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.