Hanuman Temple, Samode

Indians who take Hinduism seriously spend a lot of time at it. I guess one of the reasons might be because there are few set times to visit temples, few rituals in which one is guided, and well, spending time at whatever activity is just something Indians like to do. Buying something from a shop is rarely a simple experience, if the shopkeeper sees you as a customer as having any potential worth whatsoever tea will be ordered and drunk together, and everything from your family to (of course) cricket will be discussed.

Visiting a Hindu temple is not entirely different, although there are subtle differences. The first would be the time taken to actually reach the temple, particularly in rural areas. In the hills surrounding Samode, temples are located at the top of ridges where no roads have ever been built, and no people have ever lived. You can arrive at these temples by taking any of 3-4 paths which start from villages at the bottom of the hills, and there isn’t any other way up but to walk. The walk isn’t taken as an inconvenience, rather it is part of the journey of preparing yourself to enter the temple. In Rajasthan, walking will start early to avoid the killer sun, which is at its most intense on top of those mountains, and will start making you heat up after about 8 am.

On our visit to Hanuman (the monkey god, sorry for the crude representation this word conveys) Temple, probably the most visited in the surrounds of Samode, we started out at about 5:30am from stairs located near Samode Palace (probably the reason most tourists end up here, a luxury hotel built into the ancient walls of the city- which receives coaches of package tourists each week at the moment, and is apparently full in the high season). As is becoming the norm somewhat here in India, I had heard some kind of rumour that either I misinterpreted or was simply false- that you had to climb 1200 stairs to reach the temple. At least this would be bearable when it was still cool in the morning. It didn’t take that long though- and we found out later that it was a much more modest 376. The real delight in reaching Hanuman for me though, was the walk across the top of the hills which separate Samode valley from the surrounding plains. The path stays on top of the mountains for the whole way, only dipping into a few valleys where rivers run in the monsoons. Legend has it that the path (which is constructed of stones of varying hues of red from the mountains themselves) was built by a devoted pilgrim who vowed not to set foot inside the temple until this path was complete. This is a recent legend, by the way, the wife of Dhananjay my work colleague claiming to have seen this man when she was young. He apparently lived on donations given by people who walked to the temple, and he died before the path was completed.

Pilgrims construct models of houses out of rocks on the path so that their future building projects might be blessed 

Today the few choice trees that are on the mountain tops are located next to the path, and there are bird feeders and water hung in bowls from its branches. That means that especially early in the morning your walk is accompanied by the amazing variety of birds that frequent the hills of Samode at their most active and tuneful. The air is also very still, there being no one else around and little noise carrying up from the early-rising tractor drivers in the valley below. Add to that the changing colours of the rocks as the sun brightens and you have the perfect combination for preparing yourself to enter a religious temple and begin some self-contemplation.

The arrival at the temple itself gets you immediately familiar with its mascots- a few hundred Langoor monkeys which are hanging out on the rock face which is on the other side of the valley from the temple, plus some of the braver/hungrier ones swinging over the crevasse via the telephone wires.

The entrance into the temple takes you past a few small shops mainly selling Prashads (gifts for the gods- mainly Indian sweets and flowers) and a few breakfast and tea stalls. The normal practice is you bring something with you into the temple, leave some and hand the surplus over to your friends after your visit (Most of them are far too rich in sugar, and inedible by humans anyway ;-) The inside of temple itself is nothing extraordinary in terms of Hindu temples- a large idol of Hanuman- bright orange, and brightly coloured walls with shiny mirrors and reflective colours along with paintings from the life of Hanuman and the current gurus responsible for ensuring his honouring. Notable is a split-level that enables you to sit and contemplate Hanuman without being in the thoroughfare of people doing the same.

Our visit was a little inauspicious as it coincided with the day after one of the ‘lucky days’ to get married in the Hindu calendar, which meant that we had a constant procession of newlyweds accompanied by various groups (some of singing women) entering the temple. I tried to get rid of some of my super-sweet “gifts to the gods” but it was refused on the grounds that the groom was fasting (or at least that’s the excuse he came up with).

Our visit was followed by a breakfast of Cachori (sp?) in a spicy soup and some chai, and then we said good-bye to all the new Langoor mothers (almost every one had a newborn- there must be *something* good going on around the temple) and headed back before the day started heating up (i.e. before 8am ;-)

Some friendly donkeys on our trip back down

Photos from Jaipur


Gernot and I spent an afternoon taking a whirlwind trip through some of the sights of Jaipur, Rajasthan. Here is a selection of the best photos.

