At the conference, I met up with the team and a couple of the hosts took us shopping at SuperSaver - which was like the Indian-equivalent of WalMart. I finally found the Brooke Bond Natural Care tea powder and bought a couple boxes to take home.Lunch back at the conference was a neat experience. Everyone was seated in this big tent, and the food was served on giant banana leaves by shirtless boys. Hmm.
After lunch we went back to the house for some rest and then got cleaned up for the evening. I dressed in the salwar kameez that Poonam had given me and we went back to the conference at 6 PM.
I got to catch a great session by a woman named Jaya Row, who talked about the Vedantic Vision. It's all about the concept of "oneness" and draws on texts from the vedas of the Bhagavad Gita (Indian sacred scripture). I bought one of her books - I know Wolf will love reading about something so similar to his own writings and philosophies.
After the session, a 20-something Rotarian came up and introduced himself and we talked for a little while. He was a little bit of a close-talker and I got a creepy vibe. He asked if I wanted to go with him to hear one of his friends play music today but (fortunately!) we have no time, as we are leaving for Goa in the afternoon.
Elizabeth, Rajiv and I were having some dinner, when Rajiv received a phone call from the Gadag guys. They were in the fellowship hall and were wondering where we were. As we were heading towards the tent, the creepy guy found me and made me go to the cultural program with him.
Posing with cultural dancers.
I got to see my host and his wife take part in a traditional folk dance, which was pretty neat.
Ashwin and Neeta.
Then, Creepy Guy's mobile phone rang. When he excused himself to go take the call, I seized the opportunity to make my get-away! I made it safely to the beer tent where everyone was already having a good time. We chatted and danced a bit, but by that time, most of the Rotarians were already quite drunk. All the different clubs were trying to get us to come over to their tables, until finally the Gadag guys helped us find our hosts to go home. I think they were a little embarrassed by the rowdiness.
It's weird how people have treated us so differently here - like we're from another planet or something (I guess technically we are aliens) - but especially at the conference. Complete strangers wanted to take pictures with us, and when we went onto the dance floor, we were mobbed. It's weird... but perhaps a little flattering, too!
I found my hosts and - lo and behold - Creepy Guy was also there. He asked, "Where did you go?" Umm...
On the way back to the house, Ashwin pulled the car over and stopped by a gang of young guys hanging out on a street corner. One of the guys came over to the window and my host handed him some rupees. I wondered what the hell was going on, when Ashwin turned around and asked, "Jenny -- do you want some paan?"
Ack! I respectfully declined, telling him I had tried it once and wasn't a big fan of the paan. The young guy came back and handed him a couple paans and we drove off. It was just like a drug deal or something. What the hell is it about paan?!
I went to sleep around midnight and slept very soundly. There's been a cricket singing outside my window the entire night. It's really quite soothing. I'm supposed to meet the team around 8:30 this morning. Our presentation is scheduled for 9:00 (which means at least 10:30, Indian Standard Time). The Gadag guys said something last night about taking us out afterwards, so we'll see. I'm a little sad that the conference is already almost over. Soon we'll be in Goa.