6 Dec 2009

I had the most wonderful weekend. Early Saturday morning, Ashutosh and his family took me to a small city called Shimla. We were up before the sun was and heading towards the foothills of the Himalayas. If you can imagine the journey to, say, Akaroa Well the trip was very similar to that except there were more little villages along the way (and no sea at the end of the trip). The forests we travelled were mostly pine and fir with scatterings of cactus.

We stopped on a rise not far out of Shimla for a spot of tea. The view was simply awesome. It was a pleasantly warm morning and I could see for as far as the dust layer would allow, which wasn’t too bad up there.

When we finally reached Shimla we were met by a flow of humanity. It would have been about 10am there abouts. The roads in Shimla are not exactly highways. More like side streets. So the traffic was quite intense. The view I had when we first arrived was not what I expected at all. (I thought I’d been diddled. Sue, the travelling brochure had set me wrong.) The houses and buildings were perched on the side of a cliff in a style similar to that of a middle eastern town, or maybe somewhere in Turkey perhaps. This was supposed to be a little English village complete with church. I couldn’t see any of that.

We found a public car park that had probably been designed for 10 to 15 cars. By the time we arrived there would have been fifty cars parked there and they still took us in. We waited there for a while whilst Ashutosh found us a hotel to stay at. Once he had arranged the hotel, we backed out of the car park and carried on around to the hotel car park.

We settled into our rooms and headed out for a walk. It’s not exactly safe walking along the roads heading back into the main area. The traffic was still quite intense. We arrived back at the same car park that we were at earlier but then headed over to a building that seemed at to have no purpose. It was a lift. It saved on walking up some 200 steps to the top of the hill. I have to say here that this is the first time I’ve ever seen a lift where you had to pay to use it. Not sure how much it was Ashutosh payed. So the lift took us up one floor, we climbed out and then headed for another lift, which took us the rest of the way. I am glad that the Indians are a friendly bunch. The lifts were quite small and there were a lot of people wanting to use the service. You didn’t dare breath out on the way up. Someone might pop out through the cracks or explode through the door when it opened.

When we arrived we walked the rest of the way to the top of the hill. Ahhhh, There was Little Britain. (I hadn’t been diddled after all. Phew) The top of the hill had been set up as a walk area with wide avenues similar to Cashel Street. We walked past the Church which was a beautiful as the day it was built. A cream coloured stone with a single spire. We walked past a number of shops. Had a traditional Indian meal in a restaurant called Goofer. It means ‘cave’ in Hindi. I took some photographs of the scenery out and towards the bigger ranges of the Himalayas. I should point out that this may have been the foothills of the Himalayas but we were still quite high. Not exactly at the snow line. All the hills around us had trees to the top or housing.

Some of the buildings were still the original building that the British put up when they were there. Some looked like they may have been put up in the late 1700 early 1800s. Even the shop fronts had that typical old English look. Like they have never been upgraded from the day they were built. We walked for a while. I was quite worn out by time we got back to the hotel.

We rested for an hour or two and then headed back out to the top of the hill. By this time it was dark and the lights were on around the city. Up by the Church was a strobe light that was being picked up by the damp air. It was quite a sight. If I thought the lifts were a bit full the first time I went up, they were even fuller this time. Nose to nose Indians.

We did a little shopping and had a meal. I was ready for bed by time we got back to the hotel. I didn’t even notice that it was not my bed. (Normally have trouble sleeping for the first time in hotel bed.

On Sunday we headed home via the National Institute of Advanced Studies. When I first heard we were going there I couldn’t help but wonder why we would bother going there. I thought Ashutosh or Maya had business there. But, yet another surprise. This ‘Institute’ was in fact the most important place in India during the British occupation. It’s a magnificent castle that was the home of the Viceroy of India and the centre of Government. After the British left the President of India used it for a while. The second president gave it to India as a place of higher learning in the social sciences. It has been so ever since. If I thought the outside was impressive, the inside was amazing. The central area was tall. Right to the roof. Three floors high. The roof was made of opaque glass panels. All the walls in the main area were made of wood panelling. The other floors looked onto the ground floor with solid wood balustrades and railings for protection. We were allowed to go up to the next levels. They were reserved for the residents.

We walked around the gardens for a while taking in the magnificence of the place. Then we quietly drove home. It seemed that nearly all the way home we were travelling down hill. Somewhat different to when we went. It seemed to take longer coming home. Not sure why. Maybe more people on the roads. Not sure. There were plenty of monkey to avoid. They just sit on the road and expect the cars to drive around them. And, amazingly, I didn’t see one flat monkey on the whole trip.

I think this has been the best experience whilst I’ve been here in Chandigarh. The best part of the trip was the fact that Ashutosh and Maya were so relaxed and seemd to enjoy the holiday as much as I did. During the first day Aramon was given a toy lightsaber and promptly chopped us all up. Thank goodness it wasn’t real.

2 Dec 2009

Tonight we went to a circus. The real thing. Not just something showing on the Television. With real performers too. Yep, I know, amazing isn’t it.

I was a little surprised when we went into the tent. You may remember when at a fair or Timezone, you have those slots that you have to get the ball through and it might be that some slots are worth more points than others. Well, the entrances to the circus tent were like that. Depending on how much you paid, depended on which slot you went through. But, just like the game, once through, you could sit wherever you liked.

There were some seats close to the action that looked promising, so we parked and started enjoying the show. I was a little worried. The first part of the show was for the live stock to parade around the ring. Problem was they were parading on the outside of the ring. So, there was this rather large elephant about 2 metres away from where I sat. And then, another one. I got my first closeup of what an elephant looks like. Well, a circus one anyway.

A short time after we settled into our seats, a friend of Ashutosh’s family came over and directed us to some VIP seats. I was rather grateful that we moved. It was a better view of the show.

As the show went on there were the usual performers. Acrobats, clowns, jugglers, fire eaters and the likes. One person stood out because of the rather bizarre act. He was drinking large quantities of water, then putting it all back in the container he got it from. At one point he drank two glasses of this raspberry coloured water and then two big jugs of water. When he spat it back out, the water was a mixture of both. Yep, you’re right. Kinda weird. (The sort of thing I could see Paul do at the end of the Natcoll Christmas do).

I absolutely love to hear children laugh. Tonight was special for me because the children around me were almost beside themselves when the clowns performed. I really didn’t understand much of the performance but I knew that it was funny.

