Kolkata

Before we left home people told me coming to India would change my life. I am not sure whether it has changed me but visiting Kolkata is overwhelming, unsettling, impressive and thought provoking!Driving around the city for the last 3 days on our way to several points of Interest we have seen it all. Beautiful hotels, nice restaurants, botanical gardens, upscale communities to families living on the sidewalk outside our hotel. Mothers and their babies sleeping on a blanket or piece of cardboard on the sidewalk, with all their possessions in a small travel bag. Toddlers playing in the mud along the curb. Families showering and washing their hair in water pouring onto the street from a large pipe. Washing their dishes, clothes and filling their water bottles from the same waterpipe. Huts lining streets with no electricity, water or toilets. Men, women and children using the streets as their personal bathrooms. Privacy is Not a consideration. Professional beggers and the truly needy beggers. The professionals aren't bone thing and want you to go to a certain kiosk with them. The needy accepting and thankful for anything. Both carry small nearly naked babies. The young children begging for money who will follow you for blocks. They are very persistent. We think maybe they are told not to come back until they have received a handout?? So I feel very emotional during this part of our travels. First because I wonder what would have happened to me if I had been born in the slums of Kolkata rather than middle class Canada?I have terrible vision so without the ability to buy glasses I would be virtually blind.Having irritable bowel syndrome, my visits to the bathroom would be very uncomfortably and ackward.I can't handle spices, garlic or hot pepper otherwise I find myself in the washroom for hours. Over 60% of the citizens of India do not have access to private washrooms. I a already tired of chicken fried rice so what would I eat?What do you do when you are sick? Everyday is a fight for survival not a fight to climb the corporate ladder. Only 40% of Indians are literate. I know that you either adapt or you die. Would I have the strength to survive.Then there is all the crazy things we Canadians worry about: hair tye, a closet full of clothes for every different occasion, our own pillow and a decent mattress, toilet paper, TV and electronic games for entertainment. Light for reading after dark, sewing machines made this century, etc. While I don't profess to be a "Princess" I do like my private shower, reality TV shows, the ability to travel and a desire to make a difference in the lives of others.

The Presentation

Monday morning we met with the Subhalaxmi staff and representative from Access Development Services to present the initial draft business plan. The whole reason for traveling to India was to help them evaluate the feasibility of opening a spice processing plant as a way of establishing a social enterprise and obtain sustainability. You hope that you have captured all the pertinent information, that the recommendations make sense and that the presentation of such goes well. It certainly did. Randy created a short video capturing all the visits we made to members of the value change as part of our research, and two PowerPoint presentations. All I can say is that he nailed it. There was lots of great conversation and they appeared to be totally impressed. Now the numbers showed that their goals are obtainable but not without a lot of hard work starting yesterday and some continued financial support from Vedanta for another 12-18 months, but it was possible. To view the video go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6_leBsMWJQ&feature=g-upl. The presentation done was the first step, the final report will take a few more weeks but the initial presentation and recommendations were a huge success! We had more than met their expectations in our research, process, recommendations and presentation. All those afternoons working away in hotel rooms had really paid off and Randy did a truly outstanding job. One last visit to make to ensure we touch base with all the stakeholders. Vedanta Aluminum Ltd. It was because of their business that Subhalaxmi had first come to be, when they displaced nine villages to build their plant. As part of the displacement of the villagers they are mandated by the government to support the community through Corporate Services Responsibility programs. Their support is scheduled to end March 2013, hence our project! Plus can it be extended one more year???I have never seen anything like it. The company has invested 3 billion dollars (300,000,000,000 rupees) in the plant to date and they still aren't operational. They don't have access to the bauxite. Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. However the complex is simply gigantic. It includes: a township for the employees complete with school, hospital and temples, a hotel and conference center, power plant and roads and roads of warehouses, offices and plant building that I have no idea what they are, and more trucks than I have ever seen in one place. All this protected by intense security. As you entered and exited every section they searched your vehicle. We drove around the complex for what seemed like 45 minutes or more to get to the hotel where we would meet the head of Human Resources for what turned out to be a full three minutes. A good learning experience for us. While the Subhalaxmi staff had a message they wanted us to deliver to Vedanta ( re their success & need for one additional year of support) in the future we will ensure we find out and speak to the value of the partnership for the funding company. While the meeting was short it was very interesting to see the magnitude of the company. Now it was time to celebrate!The staff of Subhalaxmi were planning a special celebration for us as this was truly our last night in Jharsaguda. Not only had we met their expectations in delivering the draft business plan and presentation, we had truly become good friends with the team! They worked hard to provide us with all the information we required, arranged a multitude of visits and even took us sight seeing. We have never felt so taken care off, appreciated and respected and now they want to have a small party for us. We waited outside their office( remembered most of the team works and lives at the office) while they prepared for the evening. Table clothes, snacks and chicken like they prepare in their homes not restaurant food. We were truly impressed. We ate, sang songs, danced and laughed. Everyone let loose and really got into the spirit of celebration. Even the quietest members of the team were up dancing and having so much fun. I haven't laughed so hard for a long time and am sure I had a permanent smile On my face when we left that evening. During the evening they presented Randy with a shirt made from the official pattern of Orissa and for me material to have a dress made the next morning before we left. We were totally and completely moved to tears. As promised at 9 am the next morning they were there to pick me up so that I could get measured and have a dressed stitched for me. One of the wife's joined us and helped with the decisions and then invited us back to their flat for tea. The flat consisted of two bedrooms and a kitchen, so we sat on the edge of the bed as we enjoyed our tea and their hospitality. The interesting difference from tea in Canada was that while we had tea and cookies our hosts had none. When we were done a second members wife asked if we would come to tea at her flat next. So we went down a small path to her flat and again enjoyed tea and cookies while the family talked to us. We were so honored and believe that both families felt honored to have us visit their homes. Only three members of the Subhalaxmi team have their families living with them in Jharsaguda. The oher seven all live at the office and travel home every few weeks to visit their families. Not the type of relationship I would like but they do what is right for them and their families. Tonight we leave on the night train for Kolkata. This time we have booked air conditioned, two tier so we should both have room to turnover without hitting our heads and hopefully get some sleep before arriving in Kolkata at 4am......

