FEB 18, 12 .. HELLO BOBBSEYS ..

On the eve of the day I leave Agra Cantt for New Delhi and Hong Kong and San Francisco .. I want to post some photos of just some of the Bobbseys .. the Bobbseys are basically everything I have with me .. from my toothpaste to by beloved 'Mister India Bag' who carries many of the Bobbseys when we are on-the-road .. from my head wear to my shoes ..

Of course 'Mister India Bag' himself is one of the principal Bobbseys .. 

I WILL FOREVER BE OH-SO-GRATEFUL TO 'DANNY 48073' WHO SAVED THE TRIP WHEN HE AIR MAILED 'MISTER INDIA BAG' TO ME BACK ON AUGUST THE 27th AFTER I HAD TOLD 'MISTER INDIA BAG' .. " YOU WILL NOT BE MAKING THE TRIP " .. HAD DANNY NOT BAILED ME OUT ON THIS DREADFUL DECISION .. I WOULD HAVE GRIEVED AND MOURNED THE ENTIRE TRIP KNOWING THAT 'MISTER INDIA BAG' WAS  LAYING-ON-THE-FLOOR  LISTLESSLY  AT HOME ! ! 

 'Mister India Bag' is a 'duffel bag' in the world of luggage .. as such .. he presents certain issues as to packing him .. the way I have solved the big issue .. finding things inside of him .. is to have a number of individual small nylon bags that carry inside-of-them many of the small Bobbseys .. below is a photo of many of these individual nylon bags .. NOT all of them .. but most of them .. some have numbers on them that I know by heart .. the four 'flat' red bags are toilet articles .. the three green bags are stationery items (pens and everything I need to support my writing post cards and correspondence) .. directly above the four 'flat' red bags is a large blue (shaving kit) that holds an enormous number of my 'hardware Bobbseys' .. you will see some of the 'hardware Bobbseys' following the below photo .. the orange bag also holds stationery writing items .. the three (two black and one blue) bags on the bottom right are my sewing kit .. my electrical items (batteries and plugs etc) .. and (the blue one at the bottom) another major hardware Bobbsey bag ..

The below Bobbseys I use to hang things .. from clothes-to-dry to you-name-it .. I especially hang all of the above individual colored bags from the chains (shown a few photos below) when I am staying for an extended period of time in one location such as Calcutta and Arambol Beach in Goa and Pondicherry .. I have drills and drill-bit-holders (pin vises) to drill holes for the cup hooks .. almost all of the below 'hooks' I hand made from metal coat hangers to suit specific needs ..

Laundry is a BIG issue .. I have to wash and wash and wash some more because of the heat and the dust and the dirt I encounter here traveling .. below are many of my Laundry Bobbseys .. from rubber gloves to save the skin on my hands from the laundry detergent (each glove lives in its very own Bobbsey .. the socks immediately above each is where they stay when not-in-use !) .. small packages of Tide Detergent .. clothes pins and hangars .. different colors each .. clothes line and brushes and one special clothes pin that holds the mini-Tide packages shut when they are only partially used ..

 Then below are three more 'flat' green stationery bags .. AND the bowls .. I use bottled water to bathe from the-neck-up to protect my eyes from local water .. I did NOT do this at the beginning of my first trip to India (October 1990) and have chronic eye infections in the outside corners of each of my eyes ! .. so the two larger bowls are 'wash basins' that hold bottled water for me into which I dip my wash cloths .. the smaller bowls I use for an absolute myriad of things .. from Olive Oil to washing my dental (the mini-bowl at the very bottom !) night guards .. OH YES  .. the locks and the chains that I  use to secure my things on the trains and buses .. I also use the longer chains to hang the flat colored nylon bags (see above) in my rooms (as you have seen in photos of my rooms in Calcutta and Arambol Beach) .. the black and beige bags in the upper left hold the chains and the locks ..

 The below photo shows my two back-packs .. my major one for travel and my smaller one for day-trips .. AND SEE HOW THE ABOVE BOWLS ALL NEST INTO ONE ! ..

 And of course my drinking  ..'Vintage Tupperware' Tumbler and mini-water bottle .. that I carry on day trips .. they are 'sitting upon' a small wash cloth that I also use extensively ..

