Thursday, February 26, 2009

Prelude to a Wedding and Conferences

February 4, 2009

We had an invitation to lunch with Atul Dev at the Gymkhana Club, a very upscale club that the British built back when and now is wholly Indian. Atul told me it takes about 13 years to work your way up the waiting list to apply for membership. It turned out the occasion was a combination business/personal lunch. We briefly touched on the Rotary/LDSC dam projects, but mainly just relaxed and enjoyed a storied setting and good food. The personal part of the lunch came later when Atul invited us, Tanners and Browns, to attend his son's upcoming wedding. Elder and Sister Brown became involved with Atul when they carried the check dam project until we arrived. The other person in the lunch photo is Atul's friend Premila. The ladies managed to arrange a shopping trip for the Monday after the wedding, so consider this Delhi trip a success all the way around.




Sister Tanner has a new friend.











L-R Elder Tanner, Premila, Atul, Elder Brown, Sister Brown, Sister Tanner




February 9, 2009 after District meeting we treated the elders to lunch at the Noodle Bar, one of our favorite eating places. It is in the Great India Mall in Sector 18. I think we managed to fill them up.


In preparation for Branch conference on the 15th, Sister Tanner persuaded the elders to sing a number in Sacrament meeting. Practice, practice, ... Sister Tanner has also been asked to conduct the music and organize a choir for District conference on the 22nd.

February 15, 2009
We had a full house for branch conference thanks to all the visitors from the District. There was standing room only in the back. It was nice to see our little room so full. The branch has struggled a bit for the past couple of months. The Noida Branch sustainings didn't take long, but it was a very spiritual meeting. That is one constant in our little branch, the spirit is always there, and the investigators that attend almost always comment on it.
Our elder's quorum president, Prabkhar, went back to his "native place" down south to obtain work that he could not get in the Delhi/Noida area. The good news is we've kept track of him and he connected with E/S LaDuke in Hyderabad. Last week I got an email that he finally was hired as a lecturer in a technical college. He has a degree in software engineering. Then this week we learned that our branch clerk is moving to the Gurgaon area to cut 1.5 hours each way off his commute to work. Can't blame someone for not wanting to live on a bus. He has already contacted people and will attend another branch on the Delhi side, but bummer again. We know there are elect people out there waiting for us to find them, and that will happen. Our elders are a dedicated group and we are blessed with some great young men. Elder Joseph, on the left in the picture above, was our district leader. He completed a successful mission and returned home Tuesday. Happy Elder Joseph. His smile was so infectious. Sister Tanner was in tears saying goodbye, shoot, count me in on that one too.
February 21-22, 2009
We had a visiting area seventy, Elder Subandriyo from Jakarta, Indonesia, as our visiting authority. Saturday, we had priesthood and auxiliary training sessions at 4 PM and an adult meeting at 6 PM. What great meetings they were. Elder Subandriyo is one who definitely can relate to the members here. His background and story is one of living in similar conditions, working construction for peanuts, finding the church, going on a mission, then marriage and living in a 1 room abode, etc. He shared a lot of personal stories with spiritual impact and had a great sense of humor. What a blessing it was to be able to attend. After the meeting, Sister Tanner had her one choir rehearsal. She had contacted someone in each branch and asked them to practice with those interested and we would have this one opportunity to get together before conference. Sister Tanner was really happy with the way the choir sounded. President Smith sang a solo for the first verse of "I Believe in Christ", 2nd verse the ladies, 3rd verse the men, each in unison, then we did parts for the 4th verse, something that doesn't happen in India, so we'd been told, but it worked this time.
Sunday's conference session was held in a rented hall and there were over 300 in attendance. It is going to take a larger facility the next time. The Noida Branch came in a bus, all 33 of us. The Smith family 9, 8 Indian members, 8 missionaries, and 8 investigators. It was a great meeting with Sister Tanner beaming on the platform and leading the music and Elder Tanner sitting in the first row beaming at Sister Tanner, ok, enough of that. All of the talks were excellent. The choir performed very well and there were comments about the Delhinacle choir. Sister Tanner just amazes me with her ability to get the best out of people and in such a fun and loving way.
Elder Subandriyo must have saved the best for last because he again touched everyone there and connected with them. One interesting wrinkle was a request that all members who had been in the church for less than a year were asked to remain after everyone else left. He held a mini-meeting with those that stayed. He had the branch presidents introduce each member and state their branch calling. A subtle touch/reminder to get them called and involved. I remember one family that was introduced and was going to be baptized that afternoon, Elder Subandriyo had visited them and some others in their humble homes on Saturday. What an outstanding man. One note he shared in his talk in an effort to encourage the members to seek to progress and to demonstrate that obstacles can be overcome - he received a law degree the previous week at the age of either 49 or 50, not sure.
We went home on the bus and then took a taxi back to the Browns in Dwaka and we went to the wedding together. After the wedding, we stayed overnight with the Browns. They had graciously invited us earlier to stay because it would be so late after the wedding and the sisters had shopping "game on" for Monday.