Sambulpar Dam

Sunday morning Ramo(SMS driver) and Manoranan(SMS analyst) picked us up for a road trip to the Sambulpar Dam. After driving for about 30kms we reach the side of the lake that makes up a portion of the the water body flowing into the the dam. Manoranan told us the the lake was about 60kms around. Nice but what was all the fuss about? Back in the car we continued to drive through small villages and hamlets, not sure where we were going. As we pasted through the hamlets, farmers laid out their produce on the ground along side of the road. The Indian approach to "Farmer's market. Blankets covered with all types of vegetables and a few textile peddlers lined the road. Would the be enough traffic to sell all the produce? It certainly wouldn't be very fresh after sitting out under the sun all day!Finally we arrived at the gates to what appeared like a city park, where we were told we would need to go back into town to get a pass. We would need to apply at the local police station for permission to go into the park and lookouts surrounding the dam. So back into town we went. Manoranan took our passports and disappeared down an alley. Several minutes later he called Ramo and told him to drive over to the police station he was at. Where we sat, waiting. Did I mention that it is 39 degrees out? Eventually, Manoranan came out and told us he was waiting for the senior officer to return to grant us a pass. So we waited some more. A while later he came back out and said the Sr officer was at the other station so we needed to go there. At this station the officer made a call over to the first location, telling them to go ahead and issue us a pass, so back we went. We then waited for what seemed like forever, as Manoranan completed the paperwork. Really what could possibly take this long, remembering it is 39 degrees in the shade. It better be worth it..lol. What we didn't realize as we waited impatiently was we were getting a pass that few people are ever granted. Our hosts had never even been here before.Entering the grounds to the Dam, we were checked by security at every point. Huge signs stated "NO PHOTOGRAPHy". Manoranan told us to hide our cameras. First we drove up a long, winding road to the top of a small mountain, where we found the first lookout tower. Thank goodness for all those stairs we climbed at home as we climbed up at least five flights of stairs to the top of the lookout, but it was worth it. The view of the valley, town of Sambulpar and longest earthen Dam in the world was simply spectacular!Back down the hill we drove to the beginning of the road that would take you right across the Dam. Checked again by security, who took our pass to confirm the authenticity. A few minutes later we were driving over the dam. Eventually we got out and walked across. Only two gates of the dam were open but the volume of water rushing through the dam was powerful! What an amazing opportunity to watch the water crushing through the gates. On the opposite side of the dam we jumped back into the car and drove up to a second lookout. They reminded me of the fairy tale, Repunzel, Repunzel, let down your long hair. Climbing yet more stairs we made our way to the top of the lookout for another awesome view! Again NO PHOTOGRAPHY! Thinking we had seen it all we were back in the car heading down the hill, when we came to the security gates for the Powerplant. After clearing security we were then getting a private tour of the Powerplant. They never ever get guests, and the staff was more than willing to explain the entire process to us. We definitely received the VIP treatment.I don't know how the staff of Subhalaxmi were able to arrange/negotiate or what strings they pulled to get us this very special pass, but the hour and a half wait in the car at 39 degrees was worth every second! Hungry anyone? It is after 3 pm and everyone is starting to get hungry, so into the downtown section of Sambulpar we went. All of a sudden Ramo stops the car and tells us to roll our windows up. There was a parade of men, and boys sith yellow paint all over fheir faces and clothes following a huge truck, playing music, playing drums and cheering as they work their way down the street. It was part of the Genesh festivities where they take a Ganesh to the river and release it into the river as part of the celebrations. At one point a gentleman reaches into fhe car from the front window and hands us each a handful of nuts and spices he is sharing as part of the celebration. Being polite we all take some but i have to admit that a few blocks away i dump mine out the window. Hopefully this doesn't bring us bad luck! The parade turned out to be nothing to be worried about just a delay in getting to our destination. We detour from our original route and eventually get to the restaurant Ramo is looking for in the center of town. By now I am getting pretty tired of chicken fried rice so I decide to order fried prawns. I have had them before and they are usually very good and not spicy. Hummmmm... Not today. They are spicy so I eat a few and wait while the three men eat what appears to be mountains of a mutton and rice mixture, very spicy. They obviously enjoyed their meal!Leaving the restaurant Ramo notices we have a flat tire and quickly sets about changing it. No AMA here. I am actually surprised given the road conditionsand potholes that we haven't experienced flat tires more often. A few minutes later and we are off heading back go Jharsugada. Ramo wastes no time driving back as we pass every vehicle along the way with the infamous honking of the horn, until we get close to the aluminum plant. The endless parade of trucks is creating what appears to be a dust storm. By the time we reach our hotel, we are covered in dirt. Randy looks like he has black eyes

Where are we going ?

