Author: Verne Bradford

  • RED SHIFT (VII) — The Circle in the Square

    Varkala, Kerala November 14, 2009 The muezzin’s chant wakes me at 5 am. It is still dark outside except for the occasional lightning bloom over the Arabian Sea. The early morning rumbles with ominous portents.

  • RED SHIFT (VI) — Coffee Day

    Kerala Express November 10, 2009 I am flying on the manic side of our India bi-polar experience today as T and I speed south on the “superfast” Kerala Express through the southern jungle. 

  • RED SHIFT(V) — House Call

    Bangalore November 8, 2009   Darkness falls abruptly here.  At 6 p.m. it is raining hard and the light is abandoning us.  Tucker hangs onto the luggage rack of our ancient 100 cc. Hero Honda with a steely grip as I pitch and weave through the crush of Mysore traffic, wiping the fog from my […]

  • RED SHIFT (III) — Connection

    The Green Hotel, Mysore November 6, 2009   Here it is 3 a.m. and I have just awakened.  It is as quiet as it gets in India.  I know it is likely that I will still be awake when the big birds start crowing at 6 a.m.  I still haven’t seen them, and probably couldn’t […]

  • Red Shift (II) — Hope and the Banyan Tree

    I’ll write this while I still have power.  It flickers off at irregular intervals, part of the official load relief program, so the Hindi Times says.  This makes it sound planned, but it’s not.  Sort of like “Quantitative Easing,” the U.S. load relief program.  It has the small businesses in Mysore in a tizzy, because […]

  • Red Shift – Tippu Express

    Tucker and I are planted on platform number 9 waiting where the porter has deposited us for the 3 p.m. Tippu Express to Mysore. It is 1:30 p.m. and Tuck has settled in for the long wait, putting his backpack down on the dirty cement platform and perching atop it with easy adaptability. I am […]