The Wedding

Atul Dev's son Amitab and his bride, Hita, are married in a traditional Hindu ceremony. In talking with another guest, they said the wedding was upper, middle class. We were both amazed at what we saw and I think it would be hard to attempt to draw comparisons with something from the states. I will attempt to describe only and relate how much I enjoyed attending this event although I'll admit to some trepidation beforehand. Sister Tanner was gung-ho to attend, let me assure you. She had purchased a new "suit" to wear to a wedding that was cancelled in the last hours. I'll have to get a picture of her in the suit and post it later. She was stunning and got immediate attention from Atul Dev as soon as we arrived and compliments continued throughout the evening.




The wedding was held at a military officer's club. This is the entrance that was done up with flower strings, lighted candles, rose pedals on the walk, etc. Beautiful entry.




The groom was standing on a stage when we arrived and shortly after the bridal party made their entrance. The bride's mother has her left arm.






Now tell me, does he look apprehensive or what?









Waiting for the priest to get on the stage and begin a preliminary ceremony. Check out the gold ornaments weighing down the brides arms.








Part of the stage prelims involved each partner putting a huge flower 'lei" around the neck of the other.







It wasn't all serious ...









The bride's grandmother on the left, Atul Dev's sister on the right.




From the stage, the wedding party, which appeared to be only the immediate family, close friends, and bride and groom moved to a cabana type arrangement. The priest is seating the couple before beginning. They had the only chairs. The parents sat on cushions.




Jasmine flowers were strung on thread to create the canopy.






You can see small vases, etc. in front of the priest. He passed these around one at time as part of the ceremony beginning with the smallest along with some incantation. The bride poured a liquid from each into the cupped hand of the groom, then he did the same to her.





















A major portion of the ceremony, which lasted about an hour, revolved around a fire in the metal container in the middle. Here the bride and groom are lighting the fire with burning oil from their hand held ladles.













Ceremonies symbolized the hope of prosperity and wealth for the couple.







A well pleased father. The picture being held by Atul Dev's daughter-in-law is that of his deceased wife. An older son is between Atul and the groom.





Part of the ceremony involved walking around the "pit" on four different occasions.



















At one point, eveyone in the first row was given something combustible blessed by the priest and then they would toss it on the fire. This was repeated multiple times with a prayer intoned before each tossing.




I believe the strings are called mongul sutra or something like that. They put them over each other's heads. Don't know the significance.






The coconut and leaves are symbols of "auspiciousness" which is very important in the Hindu culture. Don't ask, I got that third hand.



I had to include this shot. Note the groom's left hand. He had his cell on silent and took it out to check a call at least 3 times during the ceremony.


Gifts of gold and cloth were given to the bride by the grooms family after her mother released her. Note that she is now sitting on the groom's family side. They have traded chairs.





Close up of some of the gold and the henna designs on the bride's arms and hands.








The priest had them take 7 steps on the rose pedal path along with giving instruction.








I took this right after we got there. The food was amazing. The line goes all the way back to a pavilion that is facing you. The pavilion had Chinese and Italian cuisine and there was bakery with multiple ovens in front of the pavilion. Before the actual wedding ceremony was over, the whole area was filled with people eating appetizers that were served by a bevy of waiters. I got tired of taking pictures and standing and wandered out to get some energy several times. The appetizers were very good and not all that spicey.
Sister Tanner had this observation about the couple's car, "Interesting how they decorate it with flowers. No Oreos, shaving cream, balloons or cans tied to the back. They obviously have no class!!!!"