Saturday morning at 10am the hotel advises us that our tickets on the 1:35pm train are confirmed and the travel agent is bringing us our tickets. He should be here about 10:30. 12 noon and we still have no tickets, but not to worry he is on his way, the hotel staff tell us and at 12:30 he shows up. Sigh. OK now a short taxi ride to the train station and we should be fine. After driving for about fifteen minutes I notice road signs the say "Airport". This seems a bit weird and i get nervous again. We go a bit farther and it becomes clear the driver is taking us to the airport. It is 1 pm. We communicate to the driver we need to go to the train station not the airport. I am just a little panicked. Will we make it? Lucky for us the train station is only a short drive away and at 1:10 we arrive at the station. Heading out to the platform we know we need to be on track 3. It quickly becomes apparent we have no idea where to find track 3. Not seeing a policeman ( who are usually very good at helping us out) we head back into the station to find someone who can help us. I get in the "enquiry" line, quickly make it to the front and try to communicate that we need directions. The agent keeps saying Jharsugada track three. I say yes but where is track three? It is obvious he doesn't understand me and I turn around to the lineup that has formed behind me and ask/beg "does anyone speak English?". A young man steps up and says track 3, I indicate I know but can he show me where to find track 3. He steps out of line and takes us back out of the station indicating there is a bridge about half way down the platform that will lead us over to track 3. We thanked him and make our way to our train. I just hope that someone let this nice young fellow back into line at the Enquiry line-up and that he made his train on time. I promise to pay it forward as soon as I can!!There was nothing more comforting than seeing our names on the passenger list outside the train! Seats 31 and 32 are ours for the next six hours. I had the list of scheduled stops in my hot little hand this time so I could monitor where we were and when we should expect to be getting off.The gentleman sitting next to me in seat 30 saw that we were reading annual reports for several Microfinance organizations in India and asked me if we were doing some type of project here in India. While I had difficulty understanding his English we proceeded to have the most interesting conversation. He was working on a government funded project to bring one connection of electricity to over 60,000 households in rural villages this year. So far they brought one single lightbulb to 45,000 homes this year, but it wasn't an easy task. People wanted the access but didn't want the power post in their front yard, Workers didn't get the job done on time and the equipment was stolen, people didn't trust or want change in their community, etc. etc. The village needed to have a minimum of 100 residents to qualify for the project. The residents received one free connection and a light bulb as part of the project, with no monthly fee. If they wanted more than one connection they would have to pay for the service. He told us there are three scenarios; villages that never had electricity, villages that had electricity brought to town but not everyone had connection and villages that once had electricity but for some reason had it turned off. It is hard for me to imagine what life without electricity would be like. No hair dryer, no Light after dark, no heaters for when it gets cold out, no Internet to keep in contact with friends, no computers, no TV, no dishwashers or washer and dryer. Life would certainly be different than we know. Camping wouldn't just be a weekend adventure but probably an unglorified way of life.Our traveling campanion was going to the end of the line and travelled this route at least once a month so he assured me he would make sure we got off at the right stop. All along the train had been running about 15-30 minutes late so I figured we still had a half hour to go when I spotted what appeared to be our hotel out the window. Were we there already? Yes, this is Jharsugada we were told so we prepared to disembark. When I stepped off the train the sign said "Ash" and I started to get back on when a man on the platform said Jharsugada. So off we got, headed up the stairs to the bridge and crossed over to the main station which we recognized. Yes we were indeed at Jharsugada. There was so many people milling around at the station that we had no way of finding our ride. We were quickly approached by the taxi driver we used on our first visit to town. He remembered us and what hotel we had originally stayed at. After some discussion on where we wanted to go we were on our way back to the Utkal hotel. A huge Ganesh celebration was taking place on main street and we really wanted to get out and join the festivities but we didn't as our cab took a detour to our hotel. Arriving at the hotel it felt like we had come back home and we settled in for the evening. All the stress of the day disappeared in a flash and I finally had access to the Internet again!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Tuesday in Puri was hot. We headed out to the beach and decided that today I would check another item off my bucket list and ride a camel. Why there are camels on the beach in Puri, I have no idea, but there are at least a half dozen traveling up and down the beach, offering rides to tourists. How much was the first question to which one camel owner said 1000 rupees. No that was even too rich for my blood. Then another young fellow runs over and offers us a ride for 100 rupees each, and we jumped on. For some reason this camel has two long bamboo poles on top of the saddle. I don't know why and it looks like it will be uncomfortable but we get on anyways. Guess what? It was uncomfortable and I felt completely out of control sitting on top of that camel. CHECK!!Climbing down off the camel I was searching for a chair under the protection of a tarp. No problem runs up a man with a lifeguard hat and he directs us to his tarp. Awe, the shade makes it at least a few degrees cooler. Time for Randy to go play in the waves. Our lifeguard friend quickly grabs a tube and heads into the water with Randy. The waves come pounding into the beach and slowly they make their way out into the water. Jumping the waves, tumbling and getting covered with sand. At one point Randy gets knocked right over and carried onto the beach. Exhausted from fighting the waves, covered with sand he laughs as he makes his way out of the water. CHECK. He has now swam in his fourth ocean.We decide to head back into the hotel and work on the Business Plan for a few hours. Then we will go for a walk. So at 2pm we head out looking for the hotel that offers spas (maybe we will book a massage for tomorrow), and the British pub for a refreshment. A few blocks in we are already sweating from the heat when the toe strap on my thong breaks. I can't go barefoot because the sidewalk is just too hot, so if I squeeze the strap between my toes I can keep it on. Now we are in search of a kiosk that sells sandals. Not so easy to find. As I mentioned before almost every outlet sell textiles/ clothes or snacks, but we keep walking and finally jump into a pull rickshaw to take us to the nearest store. Not a block later and we were there. Lol. To make sure I don't find myself in the same predicament again this trip I got the ugly sturdy pair, two actually but they should last. We start out again to find the hotel and pub. Now only two silly Canadians would be out walking midday on a blistering hot day. Within ten minutes I felt like I had just run a full marathon. It was so hot that somehow we missed both the hotel and the pub. We had walked to the very end of the boardwalk and knew we missed both locations. As we turned back we decided to grab another rickshaw, we were exhausted in the heat. Part way back we spot the Swimmming Hotel, how did we miss it? We get the the driver to drop us off and we go check out the spa and hotel, booked two massages for Wednesday and decided we would move from our Star 1 Puri hotel to the star 4 Swimming hotel for Wednessday night. Then miracle upon miracle we find the British pub. It is in a great hotel and the staff was more than eager to practice their English on us. For the next hour and a half we enjoyed their company and cooled of with a couple of refreshing drinks. The place was so nice we decided to go back there for dinner that evening.Wednesday morning we transfer over to the Swimming hotel, work on the business plan for a few hours and then head over to the spa for our relaxation massages. A male masseuse for Randy and a young lady for me in two separate rooms. It felt great just to relax for an hour, I love massages!Today is the start of Ganesh Chaturthi, a 10 day festival celebrating the birth of Lord Ganesh. Ganesha is widely revered as the Remover of Obstacles and more generally as Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles. He is worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the start of travel.All along the beach temporary temples have been erected with tons of lights and a Ganesh at the back center of each upright. About 6pm we head over to the boardwalk with the crowds of Indian tourist taking in the displays and enjoying the music and lights. Even though it is dark there a tons of people on the beach, playing in the waves, flying kites and enjoying the celebrations. We find a spot on the beach and sit down to watch the activities and people. Families, groups of teenagers and couples all appear to be celebrating and enjoying the festivities. It was a great night to be out. We were hoping to leave Puri on Thursday but turns out a national strike had been called for Thursday, which would mean all modes of transportation would be halted for 12 hours and our chances of getting a taxi back to Bhubaneswar would be slim to none. Looking outside Thursday morning it was obvious the strike was being observed as there wasn't a car, taxi or even rickshaw to be seen. The roads were desolate. Back to the hotel for the day. It was blistering hot outside so today will be dedicated to working on the business plan presentation. Friday we would make our way back to Bhubaneswar. While Randy worked on the plan I tried to arrange for a taxi back to Bhubaneswar for Friday. We had the phone number of the young man who brought us to Puri so out I went to find a phone and contact him. Apparently most of the hotels in Puri only have the ability to receive calls but not call out. I guess that is how they keep the staff from talking on the phone all day. Eventually I figured out I would need to go to a phone store to make the call. Fortunatly I found a store where the proprietor spoke English. He actually made the call for me, spoke to the taxi driver giving him directions where to find us and then assured me Manas would be here to pick us up at 8am Friday morning.8am came and went Friday morning and no Manas. At 9am I head back to the phone store to see if we can find out where he is. Turns out he isn't coming. According to his conversation with my friend at the phone store, he had called the hotel to confirm the appointment and was told they didn't know us. A bit surprising and maybe not completely believable as we are the only white people in town and we stand out like sore thumbs or better yet celebrities. Anyways we need to find alternative arrangements. Several minutes later Randy has hired us a taxi and we are on our way back to the Suryansh hotel in Bhubaneswar for 2/3rd of the cost to get to Puri. Hummmm. The driver wastes no time getting us there and we are checked back in, with an upgrade to an Executive Suite. A bit of a waste since we are only going to be there one night and we have no friends to invite over to enjoy the living room.lol. Not to waste time we decided we better try and see some of the sites of India. Where to go? We decided on the State Museum of India. Interesting and we learned lots but an hour looking at sandstone sculptures of Gods etc is enough for us. Back into a rickshaw we headed to the shopping center we visited on our last stay in Bhubaneswar. Randy needed more books. At a book a day he really needs to convert to an ebook. We found a great little book store and then wondered around for a while, grabbed some snacks and headed back to the hotel. Still haven't done any actual shopping other than a few clothing items to keep us going while we are here. The plan is we will take a taxi to Sumbalpar (270km, tomorrow (Satuday) stay the night and then taxi to Jharsaguda on Sunday. Randy emailed Tanmaya to let him know our plans and we settled down for the night. Within minutes Tanmaya phoned us requesting that we change our plans. The road to Sambalpur is in terrible shape and goes through some native tribe villages where foreign tourists had a few problems last year. So not wanting to cause any undue stress for our hosts we cancelled our SUV and driver. Tomorrow we would take the train to Jharsugada if we can get the tickets...

