Friday, December 12, 2008
Leeds Met has "buzz" (Times Higher Education)
I just found this article in the online Times Higher Education magazine. It describes that Leeds Met has the most buzz about it, when it comes to web blogs and reviews. I wonder if my own blog here with my occasional reporting about Leeds Met has a little bit contributed to this... (well, actually Leeds Met is tops not in blogs but in news coverage, whereas the blog coverage is topped by Sheffield Hallam).
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Leeds Met becomes Leeds Carnegie University
As announced today in our Vice-Chancellor's daily reflection, Leeds Metropolitan University will change its name to Leeds Carnegie University probably by the beginning of the next academic year.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Travel Back
We leave early in the morning, after breakfast. The car brings us directly to the airport in Ahmadabad. On the way we can for the last time "enjoy" the low sense of risk that traffic participants show...
The check-in goes quite fast. Brian has to unpack his suitcase at the X-ray check, but no problems otherwise. The airline rushes us somehow, no time even for strolling around at the airport (there is actually nothing to stroll around...), we are quickly hurdled into the bus to the plane. Then the flight takes off 30 minutes earlier than scheduled! That never happened to me before.
In Dubai I go to the Burger King, and have a large salad - and a meaty juicy burger. The first meat after almost 2 weeks!
The last flight leg goes by without any problems. I have a brief nap, then I watch a couple of movies. Landing in Manchester ok. It is dark and cold. We just miss the 19:22 train to Leeds, so we will take the next one in an hour. Brian takes the route through Sheffield to Doncaster, as this will bring him home earlier.
A big adventure is over. I have now actually been in India!
The check-in goes quite fast. Brian has to unpack his suitcase at the X-ray check, but no problems otherwise. The airline rushes us somehow, no time even for strolling around at the airport (there is actually nothing to stroll around...), we are quickly hurdled into the bus to the plane. Then the flight takes off 30 minutes earlier than scheduled! That never happened to me before.
In Dubai I go to the Burger King, and have a large salad - and a meaty juicy burger. The first meat after almost 2 weeks!
The last flight leg goes by without any problems. I have a brief nap, then I watch a couple of movies. Landing in Manchester ok. It is dark and cold. We just miss the 19:22 train to Leeds, so we will take the next one in an hour. Brian takes the route through Sheffield to Doncaster, as this will bring him home earlier.
A big adventure is over. I have now actually been in India!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Last Evening Dinner, and Folk Dance Performances
We are all going out for dinner to one of the restaurants, and we invite our hosts who have made our stay there in Vallabh Vidyanagar so smooth and pleasant. Afterwards some of us go to the area where the West Indian Youth Festival Competition has been taken place since Monday (when there was this procession in the streets). This is located on a large open sports ground, covered by a marquee tent. Traditional Indian music can be heard from outside. We walk into the tent, and see immediately colleagues from the university. Also Kanu Patel is there, as he was involved in the organisation of this whole event, and he points us to seats in the very first row. Behind us are probably 1000 young people, listening and applauding the performances that are ongoing at the stage. We sit down and watch a bit. The speakers are very close, and the sound makes everything vibrate. Kanu offers me a seat in the centre, wher eI have a better view for taking video and pictures. The different groups who are competing in this dance competition wear colorful costumes and perform several different dances. They also provide the music for their dance, with the musicians in the background playing while in the foreground the dancers show their performance.
We leave before midnight, shortly before the whole show ends.
We leave before midnight, shortly before the whole show ends.
A Day in Ahmadabad
This is our last day. We have done a lot: visited several institutions, recorded material, collected information, created writings. Now I would like to see some more of Ahmadabad - we only had been there for our project activities. I had heard that the old town would be worth seeing. Also I wanted to be a bit adventurous - and take a train.
Strangely enough, nobody of the locals recommended to take the train. Our hosts at the university offered to provide a car, as they have done during all the time. But Brian also agreed that taking the train would be worth doing, to get a bit more immersed in local life. Only Brian, Jane, Asha, and myself would go. We had an invitation to a private home for lunch: a participant of the Creativity Conference last week had invited our group, she wanted to introduce us to her family and offer us some homemade Indian food. After breakfast we take off. First we take one of these rickshaws from the guest house to the train station in Anand. All four of us sqeeze into the small vehicle, and this time I record with the hand-held camera. At the train station there is a large lane-crowd in front of the ticket office. The train leaves in a few minutes, no way that we would get tickets in time. But Asha knows her way: she goes to some dealer stand outside of the station and buys 4 tickets. Each costs 15 rupies, which is 20 pence, for a 2-hour train ride.
We are rushing to the platform. Interestingly the low sensitivity for risk again shows, as everybody just crosses the railway tracks instead of using the bridge... and we do that too.
The platforms are very crowded, for trains in both directions. This is the train line which leads south to Mumbai.