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Gardens and The Ride

I will get the wedding and reception posted later because there will be many pictures, but thinking of those events reminded me of how many trips we made to Delhi last week for various reasons. This won't be in chronological order since it is a good news, bad news type sequence and we'll start with the good. Read on and you'll see what I mean.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

P-day, or so it was declared, and all of the senior couples (5) including President and Sister Ricks, met at the mission office then headed to the Mughal Gardens behind the country's Presidential residence in Delhi. The president and the sisters went in the mission van, and the rest of us gents crowded into an "auto". Fortunately, the gardens weren't too far away, but the looks we got, and smiles, made it a fun, but cramped trip.

The Presidential residence is a huge building that housed the British High Commissioner and his officials. Don't think of it as a residence because it is much too large for just that. We couldn't go inside, but it must hold many offices as well as residence sections. It is huge, the only way to describe it. The gardens are apparently only available for walking tours during the spring of the year and entrance was free and security was very high as we went through multiple check points and screenings. No bags, cameras, cell phones, nothing was allowed except the clothes and shoes you were wearing. And that was unfortunate because we both had hoped to take pictures and afterwards looked for someone selling pictures, but nothing, just what we took away in our memories. There are photos on the internet and a story about 95,000 people that visited last Sunday alone. Glad we got through when we did and there was a good crowd then.

The gardens are modeled after gardens the British had observed in the palaces of the Mughal rulers in India along with some of their own designs. The beauty of the gardens is hard to put in words. The Mughal Gardens are actually a series of gardens, each with its own theme, working back from the main building and connected by pathways. The largest garden immediately behind the building included water courses, fountains, and ponds. It had a large grass center area that was table top flat and manicured. I could just imagine the ladies and gents in their white outfits playing a leisurely game of croquet about 100 years ago.


The variety of flowers and colors, the trimmed trees and bushes, vines, even an entire wall of sweet peas, all made for a fascinating walk for anyone with any degree of appreciation for the natural beauties of this world. It was a great respite from our missionary work. Afterwards we enjoyed a late lunch at a chinese restaurant that was also in a garden setting. Quite a beautiful day as it was sunny and warm. To cap things off, we took an auto home since the driver who took us to the restaurant had waited. It was a long ride in one of the little vehicles, but turned out to be rather fun given the great weather and the time of day was the minimum for traffic. The picture was taken from our auto while driving on the Ring Road heading towards Noida.





Maybe you can get a feel for the almost ground level view you have in the little 3 wheelers.







Monday, February 16, 2009

It was a busy morning with calls, emails, and I made good progress in a phone call, love Skype, with the Area in Hong Kong obtaining understanding of the issues faced in India with the neonatal resuscitation (NR) projects. I had ordered a taxi, large car, to go over to the mission office and pick up the 16 boxes of NRT stuff, manikins, etc. that had been shipped back from our NR training in Bangalore. We were lucky and got Hari. He’s from Nepal and a driver we’ve had before, albeit a very type A driver. We set a record going to the mission office, making it in a little over 30 minutes which is unheard of, but due to Hari’s driving and some breaks in the traffic. We spent time with President and Sister Ricks discussing an NR project issue, then loaded up the car and headed back with one stop. Sister Tanner had located a source for Crisco, or a good substitute, in a store in Pria Market and that was on our list for this trip. Hari knew where to go and we were there in minutes. We were really cruising through the trip until a major traffic tie up caught us on the Noida side. Altogether, it was a good trip.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Today was even busier with another trip to Delhi thrown in. But what a difference this trip was. We had ordered a taxi for 6 PM to go over to a PEF Committee meeting at 7 PM in the same area, Vasant Vihar, as the Pria Market we had been to the day before. The taxi was 15 minutes late, not a good start. The driver seemed to have zero English comprehension. I was prepared for that and gave him a card with the Delhi address written on it. Then a series of calls to the guy who dispatches the cars ensued. After two calls, I thought we were good to go since the dispatcher’s wife had told me there would be an extra 200 rupee charge for distance traveled and she had asked for and been given a landmark for the area we were going to, the Continental Hotel in Vasant Vihar. I could have directed the driver to the location if he had followed the route we expected. As we were nearing where you have to turn to take what is known as the Flyway, a toll road and bridge over the Yamuna river, I said to him, “Flyway” and pointed, and got a “yes sir, yes sir” and then he drove right past the turn and we were toast.