 And here in the below photo is my Head wear .. Mister India Hat on the right  .. and on the left my 'Sombrero' for the hot blindingly bright sun .. my black 'watch cap' for the cool nights .. and at the top ,, Tom-Tiger's Detroit Tigers base ball cap that Tom 48067 sent to me in the mail here in India .. THANK YOU TOM ! .. I could NOT do without the raw-hide gloves at the bottom .. I use them to handle my luggage and to protect my hands from mosquitoes at nights when necessary .. lastly .. at the top is the light-blue stuff-sack that holds my down jacket and my sleeping shawl and DOUBLES as a pillow between my knees in bed at night and under my arms on trains and buses to relax with ..

Well that-is-that says 'Bobba Caps' .. a short introduction to but-a-few of my Bobbseys ..

OK .. after days-and-days .. and hours-and-hours-and-hours of thought and pondering .. I have made a decision .. at this point in my life .. 'letting go' of things has become necessary .. NO .. VITAL .. 

'Mister India Bag' IS AN INDIAN .. he was born here in Agra Cantt by Jeevan Lal who created him and then Jeevan made him ..

Back 'home' in the United States .. 'Mister India Bag' sort of languishes between his trips to India .. because he is not 100% suitable for travel in the United States when I am running in my Suburbans .. I have an entirely different and unique method of carrying my belongings in the States when I am on-the-road .. so he very seldom travels with me in the States ..


SO 'MISTER INDIA BAG' WILL REMAIN HERE IN AGRA CANTT WITH HIS CREATOR .. Jeevan Lal .. 

He will be staying in the shop where Jeevan created and made 'Mister India Bag' .. he IS HOME here .. this is HIS birthing place .. Jeevan himself LOVES him .. Jeevan NAMED him and he IS one of Jeevan's 'children' ..I can remember like yesterday when Jeevan proudly proclaimed .. "And his name is India Bag !" ..


BUT .. 'MISTER INDIA BAG' will NOT be alone here .. at a very minimum .. 70% of the 'A' - Team Bobbseys ARE STAYING WITH .. AND INSIDE OF .. 'MISTER INDIA BAG' ..


And I mean the 'A' - Team ! .. Mister India Hat .. Mister India Shirt .. 90% of the padlocks and chains.. all of the Laundry Bobbseys .. many of the stationery writing Bobbseys .. all but one of the bowls .. all of the numerous hooks and associated 'hardware' Bobbseys that service the hooks .. a fair number of my socks and shirts .. 'Mister India Bag's' travel-trolley that I must use to transport him ..

IF .. and I will NOT rule-out another future trip back here to India .. I do return .. I will be able to do so traveling EXTREMELY LIGHTLY BECAUSE so many of my Bobbseys will be here waiting for me .. IF I do not ever return .. Jeevan and his family will find a use for him and all of the Bobbseys ! .. in the United States this would NOT be the case .. So it is a' win-win' decision for me !

Here below are two photos of some (NOT nearly all) of the Bobbseys that 'Mister India Bag' will be holding .. two of my safety-colored 'T' shirts .. on top of my 'India Shawl' that I have slept under .. 'Mister India Hat' and a Sun Visor I have used .. my Nike Sandals and 'Mister India Shirt' and one of my two pairs of raw-hide gloves .. and my coat hangars .. a quality Nalgene water bottle and the shaving kit with so many of the critical 'hardware' Bobbseys ..

  And below 'Mister India Bag' will also be holding .. my Safety Vest and assorted socks .. all of my bowls except one that will come with me because I need one with me .. and my rubber gloves ..

Here 'Mister India Bag' is sitting UPON THE WORK AREA THAT HE WAS BIRTHED UPON in late 1990 and early 1991 .. it is on wheels and rolls out when Jeevan needs him ..

 And lastly you can see ALL OF THE FRIENDS THAT 'MISTER INDIA BAG' will have to visit with and to keep him company ! .. 'the other bags' are already all a-buzz knowing he is going to be with them and that he will have MANY MANY tales to tell all of them !

And so .. The time has come the Walrus said to talk of many things .. of shoes and ships and sealing wax .. of cabbages and Kings .. of why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings ! 


Time to 'sign-off' .. for now at least .. with great LOVE .. tomorrow I begin the final stage of leaving India and returning home to the United States .. OH YES .. I will be sending posts from Hong Kong for sure .. God Willing ! .. so .. look forward to them .. LOVE.. cap ..

JAN 8, 12 .. AGRA CANTT .. JEEVAN ..

Mister Jeevan Lal standing beside Mister India Bag which Jeevan created in December of 1990 ..

A shot of me wearing the safety vest I often wear since I do a lot of walking along the edges of the roads here in India .. with Mister India Hat with India Bag and my back pack on the trolley I use .. note my Wells Lamont rawhide trucker's gloves I wear when I am handling my bags .. they are absolutely vital to protect my hands .. you can see them on top of India Bag in the above photo ..

