Busy Days in Kothagudem
I hadn't planned on teaching at the Team Leadership Centre when I left Canada, but circumstances prevailed. A professor from China who was to be here this week was delayed until next week due to visa delays "and they had three days with no guest professor....except me. So my "spare" time was taken up preparing 3 hours of lessons for three days. It went well and I actually just about needed more time. The classes were well received, so much so that they have insisted I return to teach a two week course in the future. My, what an honour!
We did take time to get a few breaks. One afternoon we travelled out to the water project which is large' reservoir. Our hopes were to see some crocodiles, but we didn't have any luck in that department. We did see a large herd of fallow deer that had been fed by the Wildlife Conservatory. There were quite a few monkeys darting in to steal their food. At the parking lot there was also a large group of monkeys that you had to watch or they could grab your camera or anything in your hands. Mommies with babies clinging to them and male guardians that bared their teeth at you if you got too close.
We drove past a massive thermal generating plant fired by coal. The large reservoir we went to also served these generating stations with cooling water. I expected a lot of pollution from a coal fired operation, but this was remarkably clean. President Modi wants to clean up India. He'd better order a whole shipload of garbage cans because people here don't even think about those things. Garbage piles up everywhere and the pigs, goats, chickens, monkeys AND cows rummage through it for anything edible. The cows walk down, lay down or simply stand their ground in the middle of busy streets! The streets and boulevards are not recommended for night walking without a flashlight!
There are no traffic rules here as far as I can tell. Driving was intended to be left hand lane, but motorcycles, rickshaws and even automobiles will drive against the traffic, do u-turns right in front of you and zigzag through traffic as if in an obstacle race. Really! And that goes for buses too. They pull out and pass and Anya oncoming motorcycles often have to veer into the ditch to avoid a collision. Funny thing is, I have not seen one collision. We did see a tanker truck that had jack-knifed and rolled.
Carsen got to ride a motorbike with three on board at speeds I don't want to think about and through horrendous traffic. Needless to say, we left the reservoir canal before them and they beat us home. We had 14 crammed into the Toyota heading out and 13 heading back because Carsen got on the motorbike. We had taken a half hour drive to the canal as 5 students wanted to be water baptized as a profession of their faith, students who came from Hindu homes.
One evening we walked over the bridge to find a fruit stand where we could purchase oranges. They have delicious oranges here. A couple of the students caught sight of us and joined us "in case we needed interpreters". We had a lot of fun putting our hands together and saying, "Namascarm", the Talooga local greeting. Our student interpreters didn't know Talooga. Everyone wants to come and shake our hands and ask us where we are from. There is a lot of handshaking and laughter. Very friendly people. Makes ME feel good when they ask if Carsen is my son!
Finding a lot of interesting cultural things in dealing with students from 17 states or provinces. Indians don't generally ask questions. Children seldom touch their fathers out of deep respect and fear. No hugs. There are many languages used in India. So different that students who have come from different states could not even understand when they were asked their names. Since enrolling in the Leadership program, they have improved remarkably. And each of the 32 states in India have their own cultural uniqueness. It's amazing, the variety in India.
I was educated by the students on various Hindu practices and how they were brought up in Hindu homes. It's been a challenging three days, but very rewarding.
Tomorrow is a relax day and I'm looking forward to it.
I hadn't planned on teaching at the Team Leadership Centre when I left Canada, but circumstances prevailed. A professor from China who was to be here this week was delayed until next week due to visa delays "and they had three days with no guest professor....except me. So my "spare" time was taken up preparing 3 hours of lessons for three days. It went well and I actually just about needed more time. The classes were well received, so much so that they have insisted I return to teach a two week course in the future. My, what an honour!
We did take time to get a few breaks. One afternoon we travelled out to the water project which is large' reservoir. Our hopes were to see some crocodiles, but we didn't have any luck in that department. We did see a large herd of fallow deer that had been fed by the Wildlife Conservatory. There were quite a few monkeys darting in to steal their food. At the parking lot there was also a large group of monkeys that you had to watch or they could grab your camera or anything in your hands. Mommies with babies clinging to them and male guardians that bared their teeth at you if you got too close.
We drove past a massive thermal generating plant fired by coal. The large reservoir we went to also served these generating stations with cooling water. I expected a lot of pollution from a coal fired operation, but this was remarkably clean. President Modi wants to clean up India. He'd better order a whole shipload of garbage cans because people here don't even think about those things. Garbage piles up everywhere and the pigs, goats, chickens, monkeys AND cows rummage through it for anything edible. The cows walk down, lay down or simply stand their ground in the middle of busy streets! The streets and boulevards are not recommended for night walking without a flashlight!
There are no traffic rules here as far as I can tell. Driving was intended to be left hand lane, but motorcycles, rickshaws and even automobiles will drive against the traffic, do u-turns right in front of you and zigzag through traffic as if in an obstacle race. Really! And that goes for buses too. They pull out and pass and Anya oncoming motorcycles often have to veer into the ditch to avoid a collision. Funny thing is, I have not seen one collision. We did see a tanker truck that had jack-knifed and rolled.
Carsen got to ride a motorbike with three on board at speeds I don't want to think about and through horrendous traffic. Needless to say, we left the reservoir canal before them and they beat us home. We had 14 crammed into the Toyota heading out and 13 heading back because Carsen got on the motorbike. We had taken a half hour drive to the canal as 5 students wanted to be water baptized as a profession of their faith, students who came from Hindu homes.
One evening we walked over the bridge to find a fruit stand where we could purchase oranges. They have delicious oranges here. A couple of the students caught sight of us and joined us "in case we needed interpreters". We had a lot of fun putting our hands together and saying, "Namascarm", the Talooga local greeting. Our student interpreters didn't know Talooga. Everyone wants to come and shake our hands and ask us where we are from. There is a lot of handshaking and laughter. Very friendly people. Makes ME feel good when they ask if Carsen is my son!
Finding a lot of interesting cultural things in dealing with students from 17 states or provinces. Indians don't generally ask questions. Children seldom touch their fathers out of deep respect and fear. No hugs. There are many languages used in India. So different that students who have come from different states could not even understand when they were asked their names. Since enrolling in the Leadership program, they have improved remarkably. And each of the 32 states in India have their own cultural uniqueness. It's amazing, the variety in India.
I was educated by the students on various Hindu practices and how they were brought up in Hindu homes. It's been a challenging three days, but very rewarding.
Tomorrow is a relax day and I'm looking forward to it.
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