December 8, 2014 -- Marketing in Dhuri

Friday we were scheduled to market our programs.  By we, I mean Rob and I, but 3 other teachers were going along this time as well to talk about their courses, and NO marketing men were going. Hurray.  So, we had a carful.

The trip was 2 hours each way (from our school ) to a little town called Dhuri with a very good school - of which Mandeep (along for the journey) was an alumnus – Guru Tej Bahadur – 4500 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

We were to have our little seminar with the Grade 11 and 12 kids at 11:30 for an hour, but our car pulled into the driveway JUST BEHIND a marching band followed by the entire student body which was welcoming their Principal – JUST back from picking up their International Academic Award from London, England.  Talk about Pomp and Ceremony.  You just KNOW that we were going to take a back seat .

When we stepped into the auditorium, the room (absolutely chock-a-block with kids sitting cross-legged on the main floor and also filling the balcony) erupted in huge APPLAUSE (for us) as we were led to front row chairs, and THEN  the festivities started on stage.  And just as before at Founder’s  Day, we front- row types were plied with mango juice throughout, followed by a piece of cake after the celebratory cutting  ceremony.

I already knew that these schools have MANY students, but we don’t usually get to see all of them at once.  To see a student body of this size is jaw-dropping.  I snapped a few pictures of the throng, but doubt they will convey the group’s magnitude.

Sweet little faces

A LONG TIME later, the dancing, speeches, more dancing, long skit (all in Punjabi), more dancing was over.  Most students filed out but the Grade 11 and 12s were kept back to listen to our seminar.  Are you thinking? “Poor THEM!”  Well, so was I.  I won’t bore you with the details, but will say the kids were a good audience,  spoke English very well, laAdd captionughed in all the right places at Rob’s talk – and then off we went (two hours) back to school.

Program on stage

What with the one hour each way to school, then the two hours each way to Dhuri, Car Sick McGee here was looking at 6 hours of not-so-quality car time in the very back seat on really rough roads.  Long Day!

Hansi

P.S. As I have mentioned, right now, peanuts are HUGE in the marketplace and along with the actual roasted nuts are any number of peanut chikkis or brittles, as we call them. The ones we have bought (more than once) are 6 patties to a  package and the patties are about the size of a beverage coaster.  Reason for addiction - ratio of peanuts to brittle is 4:1.  I have been corrected.  This kind of chikki is called Gachhuk.

Gachuk

November 30, 2014 -- Excursion to the Forest Preserve

We have been trying to organize a birding day in the Forest Preserve which is situated behind Sukhna Lake towards the mountains.

The Forest Preserve Authority office is in Chandigarh – open only on weekdays between 9 and 4 with closure at lunchtime.  You can see that two people working every day an hour outside Chandigarh would have difficulty getting to that office to pick up the necessary permission papers needed to get into the Preserve.

Turns out that one needs to submit a filled-out form including desired visiting date, GATE by which you want to enter, name, age of persons visiting, license number of vehicle, and foreigners also have to submit a photocopy of passport, visa as well as a passport-sized extra picture.  This form then gets “processed”  for several days prior to your requested date of entry, and with any luck you are given permission to enter – and supposedly someone at that GATE has been given the word that you are bonifide.  Not the case, by the way.

So, through Harpreet’s friend, the necessary papers were picked up, we completed them – attached documents, got the driver’s info. – gave them back to the friend who officially submitted them. In due course, we came to know that we were “on the list” for Sunday, Nov. 30^th – along with Harpreet, who decided to go along.

It was a good thing that Harpreet was along, because at the locked gate, the gatekeeper spoke no English, read no Hindi (on the permission form) and was  prepared to deny us entry despite our preparations.  Harpreet was finally able to persuade her to open that gate, but I doubt we could have budged her. 

