My Last Home Cooked Meal With Sushma

I have been away from the blogging world, and all things internet for the past week almost. My broadband internet card really doesn't like the village I live in or the rain. (Though I am happy to report that India finally got the monsoon it was looking for, with over 100% rain fall in August the drought is not going to be nearly as bad as they had previously forecasted.)

My last couple of days at DSK flew by, and now I am in Goa at Navsarjan's strategic planning meeting. But before I left DSK Sushma said she had to cook for me one last time. So friday night before she went home for the weekend she cooked for me and we spent our last night talking together. 

 The food was delicious and spicy as usual. 

 After dinner we decided to go for a walk and stopped by the local store to talk. While we at the store we ran into these two guys who were grabbing a quick bite to eat. The one on the right is Sushma's friend's nephew and the one on the left is his best friend. I swear anywhere we would go we would always run into friends or past students of Sushma's. 

But it was a wonderful last evening with Sushma at DSK, and I can honestly say the thing I am going to miss most about that place is her. She took care of me showing me the ropes and making sure I was always fed. I really am going to miss our late night talks in the garden and her cooking. I learned so much from her these past couple of months, and I can honestly say I am a better person now for having known her. 

Thanks Sushma! I'll miss you!

My Morning in Photos

I had an incredibly productive and wonderful day today. I finished my concept note for the Environment Issues Campaign I am trying to launch here at Navsarjan, made really good headway with the Children's Book I am currently writing, and had my mind blown and my heart expanded by my mornings venture into the field. Yeah, overall I would say I am feeling pretty good right now. 

So today I wanted to share with you photos of the people I met and had tea with this morning. 

Every day is another opportunity to have a magical experience. 

Today these people made mine. I hope you enjoy the portraits, it was an honor and a pleasure to take them. 

Centre for Science and Environment

This reason I was off line last week was because I was in Delhi for a training at the Centre for Science and Environment. I spent five long days from 10a.m. to 6p.m. learning everything I possible could about the Environmental Impact Assessment Report and the Social Impact Assessment Report. 

All business who wish to set up an industry or expand a current project must fill out these reports so that the government can assure that they are using the best possible practices to mitigate their negative impact on the environment and the individuals who live in the surrounding area. 

That is the theory anyway. Though from my experience a majority of these EIA reports are done in a hurry and there is no monitoring body that assures the industries actually follow threw with all the promises they make in these reports. 

Above is the picture of the class after our certificate ceremony. 

(the guard didn't really know how to work the camera...but it was a good crew)

I went with Sushma and Laxman to the training.

Though the training seemed incredibly long at times, I am glad I went. It gave me a whole new perspective on development, and provided me with a bunch of information about what practices and technologies different industry should and can use to reduce their impact on the environment. Plus I made some amazing contacts that will really help me with my research for my capstone project. 

Meeting the Family in Nadiad

This past weekend Sushma took me to her home town of Nadiad so that I could meet her family. It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend filled with a lot of good food and down time chilling with the family. 

As per custom in India guests are always treated with the utmost care, and are constantly being feed. I actually think I gained three pounds this weekend from all the food they gave me. 

Pictured above and below is Sonu, Sushma's adorable son who is four years old. 

Above is a family photo of Sonu, Sanjiv, and Sushma on their bike. When they were showing me around the town I jumped on the bike behind Sushma. Definitely not one of the safest rides I have ever been on, but we weren't going very far and we never went very fast. 

Plus now I feel as though I can honestly say I have fully experienced every mode of transportation here in India. 

Above is Pani Puri...one of Sushma's favorite dishes. 

Nadubhai reading to his grandson. It was really cute how much Sonu loved his grandfather, they take a walk together every night after dinner. 

Sushma's inlaws Nadubhai and Shardaben whom Sonu and Sanjiv are currently living with. 

Sanjiv's family including his brother Asim. 

Pictured above is Sushma's family, two of her sisters, her parents, her brother in-law and her niece.

They all wanted a picture with me and the family. Sonu is an incredibly energetic little boy though and did not really want to sit still for the photo. 

This past weekend will probably be one of the first things that comes to my mind when I think back about the time I spent in India. It is amazing how much love this family had, and how readily they opened their home and their hearts to let me in. I am incredibly grateful to them all for their kindness and generosity and will cherish this weekend for the rest of my life. 

Lake Udaipur

After a week offline I am finally coming back to the blogging world to finish my photo tour of India with my Mom and Aunt. After a whirlwind tour of Ahmedabad, we went to Lake Udaipur for the weekend. We left midday thursday after going to see Sarkhej Roza. It took five hours by car to get to Lake Udaipur but it was well worth the drive. 

Pictured above and below is Sarkhej Roza. It was really a beautiful place and they were in the process of restoring it, so that was nice to see. 

  Above is the view from our hotel in Lake Udaipur. 

Pictured above and below the local market.

 My mom really wanted to feed the monkeys (something they tell you not to do)....it ignored her for a while at first. 

 We took a boat tour of the lake.And stopped at the island below to get refreshments and walk around. 

The flowers were just to beautiful not to take a picture of. 

City Palace, we had to go back twice because we missed the museum part the first time.

On the second day we went to a fort about an hour an half away. It was absolutely beautiful even though it was fogged in most of the morning.

A man we met on our hike into the valley.

The main fort is pictured above. 

The gate to the fort we drove through. It has the second longest wall in the world behind the Great Wall in China.

Above more of the grounds in the fort. 

The drive to get to the place was absolutely amazing and we made the driver stop a million times to take photos. 

I had an absolutely wonderful time with my Mom and Aunt. It was nice getting the royal treatment for a weekend and playing tourist after working here. I hope they enjoyed the rest of their time in India. I am glad they decided to make the trip. 

In my time here I have found that this really is a beautiful country with so much culture and life. 

India Photo Tour Part 3

Day Two of my Mom and Aunt's adventure in Ahmadabad started out with a trip out to DSK. It was the day of the girls convocation so naturally they included my Aunt, my Mom, and me in the program. 

They opened with ceremony with a poem that said something about guests being as special as roses, and then threw flowers at us to honor our presence. 

After the ceremony was over my Aunt and Mom experienced DSK's cooking, and learned how to use the dishwashing station on campus.

After lunch we took a quick hiatus into the local village, so that I could take some photos for one of the cases I was working on. From there we went back to Ahmedabad to see all of the sites in the old city. 

First we went to this incredibly old Temple...it was really big and had two other separate temples in its complex....one for the women and another for the men. 

My Mom and Aunt had their first rickshaw experience....After my Aunt said she understood what she had read somewhere that said "India was the dance of inches". 

My Mom and Aunt covering their hair to go into a historic mosque, only to be denied entry because their skirts were to short.

Above is the Old Fort in Old Ahmadabad. 

 Another Mosque that we all did get inside to see, though we were not allowed into the actual prayer hall. 

The tombs of some famous kings...

I wish I could tell you the name of all these places, But honestly we saw so much that day I couldn't keep it all straight. 

 Another Mosque. 

 My Mom and Aunt in front of the Lake that Minister Modi turned into a park for the residents of the city. 

Our last stop of the day was at our driver (my Indian brother) Ritesh's house so that my Mom and Aunt could meet his boys. 

It was a wonderful day, but incredibly long. But I can honestly say I think I have seen all the best/most touristy and historic parts of Ahmadabad now.