Blogs from Gujarat, India, Asia
May 5th 2012
Last time I took a road trip was in India. I ventured from the state of Goa (south of Mumbai) up through the cities, villages and vastness, across mountains and deserts to Jaisalmer (borders with Pakistan). Along the way I was filled with wonder. Photo from the Past: Spotted this woman from a building across the way and found her beautiful.... read more
April 10th 2012
Dear Readers, Greetings from Jamnagar, Gujarat. Before I write story in brief about my visit of Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary-Jamnagar, I would like to ask one question. Do we really have time to read stories on internet? while there are millions of sites to read? Anyway It was kind of excuse to write story in brief :) I went to Jamnagar last week to visit extended family and made my day trip to Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary which is located 15 km from Jamnagar, where sweet water ponds and salty sea water from Gulf of Kutch allows different spices of bird to breed. It is well linked with good roads but surrounded by manmade hassardous (Ship breaking yard-Sachana) However Khijadiya, Jamnagar has preserved many birds and animals to prove that even if we have smaller space to protect ... read more
Gir Forest-Where The Adventure Never Stops Roaring!!!
Published: March 9th 2012Asia » India » Gujarat » Gir National Park
March 4th 2012
The Journey to the Lion Kingdom Begins!! The day I stepped into the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve, I made up my mind that I will try and cover all the national reserves in India in my lifetime. Corbett, Bandipur, Kanha over, with no luck with the tigers I thought I would try my luck with the King of the Jungle this time. A very opportune offer from Club Mahindra and I could not resist. Lavi was to handle all the planning for the trip. Somehow women tend to plan things well, we men just complicate things a little too much. Our tickets to Rajkot got confirmed last minute and we took off on 28th Feb 2012 on board the SauJanta express from Borivali at 18:30pm. Train journies tend to be interesting if you are armed ... read more
February 23rd 2012
Oh, Wow! What a day! First, our "interview" was successful and we were given the documentation that we will need this evening to leave India. Then, one of the women was enlisted to apply mendhi (henna) to my hands. I decided to go all out and so even my finger tips are covered. I couldn't touch anything for nearly two hours and then could allow the henna to fall off as it dried, but still could not put water to my hands until this morning. Then, we had our final party. Bill gave a magnificent speech! He named each woman in our project and said something specific about her particpation. Ilaben translated. I could see that each person was waiting with baited breath to hear what he would say, and he did justice to each and ... read more
AWAG Farewell Party - Swirling Silks and Sequins
Published: February 26th 2012Asia » India » Gujarat » Ahmedabad
February 22nd 2012
When we returned to the AWAG production facility Wednesdeay afternoon the women were eager to show us all they had done during our absence. Wow! they completely finished nine quilts .. piecing, quilting and binding. About six of them were certainly saleable as first class goods. Madina had even found a way to quilt the Chinense Coin quilt with sine-wave stitching. We took photos of all the quilts. Everyone, including us was pleased. Soon everyone began changing into their finest saris and kurties in preparation for our farewell party. The women made arrangements for Marie to have Mehndi (henna) applied to her hands. I must say, I love Indian women's fashion. Raven hair, supple limbs, and flowing silks in so many colors with sequins, mirrors, embroidery to add sparkle to it all. Everyone was in a ... read more
Traveling Papers - The Saga Continues
Published: February 21st 2012Asia » India » Gujarat » Ahmedabad
February 21st 2012
Today, Tuesday, we went back to the Shaibau Police headquarters to turn in the color copies of our passports, proof of Ilaben's residence and letters stating what we did while in India. Oops, after waiting to meet with the assistant commissioner we learned that both of us required copies of the same ducuments, i.e. Ilaben's gas bill, her passport, etc. so off we went to a shop to make copies. to waWe returned to the Police Headquarters for the fourth time armed with fresh Xerox copies of everything. Each of now had 21 pages of documents, seven passport sized photos and our passports. "Finally we've got everything." Wrong! the beauraucrat now handed us another form and imformed us that we must return with the new form on Wednesday and wait to be interviewed. We learned that ... read more
February 21st 2012
Although we are still not cleared to leave (check Bill's blog for those hassles), we are entering the "countdown" in anticipation. Do you remember the music concert in memory of a man's father that I wrote about earlier? Well, Tuesday (tonight) was another concert, this time of popular film (mostly Bollywood). Interesting concept: really good singers signing popular music with the films from which the music is taken is shown behind the singers. The concert is in honor of two boys entering Brahmin adulthood...well, they get a white string that they are to wear (although many do not) but it appears to be similar to a confirmation, bar mitzvah, etc. Two boys in the same family: three separate events. The concert was held in an 800-seat auditorium, nearly full, assigned seating! I wore my art silk ... read more
February 19th 2012
Kalind, Ilaben's son, feeds a dog family, a mother, Mr. Dog, and originally four pupplies. One of the pups didn't move fast enough. When I went over to look, the others ferociously barked me away--all guarding the lifeless pup. Another one has disappeared. A newspaper article says that there are hundreds of dog bites monthly, more in Ahmedabad than elsewhere. The suggestion to euthanize dogs was bitterly opposed by the Jain community; the idea of sterilizing the dogs was opposed by animal lovers. Frankly, a female dog does not have pups by choice, only by biology. The Ah'd dogs and the dogs in Kathmandu are constantly scrounging for any food particles. They look at us with such sweet eyes, the way that dogs know how to look at a human to get a response. Sometimes, the ... read more
Meeting Friends After Some Time
Published: February 19th 2012Asia » India » Gujarat » Ahmedabad » Adalaj
February 19th 2012
I first came to India in 1965 and last visited in 1994. From the beginning, most of my friends were about 10 years older than I, so they got their Ph.Ds, married first, had babies first, married their children first, and welcomed grandchildren, most of whom are now old enough to babysit my grandchildren. Nothing much ever seem to change between my visits, even from 1975 to 1994. This visit is different, though. We are all older now, various creaks and pains. Our conversations are muted and focus on what our children are doing, our pride and joys. We don't discuss the glaucoma-induced blindness, surviving breast cancer, the creeping dementia that makes a mockery of any meaningful conversation...we do not talk about the things that we plan to do, because we have done what we planned ... read more
February 19th 2012
We first met Shiva in 2000. On a scholarship to study organizing and social work at Boys Town in Omaha, as a SERVAS visitor, he visited our home in David City, NE several times, often when I was teaching real estate out-of-town. Here is his story: When he was 15, his mother gave him 50 hard-earned and saved rupees. He walked 12 days to an education in Kathmandu and his life's purpose. At one time, he was an advocate (lawyer), but he left that behind to have the freedom to work for peace and freedom, and to bring enrichment to Nepali villages. He has been honored by Amnesty Internation and the Friendship Force, and has been active in SERVAS. A few years ago, he presented a 3-day course at a Japanese college. A year later, 20 ... read more