In front of Janta Manta (Indian observatory)

Near the lucky Elephant- City Palace

Detail of doors from City Palace

 Spring door- City Palace

 Pink City Markets

 Haba Mahal

 Jal Mahal (Water Palace)

Block dying 

 Birla Temple

 Sari shop

 Jaipur Markets

Exercise Book maker

Hindu Gods

I’m sure you have at least heard of the religion of Hindu before, so you’ve probably also heard the standard lines thrown along with it: 350 million different gods, reincarnation, gurus, etc. Most people who know only that much treat it as a bit of a novelty- cows, monkeys, elephants and rats as holy creatures; elephant-man, monkey-man, seven armed women as gods. It does prepare you a little for my interpretation of Hindu: That it’s extremely bloody confusing.

I read a little of the background of Hindu before I came, so at least I had heard of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. And I’m Catholic, so I had an idea of the different incarnations of God, depending on what was attempting to be represented. So I appreciated that these gods come in different incarnations, those incarnations revealing a little about their personality and therefore about man’s personality (As I have had explained to me by my boss, the gods are simply different incarnations of man and his virtues and vices).

So now I’ve had the chance to visit a couple of temples, each dedicated to one god or another (I think I’ve seen two of Shiva (or two different incarnations of), 1 Ganesha and perhaps 1 Brahm. The temples have been wildly different: one is next to our current fertilizer production site, with a big Ganesh on entry, who isn’t the real Ganesh- he’s around the corner; one was in Jaipur, where they were preparing an amazing amount of food for a festival in the afternoon- the idol was removed, which is why I can’t be sure who it was for- is it rude to ask them to repeat it more than once?; one was a huge marble structure for the “Shiva family”? built by wealthy industrialists (can I still say that in 2011?) and adorned by statues of the apostles, Mohammed, Buddha and Einstein; and the last was what I visited today, a complex of temples all dedicated to different Gods, but the main one being to the goddess riding the lion (again, an incarnation of Shiva?) and off to the corner a black version of Shiva carrying her trident.

Now I have had these temples and the purpose of the bells and offerings explained to my enquiring brain several times, but it still hasn’t stuck. I think I struggle with ANY terms of reference for these religious practices; but they really aren’t that different to other forms of devotion I had seen; prostration on the ground; prayers to the gods; ringing of bells and drums; and offerings (some of which are blessed and taken back to the family to eat). I guess perhaps the thought of having to remember which of the gods to pray for at which time I think I would find extremely confusing- and surely there’s some grey areas… When you are hoping for success- is that lucky Ganesh or the powerful Shiva?- for example. And then you need to choose which of the local Ganesh temples to go to- which one is more in touch with the gentle elephant? I don’t even want to think about remembering which of these temples have which gods in them (perhaps they’re signposted in Hindi).

I’m learning little by little- I got the story of why Ganesh receives the first wedding invitation of every couple the other day- but this might be something I can only reach a basic level of ignorance in after a year in India.

It’s true!- Delhi can be relaxing

Just because blogs are sometimes meant to be sources of *useful* information, and because I am in need of some myself, I have decided to compile a list of nice places to go and relax in Delhi. Not the sights, because they have been well-documented in hundreds of guidebooks and on the web, but more nice places to go to see something that perhaps isn’t there and (especially important for people living and working here) help you chill out a little.

Sitaram Bazar/ Chandi Mahal

Sometimes you want to see some part of Delhi that is authentic, yet not be hounded by rickshaw drivers, punched by street kids or secretly groped by passing strangers (I was with Anne and Carmen when we went there, I didn’t get groped myself ;-). It is still packed in sections, but doesn’t have that threatening air of the really crowded markets nearer to the tourist sights. It seemed as if not many people walk through here, and the “hellos” were genuine rather than seeing if you expressed any sort of interest to warrant a further probing of your current marital status.

You enter near the southern exit from Jama Mosque, and wind your way approximately south-east to exit somewhere near the Delhi Stock Exchange at Delhi Gate.

The Bazar is made up of shops that are more like those closer to Jama Mosque; “Old Currency Exchanges” (we were presuming from old Pakistani currency), Chapatti shops with queues of men waiting to be thrown a spare one, live goats and chickens awaiting instant slaughter, and the wonderful artistic creation that is power cabling in the inner city. Nothing too remarkable, but it felt nice to be able to see it at a pace that we could set, without worrying about what was happening behind us or around us.

Raj Ghat/ Shanti Sthal

We only made it to two of the shrines to Mahatma Ghandi and his grandson(?) Ravi, but this park stretches for a good few blocks more northward. What it is is a large, well-watered green area especially at Shanti Sthal, with lots of shady trees. There are a few people walking around but really a tenth of what you’ll find in the centre of Old Delhi even on a Sunday, which makes for a nice rest if it’s too hot or the crowds have got too much for you. We spent a couple of hours just sitting before we had to go, and it would most definitely be a spot I will go back to between seeing sights in the old part of the city.

