into this world without anyone really.

There was another mommy that had one puppy left and was nursing him and she took this little orphan on and nursed her as well...

but as you can see her little one is much larger and thus the little orphan girl got what she could.
My heart literally broke when I heard the story and I Knew in my Heart I had to take her and give her a new life.
A better life.
A chance at surviving really. Because, you see, I cannot even believe that she was still alive as it was, given her circumstances and the fact that there are so many large and some not so very nice dogs down there running around and she was a free shot really...

 

And so my husband and I left that day and just couldn't get her off our minds...

We came to the conclusion that we Had to take her away from PFA and bring her

back to the US and give her a good life.

 

                                                                                                                                                                 

We first had to OK it with the wonderful family that we are staying with of course.
Meena of "The Silver Nest" here in Gokulam. Well known by all of the Yogis and locals as she sells the BEST Silver Jewelry in all of Mysore and her prices can't be beat.

Meena told us that she would have to speak with her husband Mahesh that evening when he returned home and she would call up to us when they were finished talking.

I waited and paced and chanted and prayed...
and then I heard Meenas soft voice call from the foot of the marble stairway.."Tracy" and I knew it was time~~
Ray and I walked down the length of the stairway and into the the living room area and Mahesh greeted us and asked us to please sit.

He told us in no uncertain terms that it was Absolutely OK to bring her here and that it would be no problem at all!!! I actually Jumped for Joy! I did, you can ask Meena if you come by to do some silver shopping!!

I was just so happy, not only for us, but mostly for her..Peda.
That is the name Ray picked for her and I thought it was absolutely Perfect in every way~

The next day we went to get her and it was just such a wonderful thing in so many ways.
Something pretty auspicious happened actually on the way back to Meenas with the three of us, well 4 with Peda, well 5 as Kumar was driving the ricky.
But Jonathan said all of a sudden as the sky opened up and the rain came Pouring down as we drove away from the grounds of People for Animals...

He said just this "Tracy, this is sort of like a Baptism..a shedding of the past and the bringing in of a new life for her"
My eyes got teary, because it was.
It really, really was.

Peda got home and we washed her up as she was quite the mess.
She was so awfully dirty all over her little body, as all she has ever known is dirt and the outside.
No love really..nobody held her and talked to her. She was just another one of the animals at PFA that roamed around the grounds.

Her tiny little ears were Filled with Ticks, Fleas and Larvae. It was pretty frightening actually. But I got them all out of her ears...it was a challenge.
Then I noticed that she had a terrible cough...and she was so awfully thin that her ribs were protruding out.
Her eyes were extremely sad as well...

I called Boushan, the most Wonderful man who is a Vet here in Gokulam and where we bought all the pet food for the animals at PFA. I told him how worried I was for her and what I was seeing and he told me to bring her to his home at 6pm and he would help her.

We were there at 6pm sharp...not 6pm Indian time...
He was right there at the door waiting for us and he went to work.
He gave her an injection for the Ticks and Fleas and also for her cough.

Then he said something that I will never forget.
He said "You have done a very good thing here. If you would not have taken her, in three days she would have expired" (that means died in Indian terms)

She went back again this evening for her second round of shots and her de-worming medication and tomorrow she will return one last time for her third shot.
And we are invited to stay for tea..(that means Chai in Indian terms and I LOVE CHAI!)

Peda is doing so much better already and she is such a smart little girl. She reminds me so much of my beautiful Bindi!! I know they are going to Love each other so much!
Peda lets us know when she has to go potty and she goes to the door to go out!
Not one slip up Yet!

She is eating Science Diet kibble mixed with wet and a little water...
She eats about every four hours and drinks water from her dish.

This is her at night and I do believe she has never felt such Peace and Love in her 6 short weeks she has been alive...

And this is only just the beginning.
Welcome to your Beautiful Life Peda!!!

 

Dhatu of Mysore~and Rasa Dhatu

Here was the view from my seat at the Fabulous Rasa Dhatu Organic restaurant open now in Mysore.

We just happened to come upon the shop Dhatu one afternoon as we passed by and I was just so curious about it from looking up into the windows.
Now I'm sort of regretting finding that shop, as they have the most Fabulous items!!! Some are "one of a kind" and you will Not find them anywhere else. I Love shops like that.

Every item they carry is hand picked and thoughtfully chosen. The main reason I love it so much is because most everything they carry "benefits" the people who make the items. They have bags/wallets done by Green the Gap whom I have supported in the past and Love the concept behind the products they create.

Products from Isha Vidhya~

Isha Vidhya, a not for profit education initiative, works for the economic and social empowerment of rural children in the villages across southern state of Tamil Nadu, India. Through this effort, the foundation is committed to raising the level of education and literacy in rural India and to helping disadvantaged children realize their full potential.

The foundation through its Isha Vidhya schools offer a nurturing approach to education in villages. Isha Vidhya has been an active supporter of promoting education among female children in the villages and all our schools have seen an increased enrollment of girl children.

 

They carry Organic cotton clothing. linens, curtains and towels.

Beauty products that are 100% organic as well as food items ALL Organic!

 

They have just unveiled their newest baby..

Rasa Dhatu! An organic restaurant that once you step inside you are instantly calmer and more serene (at least I was).

 

The menu changes frequently and the food is mouth watering..and pleasing to the eyes and senses as well.

 

The owners and the staff are some of the Nicest, down to earth people that you will ever have the privilege of meeting. Honestly.

This is some of the interior...it's so comfy and inviting~

Papaya and Mint drink. Pure. No water, no sugar and it was UNREAL!

I'm going to be Perfectly honest right now in telling you that I realized AFTER I had eaten my food that I had forgotten to snap some pictures of it, so I will be going back again of course and do just that..
but here is the Carrot Cake and the Mango Pudding...

Sorry if I have tempted you or made you hungry..but If I did, you know where to go!!

 

Adipampa Road and 10th cross road, jailakshmipuram, mysore