The Sun Temple

Day two in Puri started with our maid checking what we would like for breakfast. Eggs and toast please with tea for Randy. What should we do today? So we headed out to the beach. Then we decided we should visit the sites recommended by Tanmaya. So we jumped in a rickshaw and asked the driver to take us to Konark, the home of the Sun Temple. First stop the gas station, where he filled up for 100 rupees, or $2.00. It was 40kms to Konark so sit back and enjoy! Then our driver made an unscheduled stop at a small temple along the side of the road. As best as he could, he explained the statues and introduced us to the priest. How cool! 15km more to Konark. At the entrance our driver drops us off and sends us in the direction of the entrance. Before we can even make it to the gate we have found ourselves an English speaking guide, or maybe he found us but either way he worked out great! We learned so much and the detail of the carvings is unbelievable! More spectacular than any ruins I have seen in my travels. Built by 1200 people in 12 years! The temple is renown as one of the seven wonders of India and is a World Heritage site. Rather than try and describe it in my own words I have copied from the net to get as good a description as possible. The Sun Temple, built in the thirteenth century, was conceived as a gigantic chariot of the Sun God, with twelve pairs of exquisitely ornamented wheels pulled by seven horses. Majestic in conception, this temple is one of the most sublime monuments of India, famous as much for its imposing dimensions and faultless proportions as for the harmonious integration of architectural grandeur with plastic allegiance. Every inch of the temple is covered with sculpture of an unsurpassed beauty and grace, in tableaux and freestanding pieces ranging from the monumental to the miniature. The subject matter is fascinating. Thousands of images include deities, celestial and human musicians, dancers, lovers, and myriad scenes of courtly life, ranging from hunts and military battles to the pleasures of courtly relaxation. These are interspersed with birds, animals (close to two thousand charming and lively elephants march around the base of the main temple alone), mythological creatures, and a wealth of intricate botanical and geometrical decorative designs. The famous jewel-like quality of Orissan art is evident throughout, as is a very human perspective which makes the sculpture extremely accessible.The temple is famous for its erotic sculptures, which can be found primarily on the second level of the porch structure. It will become immediately apparent upon viewing them that the frank nature of their content is combined with an overwhelming tenderness and lyrical movement. This same kindly and indulgent view of life extends to almost all the other sculptures at Konark, where the thousands of human, animal, and divine personages are shown engaged in the full range of the 'carnival of life' with an overwhelming sense of appealing realism. It is admittedly the best in Orissa. Its fine traceries and scrollwork, as well as the beautiful and natural cut of animal and human figures, give it a superiority over other temples. The guide demonstrated how the wheels act as a sun dial. Pointed out the erotic sculptures, man with one woman, man with many women, woman with many men and more. The detail is amazing and thank goodness for our guide. Wondering around on our own we would have missed the true beauty and a good undstanding of what we were seeing. A good tip went his way. It was an extremely hot day out and at the end of our visit to the temple we were soaked and extremely thirsty. Searching for a refreshment stand we stopped and got a Popsicle for me and a cucumber for Randy. Trays of cucumbers peeled and sliced in four were sold as a treat and as they a one of Randy's favorite foods he had to have one and I can tell you on this hot day the Popsicle felt like the best one I have ever had.We then headed back to Puri, where we would ask our drivers to take us to The Jagannath Temple. Driving through what appears to be a back alley, but truly was a street leading to the temple our driver stops and tells us to walk down the road about five minutes to the temple, he will wait here. So blindly we get out and start walking. Eventually we see the temple at the end of the road so know we are at least going in the right direction. Standing at the entrance a man quickly falls in beside us and says that we can't go in but to follow him and he will show us around. So we do. As he walks us around the outside of the temple he explains what we are seeing and some history of the temple. We learn that it is the fourth largest temple in all of India and that 30,000 people a day come to the temple. The man then leads us into a monastery thru small hallways and up several flights of stairs. I am starting to get a bit worried about where we are going and that on blind faith are following this man to some unknown location. Minutes later we are on the roof of the monastery, getting an amazing view of the temple. Since we can't go in this is the best site to capture the magnificence of the temple. It is here we also learn our guide is a priest and I had been worrying where he was taking us. The temple is an important pilgrimage destination for many Hindu traditions, particularly worshippers of Krishna and Vishnu, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages that a Hindu is expected to make in one's lifetime. The huge temple complex covers an area of over 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2), and is surrounded by a high fortified wall.The priest walked us around the entire complex and then you guessed it wanted a tip which we were prepared to pay and another tip for the monastery.lol.. 1000 rupees($20) later we were heading back down the alley in hope of finding our driver. There he was right were we left him waiting patiently for us. Time to head back to our hotel. We paid our driver and gave him a 700 rupees tip and then he insisted we get back in the rickshaw. He wanted to show us something else. No idea where we are going we jumped back in and the driver headed off. We found ourselves at an amazing complex "Shree Gour Bihar Ashran Hermitage" a Krishna temple and compound filled with statues of the different gods. It was almost like going to a Disneyland display, totally impressive and we would never have known about except for the desire of our driver to show us more in appreciation of the tip. It had been an amazing day, thanks to our amazing driver, turned guide and all the wonderful people we met throughout the day. Time to head back to the hotel and think about supper...

