Blog, blog, blog...

the BEST shoes ever...Goldstar - made in Nepal - word...

now i will run faster, move quicker, be able to dodge - no, i no longer need to dodge the cow poop, now i can run through it - with goldstar, anything is possible...possibly the finest export from Nepal..since Mt. Everest! Haha! the camo-goldstar - if i ever decide to join the army, these are what i want on my feet...

so what is the good word - life is chill in Ujjain - so yesterday i went to get cloth, now i am about to have 6 shirts made - one pair of pants - and two night suits - hehe! loving it!

went by the office today - it was awesome - met with three training groups: beauty parlor, engine repair and refrigerator & AC repair - it was awesome. i was able to talk to all the participants that are being trained, learn more about them and why they are doing this. Most of them have completed some form of education - the lowest was 9th grade - some dropped out of school, so they could start working - each has a story. all of them after will be working, starting a business, working for someone - but somehow will put their new skill in place. One man, came from Rajasthan - he has is own school - he is taking 4 trainings and is going to go back and train the trainers of these programs. Amazing stuff - passing on the knowledge so others can learn and prosper...gotta love it!

so yeah - i forgot to add pigs and peacocks to the list of animals that i dodge when i run in the morning! haha!

life out here is simple - but people work hard - the work ethic is what gets people forward, what ever job they do, they do it the best they can - even if it is making a Samosa. But as things are evolving, so are things here in Ujjain - some things stay the same - like bicycles and motorbikes out number cars, and those are outnumbered by people walking and the people walking are ALMOST outnumbered by the cows and other animals that wander the streets - it is crazy - people make left turns from the right lane, no one heeds traffic signals - the streets are so disorganized - yet the traffic flows...people keep moving and things get done - some how, they get to where they are going and do the work they need to get done...such chaos would not exist in the states and if it did, people would not know what to do with themselves...

so one thing i forgot to mention about the domestic flight - which i found to be scary and amusing at the same time - in planes in the states, there is enough room for two people to get out of the emergency exit - here in india, they have decided to add an extra row...so the only space to get out of the exit row is the seat next to the window - otherwise, good luck getting people out of the plane! yeah scary and amuzing, amusing, because they see the space as extra seating room not as why people should escape quickly...value of 4 extra seats is worth possible not being able to get everyone out of the plane...that is scary! no need to think about this, i have three more domestic flights to get on before i get out of here...

india is an amazing country, here you can get cell phone service everywhere , even in the small towns and villages, but you might not be able to get to those villages by a car - it is like they put the cart in front of the horse, yet figured out how to move the cart, while making it modern! haha! this blows my mind - they have an IT and Cell infrastucture in place, but not proper roads and access to all the villages and people in the rural area's...blows my mind.

till next time...

posted by ravi @ 8:15 AM