I think, on reflection there are two things that stood out for me tonight. Well, three if you count the laughing children. The first is that there are some really cleaver people out there. Talented people who can tie themselves in knots and know how to untie themselves afterwards. The second is that for many of the performers, it seemed that they had been at it either to long or would rather have been somewhere else. There were two or three performers who gave the impression that they ‘lived’ for what they were doing. For many of them, it was an ‘existence’. A living or imprisonment. I’m sure you would have seen that look of ‘Oh my God, not another performance I have to do.’ Well, I was a little surprised as to how many of the performers wore that mask.

28 Nov 2009

Well, it’s the season for marriages. Not sure why. Maybe it’s cooler, maybe it’s the festive season. (The festival of Lights). So, tonight was another wedding that I was invited to. Although this time it was the groom’s party. Not exactly a batchelor’s party. The groom’s brother arranges a party for family and friends. Somewhere else the Bride’s family are also having a party. This evening wasn’t as lavish as the previous wedding I attended. It was smaller and the food wasn’t as nice. We chatted to a few people, had a nibble and said our farewells. This time I got home before midnight. I was going to stay up and watch the All Blacks play France but I don’t remember actually going to bed. I must have been asleep before I hit the pillow.

29 Nov 2009

Ah. Sunday, sacred Sunday. I lazed in bed until around 10am, chatting to the family on Skype. Towards 2.30pm, Ashutosh rang to say we were heading of to the wedding. This was the one we had attended the Groom’s party the night before. When we arrived the main event was already over. The bride and groom were having photographs taken with their extended family, friends and nobodys. (That was me). Yer kinda stand out in the crowd when there’s only one of you and you don’t know anyone. I did get to talk to a couple about my age. The husband is in the Merchant Navy and has travelled to NZ. He couldn’t speak more highly of our country. Seems the way with the people here who have been to NZ. Sometimes we don’t know what we’ve got until someone tells us.

So, we stayed for a bite to eat and then said our goodbyes to the host. I got home around 4pm. I was hoping that was it for the day, but around 9pm Ashutosh rang to say he was picking me up to go to the movies. He arrived some time after 10pm. We were about 30 minutes late for the start of the movie. Not that it seemed to matter much. I still figured out the story. This one was a family movie. It was a Bollywood movie. It was actually quite good. They had a couple of dance sequences that didn’t seem relevant to the plot but got the audience tapping away and jiggling in their seats. It was quite funny in places. Well, at least the audience thought so. I couldn’t understand a word of what was being said. It is amazing what you can pick up from actions though.

22 Nov 2009

Ah. Another Sunday. Oh the bliss. We went to the movies last night. I saw 2012 again. (Not a lot of choices in English movies) At least I can say that the crowd in this showing were just as animated as the previous showing. The movie started at 10.45pm. I was a little surprised that there were young children there. And the cellphones!!!! At times I was trying to distinguish what were the sound effects and what were the ringtones. Indians have one ear glued to their cellphones permanently. At the party the other night, there was a young man with with a cellphone earpiece attached to his ear throughout. He was also sitting close to the earthshattering speakers for most of the night. Now, that’s what I would describe as being dedicated to the yupee scene. And we had ‘intermission’. Haaaaa. It was great.

So, Sunday. I tried sleeping in but alas, the local population chose to ignore the fact that I had a late night and get up with the birds as usual. Just as well I got up though. Shortly after 9am the cable men turned up to work on the problem with my TV reception. Over the last couple of days, I have had no TV at all. The first I heard, the men arrived and started propping up a ladder to climb up onto the roof. Fortunately I was mostly dressed.

It turned out to be a broken cable in three places. I’m surprised I had any reception at all. I have a lovely clear picture now.

Later in the evening, Ashutosh, Maya and Aramon picked me up to take me to the Lake. It’s a pity it was as late as it was. (It was already dark) I’m sure it would have been interesting to see during daylight. It was nice to go for a walk along the water front. It was cool but very calm. We were there for about an hour and then headed to Pizza Hut. We had fun there playing ‘hide the coin’ with Aramon. (He’s a fun wee boy. Nearly five. Thinks he’s ten. Very smart.)