Manju ka Tila

Another area that seems to defy the noise and heat of Delhi is this quarter, originally that of Tibetan people’s in exile, and still home to a small community today. It’s not easy to reach, but you should be able to get an autorickshaw from Vidhan Sabha Metro for about Rs20, and the bicycle rickshaws would be even cheaper. You’ll see the Tibetan prayer flags as you approach, both on the top of the buildings and across the pedestrian overpass.

Inside the height of the buildings mean that the noise of the nearby Ring Road and the heat seem to be shut-out, creating the illusion that you really are walking down the streets of a Tibetan city block. Naturally there are lots of traditional and not so traditional Tibetan handicrafts for sale, the shops functioning as tourist outlets as well as places for the inhabitants to buy their everyday needs.

I need to say it again, the relaxed nature of the atmosphere (not a single shop-owner even attempted to get us interested in buying something), makes it a great place to take a relaxing walk while the chaos of Delhi bubbles outside. Of course most people like Tibetan handicrafts as well, and some of the books with their hand-made covers looked pretty attractive. There are some restaurants serving Tibetan food (don’t ask me what that normally is, but the chicken Momos at Peace House tasted pretty good, and there is at least one Internet Café that serves good coffee, according to our ‘guide’ Jakob.

Relaxing Delhi- we found it and managed to spend pretty much the whole day doing it…

The loneliness of a long-distance worker

This isn’t going to be a lament to how difficult it can be arriving in a new country as someone who is expected to fit right into a new environment and how in the time spent outside that environment- geared as it is mostly around work- it can be difficult to adjust to living a ‘normal’ lifestyle (at least I am conscious that it shouldn’t turn into that ;-). Its purpose is more to try and articulate something that I was struggling with today and that I tried to articulate to my fellow colleagues (who are practically my only social contact at present).

I guess I could sum it up best by saying that beginning a new long-term job in an alien country for a small company makes it hard to quickly find and get into a, ahem, life-rhythm (I told you I was trying to articulate it today, obviously coining terms to define abstract concepts is not my strong point). One of the hardest things is that you practically start from square one when you arrive. You know very little about how simple things operate in the country- how people buy their vegetables, what the deal with phone contracts are, how the public transport system operates. Sometimes these things are close enough to what you know to make the transition simple, but most often they aren’t. There are of course ways of making the transition a little easier, as in most countries there exists some “western” equivalent: think shopping malls, and taxis for two of the above examples- I can’t think of one for the mobiles. What I’m trying to say is that these things can be solved, but they aren’t really long-term solutions. They are also a long way removed from what the locals would do, which is another reason for trying to avoid these easy solutions and “do what the locals would do”.

That’s certainly what I attempt to do as soon as I arrive in a new country- I find it helps me fall into the afore-mentioned rhythm much quicker, and achieve one of the goals of working in a “developing” country (although don’t try and tell Indians that their country is still a developing one- they’ll point you towards the number of millionaires/billionaires and the fact that two of the richest 10 men in the world are Indians, and heads of giant corporations). That goal, at least for me, is to find the positive differences from the life you are used to, and embrace them. That’s a little difficult when your daily rhythm includes as many things about home as possible. One, it’s is hard to maintain when the rest of the society lives differently, and secondly, it’s a little artificial.

Perhaps describing my personal situation would help the understanding a little easier. I tried in vain to find a bedroom in a house or apartment that was already inhabited by a few others- like a share-house. The reason being that I thought it would take care of things like I mentioned above- how do to some of the everyday things that make life a little simpler, without having to ring someone up or bother the landlord. Those requests are part of any natural learning process in a new city- but made more difficult when you don’t have someone available there to answer them. Secondly, purely for the added company at the end of a work day, sitting down to eat together once in a while- look, I don’t have to explain to you the advantages/disadvantages of share-housing, but perhaps you can understand how they are a little more valuable when moving to a new city in a new country. At the very least you have an instant circle of acquaintances, and most of the time it doesn’t take long before you can call at least some of them friends. The situation that you all find yourselves in makes that transition much easier.

For whatever reason that didn’t work out, and I know now that that *function* that a share-house would have provided is basically what I am missing at the moment. Moving into a new flat means you start from scratch. I at least have some furniture, but nothing else. No food, no cleaning stuff, not enough power points, some utensils, etc. It’s not a living area at the moment, it’s a hotel room. Even when you head off to the supermarket, you are trying to buy things as if starting a life from scratch- you of course have not sugar, flour, oil, salt; but also no spices, tea, coffee, washing up liquid, washing up sponges, mop, broom, tea towel… etc. And you get perhaps one or two chances to do this shopping because of course you’re also working. It doesn’t sound too much- and it really isn’t, but… let me try another tack.