The train is very crowded, people sit on the floor. Nevertheless we find a seat bench and chat a little with the local travellers. The train does not go very fast, max. 80 km/h, so it takes 2 hours until we arrive in Ahmadabad. Trupti, our host, and her husband are already there and welcome us in the station. They drive us a bit around, then we go to their home. The streets are loud, but these side streets are very quiet. A nice well-maintained house, with garden. We sit down, and Trupti wants individual introductions from everyone. So each of us gives a brief CV. I film it, and when it is my turn, Trupti films. We then have excellent food, brought out from the kitchen by the servants. Suddenly a shout from the kitchen: there is a monkey! But before I can get a climpes of it, the monley disappears out of the window from where he (she?) came from.
Jane and myself are taking off, as we only have a short time for exploring the old town of Ahmadabad. Again we feel this mode of surprise, about our desire to see some old things, when the town has to offer so many new things... it seems that many Indians consider some of their heritage as outdated, dirty, full of traffic, crowded, cramped... or is it just because the Old Town is Muslim?
Brian and Asha stay, we will meet at the bus station. So Jane and I take a rickshaw towards the centre. Again the GPS ix very helpful, as I can trace our routes and can indicate the proximity to the train station for example, even though I do not have a map of Ahmadabad on the device.
We see a great old gate and get out of the vehicle. Then we walk towards East and Southeast into the town. Narrow streets, many vendors. We follow just arbitrarily the path, always knowing that we can just get out and take a rickshaw which would bring us right to the bus terminal. Many nice old buildings, often damaged and not cared for. Suddenly a small gate, and behind there is a temple. Houses with intricate masonry work. We have no idea what these houses are, there are no signs, it is all being used for daily life and not kept as a museum.
After one hour we get back onto the main road and take a rickshaw to the bus terminal. When we arrive, we see this is a large area wich many busses... and we have no idea which one would go to Anand. Fortunately, as we go around one corner, we see Brian and Asha, and she guides us to the right bus.
So we go back by bus. Noisy, dusty, but it drives. Takes about 2 hours as well, across country roads, through small towns and villages. Unfortunately it si getting darker already, so my pictures do not come out well... too much motion blurriness. In Vallabh Vidyanagar for the last time a rickshaw, then we are back at the guest house.
Strangely enough, nobody of the locals recommended to take the train. Our hosts at the university offered to provide a car, as they have done during all the time. But Brian also agreed that taking the train would be worth doing, to get a bit more immersed in local life. Only Brian, Jane, Asha, and myself would go. We had an invitation to a private home for lunch: a participant of the Creativity Conference last week had invited our group, she wanted to introduce us to her family and offer us some homemade Indian food. After breakfast we take off. First we take one of these rickshaws from the guest house to the train station in Anand. All four of us sqeeze into the small vehicle, and this time I record with the hand-held camera. At the train station there is a large lane-crowd in front of the ticket office. The train leaves in a few minutes, no way that we would get tickets in time. But Asha knows her way: she goes to some dealer stand outside of the station and buys 4 tickets. Each costs 15 rupies, which is 20 pence, for a 2-hour train ride.
We are rushing to the platform. Interestingly the low sensitivity for risk again shows, as everybody just crosses the railway tracks instead of using the bridge... and we do that too.
The platforms are very crowded, for trains in both directions. This is the train line which leads south to Mumbai.
The train is very crowded, people sit on the floor. Nevertheless we find a seat bench and chat a little with the local travellers. The train does not go very fast, max. 80 km/h, so it takes 2 hours until we arrive in Ahmadabad. Trupti, our host, and her husband are already there and welcome us in the station. They drive us a bit around, then we go to their home. The streets are loud, but these side streets are very quiet. A nice well-maintained house, with garden. We sit down, and Trupti wants individual introductions from everyone. So each of us gives a brief CV. I film it, and when it is my turn, Trupti films. We then have excellent food, brought out from the kitchen by the servants. Suddenly a shout from the kitchen: there is a monkey! But before I can get a climpes of it, the monley disappears out of the window from where he (she?) came from.
Jane and myself are taking off, as we only have a short time for exploring the old town of Ahmadabad. Again we feel this mode of surprise, about our desire to see some old things, when the town has to offer so many new things... it seems that many Indians consider some of their heritage as outdated, dirty, full of traffic, crowded, cramped... or is it just because the Old Town is Muslim?
Brian and Asha stay, we will meet at the bus station. So Jane and I take a rickshaw towards the centre. Again the GPS ix very helpful, as I can trace our routes and can indicate the proximity to the train station for example, even though I do not have a map of Ahmadabad on the device.
We see a great old gate and get out of the vehicle. Then we walk towards East and Southeast into the town. Narrow streets, many vendors. We follow just arbitrarily the path, always knowing that we can just get out and take a rickshaw which would bring us right to the bus terminal. Many nice old buildings, often damaged and not cared for. Suddenly a small gate, and behind there is a temple. Houses with intricate masonry work. We have no idea what these houses are, there are no signs, it is all being used for daily life and not kept as a museum.