17 Nov 2009
Well, tonight was quite an experience. I was invited to a Hindu wedding. A friend of Ashutosh’s. Now, let’s see if I get this right. The ‘wedding’ actually starts about two weeks before the main event. There’s various celebrations and parties. The bride and her family and friends have an all girls night. The groom has an all boys night. Then they have the wedding. Then they have the welcome home celebration after the reception.
On the way to the wedding, Ashutosh drove me past the bride’s parent’s house and then the groom’s parent’s house. They both lived in the same street about three houses away from each other. You can easily tell when a house is involved with a wedding. It’s normally lite up like a Christmas tree.
We arrived at the wedding around 10pm. We were just in time to tag along behind the wedding procession. Normally the groom and his family will walk a short distance to the venue. The groom is on horseback and dressed in traditional clothing. Wearing a crown. The horse was dressed up to. There was lots of music. (Eh, well, noise anyway. There was a band at the front of the procession but I think someone forgot the sheet music. )
Once we got to the reception area there were major fireworks. One set was coming out of a box that boasted 10,000 crackers. Apparently they all had to go of before the groom and his party could go to the next stage. And I can assure you, they did. I was right there.
As we were waiting, a member of the family (He seemed to be the person driving this part of the celebration) was throwing money into the crowd. I saw a couple of boys darting in to grab as much as they could. Turns out they were not involved with the wedding. They were just lads hoping to score on some cash. They were quickly chased away by some serious looking dudes with batons.
At the entrance to the venue, a ribbon had been stretched across the gate. The idea is that the brides sisters and girlfriends were at the barrier to negotiate the price of the groom’s admission. It was kinda funny really. They haggled there for a while. Some cheers went up, they haggled some more, then they finally came to an agreement and the ribbon was cut. The groom’s party were allowed into the venue.
Well, the one thing I wasn’t expecting was the number of people there. It seemed like the whole of Chandigarh was there. Well, maybe half of Chandigarh. They had all sorts of food to eat. Drinks of all types. The food was very nice. Probably the nicest I’ve had in India so far. In one corner of the venue was a stage where dancers were performing. That was quite spectacular. I even got to see Punjab rappers. Yep, rappers. Quite funny really. There was an area in front of the stage for people to dance. At the early stages of the night, there were plenty of little children dancing. Later, the floor was full. The loud speakers beside the stage were set to ‘earthquake’ volume. In fact, at one point, when I went over to take some pictures of the dancers, I noticed that my feet seemed to be sticking to the grass. I wondered if I had something on my shoes I might regret. On closer inspection there was nothing here. I could only conclude that the volume of the speakers was such that it was somehow affecting the grass. I would have said static, but I’m not sure that’s possible. (Might have to ask Lucaspedia)
The highlight of the evening for the guests was the bride entering. This was a little different. She was in a cabin and lowered into the waiting area by crane. (That sounds terrible. Makes her sound enormous.) No, she was some twenty feet up in the air and they lowered her slowly down to the waiting groom. Once she came out they both stepped up onto a rotating dais. There they exchanged garlands of flowers. Waited for the photographers to do their thing and proceeded to a throne like area where they were hand fed small snacks. Lots more photos.
The guests were then treated to a meal in the reception hall. Again all kinds of meals buffet style. And, yippee, icecream. I had two helpings. (You realise of course that it was forced upon me. I had to refuse twice before I gave in.)
By time we had finished nibbling it was close to midnight. Most of the guests were filtering away. Ashutosh told me it is not uncommon for these wedding to go to 4am in the morning. No sooner had we climbed into the car to go home and Aramon was asleep. It was quite amazing. He was so energetic up to that point.
18 Nov 2009
Ashutosh had told me to ring him when I wanted the driver to pick me up in the morning. I did but found that my phone wasn’t working. Some problem with the telephone company not authenticating my number. I pondered for a moment as to what to do. Then I remembered that there were some rickshaws in the market close to me. I haven’t tried one of those. So I wandered over and purchased a ride to work on one of the motorised three wheeled rickshaws. It was fun. The driver was older than my grandmother’s granddad but he still seemed sprightly enough. It was really cold. The mornings here are getting quite chilly. I don’t normally notice it as I’m out of the flat and straight into a car. The driver dropped me of on the other side of the square to where Touchstone was but didn’t mind the little walk. Fortunatley I had gone for a walk around the shopping area a few days before and it wasn’t hard to navigate my way there. The whole trip cost me 40 rupees. ($1.10)
I got home late tonight. Ashutosh only had one of his cars so I needed to wait until the driver was available. At least I got to do some drawing whilst I was waiting. I had been working on the computer all day and was getting sore arms. I was so tired when I got home, I just went straight to bed.

15 Nov 2009

Sunday. Ah, a chance to stay in bed. Not really a chance to sleep. To many people moving around going about their day. Still, at least I don’t have to go into work. Watched a spot of tele. ‘Dudley Do-right’ Its an oldy but it was fun. I would have done some modelling on the computer but laptop keyboards are not the best when you are using modelling software and they get to your hands and arms. I was doing quite a bit on Saturday and didn’t realise until today that my arms were really sore. (Bit silly really. Should have paid more attention.) So I watched another movie on tele. ‘Kangaroo Jack’. It was OK. Nothing to write home about. :))

13 Nov 2009

Today I experienced Friday night at the movies, Indian style. At around 10pm Ashutosh picked me up and we headed to a mall that I haven’t been to. It was amazing. It had five floors and was very big. The cinema was on the top floor. We were scanned and searched three times before we actually got into the cinema. Ashutosh’s cousin was manager of the cinema and gave us tickets. The movie was 2012. The movie had just started when we arrived but we hadn’t missed much. Maybe one minute, possibly less. Its quite a different experience going to a movie in India. The crowd are very interactive. They like to clap when the good bits come on laugh where it gets cringe worthy. One area where they laughed was when an Indian spoke in Indian. I asked Ashutosh why. He said the Indian was speaking with an English accent. The audience were quite vocal when the boy and girl nearly kissed, but even more so when they did. It was hilarious just listening to the crowd reaction. Oh, and they had intermission. Yep, intermission. I really needed to go to the bathroom, but when I saw hundreds of strapping lads heading out, I thought, hmmm, standing room only, I’ll wait.

So going to the movies for the first time in India was an extremely funny experience. Movie wasn’t to bad either. (Would be kinda good if the American gave up on script writing though. I’m sure they only have one script. They have plenty of actors, so they swap them around and they swap the FX team around from time to time.)

13 Nov 2009
I've put some pictures in the gallery of the Rock Garden. Don't have a lot of space so there's only a few.

10 Nov 2009

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, bliss. My life is semi normal again. They had marmalade at the corner store. Phew!!!! I feel much better now. Today we went to the Government Art College to talk to the students about the courses we are running. Well, nothing over here is quite the way you imagine it. When the staff said that we would be giving our presentation in an auditorium I imagined something like, say one of the ones at the University or even the one at Burnside High. But, oh no. Try a WW2 air raid shelter that’s only got light in it because some of the windows haven’t got black paint on them. (Worn of with age) Well, that’s what it reminded me of. I didn’t look around to much. I saw one area of the ceiling that looked about ready to collapse. It was about then I said to myself, just look down Colin, just look down.

The occasion was a lot of fun. The students that turned up seemed to enjoy themselves. They had a competition afterwards where they had a chance to win an iPod. They were given a brief for an imaginary up coming TV show. They had to design the animated characters for the show.

This was some event. There were Press cameras and reporters there. (Making quite a bit of noise I might add.) This dear old lady wondered in part the way through Ashutosh’s presentation and parked herself in the front row. Now, in this case I’m really talking old. She’s probably as old as Ghandi and just as handsome. Not sure why she was there, but not long after she arrived, the student’s tutor asked her to leave. He he, never a dull moment.

7 Nov 2009

I went to the Mohali office this afternoon. This is the first office of Touchstone. It’s been there for a while. It was an interesting experience. Meeting new people. It’s reception area and main office is quite fancy. Very professional. I was there a bit longer than I wanted to be. I was actually on my way home but Ashutosh thought I might like to visit. So I went along but as soon as we got there he had guests, so I waited in his office watching Maya give out the pay to her staff. (Gosh, they get real money. In their hands what more. Its kinda surreal.) One girl broke down and cried as soon as she sat down in the office. My first reaction was that I had done something. I wanted to be anywhere but there. But then she came back after a while, having been consoled by her piers. Still not sure what that was about.

