18-20  Jan 2005 

THE CEE Conference on Sustainable Development begins
The van picked us up at the hotel at 8:30 and carried us to the CEE location.  This is a permanent site chartered under the Indian Government to teach environmental and to serve as the financial officer for any grants received.  CEE sites are located around the country and each serves a region.
The Conference that I am attending is a UN sponsored meeting supporting the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Education (2005-2014).  People from all over the World came.  Most were from India but many traveled from Africa, Europe, SA, and Asia.  As you can imagine, most were Indian but there were many Asians.  Some 700 people attended from 70 or so countries.
 I presented this morning in a group designated as ITC or Information and Communication Technologies.  All of the participants are struggling to obtain technology for their people in villages, some without electricity.  I came with stories of GPS, GIS, Palm Pilots, and web development.  They told of success with radio and dreamed of ways to use computers.  Here I was the loudest, handsomest, and only American in my group.  I was obvious, and then I presented on my opulent programs to the people who magnificently struggle to overcome technological and cultural difficulties that we would not dream of undertaking.

At noon and 8 PM, each day, we gathered in the courtyard for an Indian meal.  Each meal would feature the food of a different area of India.  I did not know many of the choices. I Will learn and have written down a few of the meals presented.
I hope that I have spelled these properly.  The spell check is not working.
 
SOUTH INDIA
Rasquella
Idle
Medu Wada
Sambhar
Rasam
Curd Rice
Cut Chatni
Mint Dosa
Mini Utappam
Pan Masula

RAJASTAHANI
Moon Dal
Haleva
Churma
Mirchhhhiwada
Jodhpuri Aloo
Ker Sangare
Banana Raita
Khichaya Papard
Bhaat
Baati
Rajasthani Dal
Bakri
 
Each evening of the Conference, we would gather for a cultural event.  One night was dancing and another was a play based on Gandhi.  Also displays on cultural materials from the Gujarat state.  Most were from an area called Kutch and they have developed into an efficient producer of handicrafts.  These people from Kutch were also affected by a huge earthquake in 2000 that left many villages destroyed.  The making of the crafts and the emphasis here was an attempt to help the people. Of course,  I must take some of these things back and I must help the economy.  Two rugs, a wall hanging, and a hand-painted scarf are being shipped soon along with other rare and needed crafts of India.  I am such a sucker. 
During the second morning, I was assigned to monitor a session on Gender issues.  All I had to do was to introduce the speakers and keep them on schedule.  We had four speakers in an hour time and then had time for questions.  The gender issues sessions are always very lively with attention being given to the problems of women in developing countries.  We in the US are very lucky, even though we have a way to go.  I was told that some villages in India come from a caste where the wife, once married, goes into the house and never, ever comes out until she dies.  Others are not allowed to be seen or to talk to men other than the husband.  Many countries have the same problem and the task it to change that.  Education seems to be the way and the "New Woman" that is born of these efforts will slowly change the culture.  It is happening but too slowly for the women speakers at the conference.
Each night around 9:30 PM, a car would take us back to the hotel.  Conferences in India are a serious matter.  They include many tea sessions and time for chatting and meeting people.  Everyone has a card and wants yours.  I have so many cards and cannot put a face to many.
 The first two days were spent with the same group of people on a specific and chosen topic. The final day was allotted to develop a document that from this time forward be called the Ahmedabad Document.  I was of little help with this effort and gave the time to talking to people and visiting the exhibits.  And drinking a bit of Indian Tea.  Indian Tea is exceptional.  It is sweet, has milk and often Cardamom added while being served in a very small cup.
 The final afternoon of the conference featured a field trip to Adalaj Wav, a huge covered, dug well completed in 1500 by the wife of a Maharaja who wanted to be cool in the hot summer.  She dug down some 50 feet and then lined the well with slabs of marble and pillars.  Steps lead down so one can walk into the well.  Four floors make the well and water would drip down parts to evaporate and cool.  She went there on the hot days.  Some old type of AC that we common folks would find hard to develop.