The grounds were lovely, and the weather perfect – a little breezy and sunny.  We hiked around three dams, and were able to see three new birds there.  I believe Rob has pictures I will attach. We watched the Fantail - rapidly flitting about -without really being able to get a bead on him, and, because he was almost all black, we did not have much to go on UNTIL he several times fanned out his tail to such a degree that there could be no doubt it was an identifying characteristic.

Red-wattled Lapwing

Harpreet is only just getting enthusiastic about birding – due to our long drives to work where she has to listen to us rattle on about all the birds we are seeing. So, about a week ago, we gave her a belated Diwali present – the same wonderful (now well-thumbed) Indian bird guide that Jan gave us ten years ago.  Now Harpreet  is HOOKED.

Luckily she thought ahead – and brought four delicious paranthas for us to munch on at noon.  I had NO FOOD along, which is inexplicable, if you know anything about my family. 

Hansi, Harpreet, and Rob in selfie with paranthas

Mid-afternoon, we moved to Lake Sukhna, to check for any migrating waterfowl.  There were MANY Bar-headed Geese on the lake, with lots of Ruddy Shelducks but none of the storks or spoonbills that we hope to see later in December.

Bar-headed Geese

Tufted Duck

At day’s end, Harpreet suggested we go to Sector 34 for a different kind of chaat – Chaat Papri (one of her favourites) so we did. You can see from the picture below that all the various items that get crumbled up on that plate are then covered with yogurt and chutney.  And no, I DON’T know what all those items are. I’m going to have to google it. And that wrapped up our day.  Slurp!  [Here's a recipe and ingredients from the net. Ed]

Hansi and Rob eating Chaat Papri and somehow managing to keep it on their  plates despite the steep incline they are standing on. Just kidding. One can often tell the age of the camera person by the way the shot is framed--young people love the crazy fall-off-the-earth tilts so popular in Coke ads.  Speaking of same, check out the tiny coke delivery truck below.

I have to say that we have had more luck spotting birds at the lake (which requires no advance planning nor permission) than the Forest Preserve, but the possibility excites to see other wildlife in the protected area (like the Sambar we spotted).  Decisions, decisions . . . 

Sambar Deer

Here are a few additional pix taken on our outing:

ATM Security

Wedding cart for a groom

Temple with bull faces

November 27, 2014 -- Amritsar

Wednesday afternoon, we left from school about about noon to drive to Amritsar for a marketing junket. When I say we, I mean Rob, Seguinder (the marketing head) and I.

It is a 5 hour drive to Amritsar ( home of the Golden Temple –  a very Holy place in the Sikh religion, and of political importance too in history).  The distance required an overnight stay, as the actual visit to present at the high school was not scheduled until 10 a.m. Thursday. Therefore, once we arrived in Amritsar, we were free to visit the Golden Temple and do our own thing for the evening.

Golden Temple

Rob has already been to Amritsar marketing twice this trip (2014) and doubtless sent pictures around. But I will attach a few, for it really is a magnificent sight.

Harpreet had been planning to go along – for the fun of the trip, for the purposes of helping to market our programs (she is the Principal of CIIS) and because she is Sikh and loves Amritsar. Anyway, at the last minute she had to stay back, so charged Seguinder with the task of making sure we got a guide at the Golden Temple, AND taking us to a famous dhaba for Amritsar kulcha. Two MOST important things.

Somehow, a guide was not available, and waiting for an hour for one to materialize still produced NO GUIDE, so the old guy in the Information office sat us down and, with the help of a little guide book, explained the whole history of the Temple and the significance of everything therein. Only then could we go inside.

Everyone has to take off and check their shoes, and then walk through a cleansing trough of water before entering.  Men and women both are required to cover their heads. If you have head-covering with you, fine. Otherwise, they sell little kerchiefs for the purpose, and even have a box of cast-off kerchiefs one can take for free. 

The water surrounding the Temple is Holy Water.  Many people dip into it for a blessing or strip down and actually get right into the pool. We were told that 80,000 people per day are fed free at the kitchen located in one corner and there are free accomodations for anyone who wants to stay for up to three days. If you want more info. you should Google.