No room at the Inn

Sunday we left Bhubaneswar headed for Puri, the resort town, where we were told we would see lots of people like us. We decided the best mode of transportation was taxi. That way we could stop at any of the sites along the way and get a great view of the countryside. So at 11:30 our taxi was ready and we were off. Again I have to stress that the countryside is gorgeous. Lush green trees line the roads and mark the fields. Looking out the window it is so green and so pretty. The trees give the full umbrella effect, appearing perfectly sculpted with huge intricate trunks. Our first and what turned out to be only stop was in a small town called Pipili. Several shops lined the road so after confusing our driver when we asked him to stop, we jumped out of the car to take a peek. Really only five or six kiosks filled with embroidered cloth, purses and a few other knickknack. This is where we bought our first souvenir to bring home. All the time we were wondering which was probably less than 15 minutes, our driver stayed close by our side. I think they feel a huge level of responsibility to ensure you are safe, which we were so I am not sure why he was hovering? Jumping back into the car we were off for the final leg of today's journey. Now it is only 75km from Bhubaneswar to Puri but with the road conditions traffic and people walking along the road we never went faster than 60km/hr so it took us about an hour and a half to get there. We had checked hotels out on the Internet and thought that the Puri Beach Hotel seemed nice, was on the beach and had great reviews. However our taxi driver was having trouble finding it. After driving along hotel lane, beside the beach we learn that it is several kilometers away from the tourist area and would require a taxi each day to get to where the action was. Yes it had beachfront and looked very nice but we didn't come here to relax in our hotel. We wanted to people watch, walk along the boardwalk and look in the shops, so we asked the taxi driver to take us back to the main road. The first hotel we found that looked good, because it had balconies and was centrally located along the beach was the Victoria Hotel, but unfortunately there was no room at the Inn. The next was the Puri Hotel, next door, not as fancy but still had a balcony and great view. We have now officially checked into a well situated star 1 hotel. Climbing four flights of stairs to our room, we open the door with an antique key and enter. It could use some paint, and a good cleaning of the washroom but at least it had toilet paper. The bed was clean, it would do for the next couple of days. I am trying to convince myself that as long as I have a clean bed and private access to a washroom that is all I need. In the future we may have to travel on the cheap? I do have to tell you for everything the room lacked they made up for it in service. Our male maid was there to offer us room service every morning, breakfast and tea, ensured our room was cleaned and that we had everything we needed. Planting our bags on the bed, we were off to explore the beach and main road. It was pouring rain as we walked along the boardwalk. When it rains in Puri you get wet but definitely not cold so we continued to walk taking in the sights. On one side the beach, the other rows of kiosks filled with textiles or snacks. Really not a lot of variety. Coming to the end of the boardwalk, maybe 2 or 3kms we turned around and headed back. The rain had stopped and we were quickly drying out. Let's head down to the beach and watch the people jumping in the waves. We found a good spot and sat down to enjoy the waves smashing in and people watch. It was apparent that the beach was full of tourists however we were the ONLY white tourists in town. I started to laugh the first time a group of young men asked if they could have their picture taken with us. We felt like celebrities as people came up to us asking for a picture, children and adults alike stared at us and several individuals wanted to know where we were from.We obliged them all, laughing and smiling as we did. The waves roared into the beach and the men in bathing suits or their underware and the women in their saris (no bikinis here) jumped in and out of the waves. Children built sandcastles. Everyone was having a great time as the tide slowly crept in.The beaches of India have peddlers just like in Mexico, selling jewellery , special stones (yeah right, (still looks like plastic to us), purses, souvenirs and a variety of food. Even in English they understood "no thank you" but were trying their hardest to just take a look. No thank you, no thank you! The worst part though was the skin and bone, mothers carrying tiny children and elderly with canes begging for money. I knew if we gave to one we would quickly be approached by all of them and there were many so I said no and looked away. It was very hard to do!!At one point we were approached by a Krishna monk, who performed a blessing on us and then put a yellow mark on our forehead just between the eyebrows. Of course we gave him a few rupees, as we didn't want to chance badluck by not accepting the blessing. There we sat with a yellow mark on our head that looked like bird droppings, enjoying our surroundings and the people in it. Then all of a sudden the tide was pushing the beach goers back as it swept in and captured a few people's sandals. We are sure a few people went home barefoot that evening. As the tide pushed the crowd back up the beach we decided that after sitting there for over two hours it was time to head back to our hotel. It was getting dark and we still weren't that brave to be walking around exploring after dark. Our room did have TV with a few English channels, just no internet, and we still had lots of books to read. But as typical for us I am sure we were asleep before eight.

Change in Plans

We received notification from Tanmaya that they would like us to come back to Jharsugada on Monday the 24th to visit with Vedanta Aluminum Plant executives and then make our presentation to the team on the 25th. Of course that will work! We can certainly be flexible with our schedule. Today we ventured out for a long walk and found ourselves shopping in a mall. After being outside for over an hour it was good to get into an air conditioned building for a while. We were both sweating like crazy with the heat and humidity. Sure enough we found a new dress for me and a cool jacket for Randy. Entering the men's clothing store we were sure the sales boys figured we would be a waste of their time, but then again we were the only people in the store. After a few minutes of searching Randy wanted to try on a jacket. The next question as would they have any in his size? Luckily we found one in a style he really liked. We said yes we will take it and headed up to the til. At the same time the sales boy was putting the jacket back on the rack. There was obviously a communication breakdown. Once we convinced the representative that we wanted to buy the jacket he was all smiles. What a fun experience! Then over to the grocery store as our supply of junk food was diminishing and that just can't be allowed. We were ready for our walk back to the hotel. We decided that we would move to Puri tomorrow. Puri is a tourist town with great beaches. We think it might be a good place to spend the next week. Rather than taking the train we are going to hire a taxi so that we can stop along the way if something grabs our interest. And so the adventure continues.....

Getting down to. Business

After a week and a half of research, visiting farms, entrepreneurs, wholesalers, dealers and a spice plant it was now time to get down to business and write the business plan for Subhalaxmi. Wednesday we spent the day camped out in our hotel working on the plan. Where to start, what to write, but quickly I started on the competitive research while Randy started on the numbers. We were on a role and worked straight through to 8pm. The schedule was that we would work thru the next two days and then present a draft presentation to the Access Development Service team and Tanmaya on Saturday. Thursday we were back at it when Tanmaya called to say he had arranged for us to visit a package producer that afternoon. The last piece to the puzzle, so let's go. The great thing was that Randy actual knew the quantities that we needed for each product and size. The challenge was no one else besides Randy and I knew where the numbers were coming from. Questions were asked but we were confident in what we needed. At the end of the day it really didn't matter as the minimum order for each product turned out to be way more than we needed for the first few months so the quote was easy and now we had all the numbers to complete the financial projections. Heading back into Bhubaneswar Tanmaya wanted to take us to the Krishna Temple. We need to see at least one temple while we were here and this one welcomed foreigners. First we needed to cross four lanes of traffic to get across the street. Are you kidding? Patience and then run like crazy, stop in the middle and then run again, but we made it. We should probably be praying and thanking the Gods for getting us to the Temple safely! Entering the Temple men to the left and women to the right. The playing of the drum and chanting of the leader made the visit seem quite spiritual. Upon leaving the Temple you are handed a spoonful of white sweet tasting liquid to drink as a blessing. The liquid is poured from the spoon into your hand from which you drink it. I did manage to get some into my mouth while pouring most of it all over my face. Outside the Temple a kiosk selling books is operated by three young Krishna followers. Of course we had to buy a book. Then we were offered a piece of cake soaked in the same white liquid as we received in the Temple. Tanmaya said it was hygienic and safe to eat and so we did. Today we were dually blessed.
Arriving back at the hotel Tanmaya advised us there was a change of plans. The presentation on Saturday was being postponed, possibly until Tuesday. He would email us by Monday to confirm. He then told us he was heading home to Jharsugada that evening and he wasn't sure whether he would be attending the presentation in person or not so this was goodbye. It all seemed so sudden and final. Tanmaya had been an awesome host and treated us so well, we really weren't ready to say goodbye. So with a handshake and a hug we said goodbye and a few tears ran down my cheek as he drove away.
We decided we would stick to our original plan and work on the plan Friday and Saturday from here. We had a very comfortable hotel with good working space so best to get as much done as possible in preparation for Tuesday. Depending on our progress we might tour Bhubaneswar on Sunday and see what happens for Monday and Tuesday. So Friday, with heads down we continued to work away....