What followed was a 3 hour cab ride that would test anyone’s patience. We had a driver who could not follow directions and I honestly question his IQ level. I put him on the phone with Hindi speaking people at the meeting location multiple times and he still couldn’t get it. He made multiple stops to ask directions in addition to the phone calls. He made wrong turns where he doubled back the way we had just come. At one point, he said “5 minutes” meaning we’d be there in that amount of time. 35 minutes later we decided to tell him to take us home, to forget going to our destination. And then the realization hit us that he did not understand and we had sudden flashes of another 2 plus hours in the cab trying to get back even if he did understand. After yet another phone call, getting further lost on a road to nowhere, stopping to ask directions, and another 20 minutes, we finally made it to our 7 PM meeting at 9:15 PM, 3 hours after we left home. But we did get in on the last 30 minutes. As some church meetings go, maybe it was a blessing in disguise, just kidding, these were good people doing good work in trying to establish the PEF program in Delhi.

But the fun wasn’t over yet. Our driver did ok in taking us back, although at one point I thought he had made a wrong turn, but it was a 6 of one, half dozen type choice. We continued on home without further incident until we got to another choice point about a mile from our sector. The driver took the slightly longer route, but what the heck, I knew where we were and I wasn’t going to let him get lost again even if I had to climb into the front seat. Things were ok for the next few kilometers. Then the driver pulled over on a stretch of road with no buildings and minimal light, but it did have some traffic. He got out of the car and we were wondering, “is he going for directions or what?” It turned out the car had a flat, left front tire. I got out and immediately began looking for an auto, the little 3 wheelers, to flag down intending to bag the taxi and driver once and for all. But everything coming through that stretch already had passengers. After watching the driver mess with the lug nuts for 20 minutes, Sister Tanner suggested I offer to help him. He was light weight enough that he was jumping on the lug wrench and it kept flying off of the nut. When I went to see what was happening, he was down to one lug nut that appeared to be frozen and I could feel that the lug head edges were getting rounded. I took the wrench and tried to keep it on and turn, but it was no use and I could not communicate with him to try and work together. I gave up and handed the wrench back to him with a shrug. A few minutes later, another car pulled up. The driver had been on the phone off and on and apparently had requested help. Sister Tanner recognized one of the two young men who just arrived as a driver we had before. What a blessing to have a companion with a great memory for faces.

Fifteen minutes later we were finally at the house after an attempt to go through a gate to our sector that is locked at 10 PM. We had already decided I was going to pay the rate agreed to before the tour began although not paying anything had crossed my mind. The taxis charge a flat rate for a set time and distance, but there are surcharges if you go over either. After we got out of the taxi, I gave the driver 600 rupees and walked off. It was the amount I had been told by the dispatcher before leaving. He immediately started to protest in Hindi and I just turned my back, walked away, and ignored him. Once inside the house, I called the dispatcher while the driver rang our door bell for a while. Good luck with that. I told the dispatcher I was not going to pay for something I was not responsible for. If his driver did not know where he was going, that was his problem and not mine as far as paying for it. For as mad as I was, I kept it under control. It was well after 11 PM, but we were finally home. After arriving at the PEF meeting and briefly relating the experience getting there, which they were aware of due to the phone calls, one sister jokingly suggested we should write a book about our taxi experiences and I responded that no one would pay to read 5 pages of cussing and we had a good laugh.

Finally a Food Post

In looking at the date, I cannot believe it has been 3 weeks since something was posted here. Don't know whether that calls for repentance or gratitude for the work, maybe both.

Yesterday, Sister Tanner cut up the red and green peppers and then asked me to finish the yellow one while she tended to something else. After I finished and saw the colorful piles on the cutting board, I had to take a picture with the intent to post some thoughts on food. The peppers shown went into a delicious omelet, but I get ahead of myself.

During our first weeks, we quickly learned that we could not rely on having electricity to prepare food. Read that, learn to live without a microwave, electric mixer, etc. Sister Tanner has created some delicious items that only require the stove top. My favorite is a white cheese sauce she came up with, don't ask me for details, but take my word, it is delicious. We have beautiful vegetables here, cauliflower and broccoli in particular, and I had mentioned how much I liked them, especially with a cheese sauce. And next thing I know, my kitchen angel has performed magic. A full plate of cauliflower and broccoli with that great sauce over it all is truly heaven. The sauce also found a great use in the omelet along with the peppers, fresh mushrooms, and sometimes a little ham or bacon if we have it. Again, eating heaven, hmmmm. There is much, much more, but suffice it to say, I've always appreciated Sister Tanner's cooking skills, but never like I have here. She is so resourceful and prepares wonderful food for her companion and the blessed elders who happen to be working in Noida.

