Day 1

I thought of keeping a track of the days spent here. So that it helps me out in the final version of my report. And in addition to that, it would help me in examining and understanding the time spent here. Though it is the 4th day, here it starts with the first day. Best of luck Saurabh :)

Day 1:

After a wonderful journey on my bullet, enjoying the meadows n the mountains, I reached yesterday on 18th around 6 pm to Panchghani. I got my room and got to know my room partner - Tamim - from Kabul. The next day, I met a lot of people. I met Dr Jayashree Rao who would be my mentor during this program. I met Mr Shah, who is professionally an architect and provides his services to MRA voluntarily. I also met Mr Jared and Mrs Sowmya.

I was introduced to what Grampari did by Jared. The morning was spent in that. Then I was introduced to some of the other interns here. I spent the evening with them having ice-cream in Panchghani. For dinner, Jared invited me to accompany him to a social visit to a village called Ambeghar. We had Mr and Mrs Poonawala from Pune and Samual from Canada accompanying us. The Road to ambeghar was amazing. I had wonderful time chatting with Jared, Sam and Poonawalas. Jared and Sam knew a lot of things about India. Now see the irony- I was sitting with 2 foreigners - one canadian and other american - who knew more than me about my country!

We were visiting Mr Prahlad Yadav, a farmer and a friend of Jared. I was amazed to hear Mr Yadav conversing in English with us. We received a warm welcome from Mr Yadav's family. It was a typical maharashtrian village and a typical village home surrounded with his farms. I learnt a few things about farming and water conservation. Jared is working in this areas since last 15 years and is a graduate of geology. Quality of the soil can be observed through the patterns of it. Soil with larger lumps has more microorganisms and hence is more fruitful. I also learnt a way to increase the underground water level (sand filling method). Then we had a wonderful dinner and returned.

What a day! a lot of new people and a lot of new experiences.

- SD