After leaving the Temple, we wandered down the narrow, cobbled, winding streets and shopped in a Dried Fruit and Nut establishment while Seguinder stopped at a Tikki vendor for a snack. Amritsar is known for its dried fruit, so many such stores abound. Every city has its own feel. Certainly true of Amritsar – a VERY old city dating back 500 years and purposely NOT being modernized to preserve its history.  Of course, the streets were teeming with vehicles, people, vendors. We saw many vendors with braziers selling roasted shuker kandi (sweet potatoes) as well as roasted chestnuts (singhara). If you chose one of the sweet potatoes, the wala would peel and cut it up into a little dish – squeeze on lemon juice, then green chutney, tamarind chutney then sprinkle it with masala – and VOILA. Or you can skip the chutneys.  These braziers looked so inviting in the dark with their glow from the coals.

Glowing coals of roasted sweet potatoes (Shuker kandi)

Roasted Chestnuts (Singhara)

Shuker kandi by night

Another shuker kandi vendor with Rob giving the delectables the once over;
note the little round lemons decorating the display

We headed to the dhaba for dinner. This dhaba is actually two dhabas, side by side. One is called Brothers Dhaba, and the other is called the same thing, only in Punjabi.  In the past, there was only one dhaba, run by both brothers. But I guess they had a falling out, so one of them opened his own dhaba RIGHT NEXT to the original. Funny. We all ordered the famous Amritsar kulcha which was as delicious as promised, though Seguinder, with a belly full of tikki, though the kulchas were heavy. They WERE filling, for sure. I saved one of mine for the drive home.

Amritsar Kulcha

I found out this morning that we have three marketing trips net week. Don/t know where we are going next!

Hansi

November 25, 2014 -- The Things you see

Yesterday I saw the BEST thing.

Just as we were nearing the school in our vehicle, we passed a man pulling his brahma bull along by a rope.  Over the bull was a beautiful blanket to keep it warm, but the blanket had been actually TAILORED to exactly fit the hump - just like you might have a cover for you toaster, or your food processor.  So there was the "hump cosy " - cut and sewn decoratively to perfectly fit the hump - from which the rest of the blanket fell gracefully over the animal.   I did not have time to snap a picture, and am just KICKING myself about that.  How kind was that man to make such a warm, lovely garment for his beast of burden.  It went beyond functional to "styled" and actually decorated - and I can imagine that man telling the tailor how he wanted that blanket to look.

So many things to admire about this country.

Hansi

November 24, 2014 -- Flour Mill and Aloo Tikki

Hi there all,

Vinod, a guy who drives with us every day (Principal of another of our schools at CGI) got into the car one night with a huge bagful of wheat he had been given by a student (farm family).  He told us he would get it ground into flour.  We thought, “Yeah, right.  That’ll be convenient!”

We told him we thought that might be more trouble than it was worth to which he replied, “Oh, there is a mill very close to my house,” and Harpreet agreed with him.  We were skeptical.

Well, it turns out that once you start looking for flour mills, they keep popping up everywhere. In fact, on our walk over to Phase 5 yesterday, we discovered one right in the thick of things. By golly! Now that I know this, if someone offers me a big bag of wheat, I’m going to accept it!

In Phase 5 we found Amrit Bakery.  This is a large modern bakery shop with sweets (not just Indian sweets) and savory things.  It also has a dairy case with milk, yogurt and some cheese, but I think only processed cheeses by Amul Dairy here.   At the back of the store was a large counter full of many different cookies, and low and behold, staring me in the face, were dark brown crinkle ginger cookies.  Oh goodie.  Sometimes, looks can be deceiving, so we asked to taste one, and yes, it was up to my high standards – very spicy almost hot ginger taste, reminiscent of the great ginger cookies laced with candied ginger that we used to be able to buy.  So we said we would take a half kilo, which turns out to be two giant bagsful of ginger cookies.  Good grief!  I have been craving gingerbread [which I cannot make without a) an oven and b) molasses] but now I don’t have to as the cookies suffice.

