Thanks to John
Fogerty for the lyrics that are the title for today’s blontry. It is apropos because
of the first topic. This week we had a Sports Day. We rented a large sports
facility that was built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. We actually just used
the warm up hall, but that gave us access to a 400 meter track, full basketball
court, four badminton courts and table tennis. Our students really wanted to
play football (soccer) but due to the rains we have had, the field was in
terrible condition so we’ll have to have a separate day for football matches
another time. We had about 100 students who participated in one or more sports
and more who came to observe. Some brought friends from other colleges and they
seemed impressed that we would sponsor such an event, so who knows we may get
some transfers because of the event.
Most of the activities
would have been immediately recognizable to any of you. As noted, basketball,
badminton, and track took the biggest roles. However, there was one activity I
had never seen. It developed spontaneously, I think, after the badminton
contests. On a badminton court, teams competed against each other in what
looked like volleyball. I thought, huh, the lowered nets for badminton don’t
make volleyball much of a challenge. Then they started to play and I realized. They.
Were. KICKING. THE. BALL! They were playing volleyball with soccer rules: any
part of the body except arms and hands were acceptable. So here they were
heading it back and forth, doing scissor and bicycle kicks; receiving off their
chest to control the ball and then setting up a team mate to make a kick.
Pretty freaking amazing. In any case, a good time was had by all. Here are some
pictures.
Friday night I represented
the University at a conference about Japanese and Indian partnerships and
investments. Joining, as it did, my first foray into Asia (Japan) with my latest
(India) I found it quite interesting. I am sure it was not quite as interesting
for Rae as it was for me. I lured her to come with me on the hope there might
be good Japanese food. She was a good sport (as always) but I doubt that it was
all that interesting. AND there was sushi, after a fashion: tuna roll,
vegetable roll, etc. It wasn’t great but it was sushi. Makizushi AND dal makhani
at the same meal was a bit strange but I have had worse.
This was actually
quite a high level event with the Japanese Ambassador to India, the Minister of
Commerce as well as the heads of a couple Indo-Japanese joint ventures spoke to
us. They all spoke English, with one exception, but they had simultaneous
translation set up for Japanese to English and English to Japanese which was
more required. It was an auspicious time for the conference. Prime Minister
Modi has just finished a very successful tour of Japan at which he and the
Japanese Prime Minister announced several joint initiatives. It was interesting
to hear the strategy that Japan Inc. has for India Inc. and the Indian reaction
to those plans.
Japan sees India as
both a market and a launching pad for further interaction with other markets in
Southeast Asia and Africa. India would prefer a more balanced relationship in
which Japan is as open to Indian products and services as Japanese companies
want India to be to their offerings. This is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Japan is still a semi-closed market in which it is essentially impossible to
have success unless you have the right local partner. Oh, wait. That is exactly
the same description one could use for India. Except Japan has a much better
developed industrial base. Japan sees the relationship as one in which it will
help India grow and develop so that it can buy more Japanese goods and maybe
buy some raw materials and food (rice and fruit primarily) from India. There is an example of Suzuki developing a car
for the Indian market that it then took to other developing nations. Suzuki did
not, however, take the car back to sell in Japan, which is what India wants.
There was also a fair
bit of discussion about why Japanese companies do not take on Indian leadership
for its Indian subsidiaries. This is a fair point. There are now Indians who
lead large multi-national companies. It is not that there aren’t qualified
Indian managers. The problem is the lack of trust that Japanese companies have
in anyone who is not Japanese, or at least who do not speak Japanese. On this
last point, I did hear a few Indians who spoke Japanese quite well. There are,
according to what we heard, about 30000 Indians living in Japan. There are
undoubtedly some more living here who speak Japanese, but compared to a population
of 1.3 Billion people, it’s a pretty rare skill.
Not many pictures of
this event but here’s one I took.
My final contribution
to this week’s blontry happened at Church today. We had gotten word last night
that there was to be a photo shoot after Church. It turns out the Church wanted
some pictures of our branch to include in some publication or another. So,
after Church was over, everyone reassembled in the Chapel. The photographer had
arranged the room to maximize it photographability and had placed lights,
diffusers, and synchronized strobes around the hall. After getting people where
he wanted them (“we need a family over here; a few single adults over there;
let’s put those two older sisters in that row”, etc.). He would take a few
pictures and email them to the main photographer back in Salt Lake, who after reviewing
the pictures would make suggestions on lighting or balancing the shots. This
went on for about twenty minutes or so until they achieved the look they
wanted. (I will say that I was put clear to the back where I may or may not be
in the pictures so he clearly had a discerning eye.) Rae missed this fun as she
was teaching the young women at another branch.
Once the right look
was achieved, they had us sing songs, and act as if we were listening to a
speaker. They wanted us to look happy, engaged, and not look at the camera. So
we tried for the next half hour or so to achieve that magic combination. The
biggest problem was getting people to not look at the camera. The photographer
and his assistant kept waiving towards the front of the Chapel (and away from
themselves) to get people to not mug for the camera. They must have shot a
thousand pictures (maybe a slight exaggeration) so I hope they got something
that is usable. Here’s a photograph of the photographers.
With that I’ll turn
the blontry over to Rae.
As Phil mentioned
above, I was visiting another branch today. Friday evening I got a call from the district
YW president telling me it was district conference at Pitampura branch today, a
branch I’ve not visited before. She
needed to tend to some other things at a different branch and the 2nd
counsellor is out of town so she asked if I could do the lesson for the
YW. Yes, I can do that, so I went to my
branch for the sacrament and then headed to Pitampura branch, about an hour
away. Traffic was good and we got there
is record time. I met with the young
women and gave the lesson. There were 5
young woman and 2 leaders beside myself.
We met in the tiniest classroom I think I’ve ever been in. There were also 2 classroom table in the room
so by the time we got 9 chairs in there we barely had room to move.
As is often the case,
Sunday School went over time so of course YW’s started late leaving me with a
lot of material to cover and not nearly enough time to cover it. I gave the
lesson and felt that it went well, but thought of so many things that I wished
we’d had time to cover. Here’s the
really good part. As I was waiting in
the hall for the YW room to become available I visited with the District
President, Pres. Suku. President Suku
told me that the Branch conference had been cancelled and so it would take
place some other time. WHAT, how is it
we didn’t get that word?
So, I gave a lesson I
really didn’t need to give and I missed all the fun of watching the photo shoot
take place. Having said all that I’d
like to say that each time I meet with the young women here in Delhi, I’m so
impressed with them. Being a member of
the Church here is not easy, for many reason, and getting to church can also be
a hardship. They show such strength of
character, their testimonies are so sweet and their knowledge of gospel
principles impressive. In my eyes, the strength
of the church lies in this young generation.
They will really make a difference in the church here in India in the
future. I meant to take a picture of the
class, but in the rush I forgot. Sorry I
can’t show you their sweet faces and the tiny classroom.
It’s been a good
week, hope yours was too.
Namaste.
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