Imagine This

Tuesday brought numerous experiences that we will never forget!First the traffic. Try and imagine this. You are driving down any four lane road in Calgary, two lanes going north and two lanes going south, divide by a medal railing fence with numerous opening in it for people to cross at. So on the north side of the road you have two distinct lanes marked by a painted line. Then you have a few Pedestrian, two or three motorcycles,a bicycle, two cars and maybe a rickshaw all trying to squeeze into the same two lanes. Then you come to a three way intersection, with no light system. It is dark and you have twelve lanes of traffic trying to cross against each other. It is pure chaos, yet somehow after several minutes of delay we made it through the intersection. Now we only had to fight to keep moving in the direction of our destination! Once in the clear you only need to worry about the motorcycles, bikes and cars zigzagging in and about as they rush to pass you. Then don't forget about the random cow wandering down the middle or sleeping on the side of the road. I have also learned that there is three distinct types of honking, which everyone does all the time. First is the friendly I am coming up side you honk, or beware as I enter the intersection honk. Then there is the "I am passing please move over" honk, and finally the "what the heck are you doing, get the heck out of my way NOW honk". We have experienced all three. All I can say is that walking or hiring a driver will be the only mode of transportation for us in India!!Next was the trip to the Mundi, a wholesaler's market where most Indians never go, never mind foreign white people or as Tanmaya says "people like you"...LoL. How to describe it?Rows and rows of cement outlets filled to the rafters with spices. At most 6ft by 10ft in size although most appear to be smaller. The proprietor stationed at the front eithern sitting cross legged on the table or at a small table conducts his business accepting order and payments. They sell gunnysacks of spices and if a client is interested in a specific product they will punch a hole into the bottom of the sack so that the purchaser can see the quality at the bottom of the bag as well as the top. If he is satisfied and after several minutes of negotiation a young man will heave the sack onto the weigh scale and the price is fixed. Everything is sold by the kilogram and for cash.The maze of buildings are connected by mud roads and it is literally mud. Puddles of water fill the alleys and men In bare feet pull wagons or pack extremely heavy gunnysacks on their backs. Our guides in their business loafers tiptoed down the alleys in attempt to keep the bottom of their pants dry. It was really very funny as I trompedThrough the mud in my sandals. Yes they would wash. However it was a bit disconcerting to see that the alleys were also used as washroom facilities. I scrubbed my sandals and my feet almost raw when we got home that night. We felt a little bit like animals at the zoo as the men stared as we past by. There was ni women in sight. Tanmaya even engaged the help of a local merchant to help us find the office of a major player who would be willing to answer a few questions for us. While it wasn't scary being there it was definitely intimitating. We wasted no time getting back to our car once we were done with the interviews.Prior to visiting the Mundi we meet with another non-profit organization who started a spice processing plant two years ago. Annapurna Agriculture Innivation PVT, Ltd. They were more than happy to share their insight and give us a tour of their plant. On the drive to the plant the ED shared that they had just become the first organization in India to join Kiva. Now what is interesting about that is that Randy and I both lend to small entrepreneurs by participating in Kiva. We had seen the announcement that India was participating a week before we left Canada but when we tried to participate the site said there was no outstanding requests here. What we learned from the ED was that within 24 hours of posting loan requests all the applications for India had been funded. How fun and coincidental that we would meet with the inaugural company of India on our visit! MAA spices is the name of the spice production company. They are running with a completely different brand name for the company than the non-profit organization because they want to be able to sell and market to all economic status clients and not just get the one time sympathy purchaser or low income shopper. Sounds familiar to the challenge we face at WINS!The spice plant consisted of three small cement buildings forming a u shape and I think the pictures tell more of the story than words can describe. Using very simple equipment and lots of manual labour the company packages over two tons of spices per day. Totally amazing. The office environment for the packaging/shipping department is a covered Cement patio where 5-6 ladies sit cross legged on the ground and place the individual spice packages into packages of 10 in preparation for shipping. I am not sure how they do this for eight hours a day, 6 days a week for less than $100 per month??? But they do!The ED and his team were gracious hosts, explaining all the details of the operation, and the challenges and successes they have had over the last two years. They produce 75 differences products which includes about 15 different spices or blends of spices in several different sizes. After the tour we were invited back into the office for a refreshment and more conversation. So here is the next interesting thing; a special treat is coke with a blend of spices mixed into it. Within two hours it is supposed to help your digestive system. (I think I may have told you about this before). Today I would be offered it twice. Once at the spice plant and later at an equipment dealers, although I think the 2nd offering was mixed with water rather than coke. Just couldn't bring myself to drink it either time. So a quick sip to be polite and the rest left in the glass. I am not sure what it would really do to my system?Our last stop for the day was an equipment dealer in Cuttack. A bit of the challenge was that Tanmaya and our driver weren't 100% sure of where we were going but we got there eventually. Tanmaya was a little shocked when Randy asked if we could get a quote for all the equipment we would need to set up our plant. But how else could we do the plan without knowing what it was going to cost? The dealer was more than happy to prepare a quote and I think this made the whole project even more real for Tanmaya and his team. It was now becoming very real!Booking into the Suryansh hotel, a trip to the spice plant, then back to Cuttack to the Mundi, a visit to the equipment dealer, fighting the traffic back to Bhubaneswar, it was now 7pm at night and we were ready for supper and some relaxation!!

