Bandipur

Shiva arranged for a driver to take us to Bandipur the day after Mysore. He picked us up at 5:30 am for the hour long drive.

It's hard to see any wildlife at Bandipur, because they put you on a huge coach, which loudly rambles through the jungle. I'm sure all the animals run away. But I did see ONE wild elephant, well, one wild elephant butt:



I saw two other elephants, but they were chained to one spot, so I don't think that counts.

I noticed how pretty the Karnatakan hills are:



And I liked the shop (at least the intention of the shop):

Mysore

Last weekend I went to Mysore, a Karnatakan city which is famous for its palace and gardens. The Mysore Palace was disappointing and they never mentioned what was so great about these Mysore kings. But here I am anyway:


Of particular note, at least for me, the autos look different in Karnataka:


And for the most part, the auto drivers and other street purveyors are a lot more pushy, but that couldn’ve been because I was staying close to the palace. But I did find one really nice driver, Shiva:


who took me to the Chamundeshwari Temple, which is situated in the hills around Mysore. It was a lovely drive up the hills:


and Shiva took time to stop and talk:


The temple is gorgeous both inside and out:






I was even able to go inside and see the god, which was an incredible experience:


Around the temple is a lively market which was fun to walk around:


The monkeys harass you for your snacks, but they look super cute:


Next Shiva took me to the Mysore Nandi. This particular Nandi was even more impressive to me than the temple:


Around Nandi was another little market where I bought and drank some cane juice. I loved watching the machine squeeze all the juice out of the cane:


And I was struck at how every Indian experience ends with a treat!

To-Do list at Growing Opportunity

I'm nearing the end of my stay here. A little more than a week left. I've made a lot of progress. Here's my to-do list as of today:

Kattu Malli (Flower of the Forest)

Today I visited another Growing Opportunity client Group: Kattu Malli. It’s Joy of Giving week in India and Growing Opportunity is a part of it. As part of their community awareness program, they are encouraging each client group to give a tree. Today, Lam and I visited the Kattu Malli group and watched them plant their tree.


Though Kattu Malli has around 16 members, only three were there today. We watched them as they planted their tree and then we sat and talked for a while. The three women were extremely gracious with their time and patient with our questions. They are in their third cycle and they have been clients of Growing Opportunity for three years. Here I am with them (along with my fellow Global Fellow, Lam) where they usually have their group meeting (by a coconut stall):



The three women that we met all work their own stall in Pondy Bazaar. One has that coconut stand, another has a fruit stand, and the last has a flower stand.

The coconut lady prepared a coconut for me by first slicing off the top:


and inserting a straw:


for me to sip the juice:



Finally, she cust it in half and prepared tender coconut meat so that I could eat it:


Yum!

Lunch

There are food carts all over town that look like this:


This is the guy on the corner by my work. Almost every day I get a stack of fresh cucumber slices with a sprinkle of salt and cayenne pepper. It costs me 10 rupees. Yum!!

Auto Drivers

I've found that taking a tuk tuk (most people call them autos here) is the fastest and funnest way around town. Once you know the going rate, then it's pretty easy to bargain with them. And once the initial haggeling is over, the auto drivers show a remarkable amount of pride in their job. It's important to them that you get where you need to go and they often go out of their way to drop you right at your doorstep.

Autos are ubiquitous in the city and the drivers hang around together, eating lunch and lounging in their tuk tuks. Sometimes they ride in the front together so that they can finish their conversation while they drive you.

Another showing of pride is how they decorate their autos:

Mahapalipuram

I took the bus to Mahapalipuram and stayed in a little resort on the beach. As I walked out, I noticed the Shore Temple right away:




The temple is stunning and just incredible to see close up:


This temple is carved out of rock and was excavated by the British around 200 years ago. Due to the erosion, all the carvings look like ghostly images of Hindu deities:




The next day I went to the 5 Rathas. Each one of these mini-monuments was carved out of a single rock:


I also took a walk on the beach where there were loads of colorful fishing boats:


It was hot and even the cows were trying to shield themselves with the little shade that they could find:

I'm going to Mahabalipuram today

Mahabalipuram

Riverfront Property in Chennai

Rangoli

I found out what it's called!