 From the well to the Gandhi Ashram was a short ride into history.  Called the Sabarmati Ashram, this is the location of Gandhi and his early efforts.  From here, all of the Indian Independence began.  Here is his first school for the children of the Untouchables.  We saw some of them as they still attend school here and in all the other locations based on his work.  This is a special spot and we were able to see the house where he lived for almost 30 years.  Many of his personal effects were on display along with some of his writings.  I love places like this and could feel Gandhi continuing to work with the children and disciples of his teaching.   The conference ended with this special trip and ended it well.  His light still leads many and the work he started is very much unfinished.

21 -22 Jan 2005  A trip to Visit a water support project near Tulaj south of Ahmedabad
 At 6:30 this morning we were picked up by a van taking us some three hours south of the city to visit some of the villages involved in the project that would bring water and sanitation to some 28 villages. This area is located on the west side of the Gulf of Cambay in an area called Saurastra.  We crossed vast areas of flat land that at one time were covered in water.  Many parts flood regularly during monsoon. Much is cultivated but an equal amount is too salty for growing crops.  We passed through one part where salt mines were in operation. 
 The city of Bhavnagar was the first stop after lunch, which we ate at an Indian truck/tourist stop.  This was chosen by the female leader of the group because of its clean toilets, not an easy thing to find in India.  In the city, we checked into our hotel and left luggage.  The Nilambag Palace Hotel is the former home of the local, but former, Maharaja.  Pictures of the former masters lined the lobby and many antiques of their passing line the halls or are stored in cabinets.  We just dropped off things and headed further south to visit three villages of the Water Federation.
 The first village was to see a dug well and it's supporting pipes, lines, and structures.  The well was huge and was hand dug a number of years ago by the local people.  It must have been 40 feet deep and at least that far across at the top. At the water level, it was about 15 feet across.  All was open and no fence surrounded the gaping hole.  Pigeons were flying around the well as we came upon the opening.  They were perched all along the side and apparently dipping into the water to drink.  Kids followed us but did not seem concerned nor were the parents.  Animals roamed near by.  The pipes and pumps were located just adjacent the well and were all new and were proudly shown.  Pipes ran from a tank to other parts of the village.  Water was carried to the individual homes by the women.  As we walked through the village, back to the cars,  we also visited an out-house being built in a compound.  Only three had been built.  Most of the waste goes out into the street or into the animal waste for later disposal.  Probably 40 outhouses to go in this village.  I kept thinking about the pigeons.  And I thought about the glass of water offered to me that I rejected when I came into the village.  And the kids were following us because we had taken their picture on the digital camera and showed them the picture.  They thought that this was the best.  They also like pens.
 The second village visit was to a women's group meeting.  The group helping the Federation had formed women's self-help groups in each village.  The process for each village meeting of the Federation is to talk to the men, then talk to the women, and then tell the men what the women want and then get the men to go along.  The motto was to go with the women because the water decisions affected their live the greatest. 
 This meeting was attended by about 15 women and the same number of girls.  Each mother would bring the daughter so the information and procedures adopted could be learned by all.  The women shared their efforts and showed the bank books and ledger used to account for the money collected.  The book showed less than 1000 rupees for the year. That is just over $23.  The money is used for loans to the participants.  The key is that this is the first time any one of these women has been to the bank and had an account.  They alternate people who go each week to deposit new funds.  All the houses in the village are asked to contribute.  They had dressed up for us and offered us a glass of their precious water.  I thought of the Pigeons in the other village.  Bottled water for me.
 People in the next village had waited for two hours for us to come.  We could not visit their facilities because it was too dark.  We did tour the house of the Village president and was able to get pictures.  Again, we were offered water.  I am still not brave.
Here we were offered tea.  No cups used, just the saucer.  We quickly drank from the saucer and returned it.  The giving of tea is a tradition in all the homes.  At this meeting, we found that milk in India is produced primarily from the water buffalo and not the cow.  The only time cow milk is used is for sickness and the first baby milk because buffalo milk is too strong for some children.  Nice to know.
