Getting Things Rolling Indian Style/ Clement Town

John and I sent out over 25 e-mails, which we were later to learn is not quite the same medium of communication it is in the west. Apparently government offices contain a single computer and a secretary (often a male) in that office who prints off all the email and places it in folders on the officials desk. It can take up to two weeks to get a response to an email!

Nevertheless we attempted to set up meetings with government officials from the many departments concerning water and NGOs in Delhi and locally. And of course a day passed and our of the 25 e-mails we had a single response, which was a bit disappointing. Until a member of the team, Juan, emailed us and suggested that we contact the Mayor. John and I looked at each other and said "That makes sense!" John is (by the way) an unstoppable force of nature and went down to meet the Secretary of Water for all of Uttarkhand. That's like walking in and asking to meet Obama. I predicted failure and John returned with success. We had a second visit after creating business cards for ourselves, which are essential in India. We now have a third appointment with the Chief Secretary (the Secretary's boss) and if he says so all his ministers will set up appointments for us with all the key departments. Without such permission from the top it is not possible to work cooperatively with the government of Uttarakhand.

We have many contact for which e-mail addresses were not available. Some of the organizations sounded like terrific possible parters including local childrens advocacy organizations. We have needed translation services a couple of times and Mrs. H from our hotel who is from Delhi and quite fluent in English has happily assisted us on a couple of occasions. Happily another key water expert regarding the mountainous region who authored a colorful report we both admired agreed to meet with us Friday. We got another response for the afternoon on Thursday! It is wonderful that there are good hearted people here who want to help us.

In the afternoon I requested we visit Clement Town, where Mindrolling Monestary is located.

It is quite a beautiful part of town. Very serene and meditative. They have an amazing Stupa. Inside the monks were chanting, droning and using both the drums and long horns. The walls of the the Stupa were covered with awesome paintings. There is also a very large standing Buddha there and many many prayer wheels (which I was able to turn). It was truly inspirational and I would love to return to meditate if we have time. I'm very grateful to be here!

Next we visited the market place which felt pretty safe. We both got some great bargains and got to the South Indian restaurant before dark. John was exhausted and has probably hit the sack, but here I am writing to you!