More random photos

Going Home

I'm chillin at JFK on the way home: 36 hours down, 8.5 to go. Sarah and I left New Delhi after a very relaxing 'day of beauty' at the Taj Palace and her Nagpur host, Sati Khanna, met her at the Mumbai airport while I continued on to Amsterdam later that night. Raychael is probably boarding her flight to Paris as I type. She met her friend in Hyderabad on the 23rd. As Ryan warned, getting through security is a beating. Before you can check your bags, they have to be scanned and passengers go through the full-on body search. Then through the same security procedure to get to the gate and a final body search and bag search just prior to boarding. They have a woman guard check female passengers, which is a good thing because they really search. I heard that the security was at high alert because of Independence Day festivities this week. Even after all that, a batty old lady a few rows ahead of me in coach tried to open the outside hatch while we were mid-Atlantic and continued to keep the flight attendants and air marshalls entertained for the rest of the trip. FYI, the marshalls don't wear uniforms - just khaki pants and navy sweatshirts, but they were carrying tazers and were all business.

The team and I will consolidate photos and get a presentation together for the GSE committee and for the District conference. All of us look forward to getting together soon to recap our fantastic experience and to try our indian recipes on each other.

Thanks once more to our wonderful District 3030 hosts. We look forward to a reunion with the inbound team on April 16.

I couldn't have imagined a better or more productive exchange. Thank you Ryan, Sarah, Raychael and Tyler for sharing a month with me. It is an experience I will always cherish and I love each of you dearly.

Mumbai Recap

Tyler and I spent a short time in Mumbai at the end of the trip.  Everything that we had experienced so far in India was amplified to the max in Mumbai.  Mumbai is the most populous city in India and the second most populous city in the world (according to Wiki: 14 million in city, 19.2 million in greater metro area). The traffic was horrendous, it was hot and humid and the city was unbelievably huge. In addition to the size is the density which is estimated at 60,000 people per square mile.

We spent the majority of the time in the touristy areas of Churchgate and Colaba and also had a sidetrip to the Crawford market and few last minute gifts were picked up.  The standard tourist drinking hole Leopolds was a bit underwhelming but the cold beer was still welcome.  A highlight of the day was a delicious gin and tonic at the Taj Mahal Hotel with a great view of the gateway to India.  Marine Drive was beautiful at sunset as well.

Marine Drive in Mumbai

Happy Sankranti

Hi everyone, I am back in Seattle now. Internet access in Nasik was hit and miss.  Even though I am back I will finish this post from last weekend...

Today is Makar Sankranti which celebrates the changing of the seasons. Winter is now over here and we are moving into hotter times.  Fittingly it is quite warm today (for us) at 30C (86F). The festival is celebrated with exchanges of a sesame covered sweet called tilgul, music and lots of kite flying.  The skies around us are filled with kites being flown by kids. The kids use the string reinforced with glass so that they can have kite battles with each other.

Rooftops lined with kids flying kites

Busy day at the ghat

Typical crowded street here

Even the cows join in for the festivals

We went to some temples this morning and down to the Godavari River which is considered a holy river.  Many people come here to bath and wash away their sins.  Every 12 years there is a pilgrimage to the river and 2-4 million people make the journey.  It was crowded today with only thousands of people and I can't imagine it with millions of people.

In the evening we went to a beautiful farm and flew kites with the kids.  We lost most of the  battles but I had one victory over an 8-year old that was very satisfying. After the kite battles we headed to a party with some people that are from Punjab.  The crowd was mostly Sikh people and they impressed us with their passion for dancing.  We ended the night dancing to the popular Bollywood songs with the Sikhs.  It was a great moment for all of us.

Daulatabad Fort

While we were visiting the Ellora and Ajanta caves near Aurangabad we had a side trip to the 14th century fort at Daulatabad. The fort was built by Muhammad bin Tughluq who ruled India from 1325 until his death in 1351.  Early in his reign he decided to move the capital of India to Daulatabad.

Instead of moving just his government offices there, he forcibly moved the entire population (including the cattles, horses, dogs, cats!) of Delhi to the new capital. Since this happened in summer, many people died because of inadequate water supply arrangements in Daulatabad; after only two years, the capital had to be shifted back again to Delhi, again at great loss, and it was said that Delhi was a ghost town for years after the move back.