The quantity is not going to be a problem.  We took two jars to work today to share with friends, and…Milo has found what’s left, in the drawer.  They won’t last long.

After work tonight on the drive home we were talking food.  Harpreet said, “Shall we stop in Phase 7 and get aloo tikka?”  Now Rob wrote in June about going with Harpreet to this street vendor to have aloo tikka – basically a potato cake – cooked outside on a nearly flat wok.  This is another kind of chaat or street snack.

So we stopped, found the guy busily at work and ordered 6 -  one each for Harpreet, Rob, me, and Aman, our driver, plus two take-out for Milo and Harpreet’s dad.  I will attach pictures.  These went well beyond any potato cake I have ever had, and could be one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten (well, this week, at least).  Start with two crispy (on the outside) potato cakes, crumble papri - a crisp fried flour disc (or papdi - not sure if there is a difference) on top, then spoon on plenty of tamarind chutney, then yogurt, then green chutney made of coriander leaves .  Don’t forget a handful of thinly sliced onion.  Voila!  Aloo tikka!  Harpreet says this guy comes to that spot every evening at 5 and sells tikka until 8 pm or whenever he runs out – and he sells out every night, so you do not dare get there too late. 

Aloo Tikka almost ready

The finishing touches

Aloo Tikka--Yummy!

Hansi

P.S. I forgot to mention that in a case in front of the Amrit Bakery were several goodies for purchase.  Two that amused me are the pasta roll and pasta pizza both of which I imagine would be a dietician's worst nightmare.  Probably delicious.  Heck, you could always serve lots of greens on the side, right?

November 22, 2014 -- Kalagram Cultural Event

We went to a huge cultural event here on Sunday - on for a week - which features handicrafts and clothing from all the states of India as well as food stalls serving up traditional dishes from each of these areas. 

We decided to try a couple of things from the Gujarati stall - a little hesitantly - and both were delicious.  It is surprising how different the spices and dishes can be from state to state.  We had a big stuffed chili pepper called murchi bhajji - full of potatoes and gram flour then battered and deep-fried (with the little stem sticking out one end).  We also had kachauri - a stuffed thick patty-shaped thing (deep-fried, so crispy on the outside) which I believe was stuffed with moong dal (lentils) After purchase, the top  was  broken open by the seller (of course, with his thumbs) who then spooned tamarind chutney and mint/coriander chutney into the hole. Very good indeed.  

Gujarati stall at festival

Many, many stalls had hand-crafted items from all over India – purses, shoes, kurtas, saris, rugs, shawls, etc.   Sort of overwhelming , ( and ALSO, we had neglected to go to the Bank Machine before reaching the Event),  so bought very little.  However, we enjoyed the cultural aspect of the Mela (means Fair, ) – Rajasthani puppet show, dancers from the Punjab, Assam, Rajasthan, etc. 

No pony rides here

One man  (also from Rajasthan) was dancing around in a ring to the sound of flute and drum– wearing a highly decorated horse body (no Silly, not a real horse) I would have loved to own that horse suit.  I will attach a few  pictures of the Kalagram Fair. 

We have been searching for a cribbage board in any store that looks promising – since I got here.  We bought a deck of cards but the actual cribbage board is not to be had (nor understood, to be honest)  Today, Rob and I made one of the homeliest cribbage boards ever fashioned, but bear in mind that we have no tools here,  and no stationery supplies either without hoofing up to the little shop near  us and desperately trying to make them understand what we need.  It turns out that staples are called “pins” here and rulers are called “scales.”  Today’s purchase, push pins, are referred to as “drawing pins”   We’re learning . . . 

