Hello from Hematnagar

Jai shree krishna, That's another greeting I've learned since coming to Gujarat state from Rajasthan on Wednesday. Well, I told you we were going to Ahmedabad but I didn't know we'd be stopping in Hematnagar first. Had a nice visit with a family there - the host father was very interested in answering my questions. The host mother was very nice and an excellent cook, but did not speak English.

Gujarati is the language spoken in Gujarat state. Like Hindi, it comes from Sanskrit, but is printed differently and spoken differently. Evidently Hindi and Gujarati speakers can understand each other. I guess it's sort of like a Bostonian trying to understand a Mobilian??? - (that one's for you Tom and Britton)

In Hematnagar we visited a ceramic tile factory, which was very interesting. Though industry isn't high on my list of things to study, it was fascinating to watch ceramic tiles being made from beginning to end. The factory was extremely hot, and I hope OSHA doesn't plan on making an inspection any time soon...

Then we toured a dairy which is set up as an agricultural cooperative. The dairy manager told us that they employ about 300,000 dairy farmers throughout the Gujarat state which helps lift these families out of poverty. After overhead costs are paid, the rest of the company's profits go to these farmers. It's very philanthropic and the ice cream tasts great, too! They've just developed a new probiotic ice cream that is available now in the states - Chicago, he said.

That evening, our hosts took us to a rural trade fair which featured all kinds of products (plastics, cars, water purifiers), as well as rides like a ferris wheel and something called the Death Well. Actually, the Death Well isn't a ride, it's a daredevil stunt. The Death Well is a huge cone made of wood that stands 25-30 feet high, and is surrounded by metal scaffolding on which spectators stand. Inside the cone and at the bottom are motorcycles and cars. A motorcyclist gets on his bike, then rides up the cone and circles the cone continuously at a high rate of speed. And he goes around and around the cone, 30 feet above the ground, and about 2 inches from your head. Then, the car driver does the same. They speed around the cone, at an angle, for several minutes. Did I mention that they do this with no hands??!! There were many young people at the fair, school-age children and teens, and we Americans felt like rock stars. They followed us everywhere we went - it was like a scene from National Geographic or the Nightly News. They kept snapping pictures of us with their cell phones. I felt like Brad Pitt (we are cousins after all, right dad??) One kid said to another in Gujarati (which our host translated), "See, this is why you should learn English, so you can talk to the Americans."

Well, I'm off to the Rotary district meeting and am prepared to give my part of the presentation. I'm told that our audience today will be between 700-1,000 Rotarians. This is the largest group that I've ever spoken too, so I'm a little nervous. Thank-you for checking and posting comments. Great to hear from people back home.

More later, PW