Here the cooking is done with gas, and that means getting a gas bottle. My gas bottle I left half-open (half-open means open at the bottle attachment, off at the stove, and it leaks) when I was away for the last week, and all the gas ran out. So I needed to get it changed. So, what do I do? Landlord problem? I guessed yes, so I asked him (he lives below me). He, probably wanting to avoid doing any more work than possible, told me to ask my boss, who now conveniently for him, lives only a few houses away. Or he said you could just go down the market and get it filled. But the market is a couple of km’s away, and I don’t really want to carry a gas bottle that far. Besides, the market’s a big place, and I have no idea where the fill station is. And isn’t there someone to do these kind of jobs? I’ve seen motorbikes loaded with about 6 gas bottles at the same time, putting from house-blocks to get filled. Can’t I just get one of those numbers and call them up? Here’s the crux of what I’m trying to say. Everyone knows that this *can* be simply done- so as a simple job they don’t pay too much attention to my concern that I *need* it done. But they also don’t tell me how I can do it simply myself- they either want to do it for me (but don’t have the time right now), or they tell me to ask someone else (which I guess I have to do every time I need a simple job done). And even if they do have the time today, what happens the next time I need the same thing done- ask them to do it again? Just tell me how to do it once, give me a phone number, direct me to the shop, and I can take care of it this time, and the next twenty times.

So a simple job gets a little more complicated, just because I don’t have this knowledge on how to get things done. It’s not a big deal, and this isn’t a complaint, it’s simply trying to give you an idea of how this feels to me at the moment. It’s not allowing me to get into a rhythm of living, and that makes me uncomfortable. That was it is- some discomfort, nothing more.

A conveyor or a winch?

Before I get into today’s trivia question, just one thing I feel needs to be addressed. I’m currently sitting in the lobby (to use a flattering word for what is basically the entrance door) of the Maharaja Hotel here in Samod watching what apparently passes for cricket nowadays, the Indian Premier League. So here’s my confusion- I’ve seen approximately 20 people that are obviously of European origin during my time here in India. That’s 20 out of 1.2 billion people- a pretty small percentage. However, apparently this percentage makes up 100% of the available cheerleading stock in India- given that the only cheerleaders you ever see at the IPL games are quite obviously not of- well let’s just say Indian ancestry, at least.

So today’s trivia question is one that I’m sure has baffled many a Business Strategy Manager across this little blue planet of ours- what is the most efficient way to get 300kg of harvested worming compost from the harvesting field to a sieve that separates saleable material from rubbish or bulk material?

Firstly you may well be asking- what the hell has that question got to do with Business Strategy anyway? Well, I hopefully can put it this way- part of the strategy in this business involves producing fertilizer, and that means that someone has to answer these questions. Given the current lack of availability of fertilizer production consultants- the responsibility then has to fall on someone. That someone basically means, to a large extent, me.

Here’s your basic sieve (lovingly drawn for your appreciation in Office Impress). It takes raw harvested composted material, shakes around a bit and only passes the finer material through a metal sheet with ½ cm holes cut into it. Larger material slides along the screen and falls off the end. The sieve weighs a ton (literally) and needs the input to flow onto the highest point. We don’t know at the moment how fast we can pour material onto the sieve for to work at its most efficient, but we’re estimating something like 20kg every 2 minutes.

The problem, then, is that raw input is being harvested at a site anything from 20-150m away from where the sieve is located. The output of the sieve needs to be packed into wondrous bags of Miracle fertilizer, and that packing area needs to be static, so moving the sieve really isn’t an option. The challenge then, quite simply, is to get the material from a harvesting site that can vary to the sieve. And a constant flow of material at that to keep the sieve working at maximum capacity.

A few things had to change then. We solved the varying location by getting a little motorized tuk-tuk that can be loaded at the harvesting site before driving to the sieve. Now you might be able to see the issue- we need to get the 300kg of material from a height of about 50cm into the sieve (at a constant rate) at a height of 1.5m. Simple problem, right? So we came up with several ideas.

A ramp seems like the simplest and cheapest solution, but tuk-tuks are normally not built to take 300kg, and trying to drive one to 1.5m off the ground would mean either an infinitely long ramp ;-) or a more powerful tuk-tuk, i.e. there were serious doubts if the tuk-tuk would make it.