The fort is very impressive in its design and it is said that no one has ever conquered the fort by force (it has only been taken by bribing the guards). The fort was designed to confuse the attackers with a series of 3 walls to be conquered, multiple pathways (some leading to dead ends), a crocodile filled moat, and most importantly a maze through a series of bat infested caves.  The fort sits on top of a conical hill that is about 200m tall.  Vertical walls have been cut, 50m tall, around most of the hill.  The only way across the moat was by a very narrow bridge that could be retracted.  If you did make it over the moat you entered the caves which are designed to further confuse the enemy and give the protectors ample opportunity to kill the attackers in great numbers.  After the caves a long steep climb remains to the top with more walls, cannon, etc. More specifics on the fort can be found here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daulatabad

Between the first and second walls

The temple inside the second wall, fort is on the hill in background

The bridges were added recently for tourists

This moat was full of hungry crocodiles

Styler and our guide, the entrance to caves is in the background

Guided by torch through the caves, hearing hundreds of bats overhead

Out of the caves, looking back at the village that is inside the outer walls
(also shown is the second tallest medina in India)

Great views on the top after a nice hike

Tyler's Indian Alter-Ego

The trip coordinator here in India kept calling him Styler and the name has stuck.

Looking tough in the mirror of an auto-rickshaw

Styler is seen here autographing the hands of his adoring fans

Biscuits

One of our favorite visits this trip was to a biscuit factory in Akola.  Indians love their biscuits.  They are always put out for guests and everyone usually has a few with their chai (which they take several times daily). Indian biscuit consumption is estimated at 3 million metric tons per year.
We visited a Wonder biscuit manufacturing facility in Akola owned by local Rotarian Rajesh Agrawal.  He gave us a great tour of the production process including everything from the raw ingredients to the packaging and shipping.  We even got to enjoy warm biscuits fresh off the belt. The entire factory had a great smell as they were making coconut biscuits at the time. Here are some pics of the biscuit production...

Visit to Ramtek Temple

Ajanta Caves

Ajanta Caves ~ World Heritage Site

I have the fanciful ambition to visit all of the nearly 900 World Heritage Sites. Nominated sites designated by UNESCO receive funding for restoration and conservation. Having visited more than 400 sites around the world, my expectations for Ajanta and Ellora were high. I and the rest of the team were astounded by the over-the-top richness of architecture, sculpture and paintings found in these ancient temples and monastaries, hewn from living rock with hammer and chisel. Pictures cannot do the sites justice.

The caves at Ajanta date from the 2nd century BC to about the 6th Century AD. The caves, located in a remote horseshoe rock gorge, were forgotten and overgrown by the jungle until they were rediscovered by a British Army captain hunting tiger in 1819. While the reason for the sudden abandonment of the Ajanta site is a topic of speculation among archaeologists, it is also likely the reason that the caves remain in astonishingly good condition today. Dr. Walter Spink, an American expert on the caves, has written that the later group of caves in the Mahayana group were completed in fewer than 20 years, rather than over centuries as previously thought. Standing in the temples in Cave 16, 17 and 19, it seems impossible that so much rock could have been chipped by hand and hauled away, and that the elaborate sculpture, friezes and colorful and intricately detailed paintings on every wall, pillar and ceiling could have been completed in such a short period of time. Spink speculates that the sudden death of Vakataka emperor Harisena in 477 ADand the ensuing downfall of his empire led to the sudden abandonment of the site for the Hindu temples later constructed at Ellora 135 km to the SW. The caves at Ajanta, all Budhist temples and monastaries, were carved from front to back. If I've piqued your curiosity, google Ajanta. My photos simply do no justice this amazing place.

In contrast, the truly jaw-dropping Hindu Kailasa Temple at Ellora was carved from the top down. Built in AD 760 by King Krishna I, this massive temple required removal of an estimated 200,000 tons of rock, all chipped out with a hammer and chisel. If the sheer magnitude of the project were not amazing enough, the engineering required to hew a 3 story building, with dozens of rooms, bridges, stairs, larger than life-sized animals such as elephants and lions, and sculpture and friezes on every surface, boggles the imagination. A minute attention to detail and finish that is often lacking in modern Indian construction is ever-present at Ellora. For perspective, consider that Kailasa covers twice the area of the Parthenon in Athens and is 1.5 times higher. My camera batteries were dead after a frenzy of picture taking at Ajanta, so I must rely on Sarah's great eye and photography skills for photos at Ellora.



I

Last Day in Jalgaon

Jalgaon ~ January 11, 2011

We returned to Jalgaon (pronounced 'Jal-gow') late last night after two spectacular days at the World Heritage Sites at Ajanta and Ellora, with a side trip to the amazing fort at Daluatabad outside of Aurangabad. We will make our presentation tonight to a combined meeting of the six clubs in Jalgaon. As we have come to expect, the hospitality and care extended to us by our host families and Rotarians has been amazing. We are already sad that the exchange will be complete in just five days.