8 Nov 2009

Today was a very special day for me. Most of the day I spent relaxing in my Flat. I watched a movie, sort of. It was more, looking up every now and then. I was reading at the same time. Basically not really doing much at all. Then around 4pm Ashutosh Maya and Aramon arrived to take me to the Rock Gardens. Poor Aramon was a bit sleepy. It was normally his time for a nap. However once we arrived he was alert again and ready for some fun.

Now, based on the name of the place, you’d have to wonder what possible interest is there in a ‘Rock’ garden. Well, I have to say I was somewhat surprised at what I saw. Once we had parked the car, Ashutosh bought some tickets. He was puzzled as to why he had three tickets that were black and one that was red. Aramon had the answer. It was because I was wearing a red t-shirt. Don’t you love the logic of a for year old. It’s so, innocent. If I had judged the Gardens by the entrance walls, then I would have been way off. The front walls were made of concrete that had been pored into 44 gallon drums and then the metal cut away. On top of the walls were figurines of bird made from recycled metals.

As we entered through the main gates, there was a completely amazing creation of passageways, avenues and areas that were made of all sorts of things. One wall was made of old electrical plug sockets. Another was made of the ceramic cups used on overhead power poles. There were statutes of all shapes and sizes. Animals and people. Thousands of them. There were waterfalls, streams and ponds. There were tall archways that had a swing on them that could easily fit two people. The whole area is manmade. There were a number of archways that were really low. You had to stoop down to pass through them. The area that was designated Phase three, was quite breathtaking. You could be in that area in the middle of an Indian summer and be quite cool. There was an amazing waterfall cascading about 10 metres. The walls in the area were a similar height.

Whilst Aramon was playing on an inflatable castle we went through the hall of mirrors. That was hilarious. Then Aramon wanted a ride on the camel. Yep, it was a real camel. Ashutosh wanted to know if I wanted a ride. I said no. For me, it reminded me of my sister Jenny. (She had her photo taken on a camel when we were in Israel many years ago. Not that it was a bad thing. I’m sure she enjoyed the occasion. Its just that I didn’t want to think to much about Jenny at that moment.)

I kinda glad that I chose not to take the camel ride. A small group of school children in uniforms walked up to me and asked me where I was from. When I told them New Zealand they were quite excited. They knew where that was. We chatted for a few moments and before long there was a major gaggle of uniformed school children joining in. It was fun to talk to them. Its not something you would expect children in NZ to do. I took their photographs, showed them and then we waved goodbye.

Unfortunately, by this time the light had gone so I couldn’t take any more photographs. I did get quite a lot though. (I’ll put them up on the gallery over the next couple of days.)

We finished the evening by heading over to the Mall for a spot of MacDonalds. Well, one thing you should know about India. They have a one day weekend. This means that if you want to get anywhere, you have to be fairly aware of how to get around. Everyone is out and about on Sunday. So there we were about 300 yards from the mall and the traffic was at a standstill. Nobody was going anywhere. And this was the quick route. We eventually got to the mall by turning around and taking the long way.

I can officially tell you that McDonalds is MacDonalds where ever you are in the world. They’re all just as stingy with their burgers. Their chips are the same and so is their Chocolate sundaies. (Now I’ve given away what I had. He he) But the Cheese burger is really a Vege Burger with lettice. (And cheese) The vege part is a sort of vege pate. (Indian style) Not to strong. Hmmm, not bad.

So in all a wonderful afternoon.

5 Nov 2009
We had a good day today. My student was back. We went for a walk looking for design elements.
When I got home, I had just enough time to go to the shops before dark. As I was crossing the park I saw the sun just above the trees. At first I thought it was the moon. It was blood red!! And the fact that I could look at it. Then I realised that it was the way it was because of the dust and pollution. Regardless, it was an amazing site. I determined to hurry back to get a camera. By the time I was back in the park, (It was a matter of moments) the sun wasn’t quite as vibrant. I still got some pictures though.

4 Nov 2009
I don’t know if any of you remember having your fish and chip wrapped up in unused newspapers. I do. That was back in the days prior to them being wrapped up in newsprint paper with nothing on it. Well, the local shop I was telling you about has a great use for newspapers that haven’t sold. They make paper bags out of them. They are very well made too. I had one the other day that I carried my groceries home with me. Once I’d emptied the bag, I caught up on the news. Apparently MJ (Michael Jackson. That’s what they call him over here) has earned $100 million since his death. Not bad for a dead person. I’m guessing the paper bag article was not very fresh. Not like the contents. Hmmmmm. Fresh bread, sliced by the shop keeper.

3 Nov 2009
So, it turns out that it wasn’t a new holiday. Its quite an old holiday that’s celebrated by the Sikhs. It was a quiet day today. I came home a little earlier as my student didn’t turn up. (He’s Sikh. Still on holiday, I think.) I needed to get some groceries. Fortunately the main shop that I needed was open. It’s quite funny really. At home we often talk about the local grocery shop on the corner being owned by Indians. Well, that’s cause that’s what they do here. So. I went to my local dairy (He He) and got the essentials.
The evening was a lot quieter. Only a few fireworks popping off. I suppose you’ll be having a whole lot of noise over the next couple of days. When you hear the fireworks, imagine that 20 times louder and you’ll get an idea as to how loud it got here. Probably about as loud as Sparks in the Park when you are right next to the stadium.

2 Nov 2009
Today was Punjab Day. Apparently it a new holiday. Started this year. No one seems sure as to why the holiday, but they sure made the most of it. We still carried on working. Nearly all the shops were closed. Ashutosh warned me that there may be some firework later in the evening. Well, that was a bit of an understatement. From around 8.30 through to 11.45pm it was explosion mayhem out there. Even the local wild canines were having a good yap. Wasn’t really much point watching television or sleeping. I wonder if they’ve used up all their fireworks. Here’s hoping.