A conveyor would allow us to unload the tuk-tuk a little bit away from the sieve (at a point more central to where we were harvesting) and with a decent enough design would allow us to unload the harvested material by just pushing it out of the tuk-tuk and having it “flow” onto the input of the conveyor. They’re not too expensive (about $400 for 8m) and would mean a constant input flow to the sieve. The most expensive solution (intuitively) and the least flexible- although the input we can tinker with a bit.

Then it was time for the creative solution- some kind of “bin” that the tuk-tuk can easily dump material into, but that we could easily then lift up to the height of the sieve and shovel the material in. Our solution was a joint creative effort- we have a “catcher at ground height or at least with sides no higher than the tuk-tuk floor, and then we find a way of lifting it up (either by a winch system or counterweights) and then the material is pushed out or slides out when it’s at 1.5m off the ground.

Pretty cool, huh? Of course there is a little problem contained in that simple word “lifting”. How do you lift almost half a tonne of material 1.5m off the ground? Using the best of my mechanical engineering memory (i.e. practically none) we came up with a few ideas. Didn’t I learn something about pulley systems that allowed you to lift lots of weights even if you were a bit of a weakling? Couldn’t we use a balance system and a counter-weight? What about a winch- they can do pretty amazing things with relatively little engineering right?

So after trying to conceptualise how this would work in our heads, we decided we didn’t want too many 300kg counter-weights jumping up and down around where people would be constantly working with the sieve- might result in some nasty stubbed toes. The winch seemed like the natural choice- basically doing a similar ratio transfer of a pulley, but stronger and simpler to operate (those wires were going to have to be fairly large through the pulleys- probably?) But who knew about making winches to lift a half tonne “bin” off the ground? Someone in Chomu apparently, who showed us a nice little system with a simple two cog pulley driving a steel wire reel to go up, with a safety catch to stop the thing from freewheeling back down, and a brake for when the bin had been unloaded. Almost perfect. Of course then we asked him the price he wanted for this thing- which turned out to be about 3x that that we were quote for the conveyor… :-/ So all this design work, a system that wasn’t quite as good as the conveyor, but I was pretty proud of how close we got… all for the bargain price of $1200.

Back to the… well, back to the conveyor manufacturer.

“Market” research

Another perfect mild night in Samod, Rajasthan, the lightest of breezes blowing as we debate whether the big lizards catching insects under the lights qualify as authentic geckos or not.

I am recovering from learning about the definition of “cool and refreshing” to your average Indian. I purchased some “cool and refreshing” Jaljeera drink mixes at one of the single-cigarette vendor stalls; it looked like a “cool and refreshing” lemony kind of drink. The instructions also said you could add “more lemon” as required, so it sounded somewhat promising. It ended up, however, tasting like the equivalent of a curried egg dissolved in cold water, which was as difficult to finish as it sounds. I guess I should have been warned when I thought someone had farted after I opened the packet, but it was in fact just the smell of the spices that make up the concoction that is Jaljeera. Therefore the next 15 minutes that I spent trying to down said pickled egg also involved trying to decipher what this drink could possibly have to do with “cool and refreshing”. Certainly not much to do with my idea of refreshing which would have been the equivalent of the lemon thing I thought I was getting. It was some relief to learn that refreshing to an Indian means some sort of stomach refreshment rather than that to the palate…

Today falls under the category of why I love (and hopefully some would be bold enough to say ‘thrive’) working in a small, dynamic organisation so much: being in the position to do things you wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to do. Of course it helps when that small organisation is based in a small town in Rajasthan, India, and the opportunity involves something that would probably only happen in a few select areas of the world.

GreenOil are currently attempting to step up their marketing of their (ahem) revolutionary nano-tech vermi-compost, and that means trying to get their product into the minds of the average farmer in the surrounding area. So how do you do that?

Well, farmers have different time-clocks to the rest of us. They start work early (most of them before the sun comes up), even when they are doing something that doesn’t require them doing that, like transporting their produce to sell in the main vegetable market. So how do you work out how best to communicate your message to them? Well, unfortunately for those of us with those different time-clocks responsible for working out *how* to communicate that message, it means getting up with them and going to the same place they go- the main vege market.

Unfortunately getting up at 4:15am meant also relying on our compatriots to do the same, and we didn’t get to the market until about 6:00am. Kind of luckily, however, it was the day after a full moon. Why was that lucky? Because (and this is either partially accurate or complete bullshit, depending on which of my colleagues you talk to) according to Rajasthani Hindu belief, a full moon marks the time when the ghosts of your ancestors decide to pay you a return visit, and they don’t want to see you conducting any type of business when they drop by. So it meant that the market was ‘closed’ or that only 20% of the normal business was being conducted inside it. So it gave us a chance to walk around and see how a farmer might be fed the GreenOil Karishma (it means ‘Miracle’!) message.

