51 Degrees read the thermometer. And as the Indicore peeps at SFC began to get texts from those who had seen the news that number was becoming less of an obvious fluke and much more apparently the actual temperature of the day.
Thats 124 degrees in the Fahrenheit scale folks.
Thats Hot.
But with some good ole Rajasthani AC (as a man in a photo shop in Jhunjhunu today informed me it was called), known as the gumshot (a light scarf/towel that one dips in water and wraps around the head) we survived, and thus made it through the first week and on to our second here in Bagar, the town, that while it may not necessarily "love you back" right away, has definitely grown on me since the first impression of a dusty collection of haphazard structures thrown up in the middle of the desert. It actually has the feel of some of the other very old cities i've enjoyed exploring, like Damascus or Jerusalem, just on a much much smaller scale, and much less preserved. The crumbling houses hide a number of once grand and beautiful Havelis (old palace like houses with open inner courtyards), and the patronage of a few notable local families that have struck it mad rich and long moved away has erected a number of schools and preserved some of the more fantastic havelis as well. The Piramals, our earstwhile (but most likely unwitting) patrons are among these families, multibillionaires residing in Mumbai who have built the majority of the towns modern buildings and also fund GDL through their charity arm the Piramal Foundation. This also gives us a bit of cred with the locals who instead of just seeing us as complete outsiders see us as special "guests of the Piramals" even though they personally haven't been around for generations probably. Between fresh fruit shakes from stalls around town, daily chai from the chaiwalla next to Source For Change, and spicy chaat flavored snax eaten on top of Bagar rock, this place has more to offer than might at first meet the eye.
A Brief update on activities that will clarify they included pictures:
We've mainly been working on our project of building a soft skills training curriculum for SFC, with the goal of establishing an organizational culture and instituting a set of principles that will guide the work and set the work environment for the near future. The training will have many team-building activities as well as games and lessons focused on communication, problem-solving, decision making, creativity, and conflict resolution.
At Mobile Naukri we've compiled a list of multi-national companies to call when Sahel gets back from his workshop, we're also planning a skit to perform in the center of some local towns to drum up interest as well as have some "ambush parties" to get people excited and spread the word. Last week we went to Pilani, and town an hour away by bus to pass out fliers and put up posters, the weather was pretty hot and we got exhausted and took refuge in a restaurant midway through, but it was a solid chunk of marketing anyway. Pilani also contains one of India's premier engineering schools (BITSBITS)
This past Sunday, with pretty much only us Americans (in addition to Sanghamitra, a Bengali who grew up in Rajasthan), and our Nepali cook and all around man of the hour, every hour, Kamal-jie, we decided to take a special trip to Jhunjhunu to engage in an activity forbidden and spoken of only in whispers in Bagar, the eating of chicken. Our plan was to pick up the chicken from a restaurant that Kamal-jie has connections with (he's Nepali and loves non-veg, but must cook veg everyday at GDL, so he has chicken hook-ups kept in his phone in several surrounding towns where it can be procured) and then hike to the top of a hill and eat the meat just as the sun was setting over the city. We underestimated the time it would take them to prepare the meal (they practically slaughtered the birds in front of us, fresher meat has never been had), and so ended up eating on the roof of the restaurant, which afforded some lovely views as well and served a suitable locale for out forbidden feast of flesh. After leaving the scene of the succulence (it was some delicious, if incredibly spicy, chicken)we ran into a pre-wedding celebration where I was pulled into a virtual mosh pit of young men dancing up a storm in front of the bridegroom who was atop a golden throne pulled by a camel and dressed in an outfit befitting any prince of fame or fortune.
We also visited some Hindu temples, several beautiful ones can be found in Bagar, and a huge one is in Jhunjhunu, complete with a garden of animal sculpturs and a massive statue of Shiva. The elaborate colors and complexity of these sites of worship, as well as how open to anyone to come in and observe and experience them as they wish has struck me as one of the most visible manifestations of the religious freedom that persists here, and especially the all embracing nature of Hinduism, a religion that has room enough for some 330 million Gods, almost enough for every man woman and child to pick their own personal deity to worship!
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