Homemade Cribbage Board

We walked down to sector 5 to mail a parcel this afternoon.  That gave us an opportunity to pass the auto market which is just a series of storefronts – none much wider than a roll-front door - in a row(basically the whole block)  which are dedicated to fixing cars and scooters.  There are no garages – just the sidewalk and curb – so mechanics are deconstructing motors or painting cars right out to the street so that to pass, one has to go out into the traffic to get by.  Tools are laid out on the ground, oil pans, grease rags, mechanics, waiting auto- owners, - dozens of each of these things crowd that whole block.  Serious industry at work there.

Curbside touch-up paint while you wait

Curbside car repair

Curbside motorcycle repair

Outdoor motorcycle repair

We had to stop to take a picture of the “ speaker car” which had gone past our house this morning but was still driving up and down  the main street blaring its message this afternoon.  Many, many years ago, I remember that messages were delivered to neighbourhoods by speaker car, but of course, none that looked like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv4U_NxRXPs&feature=youtu.be

   Proselytizing Rickshaw

I surely have mentioned the dyers who set up shop on a street corner.  All they need is a fire, a big pot and their box of powered dyes.  People bring them articles of clothing to dye – usually dupattas to match a lady’s Punjabi suit or curtains etc.  These dyers are amazingly accurate matching a desired colour.  I have already  told about getting the pillowcases dyed some time ago, but I just had to stop on my way past today to snap a picture.  The finished work gets hung up on a clothesline to dry.

Street Corner Dyer

Hansi

November 22, 2014 -- Phase 7 Market

Hi all

I've just acquired a new video editor (Apple QuickTime Pro) which takes the HUGE video files from my iPhone and compresses them down to a reasonable size for uploading to YouTube. Try the link below and let me know how it works out:

http://youtu.be/UjV5SinIaFg

FYI: This is a huge fruit and veggie market which sets up every Thursday and Sunday in a field in Phase 7 - a 20-25 minute walk from us down the main drag (Sarovar Path aka Cricket Stadium Road) where all of our other shops are lined up. There are also vendors selling spices (big burlap bags full), vegetable oils, jilebis, popcorn, cookies, crisps, samosas and other sundries.

The video captures a little of the sense of the market which is a cacophony of visual delight with a strong audio track! The vendors tend to group according to their wares: mountains of tomatoes, heaps of bananas, stacks of apples, red carrots, green beans, mangoes a-go-go and all of the other items Hansi has mentioned. Aside from certain staples (potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, carrots, eggplant and the like) the market has delectable seasonal goodies which is what makes it such a treat. Last summer mangoes (many, many varieties - same as we have with apples or peaches) were everywhere. Now we're seeing lots of apples, oranges, tangerines, peanuts, green beans, cauliflower, bitter gourd - the list is long and our enjoyment of it all is great.

Competition is keen so the vendors are hawking the virtues of their wares at full voice - gotta love it. When we come across a fruit or vegetable that we don't recognize, there's always a customer to ask and help out since the vendors, by and large, don't speak English. The same applies for prices, although we can usually get the drift by holding up fingers - everything is sold by the Kg (all kinds of weigh scales, accuracy questionable but what the heck, right?). Sometimes people will just stop and tell us what the price should be because us "foreigners" might be overcharged (ya think?). Actually that's unfair to say - by and large I'd say we pay the same as everyone else.

When it comes to auto-rickshaw fares that is definitely NOT the case, however. Typically the initial fair quote is more than 2-3 times what an Indian would pay. We bargain down to about 2 times what the fare should be and then pay the full fare anyway when we add in a tip. Example: In Sector 17 which is about 10kms from our apartment in sector 3B2, an Indian would pay 80-90 rupees:

"How much to 3B2?"

"200 rupees."

"No way, we'll pay 100."

"Not possible, 180 only."

"No, no, still way too much."

"OK, 150."

"Nope, we'll ask this other driver" (as we walk away).

"No, no. 120."

"All right" (we agree reluctantly and hop in).

Twenty-five minutes later after a wonderful ride through the traffic, which is up and personal in a rickshaw, we arrive and give the driver 200 rupees anyway (I know, I know but it's the principle of the thing and it's only about $4).

Rob