I would especially like to acknowlege my host, Dr. Ranjit Chavan and his wife Shailajah. Ranjit has a busy orthopedic practice, and yet has cleared his schedule for the past 4 days to accompany us to Aurangabad and to the various vocational tours arranged for us in Jalgaon. (He also waited 5 hours at the Mumbai airport to pick us up when we arrived late from Amsterdam.) Fortunately, I will have the opportunity to reciprocate his hospitality because he is leading the outbound team to District 5030 in April. He will be joined by his lovely wife Shailajah and their two children Samiran (14) and Ravita (6) for a month long tour of the western US after the exchange.

Our team continues to impress me and our hosts. According to Dr. Nikhil Kibe in Akola, it is 'the best team in 15 years". Nikhil is such a gracious man, he might say that even if it weren't true, but I believe that he meant the compliment. This team amazes me every day.

The Rotary Clubs we have visited are extremely commited and very involved in local projects. There is no shortage of needs to be met. I will return with many ideas and proposals for projects in water, sanitation, and education (specifically supporting a libary in a public school). Dr. Chavan's club has adopted a public school and spent between $80,000 and $100,000 USD repair the infrastructure including rebuilding the floors, providing electricity and running water, and paying the salary of a teacher for handwriting and art. The children (Grades 1-7) are from families below the poverty line, which in India is very low, and would not have access to basic education without the intervention and support of this group of inspirational and commited Rotarians.

4th video posting

Jalgaon Schedule

We just wrapped up two nights in a hotel for some needed rest and time to ourselves.  Last night we went to a classical indian music festival.  The music was great. This morning we have shifted to our new host families.  I have enjoyed talking this morning with my new host Pankaj, his wife Anshu. Also in the house are their son and daughter and Pankaj's mom and dad.  We are on the top floor of a building in the heart of the city and it is a nice spot.  I have a laptop and wifi which is also a nice convenience and I am enjoying a plate of fresh papaya, strawberries and apples as I type.
Today (Saturday) we will spend the day with the host families and possibly attend the music festival again tonight.  My host is taking me this afternoon to a university to meet some water conservation specialists. Tomorrow we will head south to see two world heritage sites over Sunday and Monday.  We will spend Sunday night in Aurangabad to reduce driving time on the highway. The world heritage sites are the Ajanta caves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves) and the Ellora caves  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellora_Caves) which are amazing rock cut Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples in cliff hillsides.  Also on the list is a visit to the Daulatabad Fort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daulatabad). The fort has a 45 minute hike to get to it which includes passing through a dripping, bat infested cave! The muslim fort has never been conquered unless you count the time someone bribed the guards and got in.
We will return to Jalgaon on Monday night, have a vocational visit to an irrigation company on Tuesday then transfer to Nashik on Wednesday.
Cheers, Ryan

Jalgaon

Namaste~

We're in Jalgaon, mid-way between Nagpur and Mumbai. (Population 328,000 according to Lonely Planet). We took the train from Akola after experiencing several harrowing trips by car on the narrow and crowded highways around Akola. The team is in a comfortable hotel today for a 'rest' day. We don't really need to rest, but we are enjoying some down time to talk about our experiences and to get caught up on email, reading and corrrespondence. There is a phrase in Hindi, "Athiti Devo Bhav", the guest is god. This translates into incredible hospitality from our hosts and indeed every Rotarian we have met. Our every need is met instantly or anticipated.

I am so grateful to my lovely hosts in Nagpur, Amravati and Akola - Chandrasheki and Aasha Vaid, Rajendra and Manju Bansali and Dr. and Arati Kibe respectively. Their extraordinary hospitality has made me feel at home in their homes. District GSE Chair Sanjay Tatwawadi has ensured that our program has been enriching and we thank him, all of the members of the district GSE committee and especially the club presidents and Rotarians who have been so generous with their time.

Nagpur Univ and the Rotary District 3030 Conference

Akola Day Two

I don't read Hindi but I get the idea, watch out.

Today was our first full day in Akola and the team split up for the morning session.  Rachel went visited some schools, Sarah and Kat went to a couple banks while Tyler and I went to the PDKV Agricultural University. At PDKV Tyler and I first visited a research site where they are working on medical plant farming.  Indians consume large amounts of medicinal plants and the wild stocks are dwindling.  Commercially raised plants are showing lower concentrations of the active medicinal chemicals in the plant so they are researching ways to improve this. They are also working on inter-cropping medical plants between existing crops. We then went to another research area where they are working on water conservation methods such as drip irrigation and contour farming.  We have noticed a big disconnect between the researchers and the farmers as there is little to no educational outreach to teach the farmers more efficient farming techniques.