How do you feed a Rajasthani farmer a message about miracles? A damn good question, and one that we are attempting to answer thusly: You plaster is on as many unused spots inside the market as possible, putting up banners, posters and you paint any unused bits of concrete. You “sponsor” the Chai stall (although my idea of having the stall guy make free Chai for every farmer was overturned- apparently you don’t give anyone free stuff in India because then they don’t value it- sounds vaguely familiar?… ;-) I can recommend his Chai if you’re even in the neighbourhood though)

So that’s our strategy- we are offering to make free signs for the wholesalers who buy vegetables as long as that sign can include our logo (kind of like the way Coke sponsors small take-aways), sweetening the deal by putting a picture of the wholesaler on it (after all, who would lose interest in a poster with them on it right?). We will go banner-crazy and paint every blank or decrepit wall. My “market” research involved trying to identify all lines of sight that I could in the market to work out which wholesalers we needed to approach. Whenever those stray cows get out of the way- you’ll see a Greenoil Karishma logo subliminally changing your obsession with chemical fertilizers ;-P

An early start and our whole Marketing strategy was decided by about 2pm- I’ll let you know how it goes next week. I presume you can tell I’m still loving it here…

Oh and BTW, anyone with any ideas on how to promote a new, unproven (at least from the farmer’s point of view) composting fertilizer to relatively receptive (and by receptive I mean willing to try new methods that will improve their productivity) is more than welcome to leave a comment.

Chalo!

Delhi Vocabulary

Today has been a tough day- I’ve either eaten something dodgy or completely hit a wall energy-wise, and if it’s the latter that doesn’t bode well for 358 more days (approximately) of the same sort of stuff. I trekked into Old Delhi today despite feeling a little under the weather in the morning, and a ride on the Delhi Metro didn’t help my condition.

The centre of Delhi is one huge market- teeming with people going everywhere and doing everything, and this was on a Sunday, when most of it isn’t even open. It’s a real treat for the senses- if your senses like everything being completely shoved at them, up them, into them and onto them. Partly from this experience, I have decided to start a Delhi vocabulary, just to help you at home understand a few terms here.

The Delhi Symphony Orchestra can be appreciated from almost all over Delhi, but the vicinity of the Red Fort would have to be one of the best sites. The instruments are very similar, but they manage to cover most octaves to give an impressive performance. Once they start playing in time it’s hard to stop their building crescendo. (I hope to add a sample here later)

A Delhi shampoo is free, it doesn’t need water, or for you to be taking a shower for that matter. It’s a perfectly natural process that is experienced simply while walking the streets. After only a day your hair will feel stiff and knotted, like it has been fixed there by a kind of “dust gel”.

The Delhi Indian “head wobble” is a sign from your Indian counterpart that sends a clear signal or yes, maybe or no, depending on what they happen to mean at the time. Most of the time this movement seems to mean that they don’t actually understand what you’ve asked them.

The other list that I feel compelled to start today is one of Indian strangers who have decided that I am the kind of guy who might be interesting to talk to.

Excluding the conversations I have had with rickshaw drivers trying to convince me that I need one of them despite me constantly repeating that it wasn’t going to happen for them today, there were two notables. (They were so notable that I can’t remember their names- this is also being written to try and improve my hit-rate in that department).

Short beardy was in front of the Red Fort, and wanted to know what I thought of Ricky Ponting.

Firstly I was accosted by Muslim father’s kids, who wanted a photo and then were disappointed that my camera couldn’t then print it out for them. They were “collectors of foreign money”, but apparently not of 1c euro coins, unless I gave them two, which I didn’t want to. So then they gave it (i.e. the one I would give them) back to me. Their father engaged me in a conversation for about half an hour, which was nice while sitting in Delhi’s biggest mosque. It was a Sunday, which means that everyone basically comes with their families and spends the day there, the kids running around, the women mainly talking, the men also. It certainly wasn’t as segregated as I have heard that Mosques normally are, and the dress from the women was certainly not too conservative, hardly any full burkas, many more saris than anything else. The women tourists were all given these gigantic floral dresses which made them stand-out like nothing else, and they probably were also the ones (like me) who got charged the Rs 200 “camera tax”, which of course was done without checking whether anyone had a camera- if you look like a whitey you get it. I guess if you knew what was going on and didn’t have one then you might be able to argue and not pay it. I won’t be next time I go back, to climb the tower that overlooks the city.

Anyway, back to Muslim father, a really reasonable guy, like to talk a lot about Allah and how I wasn’t going to heaven for not praying for mankind’s sins five times a day, but otherwise was trying his best to preach brotherhood for all men and not just Muslims. One of those talks that are interesting to have but can’t really go anywhere unless one of us changes our religious beliefs in that 10 minute opportunity.