 We finished the last session and headed back to Bhavnagar for the evening.  We ate dinner in the opulent dining area with its attending but sagging antiques. After dinner, where I ate my first non-vegetarian meal for almost 5 days, we talked and drank tea while the staff cleared the dishes and disappeared.   Did I tell you that all of Gujarat is dry.  And another thing to remember in India is the hot water status.  Hot water comes on from 7-10 AM and again 7-10 PM each day in the hotels.  7 AM showers are cold and 10:30 showers are warm.  My 11:30 shower was a bit on the chilly side.   In most hotels one turns on the hot water full blast for 10-15 minutes to get the hot up to the 4th floor.  Some showers have too hot a water and others one goes hot all the time and hopes for warm.  The best showers have the heater located in each room but most do not.
 Keep your mouth shut in the shower is another of those travel ideas for India.  So is watch the toothbrush washing.  I have only bottled water for that process or just do it dry.  A single error with the toothbrush can give you trouble.  It takes some thinking to remember not to clean the brush in the faucet.  No ice here either, just use cold drinks from the bottle or drink them at room temperature.  Even straws can harbor bacteria as they may have been used over.  Lots of thinking to stay healthy.  Even Indians watch themselves when they go to new places. 
 The next morning, the staff awakened us at 7 AM and we prepared for departure for another meeting with the Water Federation.  I had breakfast and walked around the Hotel.  One side of the grounds was covered by a red cloth.  Workman were putting up a white stage and backdrop.  Rattan chairs were being placed in orderly rows.  It seems that a wedding was being held here on Sunday.  Indians go all out for weddings and this was promising to be a big one.  It would have been one to attend but who could expect an invitation?
 Thirty minutes brought us to a village school where we would meet representatives from many of the 28 villages in the Federation.   We met in a circle in the school yard.  School was going on but this was exam time and the students were busy taking tests.  Members of the visiting group were placed in a line of chairs along with the president and heads of the committee.  The lesser villagers sat on carpet.  We introduced ourselves.  I became Dr. Robert.  The President, who we had visited in his village, gave a welcome and we were allowed to ask questions of the participants.
 The one question drawing the most rhetoric was asked by the Dutch woman.  She noted that our group was half women and half men.  In the group around the circle was only one woman.  She asked the group how they could have more women to attend and be a part of the Federation.  Many answers came but the consensus given by the men was that this is the way it had been.  The one attending woman gave a statement, but would not confront the men.  She was here because none of the men in her village would work for clean water so the women took over.   Women taking over is very unusual.
 Several village leaders then asked the staff about problems of completing proposals and meeting deadlines.  They accused the staff of not being supportive and helping to get it done.  That started a row as the President and a couple of the formidable looking leaders took them on verbally.  The jest of the discussion was that had the late goers done what they were supposed to then all would be done.  But they did not work at it and expected the staff to do more and that the blame was on them for not being productive.  They stood and yelled and called names and cursed and yelled and then we went to eat as though nothing had happened.
 A school room was used for lunch.  We first went to the containers of water outside on the steps to wash our hands before dinner.  Air-drying is the rule. In addition, you can you can NEVER count on toilet paper being available.  We went into the room and sat on a cloth strip about 18 inches wide that was place around the room.  The local people can set with their feet in lotus position - I cannot.  The first thing that arrives is water and memories of the pigeons.  Next to arrive are plates and bowls.  They are all shiny stainless steel.  A soup was ladled into one of the metal bowls - no spoons.  Drinking soup is a great idea.  As the soup was distributed, one of the villagers began to sing a prayer in Hindi.  All stopped to join in the hymn/prayer.  Soon, buckets of food are arriving filled with food.  Each entree is vegetarian with the chickpea as one of the main ingredients.  The final food is a sweet desert called halva.  The food was great with lots to eat.  The village hosting the meeting sponsors the periodic feasts for the Federation.  Finally, the tea came and it was hot, milky, strong, and sweet; but as always in a small container.  The easiest and for a group of this size they served the tea in a saucer.  W
 We said our goodbyes to the people and headed south to revisit a town and location of a very controversial project, the ship breaking yards at Alang.  A member of the Federation is head of the village near the yard and arranged for us to visit.  We were one of the few groups of tourists to be able to go into the yard.  The Indian government had deemed foreigners to be persona non gratis in the area.  It seems that a ship with radioactive materials was sailing to Alang to be broken apart.  Local Indian Environmental groups called Greenpeace about the ship and the courts were asked to prevent the ship from being docked.   That happened and the government then is trying to prevent non-Indians from coming into the area.  Supposedly, we were not supposed to take photographs.  Guess what we did?
