Good Trip

Nothing to do with LSD or any other dubious drugs, more to do simply with the fact that the week in India was a good, er, trip. I managed to see the state of our offshore activities with my own eyes, and I managed to spend a lot of time with my US counterparts and supervisors. Thankfully everyone seems to be pretty much in agreement with my latest view of the world, so all we have to hope for now is that my European boss agrees, and then they release the required funds so we can get started.

On top of the professional side of things, I also had a marvelous last day on Friday. Two Indian colleagues drove me 70 kms outside of Bangalore to visit a poor rural 600 pupil school that serves 33 local villages. The school had been inspired by a great Indian figure from the state of Karnataka called Dr. H. Narasimhaiah whose remains are now kept in a sanctuary inside the school (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Narasimhaiah). It was a most wonderful experience – the welcome I got from the head teacher, staff members and children was overwhelming. I also felt quite the celebrity when they walked me round their special science laboratory before sitting fifty or so children down in front of me and asking me to say a few words as if I was some sort of state dignitary. Naturally I made sure I had my best Geordie accent on to aid comprehension. It was an especially fascinating experience because I have the memories of Maxime starting school fresh in my mind. After a visit of the school I was invited to lunch with the head teacher and he explained that one of the big pulling points of the school was the fact that each day they supplied a vegetarian lunch to all the children via a government sponsored programme at a cost of 10 rupees per child per day…80 euros to feed a school for a day; now that does put a lot of things into perspective not least client dinners and also the six euros ninety I have just spent on a chocolatine and apple juice for breakfast here in CDG airport this morning... A very memorable outing and a privilege to see the real India.