Rangoli

What I'm listening to

Aahaa FM Uh huh!

Morning Sweep

In India it's traditional to sweep the front of your house in the morning: the path to your door, the driveway and the curb leading to your house. When done, many people put a design in front. They use a white powder to create it. (Some people have the design painted on, but that's cheating!)






Note to J and O: I have the tools so we can do this at home!

Bike Ride to Marina Beach

Today was an incredibly hot day. Even my knee caps were sweating. It was 37 degrees centigrade, which I guess is somewhere around 100 degree Fahrenheit. Since I got my bike yesterday, I had it in my mind that I would do a long bike ride today. But it was SO HOT!! I waited until about 4pm and then I had to go.

Map of the Ride

It was a pretty easy route . . . practically a straight line. And at the end, do you see that big river that feeds into the ocean? It’s really smelly.

I got a bike!

Today I will ride it to the beach!!

Alaku Roja

There is a woman at GO, Rachel, whose title is something like Transformation Officer. It’s her job to make sure women who are clients of GO have the resources and knowledge they need to be successful. Today I accompanied her on a client visit.

We were visiting a group of about a dozen women who call themselves Alaku Roja. They’ve formed a group that borrows money from Growing Opportunity so that they can work. One woman uses her share to sell flowers. Another uses her share to make sarees to sell. They’ve borrowed up to their credit limit 20000 rupees (about $450) three times now and paid back every time. They have to pay back within 24 weeks, according to their agreement. Today we went to start them on their 4th cycle.

They were located in the West Mambalam neighborhood. When we walked up to the house, there was a pile of garbage and old, rusted bikes.


I noticed a set of outhouses along one wall and then the house on the other side. The house was small – only four rooms. The entry way also had a bed and the kitchen was basically a sink with stuff piled all around. The walls were blue and written on.


I asked if I could take pictures and they happily agreed. After I shot the first one, they couldn’t wait to see the picture in the camera. I anticipated this and showed them the picture as soon as they asked. They thought I understood Tamil!! We went inside and they offered me water and insisted that I sit on the bed. They were all so gracious and fussed a lot about my comfort. They were tickled that I was interested in this whole thing.

Every Client Relationship Officer (or CRO . . . think RM in Wells Fargo world) visits each group once per week. Each visit starts with the group reciting their group statement. I’m guessing this statement has something to do with their commitment to work, good business practice and other sorts of things. Then the CRO reviews their payment summary and meeting notes. The group has saved over 46000 rupees since they joined together.

Finally, the CRO gives them some information. Today we talked about how to notice when your kids are sick and when to take them to the doctor. That it’s important to be clean, brush your teeth, bathe, sweep your floors. You need to wear shoes outside and take them off before you come in. Always boil water before you drink it. The women listened intently and admitted that they don’t always do these things.

Next we talked about their group name, Alaku Roja. They said it meant Beautiful Rose. When the CRO was translating this to me, the women joked that they must be translating that I am the beautiful rose. Then she said to them that we are all created in God’s image and we are all Beautiful. They were really happy to hear that!!

Finally, I sat on the floor with them for a picture. They couldn’t believe that I would sit with them. They hugged me from all sides!

Street Food!

Last night I ceased my fast and finally ate some street food. There are a lot of little street shops that serve dosas and omlettes. The father cooks the rotis outside on a large, metal sheet outside. And the mom serves. And the kids are just running around being super cute. Every place you eat, and every home has a little sink to wash your hands. Except here, people wash their hands after they eat instead of before. Because you use your hands to eat instead of utensils.

Dad:


Kids:


Food:


Taste: