Travels with Tavish

On the 14 th , my mom and I started the day early with a tour of the Ellora caves. These are a series of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves carved out of the volcanic basalt between the 6 th and 10 th centuries. Our tour guide was a man in his 20’s named Sanjay. I was a little skeptical of hiring a guide for the cave tour, unsure that it would add much to the experience, but I was greatly mistaken—Sanjay was great and our visit to the caves would not have been nearly as interesting without him. The caves are unimaginably huge, carved out of the basalt hillside by the hands of thousands of workers with chisel and hammer. These workers included chiselers who took large sections of rock out, detailers, painters, rock carriers (rock had to be hauled out of the caves in buckets), tool sharpeners, and others needed to keep the work camp running (managers, cooks, etc.). The making of each cave must have been quite an operation. My favorite of the caves was a Buddhist cave specially desig

On April 7 th , the evening started with the semifinal round of the IFL (Institute Football League) cup. My team, Bayern Munich, played a tough 0-0 match with Barcelona, eventually losing 5-4 on PK’s. I played keeper during the PKs; I was close to blocking a couple but could not quite get to them. I made mine, though only due to a mistake on the Barcelona keeper’s part. But of course no one will remember my kick because it went in—thus is the memory of sports. The game was the most fun Bayern Munich game I played in, and I am glad the season ended on a positive note, even if we lost. Later that night, the Hostel 12 valfi (end-of-year fancy dinner) took place. I went with Sumit, but I saw most of the people I know from Hostel 12 and my own Hostel 13 at the valfi; everyone was there enjoying the great food. The event was held outside in a large grassy area behind the A wing of Hostel 12, which previously I had only noticed as “the grassy area that is not used for anything.” Now I k