Images from Samod, Rajasthan

Lobby of our "Palace" Hotel in Samod

View from the top of the sand-mining setup in Samod. The sand is silica rich and used to produce glass. It's got this wonderful change of colour to it as the afternoon sun sets.

One of the local attractions at the Samod "potentially married women" festival

View from our "palace" Hotel in Samod over the surrounding hills. GreenOil's power plant is slated to be built to the left of that mountain on the ridge.

Religious (Hindi) colours of Samod. You but these to approach the temple.

A cow sneaks a snack. Don't let this picture fool you into thinking this is normally tolerated.

One of the no-doubt millions of photos I will take from eager lookers-on. This is from the market in Chamu.

Freshly squeezed sugar-cane mixed with mint and salt. Mmmmmm....

Concluding business at the market in Chamu.

The local water-dispenser. She kept waving to me every time I went past so I asked if I could take her photo. The water is free, those on the side of the can are "donations" worth about 2c each.

Pride comes before the fall [07.04.2011]

As is perhaps too oft my wont, I got a little over-cocky. Not that anything went wrong today, in fact far from it- I got to meet the team at the GreenOil fertilizer business out in Samut, about 50km from Jaipur in Rajasthan today. I got a really solid introduction to all that they are doing, and even participated in some attempts at problem solving for the fertilizer production business. So why should I feel shitty?

I get the feeling I just went about it the wrong way. I wasn’t as inclusive as I should have been- and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing- and that’s why it’s a bad thing. I gave myself a stamp with them before really knowing what it is that they expect from me or how they can contribute to the success of GreenOil- and that’s what I’m ultimately there to try and get done. Sometimes it’s hard to walk away when you see that there’s a problem to be solved and little progress on the planning process for its implementation- but that’s precisely when you have to think about the future. If I solve it now, who will solve it when I’m not here? And that’s what I’m ultimately there to do… It’s even tougher when you look at the situation GreenOil are in at the moment. They need to generate revenue- and that means excitement from a buzz, solid sales and production plans. It’s crucial to their (our) success RIGHT NOW- and things need to be solved. It’s natural that you want to help to solve them. But not if that damages your ability to help them solve their long term problems, and that’s perhaps what I did today. I might have overstepped the mark and alienated myself. A little silly, but hard not to be caught up in the excitement of trying to solve things…

Certainly something to work on- and probably ask how much “damage” I have possibly done :-/

Enough about my problems though- let’s talk a little about what I saw today. GreenOil’s fertilizer production takes place in a field, which they oversee from a converted office/house. Raw materials come in from local suppliers (of banana leaves and elephant dung), and are arranged into composting rows. These rows are then “seeded” which earthworms which are “produced/ reproduced” on the premises and then the wondrous process of composting begins. After 60-90 days (a little variable at the moment) the compost is ready to be bagged and sold to surrounding distributors that service the farming community.

Sales are obviously key to GreenOil being able to generate revenue, which is of the highest importance at the moment. GreenOil are looking to become cash positive by the end of this year, and that requires the ramping up of sales within the next two months. Generating buzz for a new product is obviously one of the hardest sells, especially if it’s got to be a product that is good enough to warrant repeat sales. It’s not an impulse product, it’s got to convince people to try it and then it’s got to work. THAT’s GreenOil’s biggest challenge at the moment.

[10:37pm]

So I have just had a quick chat about my concerns with Anupam, my so far unbelievably great boss and CEO, and he thinks that my fears are unfounded today, and that experiencing a little resistance to my, ahem, personable attempts to get myself involved in everything as normal. Not to worry about it, but I will definitely keep it in mind.

Last note of the night comes from our walk after dinner. We leave a quite magnificent-looking hotel where we are staying for the night. Prashant, Anupam and I head right out a completely unlit road, passed by only a few vehicles. We’re in the countryside now, few houses, less lights, only the dim stars through a hazy sky. It’s slightly chilly, but still very pleasant. We turn left up a non-descript road, Anupam remarking on a hill we can make out the outline of, that he climbed once with his two children. They made it to “the lion’s nose” which is an outcrop that could kind of be called that if you have his sense of imagination ;-) Past this mountain we spot another smaller hill onto a sand-dune, marked by a tree on the horizon. “You see that?” he asks me, “That’s where I’m going to build my digester.” We climb, without torchlight over soft sand to reach a crest, from where we can see another slightly higher hill. There is the “lion” mountain to our right, and we can see back into the valley of Samod. There are only a few lights, and fewer sounds. The crickets are the only ones besides us out tonight. “Just beyond that next crest, that’s where our land will start. It’s 6 acres, and follows slow folds; up and down… up and down.” There is a village lit-up beyond, and it’s unbelievably surreal. Then we all lie down in the sand which has completely lost its heat from the day, and stare up at the sky. The surrealism is almost overwhelming. I’ve been in India… erm, not even 4 days. I’ve finally met with Anupam whose enthusiasm, knowledge and ideas have surpassed my expectations. I’ve been involved in discussions from the history to the future of the company, everything from organisational development possibilities to marketing Bio-Fertilizer to hard-to-pin-down farmers and retailers. Today I was trying to solve the possibilities of how the fertilizer packaging system can be ramped up from about 100 bags a day every month or so to 500 bags daily.

