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> Asha > 2004 |
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Where on Earth is Asha? |
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Map of Bangalore Time in India Entries: 5/30/04 5/27/04 5/30/04 6/1/04 6/8/04 6/26/04 7/1/04 7/2/04 2003 Trip: Stephen's Journal All Photos | Photo TOC |
[7/2/04]
Asha is safely back in South Glastonbury. Her flights (from Bangalore to Frankfurt
and Frankfurt to JFK) went smoothley and were on time. The trip back from JFK to
Glastonbury was a bit of a zoo. The driver that had taken Kamla and me down to JFK
basically abandoned us, claiming a mechanical problem with his car, so we had to find
a different livery service. Thankfully the lady at the ground transportation desk
was very helpfull, and within an hour we were on the road. We hit a lot of July
4th weekend traffic in New York and southern Connecticut, so the trip back
took longer than usual.Vehicular annoyances aside, the important thing is that Asha is home. She's bone-tired, but is in pretty good shape for someone who has been on the road for over 28 hours. [7/1/04] Asha sent this today. I'll let her speak for herself. I have great news...I have a letter of affiliation from Dr. Vasavi at NIAS. Tuesday morning I crossed Bangalore going north towards the Indian Institute of Science in a motor rickshaw. It took an hour, cost about 100 rupees and it was a very bumpy ride. My first destination was my cousin Sheela's house. I went directly from the rickshaw into her car and we set out for Malleswaram where we did some jewelry shopping and picked up sari blouse material. Then back to her house for lunch and off again to meet Dr. Vasavi. I spent about 45 minutes there -- she wrote out the letter, we had tea and she gave me some useful book references. I returned to Sheela's picked up my things and took a rickshaw back across town to J.P. Nagar where I met up with Sudhi and we headed to Anju's office party. They have a lovely office in a quiet area. The best part, in my humble opinion, is that they have broadband!! [6/26/04] Asha has had a busy couple of weeks. She's been working to cram in as many meetings with academics, call center workers, and trainers as possible. Several of the researchers she has met with have been interested in the work that Asha would like to do next year. She's particularly pleased with the meetings she's had with Dr. Vasavi at the National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS). Last Friday (6/18) Asha visited with her Uncle Nachu, Aunty Rama, and cousins Kishan and Kishore. Early in the week she came down with some kind of stomach bug, but from her latest email it sounds like she's gotten the better of it. Apparently Indian roadside pharmacies put Canadian pharmacies to shame in terms of what you can get and for how little things cost! 
This postcard arrived early this week. Asha writes:"M.G. Road is one of the main arteries of Bangalore. It's got a lot of shops, banks, businesses and theaters. I've been up and down it several times -- most recently to buy postcards! It's very busy, particularly on the weekend." [6/8/04] Asha reports that she's been enjoying cool and pleasant weather (in the upper 70s). Over the past week she has had a number of meetings with academics and with professionsals who work with call center workers. These are a mix of Indians and Europeans and Americans. Several of the people she wants to meet with are in Europe, returning next weeks. Quoth Asha: "It has been a busy week. Each day there's been an appointment and it has been fun albeit very random."I spoke with Asha for about an hour Sunday morning, and we've been exchanging emails pretty regularly. Asha being in a major city has made keeping in touch much easier. All in all, she's doing well. The food is giving her something of a challenge, and she's having to adjust to the pace of business in India -- which simply doesn't operate at the frenetic pace of the North East. 
One of Asha's aunts sent this picture from the wedding Asha attended the first weekend
she was in Bangalore. Asha's cousin Anju is standing next to her; I'll add identifications
for everyone else when I have them. The groom was her cousin Sriram, his bride is Pooja.
[6/1/04] Asha emailed and called today! She attended the wedding of her cousin Sriram over the weekend: "Sriram is successfully married ... and now Auntie Leelu, Padma and Shridhar can relax for a while. The wedding was much shorter than I thought it would be and not organized as I had expected, but I am learning that my expectations don't necessarily mesh with Indian reality in a variety of domains."Apparently there was an additional event on the roster, with its requirement for another dress outfit. Asha had some wardrobe loaner help from her cousin Anju. It sounds like all and sundry enjoyed the nuptuals. Asha fired off her email at a little past 8:00 AM EST (5:30 PM IST). I picked it up at work before heading off to another meeting, so I was surprised when the voice on my cell phone at 1:15 (10:45 PM IST) was from India! Given all the telphone troubles we had last year, I was pretty amazed at the concept of Asha, using a cell phone in India, calling me on my cell phone in Hartford. I'm just happy that I wasn't the one who volunteered to drive to lunch today! :-) [5/30/04] I recieved an email from Asha this morning; she's gearing up for the wedding. The weather in Bagalore isn't as warm as she'd anticipated (yet), so the lone cardigan she brought is getting a lot of use! It looks like she'll be doing some clothes shopping in the coming week. She and Sudhi's family might make a day-trip to a Vanilla plantation in the next few days; Asha is eager to get out and about! [5/27/04] Asha has arrived in Bangalore. She got in at about midnight local time (2:30PM EST today); she called from Sudhi's house at 4:00 EST. The flight from JFK to Frankfurt was apparently a real roller-coaster. Asha says the the Lufthansa food was surprisingly bad. On the up-side, she was door-to-door in 24 hours. Previous trips have had 23 hours of flying time alone, not counting layovers and ground transport. [5/26/04] Asha leaves today for a five week stint to Bangalore, in the state of Karanataka in India. She's staying with her cousin Sudhi and his wife Anju. Asha will be attending a cousin's wedding on the 30th, and then beginning preliminary field work for her dissertation research. That trip will likely involve a six to twelve month stay starting next summer. Asha will be returning on July 2nd The maps below show where Karnataka is within India, and Bagalore within Karnataka. Click on the Bangalore map for a larger version. Quoth one web site: "Draped over the Deccan Plateau at an altitude of 920 meters [2990'], Bangalore is blessed with the most pleasant climate in India. The temperatures range from 33 C [92°F] to 21 C [70°F] in summer and 25 C [77°F] to 15 C [59°F] in winter. You would need a sweater during winter and monsoon i.e. between September and February; else light cottons would work fine."   Click for larger map |
Creator: Asha Shipman
Created on: 8/2/02
Last Modified: 7/2/04
Copyright: © Asha C. Shipman 2002, 2003, 2004