 The whole ship breaking process is fascinating.  A ship is brought to the shore under its own power, sometimes it is towed.  Next, the ship is beached and all the materials are removed from inside the vessel.  Doors, furniture, beds, lifejackets, and easily removed things come out first.  People bid on the materials and carry them off from piles stacked on the beach.  Then, the floors, walls, light fixtures come out.  All the piping is carefully removed along with the electrical lines.  If the material can be reused, someone will purchase it.  When all the so called removable items are gone, the people with the cutting torches come to the scene and, slowly but with a definite pace, the steel structure is cut down to become a huge pile of metal that will be sold to the highest bidder.  I did not see a vessel but I am sure that large boats come to purchase the iron for use in rebuilding new ships in some far off country.
 Walking out we passed a group of workers scraping asbestos from the back of large plastic sheets that must have lined the walls of the living quarters.  For us they had donned white masks although a few were without masks.  Outside the gate was a list of the possible toxic wastes that might be encountered in this location.  Some bad ones were listed and all the work was being done by itinerate migrant workers who come from regions of India with high poverty and employment.  Not a nice picture.
 We passed out of the ship-breaking area onto the road.  That road is lined with enclosures selling the materials from the ships that did not now exist.  Each area looked as though it sold one type of recycled material.  You drove past yards filled with doors, held dozens of lifeboats, or were piled high with lumber.  What a thrift store.
 Back to Bhavnagar with a stop planned for one of the Gandhi Ashram stores that are located throughout the country.  The stores are organized around the cooperative model and the materials for sale come from either local ethnic groups or from a village supporting an ashram.  The main things for sale were basic foods such as rice and oil, religious materials and cloth made from local materials.  One of those cloths is called Khadi and is homespun and roughly woven but very inexpensive.  I found some beadwork that is beautifully done and will probably look out of place in my house.  It was cheap and light and is on the way by sea mail to Illinois.  I will share all my treasures later.
 The drive back lasted three hours and we arrived at the hotel in the dark.  I hurried to remove the dust with a late shower.  Fairly hot water was available so another  India-filled day ended on a good note.
23 Jan 2005  A tour of Ahmedabad and off to Delhi
 The problem of being at a conference without a car is that one does not take off from meetings to sightsee. So I rented a car from the hotel.  And I rented a driver.  I would NEVER attempt to drive here.  Not now and probably not ever.  The roads of the India that I have seen to this point are utter and disorganized chaos.  Indian drivers seem not to be so affected.
 During the morning, I packed and worked on the journal.  The driver came at noon and away we went.  By Mumbai comparison, Ahmedabad is pretty tame.  So, we drove to the city center where one can visit the old Bhadra Fort around which the city was founded.  A noisy and colorful market flows around the base of the Fort and hides the entrance.  Not much is made of the facility by the locals, but the guidebooks say that one can enter free and wander around the top.  I did that. 
 The entrance is just inside a fairly large arch but the door would be described as very small.  Climbing the spiral stairs, one passes by an office where two elderly gentlemen set looking rather bored.  Asking for the fort, they point to another door that lead out along a balcony to another stairs up to the roof.  The flat top of the wall is easily walked and one can see into old courtyards at what I assumed are government office.