After one hour we get back onto the main road and take a rickshaw to the bus terminal. When we arrive, we see this is a large area wich many busses... and we have no idea which one would go to Anand. Fortunately, as we go around one corner, we see Brian and Asha, and she guides us to the right bus.
So we go back by bus. Noisy, dusty, but it drives. Takes about 2 hours as well, across country roads, through small towns and villages. Unfortunately it si getting darker already, so my pictures do not come out well... too much motion blurriness. In Vallabh Vidyanagar for the last time a rickshaw, then we are back at the guest house.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Visit at IET, and Driving Back
The educational institution which Adam wanted us to get in contact is IET. This institution has the main mission to bring education to the tribal communities around Surat. They teach English and other subjects which are relevant to these communities in order to not stay behind in this rapidly developing country. IET has a great campus at the River Tapi.
We are welcomed by Ashok Vyas, the director of the institute. He shows us around and explains us the situation. We also realise that Adam and Dr. Jadeja (Sardar Patel University) are on the advisory committee of this institute. Beccy and myself are taking with us information material which we can then present to our home institutions. We visit the president of IET who is located at another building.
Afterwards, we drive through the city to Ashok's home, where he invites us to the usual great tea, and where his wife performs a puppet theatre performance for us, with her hand-made dolls. On a laptop computer we are shown a video recording that was taken in this flat during Brian's first visit back in January. The video shows him and the singer Ray Hearne, sitting in those seats were we are sitting right now.
We take off. Driving back through the town, on that elevated motorway. The city appears very contemporary, but somewhat run-down. Many glass facades of buildings are damaged. We are told that this city has many diamond processing factories and a large textile industry. I would be curious to see the old town centre. There is supposed to be a fort here. But interestingly, our hosts do not mention it, nor do they recommend anything in the old town. Instead they point out the factories and shopping centres that we are driving alongside.
We continue towards North. The road is a long construction zone, due to the conversion into a motorway. We drive again through many potholes. Our driver appears to be even more agressive than before, and even more than all the other drivers around. He honks a lot, speeds at intersections and roundabouts. But the most life-threatening scene happens when our part of the quasi-motorway is very slow, and he just moves across an intersection onto the other lane, right into the oncoming traffic. Lots of honking, but everybody sees our vehicle and moves to the side. This goes so for about 1/2 km, then he returns back to the correct track. From now on nothing can shock me anymore. Beccy is half unconsious and says nothing.
We drop off Adam near the town of Bharuch. No time for sighseeing, we drive further into the night. Eventually the road becomes better. After about 4 hours of driving we are back in Vallabh Vidyanagar.
Somehow after all this Indian food, vegetarian and spicy, I have an appetite for pizza. There is a place, and we all go. The pizza is quite a bot different than expected: an almost solid bottom crust, and on top some tomato paste, with grated cheese strips.
We are welcomed by Ashok Vyas, the director of the institute. He shows us around and explains us the situation. We also realise that Adam and Dr. Jadeja (Sardar Patel University) are on the advisory committee of this institute. Beccy and myself are taking with us information material which we can then present to our home institutions. We visit the president of IET who is located at another building.
Afterwards, we drive through the city to Ashok's home, where he invites us to the usual great tea, and where his wife performs a puppet theatre performance for us, with her hand-made dolls. On a laptop computer we are shown a video recording that was taken in this flat during Brian's first visit back in January. The video shows him and the singer Ray Hearne, sitting in those seats were we are sitting right now.
We take off. Driving back through the town, on that elevated motorway. The city appears very contemporary, but somewhat run-down. Many glass facades of buildings are damaged. We are told that this city has many diamond processing factories and a large textile industry. I would be curious to see the old town centre. There is supposed to be a fort here. But interestingly, our hosts do not mention it, nor do they recommend anything in the old town. Instead they point out the factories and shopping centres that we are driving alongside.
We continue towards North. The road is a long construction zone, due to the conversion into a motorway. We drive again through many potholes. Our driver appears to be even more agressive than before, and even more than all the other drivers around. He honks a lot, speeds at intersections and roundabouts. But the most life-threatening scene happens when our part of the quasi-motorway is very slow, and he just moves across an intersection onto the other lane, right into the oncoming traffic. Lots of honking, but everybody sees our vehicle and moves to the side. This goes so for about 1/2 km, then he returns back to the correct track. From now on nothing can shock me anymore. Beccy is half unconsious and says nothing.
We drop off Adam near the town of Bharuch. No time for sighseeing, we drive further into the night. Eventually the road becomes better. After about 4 hours of driving we are back in Vallabh Vidyanagar.