Remember the jokes and stories about a husband coming home for dinner and announcing to his wife he had brought his boss along ... well, one Sunday we were in our building entry way after church with all the Noida elders, 6, and the next thing you know Sister Tanner has an hour to get dinner prepared for the whole crew ... and the amazing thing is she pulled it off with a delicious feast.

Here's another one in Sister Tanner's own words from an email to our children: " When we came home [from church] and took dinner out, I discovered that 3 hours doesn't do it for a roast and potatoes in the Easy Bake Oven. The meat was done but not tender, and the potatoes and carrots were still quite hard. The power was out, of course, so the Dad had the idea to put the veggies and juice in a big pot and boil the heck out of them like soup. So the elders played games and we boiled veggies and it all worked out!! Between the Dad, the elders, and Ravi Kumar everything but a few potatoes and 2 muffins were gone in a matter of minutes!! After all was said and done, I had those for my dinner and was grateful for them!! We had fruit cocktail cake and Dream Whip (thanks Nan!) for dessert, and they inhaled that and most had enough room for chocolate ice cream!! It's always a good idea to have extra of everything when the elders come to dinner!! I just love it!!"

Bet you thought this post was going to be a discourse on Indian cuisine, right? To be honest, I am growing a taste for some Indian food, see the New Year's post, but there is much that will never make it with my palate. I'll add a few more food comments when I post on an Indian wedding and reception, 2 separate days, we attended this week.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Other Work

Here are a couple of mini-posts about the "other" work we do besides the humanitarian projects.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

It was great to be back in our little branch again and be able to hug and greet our good friends. Although the numbers are still small, what a loving spirit is present. I cannot sing in our branch without a lump coming to my throat, no matter the song. There was some confusion as to who was going to teach the priesthood lesson and I was asked to do it after Sunday School. I had a few minutes to gather my thoughts and prepare to give a lesson on the priesthood restoration. Two weeks ago I had given a lesson on the priesthood being a part of each dispensation so I decided to briefly review that and then see where it took us. I quickly looked at the lesson in the book and then relied on being inspired from there. My silent prayer was answered and it worked. The time flew by and everyone, including an investigator, seemed very engaged in what was being taught. It was a great feeling to have the lesson flow like it did. Teaching here is a different challenge as you have to watch your word choice, speech speed, etc. and stick to the gospel basics. Sister Tanner had a similar experience only she was asked to give the Relief Society lesson as the sisters were entering their room. She and the Relief Society president shared an inspired lesson decision and an equally wonderful experience. I think there is an assumption that the missionaries, elders and seniors, are able to teach on a moment’s notice. But what great opportunities we are blessed with while we work to shadow lead on planning, organization, and leadership, and support those called as best we can by demonstrating a willing to serve example.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Dr Ryder and his assistant Menesha came over to our house around 11 AM. He had called Monday night and asked if he could come and discuss some things about the church with Sister Tanner and me. Of course we would do that. After visiting him once with the elders and spending time with him on the dam inspection trip, I was wondering what it would take to touch his heart and get him to commit. He has certainly been faithful attending church whenever in town, so we have hope for him.

What a great visit it turned out to be. I believe he is honestly considering baptism, at least thinking about it. And Menesha, I believe, would be baptized now, but out of deference to her employer she is waiting for his lead. Among the many things we talked about, he began by asking about the Word of Wisdom. His concern was why tea was prohibited and it is such a part of Indian culture. After a brief background on the revelation, we went right to the scripture and read most of Section 89. Dr Ryder made a great observation when he shared the thought that after one had given up tea, then each occasion where tea would be offered, or would have been taken in the past, would now be a reminder in the present of the new commitment. There was a great spirit during our entire meeting. I could feel sincerity and a desire to understand from both of them.

Next up was a question on the best way to read the Book of Mormon. My advice was to read it cover to cover the first time and then continue to read and study it in a manner that they determined fit their style. I told them I had read it through many times and each time I discovered new insights and truths or found validation for something I had learned. I shared an experience during our mission of discovering something new, the what and how paradigm, and I know there are many more such experiences awaiting me.