Tyler demonstrates the converted stairmaster well pump

This bucket drip watering setup uses 1/3 of the water and gives a better crop yield than the normal irrigation method.

Check dam near Akola

After lunch we all got back together and headed off to the countryside where there is a project sponsored by the Seattle Rotary District 5030 that builds check dams for villages. The check dams serve to capture the tail end of the monsoon flows in the stream and retain the water for a number of uses.  The farmers are able to use the water for supplemental irrigation, it helps to recharge the dropping groundwater levels, provides water for women in the nearby village to use so that they don't have to walk miles to do laundry, and the kids enjoy playing in the pool when it is hot out.  All our visits have been great here in Akola and the hosts have been wonderful.  We have a combined Rotary club visit this evening at 9 where all 5 clubs will join up for our presentation.

Amravati

We just arrived in our new hosts homes in Akola.  Internet access was poor in Amravati so I will give you the details on our stay there now. First off the locals pronounce it Am-rouw-ti and none of us could pronounce it correctly.  It was a much smaller city (only 680,000 pop.) than Nagpur.  The town has less infrastructure and is mainly used only as a mid-point for transferring cotton and oranges from the farms to the bigger cities.  Our hosts were no less hospitable though.  My host family was great although the hostess made me eat so much is was getting to be borderline punishment.  She was too sweet though and would say "Just one more chapatti Ryan, for me?" Of course I couldn't say no and it turned into three more chapattis, with more palak paneer, curry, etc. Then came the rice and dal, then the dessert. Then chai.

Sartak, my host's son

My host family had a daughter (7) and a son (3) who were both extremely adorable.  The son calls me cha-cha which is Hindi for uncle. I enjoyed spending time in the mornings and evenings with them.
Our GSE program in Amravati had us start with the two New Year's Eve parties I mentioned before. Saturday they took us to a leper colony and then Amravati University in the morning and to the HVPM Sports Center in the evening.  The HVPM is one of the largest sports centers in India and many great athletes train there.  My host, Vinay, brought Tyler and I there on two of the mornings.  The first day we had a private yoga session followed by some badminton which is quite popular here.  The second morning we played badminton with my host's group of friends who are very good.  It was nice to get some exercise in the morning as we have not been exercising at all here.  Between the traffic and the possibility of getting lost, no one is jogging in the mornings and gyms are nowhere to be found.  Also, we are generally too busy to have time anyway.
At our evening tour at the sports center we watched a demonstration of the Indian gymnastics of mallakhamb which is unlike anything we had ever seen.  Search for some videos of it if you have time.
Later in the evening we went to see another new sport for us called kabbadi.  We decided that it is a mix of red-rover, capture the flag and wrestling.  It was exciting as we were honored guests and received some rock-star treatment. Sarah took some great pics that I hope we can get up online.
Sunday we visited a small village that had been adopted by the local rotary club.  We had all been wanting to see a typical village and it was a great experience.  I enjoyed seeing the homes and the different water systems that are used.  They also had a small school and tiny library that we visited.  After the village we visited a small farm that was growing cotton, oranges and lemons.  We had a combined Rotary club visit in the evening a gave a nice presentation that was well received.  Three clubs hosted a joint meeting so we could do one presentation instead of three. They hosted a lovely dinner after the presentation.
This morning we moved to Akola which is normally a two-hour journey.  I think we made it in about 1 hour and 15 minutes thanks to our crazy driver.  I think we all need massages for our stiff back and neck muscles that were continuously clenched in tension for the entire journey. I have a great host here in Akola, Dr. Rajesh Modi who is a gynecologist and endoscopic surgeon.  His wife is also a surgeon and I will meet her later today.  They have a very nice house and I am enjoying a laptop with wifi for the first time here.  I will try to post more often now that access is better.  Tonight we are going to the market to see a jeweler (Kim might  get something nice) and then a pool dinner.  A pool dinner is what we would call a potluck dinner.

Video #2

Ryan posting for Tyler

Happy New Year

We rang in the new year last night at two great outdoor parties in Amravati.  There was plenty of dancing and it was warm outside which made for a different New Year's experience for us all.  No standing in the rain at Kerry Park watching the Space Needle fireworks this year.  We got home a bit late but Tyler and I still made it to yoga class at 6:30 followed by some badminton.
Happy New Year Seattle