Travel Alert: Leftwing Protests in Kerala March 30 - India

2003_0108Image20018
Originally uploaded by waterlooHildreds.

I am afraid that I am quite left wing on this issue. To me it represents a slap in the face to an area that is already suffering from globalization due to rice imported from the Philippines:

Worldcue® Travel Alert
Severity: Warning Alert
Security: Leftwing activists stage protests in Kerala, India, March 30; avoid government buildings.
This alert affects India.
This alert begins 30 Mar 2005 04:36 GMT.
Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist-Red Flag (CPI-M Red Flag) supporters are rallying outside government offices throughout Kerala State, in southern India, on March 30. Avoid protests. Clashes between police and demonstrators are possible.

The CPI-ML Red Flag is organizing the protests to express opposition to the Seeds Bill and the Indian Parliament's recent passage of the Third Patents (Amendment) Bill. Party leaders believe the legislation is inimical to Indian interests. Leftist critics contend that the patent legislation will erode India's competitive advantage with regard to low-cost medicine. They also think the Seeds Bill will make Indian farmers reliant on multinational companies.

The CPI-ML Red Flag blames the World Trade Organization (WTO) for pressuring the Indian government to pass the controversial bills. Expect anti-globalization and anti-Western sentiment at party rallies on March 30. Street protests can quickly degenerate into violence if Indian security personnel use force to disperse unruly crowds. Avoid prominent administrative buildings in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) and district capitals throughout Kerala.

This alert expires 30 Mar 2005 18:30 GMT.
Related Advice: Tips for reducing your vulnerability in the event of civil unrest.

iJET monitors the world around-the-clock and alerts travelers, expatriates and decision makers to events and situations in real-time to help them avoid or minimize risk and travel disruptions abroad. Individuals subscribing to iJET's Worldcue® TRAVELER service (www.worldcuetraveler.com) can change alert delivery preferences, and modify their existing itinerary and personal profile to enhance and customize this service. iJET's Worldcue® PRO service (www.worldcuepro.com) provides travel and security professionals direct access to iJET's Global Travel Intelligence® Database and travel risk management tools.
The information in this document is provided by iJET Travel Risk Management. While iJET constantly monitors the changing world situation and strives for accuracy and timeliness, this information is provided to you on an "as is" basis, and your use of this information is at your own risk.

*** PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT IJET, PLEASE EMAIL
CUSTOMERSERVICE@IJET.COM. ANY REPLIES TO THIS EMAIL WILL NOT BE RECEIVED BY IJET. ***

We're going to the zoo!

hippo
Originally uploaded by waterlooHildreds.

Dear Mum and Dad:

It was nice to talk to Mum last night. We had a very nice end to the spring break yesterday. Joel, Dianne, Lokesh and I went to the Delhi zoo. It was a perfect day weather wise, about 28 degrees. Everything beside all of the roads in Delhi is covered by honeysuckle, in full bloom right now. There are a lot of flowering trees, including a very bright yellow one with the habit of a fruit tree, but with flowers that are a brighter yellow than forsythia. There are hollyhocks, snapdragons and other flowers galore. The pre monsoon rains have washed off the dust and the place is really brightened up. At the zoo I was really impressed by the large number of wild hawks. There was a nest with chicks in it right by the path. Dad hawk was driving other hawks away from the nest, but seemed unconcerned about people. We also caught glimpses of wild parrots or parakeets. It was good to go to the zoo so soon after the safari. We learned that the little roosters and hens that we saw were indeed jungle fowl. It was also cool to see the crocodiles much closer and compare them to Florida Alligators, which they also had. Joel had a map, and he soon found the leopards, tigers and the canteen. I read a couple of books by Corbett, and he mentions the coexistence of tigers and leopards in the area we were in.

After the zoo we went to this food city place. Turns out it is on the exhibition grounds. The exhibition grounds are very much like the CNE grounds. There are pavilions for many of the states, including Kerala, where we were. The only part of the exhibition that was open were a few rides in the fun park, and the food pavilion wasn't so we went to McDonalds for lunch in Connaught Place.