Somehow after all this Indian food, vegetarian and spicy, I have an appetite for pizza. There is a place, and we all go. The pizza is quite a bot different than expected: an almost solid bottom crust, and on top some tomato paste, with grated cheese strips.
In Surat: Pacific Inn Hotel
The waiter brings breakfast into the room: tea and sandwich. I hesitate: should I trust them to have taken all the hygienic precautions that food preparation requires? When nobody seemed to care about the usual hygienic procedures like cleaning the room / toilet after guests move out or before new ones move in? Well, I have already become quite desensitised in these days, so I actually eat the sandwich. Tastes good. Has a bit of salad which I had avoided so far, because of the water washing (water is always assumed to be contaminated, at least for us sensitive and unadapted Westerners). But I assume now that I have been a bit adapted. And indeed, no problem re. food occurs to me on the whole trip. Only my strange cold or infection in the throat worries me a bit...
At daylight we can have a closer look at this hotel. Has inner court yard, with balconies and bridges.
At daylight we can have a closer look at this hotel. Has inner court yard, with balconies and bridges.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Arrival in Surat
Back at the hospital, our group splits. Most people will drive back to Vallabh Vidyanagar. But Adam has offered to visit another educational institution which is interested in establishing links with overseas contacts. This would be in Surat, a few hours more to drive from here. Beccy and myself have been interested in this, but she does not feel so good today - some of the spicy food has not been kind to her. We are considering cancelling that trip, but Adam convinces here that it would be good to go. So the other ones take off, and Beccy, Adam, Asha, and myself stay behind.
We sit in the garden, chat with out hosts while it gets dark. A great view onto the starry sky. At 8pm the driver from Surat arrives, we say good-bye and drive off into the darkness. The driver seems to want to make up time, he drives quite energetically over the potholes. Often we "test the suspension" - yes, it still works ok.
After 45 minutes we get a call, from the people back at the hospital. They found an ID card, with the name "Reinhold Behringer". What the hell...? I check my wallet, everything is there. I did not take my passport with me. What could this ID card be? Then I realise: it is my German driver license! Just a few months ago I had been looking for it for a few weeks, because I had replaced it and could not find it. And now this old grey paper document has again disappeared. Fortunately Dr. Yoshi would bring it to Vallabh Vidyanagar on Thursday, so I would have it back then. I have to find a better place to carry it with me than the mobile phone pocket.
A few times we cross railway tracks of those narrow gauge lines. I mark the position on my GPS, to be able to explore them sometime in the future, maybe. The ride goes through a lot of construction. After a while, the air begins to smell "chemically" - there are many factories outside, we are driving through a very industrial area. Around 11:30 we arrive in the outskirts of Surat, at the Pacific Inn Hotel. Makes a nice impression in the dark - before I enter the bath room. There are the usual buckets and fossets/taps on the wall, no surprise there, but the bath tub is something that I must take a picture of: it has stains, traces of dirty water, I would really not want to step in there and take a shower, not talking about a bath. And the toilet... well, I will be kind to the readers and spare them a detailed description of what was swimming in there... I wanted to take a photograph as evidence, but then I shy-ed away because it was just too disgusting. The whole think looked like something from the movie "Trainspotting"...
Well, no time to think much, I switch off the air conditioner and go to sleep.
At the Narmada Dam
After the workshop we drive up towards the mountains, to the Narmada Dam. We have to get a permission first, because the entry into the whole area is secured. Then we go to one of the viewing points. The dam is quite big, a colossal thick concrete structure. It blocks the water which would normally flow down from the mountains to form the Narmada river. This project has been envisaged in the 1950s but has been partially completed just recently. There is a lot of controversy about it: safety concerns, the large impact into the eco-system, and the displacement of the tribal population. Resistance has been persistent, documented on a website about this project: www.narmada.org. But Dr. Yoshi points out the benefits of this and other dams: regulated water, electricity, and as a consequence an increase of the living standard.
We drive to the visitor centre, from where we get a very good view of the dam.
Further along the lake we see the natural beauty of the landscape. There is a crocodile swimming somewhere.
We drive to the visitor centre, from where we get a very good view of the dam.
Further along the lake we see the natural beauty of the landscape. There is a crocodile swimming somewhere.
At the Narmada River
We arrive at the Hospital Jalaram Aarogya Dham, Vasantpura, in time for lunch. This is a charity hospital for the local tribes who live in the area. They provide medical care for free. The building is located near the Narmada River, where we how hold our next workshop. After lunch we walk down to the river. It has not very much water, very flat, it looks like one could just walk across it. Some of the group begin writing, others paint. Dr. Yoshi from Sardar Patel University explains to us some of the background, as further upstream there is this large controversial dam. A few km south from here there are mountains raising from the otherwise flat plain. We are told that during the Monsoon season, the tigers and leopards come out. I would like to see that!
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