Friday, February 21, 2014

Exploring Ludhiana and Finishing Data Collection


This week has been filled with exploring Ludhiana, getting advice from local NGOs, and enjoying the company of many LSRM employees and families.
We visited a shop where some of the IBMers got suits and shirts tailored.  There were workers there hand beading women's Punjabi suits.  Some of us took a walk around to visit shops.  

Workers hand beading women's Punjabi suits
I am still looking for Harry Potter in Hindi to add to my collection of Harry Potters in different languages.  I have yet to find it in any bookshops, but I heard about a market in Ludhiana where they may have it.  We also went to the Adidas store, which was filled with about 20% Chicago Bulls gear. 
I even found a Michael Jordan phone!
  We also stopped at the one post office in Ludhiana, where I got some cool stamps to add to my collection.  Also, confirming the fact that there are many Punjabis living in Canada, the post office was advertising 3 day service from Punjab to Canada.  They also told us at the post office that they don't have a way to send postcards to foreign countries, so anyone that receives a postcard may get it in an envelope :).
 
My new stamps!
More stamps from Indian cinema



 
Must be lots of Punjabis living in Canada!
We also went to a grocery store called Easy Day, which reminded me of an Indian version of Walmart. They had very cheap kurtis (women's tunics) and I bought a bunch of Indian sweets for our team room at the hotel.  The store also had a whole section devoted to Holi items (March 17th), including every kind of water gun, bottles of colored paint, and water balloons, which are used to put the colors in and throw at people. 

Everyone is getting ready for Holi!

 We ended the week on a high note, which included our last family visit to an LSRM employee family.  This was the family that had the lowest income, but made many sacrifices to allow the two older children (boy and girl) to go to school.  The parents were very motivated to improve their lives and to send all of their children to school.  It was clear that the children were part of a very loving family.  The daughter in school told us that she loves school and believes getting an education will allow her to get a good job (she wants to be a doctor) and help her family.
Peter, Lukas, and I with the LSRM family, including Bina, the 9 year old girl child.

Word of the day: pet bhargya - I'm full!

#ibmcsc #india22

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