Love

Rich, Dianne and Joel

Happy Easter

Dear Grandma:

I hope that all is well with you. I know that winter seem long for you. We have just come back from an experience of late spring in the foothills of the Himalayas at Jim Corbett National Park of India. The park, named after a hunter turned naturalist/author, is billed as a tiger sanctuary with 135 of supposedly 5000 world-wide tigers living in it.

The part where we were was on the Ramganga River. It has a dam like the Thames by Innerkip where we used to walk when I came to visit. Like the Thames the headwaters dry up as the season progresses. When this happens a grassland emerges, and when the pre-monsoon rains arrive it turns an impossibly bright green. The grassland is full of birds, many storks Ibis and King Fishers. I don’t know if there are cormorants on the Thames yet, but there are lots of them on Lake Ontario and also on the part of the Ramganga reservoir that was still under water. There are also herds of wild elephants and Chital, a spotted dear. Trotting after the Chital (presumably downwind) we saw a Jackal. As well as very bright green grass there were bright green and some flowered balsam shrubs. There were also purple flowered woody plants that smelled and looked a lot like sage.

Leaving the reservoir bottom we came to forests of large trees called Sal. These forests grow on the hillsides like maple/beech forests in Ontario. In the undergrowth of the forest was lots of beautiful smelling white jasmine, growing very much like flowering crabs in the forests at home. These are the kind of forests that Rudyard Kipling, and Jim Corbett told stories of taking back from the settlers that tried to clear them.

We stayed in these forest rest houses which were quite basic accommodation with hard Indian style beds and a bathroom with European style toilets. There was a low wall all around the guest houses, on which monkeys perched. People perched there too when a tigress and cubs was seen just outside the wall on the afternoon we arrived. Inside the wall in the morning a large spread antlered Sambar stood, apparently unafraid of people. He was still standing there on the way back from a breakfast of eggs and toast in the canteen. The food there was vegetarian and quite good. My favorite were the vegetable pakoras, deep fried battered onions, green pepper, potato … Just be very careful not to mistake the long thin ones for beans. They are extremely hot deep fried and battered chilies. It’s also not a good idea to touch eyes or nose with your hands if you are brave enough to try one.

In the center of the walled area was a platform with stairs for mounting the elephants. We got up for a 6:30 am elephant ride. Ben, Joel, Dianne, a Mahout and I all shared the same elephant that walked like we weighed nothing up and down steep slopes. Sometimes the slopes were so steep that we felt like we would fall off. While walking along he would grab any foliage that struck his fancy with his trunk and fold it into his mouth. When he carried us across the river, he got a drink with his trunk and poured it into his mouth. It was drizzling for our trip, but not uncomfortably. We talked a bit, but mostly just looked at the flora and fauna, still not morning people, and the colors were so bright even in the drizzle.

There seem to be a lot more raptors in India then at home. There are hawks soaring everywhere. From the back of the elephant we also saw vultures, and an enormous fish eagle. In the afternoon on a jeep ride that we went on, we saw a fish owl sleeping in a tree. The vultures, and the hawks fly quite close, someone said that the vultures do that to see if your eyes are glazing over. Their wingtip feathers are sometimes all that move when they soar on enormous wings. I couldn’t hear the wind in their wingtip feathers the way that I could when I saw condors in the Grand Canyon though. We slept away the rest of the drizzle, and by 3:00 pm had a jeep ride in the bright sun. It took us on roads through the forest, and out on to the grasslands covering the monsoon season riverbed. Just like the marks on the rocks up north, etched by the spring run-off the hills rising from the river bed bear the marks of the high water.

Joel said that we could have seen many of the animals that we saw in Delhi. He is correct, as it seems that all you need for a bird sanctuary in Delhi are some trees with blossoms or berries on them. We have seen peacocks on the road to the boy’s school, and I have seen parrots while drinking my morning tea in the break-room with Srinivas. Monkeys are everywhere in Delhi, and domesticated elephants and camels are part of almost everyday traffic on the roads. What is missing form Delhi are the forested hills, the lack of garbage and the fast flowing clean looking river. We are grateful to have enjoyed another beautiful part of India.

