Blam !

Nothing beats the wake up call of a large monkey making a four point landindg on the tin roof outside your window.
Shimla . Again.

Since I\ve had problems diting & uploading photos ( no smoking on the buses is great , the stapling ban on on bank notes is a relief , but cyber wallahs going all legal seem like sense of order running amok ) : the sound track of my life here , so far .

Manju was the babel of languages , competing with the fans .. well , you've already had that part.

Sarahan, next stop after Shimla. At 4:30 in the morning a Kali worshipper fires up a sound system that would have been the object of envy of the cavallery officer in Apocalalypse Now . ( Yes , that one : " I love the smell of napalm in the morning " )
This is one of the reasons why animals hide under the ground , to no avail. The pylon that that carries the the loudspeakers that hammers the entire valley in to submission seemingly looms even higher after the fall of the "new" tower , and as I clamp my teeth on the pillow to stop ther resonance vibrations to Kali's greatest hits I start to wonder if it really was a a earthquake that brought it down.

Kalka was the the fluttter of the prayer flags otside my room , and again the loud voices arguing from the kitchen of the Shivalik: from now on I'll asuume that what sounds as the preamble to a knife fight in Bengali is merely a difference of opinion .

The sound scape right now in Nako , beyond the Inner Line , could pass for a long intro to some minimalist music. Soft hissing sound from the kerosene lamp during the power break , the door to the dining room creaking and swinging open to the strong winds outside.
During the day , in the the village , the Kinnauri women dominate the audio input , swinging from melodious chirping to to sudden laughs and sharp calls.
Speaking of women brings me to the unexpected sound of ckicking steps that awoke me today. They came up to my door , which then was nudged repeatedley.
Never ruled out the presence of high heeled women in my life , but I was mildly surprised that one would turn up at this point.
I then went went out of my room ( quick check in the mirror) , said hello and gently led the young calf out along the balcony , along the corridor an in to the street.