 Back down onto the street are hundreds of stalls selling all sorts of small items.  Some 15 booths were selling bracelets for the wrist.  The bangles are all very colorful and many are spackled with gold or silver like materials.  All sorts of other materials were available and were very inexpensive.  The next spot was to an old mosque called Jama Masjid that was built about the same time as the Fort. I have been visiting many religious sites on this trip and the same procedure takes place regardless of the sect building the temple. 
 In most, one must wash the hands or feet and in all, one must remove the shoes.  Well, this is a thing to think about.  I am wearing Birkenstocks and they are expensive.  At the same location are a variety of foot wares but none can be compared to mine. Usually, one old fellow is usually waiting there to watch the shoes - for a price.  I am thinking that pair of cheap sandals might be in order. I think that the temples are very safe places but I always enter with that bit of doubt.   A return visit to the Wav and a brief stop back at the hotel to pick up another passenger ended the day of touring the city.
 I arrived at the airport just a bit after 6 PM and checked in the luggage.  Indian security is quite good.  I had purchased a hand made scissors and left it, by accident, in my carry-on.  The scissors was small and made from brass; I had placed it in a book and had not put it in my luggage as planned.  They went through everything and I was absolutely positively sure that I had no scissors.  Well, now I surely have no scissors.  Unlike my American TSA counterparts, all concerned were very nice and smiled all the time. 
Of course, one would expect the plane to be late today.  I was flying into a new town and knew that the time-share was 50 km from the airport.  I had made no arrangements for a pickup and decided that making some arrangement might be a good idea.  So I looked up the number of the time share and went to a phone booth to call the resort.  Scattered all over India are phone booths that are manned by someone.  In the airport, they all speak English.  Showed them the number and they assisted me in making the call.  The attendants at the resort gave me the number of a tour company in Delhi.  "Just call Rajesh and he will help"  So, I did and he said call when I had arrived. 

The flight lasted just over an hour and we landed in Delhi Domestic airport.  I waited for my luggage and worried that it was late.  I was hand carrying all the rugs that I had purchased and my heavy bag.  Calling Rajesh was easy; I just asked one of the many people waiting for luggage to make the call on their cell phone.  That was almost every person in the cue.  Rajesh said no problem but I would have to wait for the driver to arrive. Just go outside to the flower stand and the driver will be there.  Jaspal came to gather me and my luggage and hurry to the resort.  We arrived a bit after 2 AM.  While on the drive, I hired Jaspal and his car for the next day as Jerry would be arriving at 8 AM.  I was asleep very quickly in my one bedroom appt.
24 Jan 2005   A day tour of Delhi and a pick-up of Jerry.
7 AM came very quickly, but I was up and ready to head back to the airport.  The fog was very bad and the nightmarish drive into the city was made eerie by the huge trucks and camel-driven vehicles that would emerge from the fog.  We took double the time of the earlier trip to return.  Obviously, the plane was delayed.  Will be in at ten.  Then was delayed and would be in at one.  I decided to take the tour myself.  Jerry was supposed to arrive at 8 AM and then we would drive to sites in Delhi.  Foggy weather slows down drivers but it really halts air travel. 
 To make a long story short, Jerry's plane arrived at 4 PM but he was not on it.  He took an earlier flight but I could not get that information from Air India.  They would only keep repeating the approximate flight arrival of Flight 310.  I went to the city and kept calling to check the flight status.  In the mean time, Jerry had arrived and when I was not there arranged for a taxi to take him to the resort.  At 6 PM, I finally became irritated to ask the airlines for clearer information.  They went to the computer and located his information telling me that he had arrived on another flight at 2:45 PM.  I called the resort and he was there.  So Jaspal and I returned to the resort.  I spent almost six hours waiting at the airport.  I can tell you all about moving around Delhi Domestic. 
When Jerry and I finally talked, we agreed that the trip to Agra and Jaipur should be taken first.  We engaged Jaspal and would leave on the 25 for Agra.  The 24th would be a very wasted day.  However, I did purchase a beautiful Kashmiri rug made from yak wool.
See you tomorrow.