Love

Rich, Dianne, Ben and Joel

Thanks for the Birthday Greetings!

Thanks for the Birthday Greetings!
Originally uploaded by waterlooHildreds.

We had a team building exercise at Ruby Tuesday's. The guys around the table from the foreground, clockwise are Amit, Pradip, Srinivas, Rich and Manas. Ruby Tuesday's is a dumb name for a restaurant in India. When I told Lokesh the place, Ruby Tuesday's on Friday was a communication block. I guess that the Rolling Stones never played that song on their first ever trip to India in April 2003. They do have chicken wings though. Graham would say that they weren't spicey enough. Sometimes when I go to western type things in India I feel even further from home. Today was pretty cool though. Pradip had on a shirt about Einstein meditating, and we talked about meditating a bit, and schools. Lokesh got us a Qualis for the trip, because we are getting to be a larger group. We are just adding 2 more over the next 2 weeks. As Granny points out, with > 10 guys working on something good things are bound to happen. I feel like we are making some solid progress.

We Drive on the Left here?

We Drive on the Left here?
Originally uploaded by waterlooHildreds.

Hi Al:

It was great talking with you the other night. I know we spoke about a lot of other things than cars (like boating!), but the auto-trader and cars is a big part of our shared history. This rambling blog entry is a follow up to my comment about driving in India being like leaving a rush concert at the gardens with a bunch of group home teenagers in the car. We are renting a Mitsubishi Lancer from the Routes rental company. This has a 1.6 l diesel engine, power windows and AC. The car rental company provides us with a driver 6 days a week through a temporary employment agency. Lokesh (our driver) and I were talking this morning, and we arrived September 4th and he started driving for us around the 15th. I have been driving a small amount in India. Mostly picking up and dropping off Ben and friends at the mall. The malls are full of bossy security guards that “help” you park. I don’t think that these guards have ever been in a car, much less driven one. Our driver has Sundays off, but we take a cab to church. I don’t think that I could find the way independently. Delhi has an outer ring road, but it seems like an outer string road as it doesn’t seem to be a continuous road at all but more like a series of turns and dog-legs. There seem to be a few approaches to Delhi from Gurgaon and it is quite a while till you get to this ring road. There are “farm houses” on the outer edge of Delhi, before you get to Gurgaon. These are really estates, which rent for one hundred thousand rupees or more a month. An average take home salary seems to be under 10,000 rupees a month. There is also an amusement park that we can go past if we take the most direct route in to Delhi from the office. Dianne is at a ladies group meeting as I write this on the outer ring road. Last night Dianne and I drove out to pick Joel up from his school. It is in the other direction from Delhi towards the country. You go around 4 roundabouts, and reach Sohna road, named after the place it leads to. You turn into this very unlikely looking market place, full of shops that are closed on 3 sides and open to the streets on the 4th. They have steel shutters, kind of like a garage door so that they can be closed up at night. The surface of the road is fist size boulders in clay, and 2 cars can’t pass abreast on it. Once through the market the road opens slightly and becomes paved. People here drive with their high beams on all the time. They just use the high beam switch to flash them rapidly at oncoming cars to say that they will be passing a tractor or slower moving vehicle in the oncoming vehicle’s lane. The horn is used continuously to warn people that are about to sideswipe you, but also to clear slower moving vehicles/people from your path. It is also used on blind corners. Both the horns and flashing lights are used to the point of habituation. People will pull in front of cars flashing furiously if they think that they can make it. Once you drive on the road through fields of very fat oats and mustard/oil seed, you come to a village. The road narrows again through the village and has these speed bumps combined with enormous potholes that make the speed bumps redundant. Then more fields and a large twisty hill. The top of the hill is set up with ~3 acre plots for more of these “farm houses’ but there are only a few and a lot of fancy gates surrounded by weeds. There is a gatehouse with security guards as you enter the residential/school area. Even though it is only 20k the road is very long. There are signs for the school every few k so that you don’t give up hope altogether. The school itself is beautiful. It has won architecture awards. Joel is very much in to a school play so we needed to get him late after rehearsal a number of times. Tuesday night Dianne saw some more lady friends so we needed 2 cars. Lokesh went with Dianne and I took a cab to get Joel. The driver’s only English words were left right and straight and he had no idea where to go, so I having told him, I decided it was as easy to drive myself on Wednesday when the car was available. The pictures are from various drives and walks around our house and in towards Delhi. The road is shared between people, cows, tractors, the odd herd of sheep, camels pulling carts, people riding elephants, bicycle rickshaws, scooter rickshaws, plain bicycles, scooters and motorcycles, trucks cars and buses. There are almost no tow-trucks. If a car loses a lower ball joint or something on the bumpy roads it will be fixed in place. Once I saw a truck propped on tires on the road, with a brand new differential underneath it. I guess that they had to go for more parts, because no one was working on it at the time. Whole families ride on scooters. There will be a 5 or 6 year old standing on the running boards between Dad’s arms, perhaps another child on the seat between mom and dad and then mom on the back riding side saddle with a sleeping baby in her arms. Likely only dad will be wearing a helmet. All manner of vehicles are used for deliveries. One time I saw a guy barely on the back of a motorcycle with a box between him and the driver. We were all driving past an accident where someone had hurt their leg on a scooter. Remember those terrible first Toyota minivans. A similar looking vehicle is made in India, and used for cabs and ambulances. One of these was coming his way. People do make way for fire trucks and ambulances. VIPs also have flashing lights and sirens on their cars, but they just add to the cacophony, no one makes way for them. Stop lights are often used just as an indication as to whom should yield. If there are no cars coming people only barely slow down. They have a really cool Toyota Qualis that is like my MPV with real doors. It has a 2 L diesel engine and caries up to 10. Toyota just replaced it with a much more expensive model, so I guess that the chances of it coming to Canada are about the same as for the Indian doctor I had and really liked ... slim.