Sister Tanner shared some things that were right on. We really teamed together well in the discussion. The most significant question asked though was along the lines of, “after baptism, then what?” which allowed us to go into the service aspect of church membership and what it entailed. There were opportunities to go to the Book of Mormon many times in our conversation and what a powerful tool that book is.

We talked about the intellectual aspect of the gospel and the spiritual confirmation that is necessary to have a strong testimony. How the mind and the heart must both be converted. Earlier I had shared an experience from my mission about discovering the parable of the sower. We read from Luke 8:15 and talked about the good ground and those with “an honest and good heart”. At the end of our conversation, I held the Book of Mormon in my hand and stated that if it was true, then Joseph Smith must have been a prophet, and if he was a prophet, then the restoration of the gospel and the church of Jesus Christ has taken place. I said it was really that simple and they agreed. And I tied it back to the parable of the sower as we read the promise in Moroni 10:4-5 again. I felt it really hit home with both of them.

As I write this, it amazes me that we spent around 2.5 hours talking and answering questions and discussing and the time just flew by.

Gujarat, Mysore, Bangalore Pictures

Monday, January 19th was a travel day. We spent a few hours in Gandhidham visiting the hospitals of Dr Thacker and Drs Goyal. The area was leveled by an earthquake on January 26, 2001, with somewhere between 30,000 and 100,000 killed. Bill Clinton, as an individual, visited shortly after the earthquake to attend a memorial service at a school site where 450 children died when the building collapsed. Something I was not aware of until we visited Gandhidham.
Dr Thacker had a 4 story building for his hospital with his residence on the 4th floor. The family got out safely, but the buiding literally dropped one floor as the 1st floor collapsed. It had to be torn down and he had to start all over. His new hospital is very modest compared to pictures we saw of the original on the same site.

Dr Thacker and his son who helped with the administrative duties for the training event.

Dr Thacker in his office. He is proud of his local area network and automation he has implemented in his hospital.

Front row, L-R, Dr Walter Townson, Dr Donna Dizon-Townson, Dr Rich Bell, Dr Thacker, Dr Goyal, Dr Rob Clark




Dr Vikas Goyal, pediatrician/neonatologist
Dr Jaya Goyal, his wife, OB/GYN




The neonatal intensive care area of Goyal's hospital.




Gujarat has another new means of transport. Had to have a picture of the motorcycle truck. These were quite common in the area we traveled through, but had not seen them anywhere else.




Some street scenes on the way back to Bhuj and the airport.
























Love the colors!







The driver said the loads were around 25 kilos or somewhere in the 40-50 pound range. Talk about compressed vertebrae!















A couple of pictures from the tour of the pediatric unit of the Bhuj district hospital. We stopped to visit the District Medical officer on our way to the airport and were offered a quick tour. This resourceful mom has made a hammock between 2 beds for her infant.



The hospital had been rebuilt after the earthquake and was in pretty good shape compared to others we have visited.





Tuesday, January 20th was a down day, at least until the afternoon when the set up was scheduled. We headed to Mysore to do some sightseeing. Coconuts and bananas on the way.



The portico of the "Palace". We could not take cameras inside and there was no way to get a good shot of the building behind. Impressive and huge. Every door in the place was hand carved and about 8' by 5'.


Cosmo on steriods. Don't 'toutch' him.







The bananas are rather small in the south. We had a great hotel room and a really good shower. First time in the past 4 months, wahoo!





Tore Laerdal's daughter, Ingrid, recently completed her MBA and accompanied her dad on this trip to see the real business side of things along with having some fun traveling. They went on to another event in Tanzania after Pedicon 2009 was over.



Dr Archana Bilagi on the right with one of the interns. She was a real joy to work with and the mother of 3 children.






Sister Tanner and Sister Fairbanks took advantage of some free time on Thursday to do a little shopping. This shop is in Bangalore and is selling handicrafts from Gujarat, the state we had been in before moving on to Bangalore.



During the afternoon session, Sister Tanner and I made a quick trip to the ATM. As clean as Bangalore is, we were surprised to see this. Lifestyle is like the Indian Macy's.









Dr Ranjan Pejawar, Tore Laerdal, Dr Rich Bell