31 Oct 2009
I had a new student today. What a difference. His father has a design business. He helps out. So he know Photoshop reasonably well. He seems self taught. He is kean. I showed him some 3D work and you could see the sparkle.
Some electricians came to the flat this evening. Ashutosh had asked them to come and have a look at the hot water situation. I tried to explain to them that it wasn’t the fact that there was no hot water but that there was very little of it and no pressure. Alas, I couldn’t make myself understood. So it looks like I will be having bucket baths from now on. I had better get used to it. Otherwise, I might get a bit smelly by time I get home.
1 Nov 2009
Today was a quite day at home. I enjoyed relaxing in front of a challenging piece of 3D software and puzzling over its foibles.
Later in the evening Ashutosh rang and invited me out to a fair. It was the first of its kind in India. The fair reminded me very much of the A and P show with out the livestock. Oh, there were animals there but they were statues. The children really loved them. Ashutosh wanted me to stand by one of the statutes to have my photo taken. I was no sooner in position when a group of lads chose to join in. It was hilarious.
The idea of the fair is to promote the diverse cultures in India, from the items they make to the food they eat. I think it may have been the first night. The way Ashutosh understands it, the fair will run for about 30 days. One day for each of the different cultures. We didn’t stay long. Maybe about an hour.
We met his close friend and his family there. It turns out that they had come on his push-through motorbike. It is amusing hoe the Indians manage to get a whole family on one motorbike. A bit worrying too. His oldest son maybe about three and his youngest maybe only one. Later, driving home, I saw two men and a woman on the same motorbike. I wouldn’t have wanted to be the woman. She was hanging on the back, side saddle.

30 October 2009

Well Squishy came back last night. He was up to something be hind the fridge for a while. Not sure what it was. I didn’t want to ask. I figured that some things are best kept private. A bit later he scurried off behind the cupboard.
I met the landlady tonight. What a lovely person. She came over to say hello and see if I needed anything. We talked for a while. She has a very clear English accent. She has only just had the house built but she moves around a lot because of her job. She’s only just come back from Delhi.

29 October 2009

No students today. I’m not sure what happened to the one that was going to start today. It wasn’t a total lose though. I spent the day brushing up on Blender.

I had a visitor last night. It was about 15cm long and liked to scurry. I think I’ll call him Squishy. It was a lizard. I first saw him whilst I was watching a movie. He was zipping around the floor catching a fly for dinner. Having organised his meal he ducked under the TV table to tuck in. A little later I saw him defying gravity, running along the wall at ceiling height heading for the kitchen. I think he must have exited through the kitchen extractor fan. When I went into the kitchen he was gone.

It was nice to have known him for a moment.

27 Oct 2009

Today was a bit of an odd one. My student didn’t turn up. The staff gave him a call and he arrived around 10am. I asked him if he had started the assignment I had set him and he told me he went and played soccer instead. I wasn’t too impressed but thought we could redeem the situation by sending him out to do the task. It turns out after a bit of discussion wth myself and Ashutosh that he didn’t want to do the assignment. He said that it was too hard for him. So, I think that is that. He is quiting the course. Well, at least, I think he is. I thought that two days ago and he turned up again the next day.

One consolation is that there may be another student starting tomorrow and another on Monday. We’ll see what happens this time.

26 Oct 2009
So today is Monday. (I think) And you are having a holiday. I guess I can’t complain really, I just had Diwali. Those of you that enjoy planting the veges today, watch out for the frosts. They caught me out lat year.
Diwali celebrations are similar to our guy fawkes in a way. The crackers go on for days afterwards. I was enjoying a quiet day off yesterday reading my daughter’s book when someone let of some fireworks in the park. As I mentioned before, when the Indians let of fireworks, it sounds like the invasion of the Teleban or something. Combine this with the fact that I now live in an area with a high concentration of high court judges complete with security guards and you can probably appreciate that I didn’t go out and investigate. My solace was in the fact that there were no police sirens after the expolsions.
I figured out something whilst I was waiting for the driver this morning. For the last three or four nights I have been hearing what I thought was a cricket chirping away outside the flat. Well now, I think I may have got it all wrong. There was a squirrel ambling along in fence that surrounds the park and each time the same cricket sound chirped the squirrel’s tail bobbed up and down. Coincidence? I think not. The squirrel obviously has a squeaky tail. You see, that’s deductive reasoning for you. Of course, it could be that the squirrel thinks it’s a cricket, in which case he’s probably going to get a surprise when his prospective mate comes along.
I figured out something else whilst I was waiting. (The driver took a while to arrive.) It doesn’t seem to matter which country or culture you are in, a laugh is a laugh and a cry is a cry. The universal language. I have it on good authority that the ‘Lucas-pedia’ has all the hot gen on the issue. You should ask him. Wait until lunchtime though. You’ll get a fuller answer.

23 Oct 2009
My class of one and I went for a walk today. We were looking for Shapes that resembled letters. Whilst we were out we saw a number of suitable candidates. We also saw a tree growing on the side of a building and a squirrel. The tree was probably around 3 metres tall and its roots were clinging to the bricks. It was about 6 metres up from the ground, but not quite at the top of the building. There are trees here in India that grow really quickly. Some English settlements that were abandoned at the turn of the last century (1900s) now look like ancient ruins. This building has been here less than sixty years. Possibly less than that.
The squirrel was quite happily minding its own business, zipping here and there. We were right in the middle of the square.
The drive back to my new apartment takes me along a motorway that points directly towards the Himalayas. Its just like you would be pointing West to drive to the Ranges. It seems just as close. I could be wrong. They are quite a lot bigger than our ranges. Still, I didin’t think I was that close.

22 Oct 2009
It would seem that the previous tenant was Korean. He seemed to have left in a hurry. Quite a few of his belongings are still here. Mainly books, including a rather expensive leather bound bible. My guess would be that he worked for Hyundai and that he was here on some kind of sales tour. Ooooooh. Intrique. And what about those entries in the diary. About whether he could love an older woman, or that someone got beaten up. I sense a novel coming up. ‘The case of the missing asian in India’. (He was probably practicing his English.) He he.
The market is close by. I just have to walk across the park. Ashutosh has instructed me to not go after dark. He’s keen to make sure I stay alive. In that I’m not sure whether its him being cautious or that’s the way of things here, I think I’ll plan my trips to the shops during the day.

