August 26, 2016
A couple of days ago I asked Rahul to take me to a shop
Kamla had told me about that sells garden tools. I wanted to find a digging
tool since Sankar had said he wanted to plant a lime tree in the yard. Rahul
went to Sankar to better understand his needs and as Sankar was describing this
he said ‘I should be the one to go since I will be using this tool’. So the
three of us took off and Sankar said he knew a place nearby. We drove to the
village and on a corner in an empty lot
was a man on the ground hammering an iron rod to flatten one end. He had some
kind of forge. There Sankar picked out two digging tools that cost 200 rupees
($3.). Not what I had in mind but it was what he wanted. We proceed to look for
a lime tree at a nearby nursery. We found a place that had two varieties and
after a lot of talk with the assistant we left. I was told he wanted too much
money, 750 rupees (about $11). These trees were big enough to already have
fruit on the branches which was my request. I didn’t want to buy a tree that
would bear fruit in a few years! Two nurseries after this and we found what
Sankar wanted for 500 rupees. While we were searching for the elusive tree we
passed a place with a bunch of saris hug on a high line waving in the breeze. I
asked what it was and Rahul said it was a Hindu sari temple. There was a small
hovel on the property so don’t be thinking I am talking about an elaborate
temple. He said that a man will bring a wife’s sari to the temple and pray. The
sari is like a sacrifice or token to aid in getting your prayers answered.
After a time the sari is taken off the line and sold in bulk as evidenced by a
cart loaded with huge cloth bags of used saris.
Yesterday I had lunch with Kamaldeep who is a designer. I
think I have written about her before. She has a degree in design and started
out designing items for rural villagers to make for the state crafts emporium.
Her designs were well received and others asked her to work for them. Ultimately
she went out on her own and had eight women working for her. Now she has 600. I
have bought many of her scarves which are silk and done in a traditional
technique call bandhani which is where the term bandana comes from. She said
she had never seen one so I brought her one of Ron’s from home. Along with two
refrig magnets which she collects and had asked for.
I had suggested some restaurants and she chose Zucchini
where Ron and I have eaten several times. Today they were featuring a ‘healthy
menu’ which we decided to try. What a mistake. I ordered mushroom risotto which
wasn’t risotto at all but dry rice with an occasional tiny piece of mushroom.
Her pizza had some flavor but no cheese and the topping was an occasional basil
leaf and morsel of broccoli. I apologized and told her it really was a good
restaurant but today was not an example of that. Kamaldeep has traveled all
over the world to attend textile conferences. Soon she leaves for Mexico that
will include a tour of the Oaxaca region. I am green with envy as the crafts
from there are spectacular.
Today is a national holiday for Lord Krishna’s birthday. We
left the house at 8:15 to drive to Navsari in the southern part of Gujarat. It
rained the entire way which made me sleepy. In Ahmedabad people use the horn a
lot, a whole lot. So driving for 5.5 hours
I got really tired of hearing Rahul use the horn. Any time he passed a
car or truck beep beep or worse beep beep beep. Oy!
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| Raju |
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| Sangita |
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| Vidhi |
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| Piyush |
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| Aastsa |
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| Anamika |
We drove for two solid hours over a variety of roads in various states of repair making for a real adventure. We ended up at our destination, the Gira Waterfalls, near Saputara which is a hill station of Gujarat. There was a traffic jam into the road leading to the falls that ended up being gridlock due to bad behavior from impatient drivers. After trying for a full five minutes to turn left into the entrance Raju gave up and went past the entrance, made a U turn and proceeded to the entrance. It had rained earlier so it was quite muddy. This waterfall was a large rock outcropping with red muddy water flowing over it. We walked down near the falls and it felt great to be close enough to hear the roar of the water and to feel refreshed by the falling water. There were many roasted corn vendors but no receptacles for disposal so we stepped over half eaten corn cobs and litter in this beautiful setting.
We got in the car and drove a short distance to take in
a different view of the falls before heading back.
We got home late and
Sangita prepared a light late supper for all of us. Because this is a fasting
day not everyone ate. We had homemade tomato soup, maize chapatti, potato
pancake with a crust and fried (big yum), a dish called hodge podge which is
traditional today, a spicy cilantro sauce for the potato pancakes and hodge
podge which tastes like corn grits but is made from rice, a potato dish that is
best compared to potato salad without the mayonnaise and instead spicy flavorings
and served warm. Sangitha loves to cook and it is evident from the meals she
prepares and lovingly serves. We headed off the bed around 11:00 after a long
day.
August 27
Today we slept in. Many Indians start their day later than
we do. We were told last night not to expect to see anyone up at 6:00 if we
decided to get up and take a walk. As it was we didn’t wake until 7:30.
Sangeeta served us breakfast after she got up around 8:30 or 9:00. We had some
leftover chapatti, potato chips, peanut better on bread, poha which is a starch
I think that was made with chilies, turmeric, fried onions. Earlier we were
served instant coffee. Indians, like Sri Lankans drink milk tea with lots of
sugar.
After breakfast we visited before Raju left for work. I read until I got sleepy and then took a
short nap. Ron had a meeting at the City to promote his program and got invited
to send a proposal. Later in the day he found out the person who is supposed to
do translation at the class Ron is teaching on Tuesday may quit her job! OY!
I visited with Sangita when I woke up and then we waited
for Raju to get home for lunch. He arrived just before 2:00 and we sat down to
another fine meal prepared by Sangita. We had chapatti, sautéed
vegetables(cauliflower and potatoes with spices), dhal with fresh spinach which
was fantastic, fresh sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and purple onions, and rice.
Friday afternoon we rested and read. Then had "tea" at 6:00 when Raju came home from work. Afterwards we got into the car with Raju and Sangitha and visited a silk and crafts fair that turned out to be a lot of low quality items. From here we walked over to the City's raw water reservoir that has been turned into a lovely park with a peninsula that juts into the "lake" and has bench swings and soft lighting in a garden like setting for citizens to enjoy. A constant breeze was felt coming off the lake. From here we walked to a Hindu Temple where we prayed for what ever we wish, but if you don't wish for anything then God will know what you need. You walk to various niches where idols of various gods are displayed. We only recognized Hanuman, the Monkey God. As we left we were given a gift of two coconut halves. Raju said that if you were given a gift, your wish would come true.
From here we went to a City Park that was going to be renovated. It is a small park with a playground and area for yoga along with grassy areas and paved pathways. Raju says that over 500 people use the park on the week-ends.
We ended the day with another of Sangita's fabulous meals... this time a treat called Pani Puri which is a crispy hollow ball of rice flower fried that you break a hole into the ball and then fill it with a potato and mung bean mixture along with raw onions and a crispy sprinkle. Then you spoon into the opening a watery sauce made of mint, cilantro, lemon juice and water. YUM YUM! There was also another sweet chutney that you could also add. It was delicious and fun to eat.
We finished the evening visiting with the family sharing stories and photos. They were curious about where we lived so we shared photos of the house in Vancouver, our condo and the bungalow in Ahmedabad. We shared stories of the delay in getting workmen to come make repairs at our bungalow. They laughed as they have the same situation, but accept it as just the way things are in India. Ron thought that the difference is one of customer service. We are used to businesses and workmen to try to meet the interests of the customer. Here systems and procedures and ways of doing things are done for the convenience of the doer not the receiver. Piyush left about 11:00 PM to get ice cream for those who wanted it. We trotted off to bed past mid-night.
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