Avjo Gujarat

Wow...so this is it..its 5:45 pm on Thursday the 26th of February and in 24 hours time I will, hopefully, be on a train heading to Delhi where on the 27th of February I will catch my flight to London - the last leg of my round the world ticket - and a new adventure. This has been an incredible experience. I've barely scratched the surface with my blog here. I hope I will have time to post the occasional British update here. Thank you everyone for your comments, your phone-calls, your reflections and support. It has been a remarkable 8 months. 

Gujarati tutorial

IN the vain hope that someone might come across my blog when doing a google search for Gujarat because they plan to give up their job, move halfway across the world and live here, I thought I'd put here a few useful phrases. Finding Gujarati language resources is not easy!

Kem chho - how are you? 

Majama - fine

Tame Kem chho? - and you?

Bus - enough  (useful when someone is piling your plate with food)

Mane beauk lagi che - I am hungry

Mane terras lagi che - I am thirsty

Ketlar veras na chho - how old are you?

Tamaru nam su che - What is your name?

Su? - what

Su che? - what is it? (you can use this to increase your vocabulary - point and 'su che?')

Con che? - who is it?

Kya - Where? 

Ubi ra ko - stop here (useful in the rickshaw and impresses the driver!)

Jamni - right

Dabbi - left

Seeda - straight ahead

Mare same ave rite na jho - don't look at me like that (as in, stop oggling me)

Thandi beau pade che - its very cold

Garmi beau pade che - its very hot

Beau saras - very good/beautiful

Saru che - its good

Hu Ahmedabad ja-u chu - I'm going to Ahmedabad

Hu England Ja-u chu - I'm going to England

Comments

At the Beyt Dwarka camp with a group of 35 eleven year old boys...

[while playing football]

"Ma'am, in your country they are calling football "saucer". I am knowing this because I read it in my Book of Sports. 

[watching the sunrise]

"Ma'am, the sun is coming up"

"yes, isn't it beautiful"

"yes, and Ma'am, tonight he will go down"

"yes"

"but Ma'am, then where does he go?"

[swimming]

"Ma'am, if we swim that way very far we will reach Pakistan" [points north west]

"yes, thats right but its a long way to swim"

"yes ma'am, but ma'am, wouldn't we fall off before we get there?"

[walking]

(Mandy) "You are very lucky to have such a nice headmaster as Kissa Sir"

"Ma'am our bus driver says he wants to beat Kissa Sir"

"Why?!"

"He just says that Ma'am but Kissa sir is a good man isn't he Ma'am"

"Yes, he's a very good man"

"that bus driver is a bloody bastard!"

(Mandy suppresses laughter to lecture students on the use of bad language)

Sweet tooth

I dont have much of a sweet tooth, but you'd have to be missing taste buds not to enjoy some of the delicious sweets made here in India. The most common ones are Gulab Jamun - a spongy ball of milk extracts fried, and served in a sweet syrup, and Jalebi - a fried dough that is coated in a sugary syrup. 

Kheer is also wonderful - we'd call it rice pudding, but forget your school lunch experience of rice pudding - this is creamy and sweet and flavored with cardamon, saffron and pistachios. Kulfi is another milky delight - this is similar to icecream, but made with boiled milk and similarly flavored as Kheer. 

Many of the sweets are milk based - usually where the milk has been boiled and is then condensed give the sweetness to the desert. 

Most impressive to me is the incredible diversity of sweets. Priyanka and I visited a sweet shop on January 14th - Kite flying day - and I was overwhelmed with the number of sweets. I wouldn't know where to start!

Peace

I have just arrived back on Beyt Dwarka. It has been 17 days since I was here and so much has happened in that time: talks at The Arts and Technical College in Gandhinager and at the Center for Environmental Education (CEE) in Ahmedabad. New projects and a new job title at CEE, spending time with Priyanka and her family, and saying goodbye to her, and the start of the online course I’m teaching at Bowling Green State University. Now, back here on the island, any stress has almost immediately slipped away and I can feel this band of tensions, that I wasn’t previously aware of, loosen from my forehead. Its good to be back.

Purchasing Alcohol in Gujarat

Purchasing Alcohol in Gujarat

When you first arrive in Gujarat you will be able to get a tourist liquor license for 1 month by going to a large hotel and purchasing one at their liquor shop. The shop will often be full of local people making their purchases on their health licenses so it can take a while. However, if you are staying longer you will need a non-resident permit.

You will need

Photocopy of passport including your entry stamps
Photocopy of visa
Photocopy of a local resident’s ID card (drivers license will probably be easiest)
About 1200 INR

NB: If you can get a local person to go with you, the entire experience will be a lot easier. Offering to share your liquor allowance will greatly enhance the likelihood of someone taking time to do this for you!

Directions
1 Get your copies notarized as ‘true’ copies. If you don’t have easy access to someone who can do this, the Prohibition and Excise Department will direct you to a nearby office. This will cost about 10INR per copy.
2. Go to Prohibition and Excise Department which is just off the Ellis bridge on the city side.
3. Pick up the bank payment form, and get copies notarized if you haven’t already done this.
4. Fill in the name and local address for the permit holder
5. Get a rickshaw and go to the State Bank of India which is very near by. If a rickshaw is not available, the bank is in walking distance.
6. Pay 1050 (or the asked fee) at the State Bank of India
7. Get an ink stamp on form from bank
8. Take your copies, your payment slip and your forms back to the Prohibition and Excise Department.
9. The Department office will provide you with form F.L. /A-1. Fill out form and ask for more than the maximum allowed (ask for about 6 units) to ensure you get the maximum.
10 Pay 2 rupees at the Department office. Receive two stamps which are to be stuck onto get form F.L. / A-1 form to show you have paid.

You will either be able to pick up the license immediately, or in a few days. Once you have your license you take it to a large hotel where they have a liquor shop, and make your purchases.

Enjoying a beer

After an exhausting week which included awe inducing visits to several villages, a new job, an annual meeting presentation at my new job, food poisoning and an insane amount of paperwork for a liquor license, Priyanka and I finally enjoy a beer :)