21 Oct 2009
Today was a very interesting day. We spent the morning working in the Lab as usual. Around 11.30, Ashutosh rang me to ask if I could come and look at a flat he had arranged for me. (My time at the hotel had run out) The driver took me through some really nice areas of town arriving at this really fancy house that was empty. Ashutosh was there with two other men. He took me up behind the house two an apartment. It is a one bedroom apartment with on suite and kitchen. It’s quite nice. Certainly better then the hotel. More light and space. The hotel felt a bit more like a prison cell. I told Ashutosh that I liked it and he started the negotiations with the landlords.
We then headed over to the hotel and retrieved my bags and said my goodbyes.
Before heading back to the College we had lunch at a restaurant called BJ’s (I think). The food there was really nice. I think Sue may have been there with Ashutosh. Whilst we were there a gaggle of ladies were having their weekly bingo tournament. Apparently the custom used to be (According to Ashutosh) that ladies used to gather at each others house to gossip. That developed into going to restaurants and paying them to provide the catering and atmosphere.
Once the day had finished, Ashutosh took me to the apartment. Problem was the lady who lives there as the housekeeper wasn’t at home. It turns out she was away at the market getting vegetables. So we waited. Then we waited some more. Then we went and waited with a coffee in our hands. We finally went back to the flat and waited some more. About 10pm the lady and her daughter arrived. Phew!!
Finally climbed into bed around 10.30pm. It’s amazing what you hear when you are new to a place. The lady downstairs talking to her family, the cricket outside, (Now I could be wrong here. It could have been a squeaky fan or something. It squawked its way through the night.) the people next door.

19 Oct 2009
Today was a bit of a hard day. I wasn’t picked up until nearly 10am. My student was already waiting to start. One of the co-ordinators wanted to make sure the room was clear, so I said I would just go check my emails in the meantime. She didn’t come back and tell me she had cleared the room. A short time later she came in to remind me that the student was waiting.
So I trotted of down to the lab with my one student and proceeded to start the class. The lab had some budding animators already in there. An army of ants. Every time I looked at the mouse to start my demo I was confronted with an ant or two, or three. So I took my student out for a wee walk and asked reception to see if their cleaning lads could do a purge. Unfortunately I can’t speak Ant, otherwise I may have invited them to join in.
As we were walking around outside I noticed that my army of ants were the small variety. There were some whoppers milling around. Just one of these ones could have eaten my whole army and still been hungry. When we returned, they were all gone. (Must have finished their lesson.)
Over here you have to really slow down when you are speaking. At one point my student said that you can speak normally if you like. So I did. He soon changed his mind. Later in the day, I met one of the staff. She wanted to use the office to make a phone call. I was speaking slowly as usual, until I realised that her English was very good. It turned out that she had lived in England for a while and nearly every school she had been to, she had been taught by New Zealanders.
20 Oct 2009
I had Maya in the class today. That’s Ashutosh’s wife. She will be coming as often as she can so that she can take over when I go home. I guess we will have to see how that goes. She seems as busy as Ashutosh. I arrived earlier today. 8.30 am. So I had a few moments to catch up on emails and settle in for the day.
I’m not sure how much we can get through in any given day. The language barrier is not too bad but the comprehension of the use of the language can be challenging. Design terms and computer technology terms. They all use words that say another thing in normal English. Still, Maya seemed to pick things up fairly quickly.

16 Oct 2009
Today was a holiday. It seems that there are various forms of Diwali. Most of India seem to celebrate Diwali on the same date but there are regional and religious differences associated with the days around the day.
I was in my room most of the day. It was nice to have some quiet time. It was also nice that later in the evening, Ashutosh and his family, along with the friends, took me to a fair ground. He said that this was the only time of the year that the fair was in town, so rather than go to the Rock gardens, this was a better option. It was a lovely evening. My legs were starting to tighten up with all the inactivity. (I didn’t realise how sore I was until I started walking around. The main spectacle was the motorbike ring. It certainly drew the crowds. It was this giant circular wall where the bikes would zoom around and do stunts. It took a while for our turn to come up to go up into the stands to watch. Ashutosh’s son Aramon would have preferred to go for a ride on the dragon train but he was really good about it. Then, once we were up there, it took about 20 minutes or so before the show started. I think they wanted maximum spectators. All this time the music was playing through the speakers at ear splitting levels. You could tell it was uncomfortable for the children. But, the moment came and the bikes started whizzing around the bowl. Some of the spectators would hold out some money for the riders to grab on the way past. Once the riders had finished their performance, the cars revved up and started whizzing around the track. Yep, cars. Four of them. The drivers got up to speed and then climbed partially out of the cars through the windows. They’re nuts, I tell you. Stark raving bonkers.
Once the show was over we headed over to the dragon train. By this stage Aramon and his young friend were not that interested. They chose instead to go for a ride on a jeep-go-round. There was this little girl on the ride just prior to Aramon who was absolutely ecstatic. She was beaming. (I think her parents will have to watch when she grows up.) The boys weren’t quite as animated but they did enjoy the ride. I had a go at shooting small balloons with an air-rifle. That was the most ridiculous thing I’ve done in a while. Be a marksman in the Airforce in my far distant past, you get to know how to point a rifle at your target and shoot. Well I think the rifle I was using this time had a bent barrel or something. It didn’t seem to matter how hard I tried to hit something, that balloon survived. (I was only three feet away. I could have poked it with the end of the barrel and hit it better.) I think if the barrel had been just a little more bent, the caretakers of the stall may have had a few wounds.
We didn’t stay long after the boys had finished their car ride. We headed home via an ice cream shop. This was about 9pm. Ashutosh dropped me off back at the hotel and headed home. The evening was still young for them.
It turns out that Ashutosh and his friend enjoy going to the movies. So I may be going along as well. Ashutosh told his friend that I wouldn’t like Indian movies but, I dunno. It could be interesting. There’s one coming up that’s called London Dream that could be worth taking a look.
17 Oct 2009
Well, if you think it can get fairly load on November 5th, you should try Diwali. The explosions are rocking the hotel room. If I didn’t know it was the festival season, I would think we were being invaded by the Teliban or something. I was thinking that I might go downstairs for tea. Now I think I might skip tea. I’ve got my Jaffas. (Thanks Neil.) That should keep me going until morning.
Well, the Indians love to celebrate. I’m not sure what time of the morning the fireworks stopped. It was well after midnight. The ones closet to me (Outside my room, in the garden, on the balcony in the next room, in the car park, on the landing) finished a little earlier. Thereafter I could hear the rumbling way of into the distance. It was a little like a good thunderstorm without the rain, or a clam day in Baghdad.
18 Oct 2009
Thought it might be safe to go down to dinner tonight. It was a lot better. Still sounded like world war three out there, but at least in wasn’t on the hotel grounds. I was glad that I did go to dinner. The meal was quite nice. Plus, they had icecream to finish. They are my best pals now.
Whilst I was having dinner the TV was on. It was playing one of the Music channels. It was actually quite interesting to watch. What amused me most though was they were playing an Indian version of rap. Would you credit it.