Jeevan with an admirer in front of his shop ..

You REALLY do get-to-know all of the cows wandering the streets !

JAN 8, 12 .. AGRA CANTT .. PAWAN HOTEL ..

Well I have finally LEARNED .. take tbe photos of the room BEFORE (see the last photo below)
I move my bobbseys into the room and before they jump out over each and over every single surface in the room .. when I stepped up to the front desk of the Pawan Hotel here in Agra Cantt .. the man on duty calmly stated .. "YOUR room is ready" and it truly seems to be MY room .. the below photo .. was taken as you step in the door .. I will NOT re-configure the beds .. IF I was staying longer .. the bed on the right would have its mattress put under the mattress on the left and the open space would fill up with bobbseys quickly ..

 

Looking back across the room you see the below scene ..

In the above photo .. go to the wall on your left and look back at the entry door and the door into the bathroom and this is what you see in the photo below  ..

India Bag and my Back Pack are on my 'trolley' to your left just inside the door .. it is a large and it is a comfortable room .. it has no windows to the outside .. its windows are for ventilation at ceiling level and face out onto the corridor that you can see outside the door .. it is very comfortable .. I like it .. it costs me 500 Rupees per day which is about .. eleven dollars and thirty six cents ($11.36) .. well I think this is what I pay per day .. I have written a lot of post cards (well into the hundreds) over the years sitting at the table and the chair you see above ..

The below .. close up .. photo of Mister India Bag and Mister India Hat on top of my back pack was shot outside of my door in the corridor my room faces ..

 The above travelers have logged a lot of miles with yours truly .. they are really my friends ..

OK .. in FWIW..  135.. above you have seen the below 'changing the light bulb' photo .. WHAT I want you to see is HOW the bobbseys have already LEAPT out of India Bag and my back pack and are all over the place .. can you see them along the wall on the left of the photo and ON the BED.. when it is bedtime .. it is project time .. oh sigh .. what am I going to do witch-you-all my beloved bobbseys !

 The young man holding the furniture seems to be enjoying himself BECAUSE I was almost hysterical with joy capturing this wonderful photo .. "Cap.. why do you love India so much ?"

NOV 2, 11 .. A LITTLE OF THIS AND OF THAT ..

Back in Calcutta.. my little picnic knife and I had a little discussion one day over breakfast.. the little picnic knife said shyly to me .. "Dad.. I HAVE a fork too.. won't you use my fork sometimes Dad .. " .. well I HAD to show to you all little picnic knife and HER FORK..

Regular fork.. on her right .. just sighed .. and kindda said .. "Humor her Dad.." .. then he began to want to be used as a knife to spread the jam on my toast saying.. "Dad.. there is no skill in a knife.. even I.. a fork.. can do what she does.."  besides..  "I can really load up a lot of jam at one time and then spread it too.." ..

Yeah I KNOW .. silly huh ?  But Heey.. I am having fun ..


Oh yes !  These are indeed some of Bobba's Bobbsey's ..

NOV 2, 11 .. MISTER INDIA BAG ..

OH MY..   MISTER INDIA-BAG IS SO HAPPY..   HE HAS HIS VERY OWN BOBBSEY ..

Mister India-Bag will be my one and my only.. within India.. piece of luggage ALONG WITH my back pack.. my large regular suitcase will stay in Agra Cantt with Jeevan Lal and act as a storage unit for the items I will not need with me.. 

I have with me my CPAP (sleep apnea breathing machine) and I need to PROTECT this valuable medical device.. so I purchased a nice bucket.. the CPAP AND OTHER ITEMS will pack into the bucket giving them protection AND shape for Mister India-Bag.. I have done this on previous trips also.. so.. this SPIFFY NEW WHITE BUCKET is a NEW BOBBSEY on the team..

WILL YOU PLEASE LOOK AT THE COLOR OF THE WATER FROM THE FAUCET IN MY BATHROOM.. this is why my clothes said.. "NO DAD.. no dad.. please don't put us into THAT water Dad".. as I have written.. they are NOT getting stained at all.. I let the water sit for several days and it STILL IS THIS BRACKASH BROWN COLOR.. the sand does settle out into the bottom .. I now have TWO (2) buckets.. each room comes with buckets and you NEED two.. often .. as I did in Calcutta.. I use the waste bucket as my second washing bucket.. I MUCH PREFER to have my own bucket.. BUT the main reason for him is for packing the CPAP Breathing Machine safely for within India travel..