The night train to Bhubaneswar

Sunday afternoon and we are all packed up to leave Jharasuguda and take the night train to Bhubaneswar, when we hear that a district wide strike has been called against the government for Monday. This would mean that all transportation, train, buses, even taxis would come to a halt, government offices, schools and every business would be closed as of 6am Monday morning. No matter where we were we would need to stay in our hotel from 6am- 6pm on Monday. What should we do?The night train was supposed to reach Bhubaneswar at 4:55am so we could go and get a cab to our hotel before the strike started. At least then we would be able to make our Tuesday meetings on time. Or we could stay in Jharasuguda and try and get out sometime Tuesday and hope to reschedule our Monday and Tuesday appointments for Wednesday. Since we couldn't cancel our train ticket, we decided to go.We were booked in AC three class, which means that the sleepers car has air conditioning and then on one side of the car sleepers that are three levels high. So in a typical day car with two seats facing each other, you now have six people sleeping, three on each side. Randy and Tanmaya both had middle beds and climbed into their compartment. I was across the aisle on the top bunk of two. Therefore I had a completely private compartment compared to the one the guys share with four others. I climbed up to my bunk, pulled the curtain and quickly fell asleep.About 4am I woke up and started to wonder where we were. We should be getting there soon. I wondered if Tanmaya was awake, had some type of alarm or would know when we should be getting off? At 4:30 I creep across to Randy's bunk and he tells me the train is at least 20 - do minutes behind schedule and that Tanmaya was awake and had heard about the delay. At 5am we pulled into Cuttack. We were 40 minutes away but should still be OK, but then it was 5:30 and we hadn't moved yet. What was going on? It was rumored that the strike had started early and the train wasn't going anywhere. We could stay on the train or get off and try to get to a hotel before the roads in town were closed down. We opted to get off. Rush ing out of the station a tuktuk driver agreed to try and help us find a hotel but we had to hurry! It became apparent fairly quickly that the police were already starting to barricade the Main rode off so we zigzagged through the back roads of town to get to a decent hotel. Our route definitely included some off the poorer (I mean really poor) areas of town as we past huts on the side of the street serving as homes. One little girl probably about two was squatting beside a mud puddle brushing her teeth with the water in the puddle. It was more than I could watch, and I had to turn my head away. The vision is still stuck in my mind. Eventually we crossed back onto the main road and entered the courtyard of Dwararek hotel. The doors to the hotel were closed except for a small opening, manned by a guard. Tanmaya spoke to the guard and a few minutes later we were ushered into the hotel. A private washroom, tv and two comfortable beds, we were set to hunker down until the strike was over. We enjoyed a great lunch in the dining room with Tanmaya as it stayed open for all the guests that had found their way here from the train station. After lunch we napped and watch the numerous English movies playing on the television. We were told that after 6 pm the strike would be over and it would be safe to go out and wonder the streets. We had to at least try. Sure enough the stores were all open and the streets bustled with traffic and pedestrians. The city was back to normal. We thought we would be brave and walked about two blocks down to a small temple and then back. Stopped to buy an ice cream and then decided that was enough. Walking outside after dark in an area we didn't know , we are still a little cautious. Lol at least we got out for an hour. We decided we would take a taxi to Bhubaneswar the next morning so that we could leave by 7am and still make all our appointments for the day. It was only a 30 minute drive and cost us a whole $13 Cdn. We are now booked into the Suryansh Hotel until at least Sunday. Our adventures at Bhubaneswar begin......

Our first goodbyes

Saturday was a day off with no scheduled visits or journey to take. So we decided to sleep in and then decided what to do. About 10:30 the phone rang telling us that two gentleman from SMS were here to see us. So quickly dressing we went to meet them. Could we come to the office and Tanmaya would go over the options for the day. Apparently he had been trying to get us a tour of the aluminum factory and a spice processing plant in the area. Of course would come. So we headed over to the office for a short debrief. Turns out their was a death in a relocation village so visiting the Vedanta, the aluminum company was out and the spice processing plant just wasn't returning their call. So yes it would truly be a day off. We thought we might walk at least part way into town, which seemed to shock the team as they stated it was at least 3 or 4kms , please let our driver take us. We assured them we could walk. Then Tanmaya said if we weren't back in a while he would send the driver to fetch us. But how would he find us? We were the only two white people walking around town he laughed. But first we would share a coffee. We had been looking up how to say basic phrases in Hindi so that we could at least say thank you, yes, no and please so we thought we would try out our pronunciation on the team. They could understand most of what we were saying but laughed liked crazy once they figured out our last phrase was "where is the bathroom?". Apparently we didn't have that one quite right. They were totally impressed that we were trying! Then they wanted to know about the other Canadian language and did we speak it. Once we realized they we talking about french we tried to explain that while it was a national language of Canada only about 10% of the country speaks it. But could we teach them some? So here is two English speaking Canadians trying to teach five Hindu speaking Indians basic French. Hilarious!!!!!Then out for our walk. Apparently when it is 35 degrees it takes no or little time to work up a sweat. Really you would have thought I had just run 10 km about five minutes into the trek. Oh well what is a little sweat? We continued on, passing an outlet where they make Ganeshes. During mid September they have a 7 day celebration in honor of the Ganesh, the God representing the removal of obstacles. Continuing along it was time for a cool drink. Fanta for me and an Apply Jizz for Randy. The shop owner remembering us from the day before ran over to say hello. I thought how nice of him to remember us and then again realized of course he would. We are his only white patrons.lol...A few more blocks and it was time to head back. All of a sudden one of the SMS team was there to greet us. Did we want a ride? We could do but he was riding a motorcycle. A few seconds later all three of us were on the bike heading back to our hotel. Another first for us. Now I need to assure you we were safe. Only a few blocks to travel and we weren't moving very fast. On numerous occasions we have seem family.es of four or five all riding one bicycle or motorbike. It appears to be an acceptable mode of transportation.Back at the hotel we would rest until 6 pm when we wold meet with the guys to say goodbye to those not traveling with us on Sunday. Tanmaya shared his pictures of his trip to Canada a few years ago, we played some music and before long we were singing and dancing in celebration of our time together. Tanmaya said one of his favorite songs was "I want to change the world" by Johnny Reed. How very appropriate for this group of men that have made such a difference in the lives of so many women and their families, and our goal to be part of it. Truly an amazing, humble group of men that leave their families for 15 days at a time to work with the Subhalaxmi ltd women's cooperative.Tanmaya and one other would travel with us to Bhubaneswar on Sunday night but for the rest we need to say Au revoir ......