15 Oct 2009
A bit frustrating today. Late yesterday, the internet started getting really flakey. It kept dropping out. Today its worse. I get part way through replying to an email and the connection drops again. I’ve lost count how many times I started replying to Dave. So, we’ll see what happens. It may take a while for the next instalment.
He he. I was just imagining how I would go if I was on safari. No internet when you’re out chasing lions. ‘Hold still hippo, I need to strap an aerial to your behind. No, not in the water!!!’
‘Hey, what about a giraffe. They have a long neck. Maybe I’ll get a better reception. Come here Mr. giraffe. Hey, where you running to!!’
‘Bloody baboons. They ate my mouse!! What a technological life we live.
I went out on the town this lunchtime. A young man from work chaperoned me. He’s quite excited about the up coming holidays. There’s some big sales on. Mostly clothes. I saw a gentleman trying on a suit jacket which had ‘Punk Chic’ written in big letters on the back.
Sector 17, the central business district, is a bit like Christchurch central. Lots of open space, tiled, with fountains. One of which lights up with different colours at night. Lots of activity. There were people selling belts, others selling wallets, others selling coloured string about a metre in length. There was an elderly lady selling roasted nuts. She was using the nuts to roast the nuts in a pot. Its quite warm out today. Not nasty. Just warm. Similar to home during summer I guess.
This holiday starting tomorrow is celebrated by most Indians. Its called Diwali. Also known as the ‘festival of lights’. Its celebrating victory over ones own evil. Not a bad festival. Maybe the rest of the world should take it up and mean it. Might finally put things into perspective. (Oh, that was heavy. OK, stopping now)
So, I’m probably not going to be near the internet over the next three days. (I’m on Safari. He he) Catch yer in four days.

14 Oct 2009
I had a really solid sleep. Woke up once but not for long.
Its amazing what the lads can put on their three wheeled bicycles. Today I saw a man and his step through motorbike on the passenger tray of a tricycle.
We went to one of the first malls in Asia today. Ashutosh wanted to show me where one of his advertisements was showing. I also needed to go for a bit of a walk. I have been sitting down for the last two days. I had a yoghurt icecream at the mall. It would seem that it’s a fairly new thing here. It was really nice. It had real fruit sprinkled on it.
After the mall visit we did a most curious thing. Ashutosh took me to a local river. (You get the impression that the river can flood in the right season). Now you may be wondering what’s so odd about going to a local river? Well, I’m not really sure what it was all about. Ashutosh said that he wanted to go and feed the fish. On the way, he had popped into a shop and come out with a bag full of saffron coloured something or other. Maybe bread crumbs? So when we got to the bridge we stopped on the side and walked down to the river’s flow. When we got there Ashutosh emptied the bag into the river and we walked back.
I get the impression that there was more to this than feeding fish, but Ashutosh wasn’t inclined to discuss it and I have no desire to interfere. What I did notice was that there were people on the bridge throwing things into the river. Looked like rubbish to me. But, when I think about the whole incidence and the fact that there is this amazing temple in the far distance, but still close to the river, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some religious significance to the river.
The computers are nearly ready. We just have one more piece of software to install and that’s it. The computer lab is quite small. I hope we don’t have any beefy Indian lads on the course. They may have trouble getting down the stairs and into the room. Its going to get really close if we get ten students. I hope they like each other.
The offices are around four floors up in the central area of the city. To get there you can either take the lift or the stairs. If you take a lift, there is enough room for maybe two and the bell boy. The notion of a bell boy is rather gorgeous. I hope the poor lad doesn’t have to big an imagination, he’d go stark raving bonkers sitting in that lift all day. The students aren’t allowed to use the lift. So he doesn’t get the pleasure of their company. Still. One thing I have learnt over here is that unless you have a job, you don’t have a living. (No welfare) Thus you are on the street, or your family is extremely wealthy. So any job is better than no job at all. I counted six waiters in the dining room this morning. There was only one guest for a time. Me. Then about 6 or 7 other guests came in. I read in the newspaper that the government are considering changing the ‘poor’ level. This is an amount earned per month, a bit like our minimum wage, except there is no guarantee of a minimum wage here. The new ‘poor’ level is considered to be 2000 Rupies a month for rural and 2500 Rupies for town folk. Now you do the maths and say that one NZD is equal to 3.4 Rupies, you’ll get a bit of an idea what the poor level is. Since I have a currency calculator I’ll save you the bother. It about $73 a month.

13 Oct 2009
I slept reasonably well last night. Woke about 2am and again at 5am. Hopefully of to the office today. Ashutosh informed me that Thursday and Friday are an Indian Holiday called Ramali. So there will be only one day of the course before the students break for a long weekend.
I met one of the students today. Nice lad. Really good at drawing. A bit unsure of himself. We’ll se how he goes. Probably needs someone to believe in him.
Ashutosh is a very gracious person. He has made me feel very welcome. He showed me around his offices and classrooms. He is an extremely busy person. We he picked me up at around 9.30, he had already been to another of his offices somewhere else. He often starts work around 5am. In his office he has two phones and he carries two cellphones. Its not unusual for him to be talking on any two at one time.
The rooms we will be using are being painted. Ashutosh thinks they will be ready by the morning. The computer technician was in last night putting in the machines and cabling. In the CP room, the students will have a glass top table each with a light underneath it. Ashutosh spent some time thinking this over. The individual tables are quite small. A little bigger than what we would expect in Primary school. But he also has some longer versions. The computer room is a row of benches around the wall.
I got home around 7pm and crashed. Boy was I tired.

