Tuesday, February 25, 2014

A warm spring Tuesday

It seems like late spring here in Ludhiana for the past few days.  The day temperature is reaching 26 degrees Celsius with today being no exception.    We departed for the office early morning and got right into work.   We split the project into 3 parts and each one of us started working on their part.  By late lunchtime we realized that we have worked throughout the whole morning and one of our Bharti colleagues made sure to mention that we should have taken a chai brake.  We went for lunch to the usual spot which is the same as previous day.
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After lunch we continued our work and left the office at the end of the day.  There was some traffic disruptions today (CM visit?) and we were waiting a bit for our driver.  We asked to be dropped off at a super market on the way back.  There we bough educational aids, erasers, markers, crayons and candy for children at the schools we visited and also some things for the children taking part in the community service engagement this Friday.   We got back to the hotel and went out to eat at a local outdoor Dhaba.
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After the Dhaba I went to pick up my jacket and shirt, and then came back to the hotel.   Another late night, time to go to sleep as we have activities planned the rest of the week and weekend.
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Back in Ludhiana and at Bharti Foundation Office

This morning it was back to the project work at hand, and off to the office after a quick breakfast.  We arrived at the office and prepared for our meeting with the District Head, Mr. Bharatdeep.  We were presenting out current status and asking for some more answers and documentation.  We finished the presentation and went for a late lunch down the street for some local street food.  I had the paneer pizza which was quite good.  The meeting in the afternoon went well and we got further direction on our SOW (Scope of Work).  There was some recognition at the office today as an employee from finance was recognized with a special achievement award.  We got to take pictures together and also everyone in the office had pizza!!!  (wish I would have known this before lunch :-) .
After work there was a bit of a mix-up with the car and we didn't get back to the hotel until after 7pm.  Two other teams were already gone to an outing at the Brewmaster.  We met with those who remained in 711 and discussed the day, updated the blogs, and caught up on emails.  We also discussed the community service day which is this Friday.  We are all getting together and organizing an activities half-day for a local school.  There will be group events, competition, possibly some sports, and prizes for the children!
No pictures from today as the camera battery was dead and I did not take the camera to work.  But more coming soon!  Check out the other team blogs for some updates as well!

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Monday, February 24, 2014

The Beauty of Himachal Predesh

We got up early for an 8:30am breakfast.  We ate fast, packed, settled our bill at the hotel and departed for the rail station with a short stop at the post office.  We were taking the Shimla-Kalka train about half the way (3 hour journey).  Our van drivers were asked to pick us up in Solan when the train arrives there.  It turned out that we were split into 4 groups in 4 different coaches, but that was ok.  We boarded and train and departed for a spectacular ride through the Himalayan mountains.  The pictures speak for themselves.
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On the way back we stopped at Domino’s pizza, and then continued our way back to Ludhiana.
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During the end of the trip the gold medal hockey game between Canada and Sweden was ongoing.  We were tracking it on the phone, however when we returned to the hotel the ending of 3rd period was on the TV!!   We go to watch Canada win the gold medal in mens hockey!!  GO CANADA GO!!!
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Shimla

We woke up around 9am and headed to the restaurant upstairs for breakfast.  The breakfast was simple but good.
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Right after breakfast we got dressed and departed for a long trek to the Jakhoo Temple which was at the top of a mountain.
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There were many monkeys at the temple, ready to attack at any moment.  We toured the temple and came back down to the town.
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For lunch we went to the Wake and Bake cafe where we had some very delicious food.
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For dinner we went to a "bar" where everything was extremely spicy.
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DSCN0675DSCN0676We did some shopping and then headed back to the hotel where everyone right away got on "wi-fi" to alleviate the connection withdrawal symptoms.
That night we had lots of fun and everyone went to sleep exhausted after a very long day.
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