Election Day

The last day in India began at 6 am. I didn’t have to go to work because it is Election Day and offices are officially closed by order of the government. I decided I may as well get up and pack my things. I had planned to go to a temple with my coworker at 9am. Truthfully, I am “templed out” at this point and the thought of walking barefoot was downright torture, but it is his favorite Hindu God so I felt obligated. He came from Bangalore for two weeks just to work with me and although we work in the US together, having him in Pune was great relief. He has served as the interpreter, cultural advisor, and decision maker. Hearing him say “Let’s Go!” has been a comfort and he has been renamed “The Professor” during this trip because he is constantly teaching someone something whether it is about Siebel or Indian culture. “Soooo” as The Professor says I packed up and prepared to be out all day enjoying my last day in Pune. When we went to the temple The Professor made us go ahead of him so he could buy the things he would bring into the Temple without the vendors jacking up the prices. He even bought us some flowers to bring in as well. Once in the Temple we presented our gifts to the God and the Hindu Priest gave me some candy. The Professor and another coworker received coconuts. Both are signs of a blessing. I have been praying every day for the same thing for about two months now and I am patiently waiting for that blessing. We spent a lot of time at the Temple for The Professor’s sake and after the Temple, we went to the vegetable/fruit market. Ok, people don’t freak out, but yes we ate some of the fruit. We bought mangos and jackfruit. Pune is supposed to be famous for the mangos and I can honestly say I like them. I am not crazy about Mangos back home, too bad I can’t smuggle some back. Hmm..Then again, I am an experienced smuggler. We visited a couple of other places basically just sightseeing. We ate at a local Indian restaurant on you guessed it “MG Road.” Election Day in India is similar as America, polling places are usually schools and the lines vary by location. We did learn that they take a marker and draw a line on your finger to show that you voted. Throughout the day, I saw many people with lines on their fingers. We then went back to the hotel to freshen up because we made plans to visit my coworkers parent’s house and go for shopping and dinner. The plans change as they normally do and it was a good change. My coworker sent his car with his wife and the “Women” went shopping without the MEN. What a relief!! His wife said she hadn’t had a chance to shop since they got to India and she was ready to shop. We spent some time in two malls. My interest was costume jewelry. The costume jewelry here is not like in the US. It actually looks REAL. After shopping we met up with the men and drove to the middle of nowhere to this theme restaurant. I don’t know how ANYONE finds this place, but it is set up like a village in the state of Rajasthan. You buy tickets that can be used inside and they give you a dinner time. You then drink something that will make you hungry. It tasted like hot, salt water. Inside the village, there are different areas set up representing village life – singing, dancing, magicians, fortune tellers, massages, a person walking on a tightrope and a flame eater (India has no medical insurance-FYI). We hang out going at the various places. I had my fortune read. I won’t be sharing that information. It was good fortune. God is merciful! Dinner was set up family style, seated on the floor. For those that know, my right hip is not good for sitting “Indian style”, but I survived. After, The Professor and I took a camel ride. It was weird. The camel was very warm. My other coworkers had a hard time staying on the camel, but you know I got “woman” hips and legs so I didn’t understand what the trouble was. I was actually more afraid when I rode in the back of the donkey carriage with my coworker’s wife and son. I swear that donkey was blind, we almost hit a tree! I arrived back in my hotel room at midnight, enough time to shower and get some rest before getting up to catch a 5:30 am. Going to that village, was an appropriate ending to an unbelievable trip to the other side of the world.