A visit to an SMS grocery store owner

After leaving Tanmaya's village we would slowly make our way back to Jharasuguda passing through many more small villages and stopping to visit with one of the successful SMS entrepreneurs who runs a small grocery store out of the front of her home. Along with her husband they open the store at 7am and remain open until 9pm. During the 10 minutes we were there, there was a constant stream of shoppers stopping by for a purchase. The store offers a little bit of everything from fresh vegetables, spices, to popcorn and cigarettes. She was proud to share her success; including a look at her daily savings document. Not only does she make her monthly loan payments, she contributes to the compulsory savings account and another 200 rupees per day to the daily savings account. Let me explain a little how this works. Members of the cooperative are required to deposit fifty rupees per month into a compulsory savings account that is locked in until the member leaves the cooperative. Then they can also deposit a minimum of 50 rupees a month to a voluntarily savings that can be withdrawn any time and lastly they have a daily savings option with a minimum deposit amount of 20 rupees per day, that is locked in for a one year period. That means 20 rupees each and everyday of the year, including weekends and holidays. An employee of SMS makes the rounds each day to collect the deposits. After a vigorous loan application the client also has access to a loan funds to help purchase supplies or equipment to operate the business. The first loan a client can get is for 7000 rupees and must be paid back with interest in 10 months. Once the first loan is paid off they can apply for additional loans with instrumental increases in amounts. It was obvious due to the program many women and their families have moved out of extreme hardship and poverty to a comfortable life. Back in the car we came upon two young men who were catching tiny little fish with their hands to be sold as fish bait. Another entrepreneur at work. In the fields men and women are herding cows and goats watching to ensure no animal strays away. As we past through the villages it was hard not to notice that most of the residents appeared to be little more than skin and bones. The men wore a skirt like wrap called a lungi that covered them from the waist to somewhere above the knee and often little more, while the women were dressed in their colorful saris. Then occasionally you would see men dressed in normal (to us) shirt, and pants or knee length shorts. Back in town the men were dressed in shirts and pants just like at home. Upon entering most stores and every home you are required to remove your shoes. So on day one it was time to purchase a pair of sandals I could slip on without bending down or requiring effort to do up. A comfortable little flipflop with green and gold beading is now the footware of choice. During the trip Tanmaya pointed out an area that is frequented by elephants. In the evenings they will search out healthy rice crops looking for a good meal. Apparently this is a major problem and concern for the villages. Heading back into town we had two more stops to make. The first being another wholesaler on Main street. As we approached the owner encouraged us to sit down and with the help of a translator we were able to ask him questions about his business and his opinions on what SMS should consider if they plan to enter the spice processing business. While speaking with us he continued to take orders, accept cash payments, tally the bills (no cash registers here) and yell at the staff. I am not sure whether it was organized chaos or just overall chaotic. I certainly didn't know what happening but I am sure the shop keeper did! The last stop was a visit to a city retail grocery store. The owner was nice enough to share his insight on what sells and what we would need to consider from the final shopping clients perspective if trying to break into the market. A reoccurring message was classy packaging and a range of products. Everyone has an opinion, it is just our job to write the plan on how it can work. Lol no small task. One last picture and we were done for the day. The shop keeper was honored we wanted to take a picture with him and gave us a big wide smile for the camera. It had been a long day and we were ready for a rest....

The Farmer, our driver,and Tanmaya's family

How honored we are to have met these people!!!

The Road We Travelled

Friday morning the plan was to visit a predominant chili farmer in the district. Looking outside it was pouring rain. More like the gods were throwing out the dishwater and water was pouring out of the sky. Tanmaya suggested we wait 20 minutes, stating it would stop raining by then. Well it didn't completely stop but it at least became a heavy drizzle. We would be travelling by car about 35 km through numerous villages to get to our destination.

The mode of transportation for most Indians is cycle or motorcycle, all appropriately dressed for riding in the rain. Cyclists with umbrellas were a regular sight. I have a tough enough time riding with two hands over bumpy roads never mind carrying an umbrella while the rain beats against my face.
Traveling through the countryside the scenery was beautiful. Lush and green fields, decorated by the most gorgeous full trees. The natural dividers separating the crops gave the illusion of a beautiful golf course, but really were crops of rice, spices, vegetated or grazing field for herds of cows or goats. The road we were traveling on was filled with potholes and mud and in some cases the edges seemed to be completely washed away by the rains. The rivers were so high that in some cases they overflowed onto the bridge. At one small village a sign was posted indicating slow to 10km, however I think we may have had to speed up to actually go 10km/hr. infrastructure, especially when it comes to roads is one thing the Indian government definitely has not focused on. So we zig and we zagged down the road towards our destination. What was a 35km route took more than 1 1/2 hours to cover. At one point we turned of the hardtop road onto the dirt path the took us through several more small villages. At this point we were traveling thru pure mud when in the middle of the road our driver stopped. Were we lost was my first thought as our host got on the phone and then conversed with the driver. Nope we would wait for the farmer to come through the field and walk us back to his home. Thank goodness for sandals is all I can say as we walked through the mud and water searching for the driest path. All the way we were laughing and enjoying the experience. Wet and muddy feet never hurt anyone! We came to learn the young farmer was a major player in the area farming four acres and employing 30-40 villagers throughout the year. He was a progressive thinker and had grown his family business considerably since taking over four years ago. He wanted to learn from us how Canadian farmers operated and was there methods he could explore for implementation here in India. Automation was the key focus for him and difference from Canada. As Randy asked questions and the farmer responded Tanmaya translated. We learned a lot from this young man, as he explained he has diversified his crops to include rice, peas, chili and fish in a manmade fish pond. Did we want to see his crop? Of course so off we went by car out to his field. Upon arriving at the field the farmer led us up a small but steep embankment to overlook the fish pond. Now we should have noted that he took his sandals off. We did not and that was our first mistake. Standing at the top of the hill our feet sunk into the red claylike dirt as we view the fish pond that reminded me a a Canadian dugout. This was the perfect spot to capture the essence of the farmers entire business. Lush green rice paddies for as far as we could see, rows of peas lining the natural dividers between the sections and an area for chilis, his main business. It really was breathe taking and I wondered how they could possibly manage the extent of the manual labour required to get the crops to market. This farmer was fortunate he had a tractor. Having taken in the sights we needed to climb back down the embankment to the road. Not so easy with a ton of mud stuck to our feet, but somehow we slipped and slid down the hill without anyone falling. We roared with laughter as each one of us carefully made the trek and then tried to scrape the mud from our sandals. It was no easy task but eventually we were somewhat clean and it was time to say goodbye to the farmer and head on to our next stop. However we had only gone a few hundred meters when the driver stops, jumps out of the car and proceeds to wash his feet in the small river we had just crossed. Seemed like a good idea to us so seconds later we were all playing in the water with the pretense of get clean. Now we were ready to head off to visit with Tanmaya's parents and see his native town about 5kms away. Before we get there I need to tell you about the farmers home. A medium size brick and mud building consisting of an entrance way and three rooms. It turned out the three rooms were filled with farm supplies including fertilizer, nutrients, chili seeds, bags etc. No housewares, no beds, no closet full of clothes, just farm supplies. The front entrance held two plastic chairs and two cots. Beyond the entrance was another room, maybe this was where the household supplies were? Out front was a big well and the woman of the house was busy sweeping of the porch when we arrived. This again is when I really wished I could speak the language as I would have loved to have had a conversation with her. We gave both the farmer and his wife Canadian pins as a small thank you for welcoming us o their home! Tanmaya was so excited to have us meet his parents. An only child it was obvious he was very close to them and they were so proud of him. As we enjoyed a cup of coffee (water for me) and snacks a parade of neighbors came to visit for a quick peek at the foreigners. We smiled as they entered, stopping to say hello and quickly moving to the kitchen where we could hear them giggle. We felt like royalty as the neighborhood came to see us. We later learned that most of these ladies may never have seen a white person before. It was so fun and we enjoyed their hospitality! Tanmaya's parents home was extremely comfortable and brightly painted. They had a beautiful vegetable garden, with a banana tree. His father runs a small grocery store from the front yard and his mother is retired from working in the medical field for over 30 years. They were amazing people and we were very honored to have been guests in their home. Now it was time to travel to our other destinations planned for the day.....