10 Oct 09
So, here I am on Saturday morning waiting in the departure lounge for the boarding call. I arrived at about 9am with the thought that I could beat the maddening hordes. For once I got it right. There were a handful of the really keen and, ha, me. I whizzed through check in and spent the next half hour or so with Fiona and Beaulah. In that time we sat and watched as the airport started filling up. People everywhere.
I think the luggage that people have can be most entertaining. As people were passing us we could see all shapes and sizes of luggage. Extremely long and narrow. Fiona imagined someone’s granny being in that one. Then there was this tiny little suitcase attached to a handle pretending that it was grown up. Some fella in a business suit was towing that one behind him. Then there was the multi-coloured one that looked like ‘Flower Power’ was back. There were the suitcases that looked like they could easily drive themselves. Some on two wheels, others on four. Then there were the, ‘lets all look the same cause we are part of a tourist group’ variety. The most spectacular one was the suitcase that had pictures of various places around the world on the outside of it. You certainly got the impression that this person had travelled a lot. That is until you realised the suitcase was scratch and dent free. Then there was a fella that looked as though his every possession was on the trolley he was pushing. A young girl about four years old was towing a teddy bear behind her. And of course the compulsory Thomas the Tank Engine.
Can you imagine getting a window seat where there is no window? Yes? No? Well, I couldn’t, … until today. Now, as you can probably guess, it takes quite a while to get to Singapore. (It’s about 10 hours and what seems like another hour to taxi to the terminal) What can you do when you are in a window seat with no window and a full plane. Ah, I know, lets watch movies.
At least the two ladies sitting next to me were gracious. They let me scramble past when I needed to, and when you are starting to move along in age like me (A fella to boot) you’ll need to scramble more than others. The two ladies were Krishna in religious persuasion. Not sure whether that would make them Nuns? They were heading to India. I saw them again later on the flight to Delhi. It’s kinda odd to see one of the girls typing away on her MacBook. About as odd as a Buddist monk busily walking down the street with a cellphone attached to his ear.
We had about an hour once we landed to get to the next gate. Which is just as well. Another NZ lady and I were heading off in the wrong direction. We would have landed up at gate 54 realising that gate 60 just happens to be on the other pier. But, the staff at the airport were very helpful, and off we trekked. I must admit, I needed the walk.
So, another five hours in a plane. At least it was an Isle seat this time. It also seemed a little more spacious. Could be wrong. Around about now, it’s way past my bed time. But planes are not the most comfortable place the sleep. Ah, there’s always another movie. I was sitting next to a young Indian lad who was going home for his sister’s wedding. At the start of the flight, he asked if I would swap places with his uncle. When he told me his uncle was in a middle seat, I had to politely refuse. He was really good about it. It was about 10 pm local time when we arrived, (5am NZ time). Just prior to landing the cabin crew got out their spray cans and dosed the whole cabin. I felt like curling up and twitching my legs. The Indian government are very worried about the swine flu.
11 Oct 2009
My room is very comfortable. I packed my own pillow. Hotels always have fat pillows and very rarely have skinny substitutes. I slept for a while until the natural alarm clock went off. ‘Time to get up now!!!!!’ What. Nar. Can’t be. Its still dark outside. Silly alarm clock. I swear it went off at least four times during the night.
Finally surfaced around 9am. Feeling a little jaded.
There’s nothing quite like taking a trip out into the Delhi day. I thought I might stick to tradition and be the ‘mad Englishman going out in the midday sun’. A bit of a tour around some of the famous place and all that. Problem is, everyone else thought they might do the same. I guess its because its Sunday.
You know how some people say you only put your hand in the fire once before you learn. Well, I must be a bit thick. Last time I was here the driver took me to a whole lot of carpet shops. I thought that was a bit eccentric. This time, after telling the person arranging my trip to explain to the driver that I wanted to go to a funny t-shirt shop, I landed up visiting a whole lot of craft shops. Not that I’m complaining you understand. The craftsmanship of some of the items was quite something. I saw carvings of elephants inside elephants inside hollowed out latticework balls. All in stone. (Must have taken them weeks). Coasters made of marble with intricate coloured artwork engraved into them. Fancy jewellery. Fortunately I didn’t need any of that, plus I have to watch my weight. (Baggage, that is).
Out in the yard was a mini Taj Mahal (about 2 foot tall).













We managed to visit a place called Isa Khan tomb. Its quite old. It’s a large area surrounded by a stone and mortar wall. Not sure how good the mortar was but there are lots of areas where the wall is crumbling. My driver seemed to think it was about 400 years old. Further down a long pathway is a mosque. Similar in looks to the Taj Mahal. Quite grand.
And that was it really. Because of the traffic, we didn’t get to see very much at all. There was one other place that we went to. It was some kind of tall tower thingy. But we didn’t get in. It was closed for renovation. All part of preparing for the Commonwealth games next year. And, yep, you guessed it, no funny t-shirt shops.

12 Oct 2009
Today started somewhere in the early hours of the morning. I had set the alarm for 6am. But there’s still that good old faithful natural one. Persistent little blighter.
The domestic airport at Delhi is quite something. You arrive of the motorway to a barrage of soldiers in what seems like an average of of building. Once you’ve ‘politely’ worked your way past the non-smiling fellas with guns, you enter into an airport similar but grander than the one a Wellington. As you look out over the runway you see planes of all sizes as far as the eye can see. (That’s actually not that far this morning. There’s a haze in the air on a par with the recent Sydney dust storm)
My boarding call came close to schedule and I headed down to Gate 13. There to meet us was a bus. It’s sole purpose in life is to ferry us to the plane. Sterling job it did too. For all of thirty yards. (That’s how far the plane was from the terminal) The plane wasn’t very big. My biggest worry was that someone forgot to feed it’s wings. They were thin scrawny things!!! They couldn’t possibly hold up the plane. I had visions of the two propeller engines taking of without us!!
Ah. But no. Those engines followed us all the way to Chandigarh. I was a little curious during the flight as to whether the pilot knew where he was going. It seemed that he made a number of course corrections along the way. We were only in the air for about 45 minutes. I was tossing up whether he was thinking ‘let’s see what this baby can do’, or ‘let’s play tip the cabin crew over’. In the end I considered the possibility that he was avoiding military airspace.
The got a window seat (which probably wouldn’t have mattered on this plane. There are no middle rows) The view was really interesting. Flat land stretching to the horizon. Pockets of towns and villages. Mostly cultivated countryside. I pondered how all this land gets its water. We only passed a few small rivers here and there. But, then this is monsoon country I suppose.
Chandigarh airport is a small, rather quaint place similar to Palmerston North. Its biggest contingent of planes were all military. In talking to Ashutosh (The person I had come all this way to work with), he told me that the airport was being upgraded to an international status. Looking over to the side of the existing terminal I could see a fancy looking shell, which I guessed, was the beginning of the make over.
I met Ashutosh at the airport. We were soon on our way into the city. We chatted a little on the way in. Discussed some of the plans for the course. He dropped me off at a hotel and suggested I rest until the morning. I was grateful. I was quite tired. My room is quite big. It’s a twin. It’s fairly basic. A few light bulbs missing. A cupboard door with no handle. An air conditioning unit that only works on full. He he. Never a dull moment.