thanks

Rich

Leisure Valley Flower Show

Giant Dhalias
Originally uploaded by waterlooHildreds.

It's been too long since our last post! We have been having quiet sort of adventures, but I haven't been bringing the camera enough places. Friday night Dianne, Joel and I had awesome biryani and kebabs at Vinay's house. Saturday Ben, Joel and Lokesh went to Palika Bazar, which is at Connaught place in Delhi. They picked me up from work on the way home. Saturday night I drove out in the car to pick up Ben and his friend after a movie (Constantine I think). Sunday we had lunch at the City Club with Barry and Anne Mackey, who I have mentioned before. They graciously followed us all of the way from Delhi out to Gurgaon ~20k through heavy traffic. They had lots of stories from the time that they spent here with their family until their children were university age. We are hoping to go on "safari" at Corbett Park on March 20th, and they had been there a number of times, and were telling us how much we would enjoy it. Sunday afternoon, I drove again to the flower show at Leisure valley, a quite nearby park. It was lovely and also lovely to feel independent out on our own. Leaving the park was a bit like leaving a Rush concert at Maple Leaf Gardens, with a car full of teenagers though. Come to think of it, driving anywhere here is a bit like that! Tuesday night Dianne went to a ladies social event, and had some lasagna. Wednesday night was very neat. Lokesh showed us how to get to this orphanage, run by people from our church about 4k from home. After he dropped us at home, Dianne and I drove there. We hung out with Sharji and Claudia that run the place and a few of the youngest kids first. Sharji and Claudia reminded me so much of the people that we worked with in the Browndale group home where Dianne and I met. They were very good with the kids, in a competent sort of way that I am having trouble describing. After the kids all introduced themselves to us, in English. They were quite interested in my 28" canoe guitar. It has been a real icebreaker. One of the kids brought in his axe(guitar), and I played Kum Ba Ya on it and the kids sang. I hope to head back there tonight and "fix" their computer.