There’s a new challenge everyday, some of them I’m expecting, but most of them are seat of the pants stuff. I know it can’t stay this way, but I am absolutely loving it at the moment. I could give myself every task I’ve been exposed to so far and be deliriously happy for the next 6 months at least. The week’s almost over, dammit!

It's too good [06.04.2011]

I know this love affair can’t continue. Things are so obviously in the romantic stages at the moment and I can’t be seeing reality. All the signs are there. Wonder at everyday things like birds and flowers and cows. Ridiculous feeling of importance when doing routine things. A sense that you’ve been friends for ever when it’s been three days. An inability to see anything wrong with the other (apart from the chaotic driving). An absolute enchantment with the different flavours that she brings. Beautiful flowing garments that you can’t take your eyes off. Yes, I’m talking about a women and her name is Maharajah India.

It can’t be love, it’s only been three days. It must be some sort of strange enchantment that can only end in tears. It will end in burn-out, or some sense of perspective, surely. Maybe. But boy, I’m enjoying the ride so far.

This morning, our meeting on the organizational structure of GreenOil had to be slightly postponed, and was ‘transferred’ to another location. This mysterious location involved us creeping along the freeway at 10 kph while we looked for the “secret spot”. An emerging bum held some promise, but that wasn’t where we were meant to go. We simple reversed up the freeway and did a U-turn, finally pulling over in the emergency stopping lane behind some others who had just taken their dogs for a walk and were trying to shove the unwilling mutts back into their car. We locked ours and headed into a completely deserted park that I’m sure I would have felt weird going into on my own. Actually, “park” is a little too simple. It was more like a nature reserve, in that you walked a fair way and could see nothing but trees, even though the freeway was right next to it. While Dananjay explained the temple of some Indian deity or other to me (there are about 1000 for every day of the year, so I am told), our CEO appeared with a flip chart and a rug. We made our way to the main area of the park and as the only people there, had our pick of the available patches of grass to begin our “meeting”. Organizational Management has never been so picturesque.

That afternoon we convened at a local coffee shop with one of GreenOil’s advisers, Rajeev, and tried to trash out GreenOil’s marketing strategy for their fertilizer around Jaipur. Great process, interesting ideas and I learned a heap about things I may never understand, but I’ll be there soon enough (tomorrow, in fact!! yes, things are moving pretty quickly- you guessed that yet?). So let me break it down for you. We had to find the most reliable place where farmers in a village congregate. Our only reliable suggestion was the temple. It’s on a top of a hill and most of the farmers need to follow one of two routes to get there. Temples, however, need money to buy things to enable people to worship the deity. So we would look to sponsor the temple’s celebration primarily the Pradash (offerings) and flowers. Then we needed to work out how the message of our product could be integrated into this method. What better than hymns interspersed with ads for our fertilizer? What better indeed! Somehow we have to “close the buying loop” though- that was a trickier one. When they came down from their deity worship, how would we get them to follow-up with our product? Does it sound crass? This is India, boyo! And don’t you try and come between us- we’re in love.

Anything but work [05.04.2011]

So my fellow Delhi virgin offsider at GreenOil (Dananjay) must be wondering what he has got himself into. He has been officially appointed my chauffeur and Delhi tour guide to solve whatever little problems I might have. I feel a bit ridiculous, but I guess this is the only way we will get the things done at the moment. And it’s really great to be given the time to do them.

On my first afternoon in Delhi, we went, ahem, clothes shopping. I mentioned that I had refrained from bringing too many business clothes from Europe with me because I wanted to see what people here in India wore and recommended. Of course they wear completely Western clothes that anyone in Europe wears and that I could have bought with me from Germany (of course that is also assuming I have a large range of Western business-style clothes ;-) We spent a fair bit of time trying to find something that I actually thought fit me well and that I was happy enough with the price- I thought India was supposed to be cheap!- well it probably is but not at the deserted designer label shops in the mall, populated as they are by 10 different serving staff for the 5 customers that are in there.