The Taj Mahal, Agra

However, instead of enjoying our vacation, we were beset by many pitfalls which we hope you will avoid by learning from our experience. Travel companies like Orbitz and Orbit Elite give the impression of being professional by presenting printed itineraries in binders, but they hide their crooked operations under the veneer of glossy printouts with very poor services delivered underneath all their PR crap.

The first red flag occurred after we had booked and paid for our tickets ($1,500 per person).  A month before our departure date, we received an e-mail stating that our return date was changed from January 10 to February 6 (nearly a month later).  When we called to inquire about this date change, we were told that the dates were changed because of bad weather – bad weather which was forecast two months before the departure date? I’ve never heard of such advanced and accurate forecasts before! Which planet are these people living on to peddle this kind of nonsense?

After several phone calls to “supervisors,” we thought the situation was rectified. However, upon reaching our destination and calling the airline to confirm our return journey, we found, to our surprise, that one of the tickets was not confirmed for January 10. The airline told us that while a reservation had indeed been made, they did not receive a payment.  Orbitz had collected our money and not paid the actual airline to issue the return ticket. Once again, we were forced to call several more times. We were able to secure a return ticket for January 17 (one week later and we incurred additional expenses).

This was just the tip of the ordeal. Orbitz had booked us with United from Chicago to London Heathrow and connected us with Air India from London Heathrow to Mumbai. The connection time was one and a half hours. When the Chicago flight was delayed by an hour, we had to literally sprint through Heathrow, take a bus to another terminal, and go through security again without a boarding pass because United could not issue us Air India boarding passes in Chicago.  We just barely made the connection – we were the last ones to board the Air India connecting flight.  On the return flight, we were not successful and missed our connecting flight (transferring from Air India to United in Frankfurt). This is because Air India, whose name should be changed to Ground India and whose license to operate should be revoked, does not still know that it has always taken them more than 2 hours to board a plane for the last 20 years that I can remember – some corporate MBA with an ounce of commonsense should have realized by now that boarding should begin at least 2 hours prior to departure instead of one hour.

Lesson to be learned: Never change international carriers in Europe, unless you have ample time to make the connection. Do not be fooled into doing this by some travel company offering you a “cheap” deal – it is simply not worth the hassle.

Humayun's Tomb, Delhi

After reaching Mumbai, we embarked on our 6-day sight-seeing trip to Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. The Orbit-Elite package promised us transportation, stay at luxury resorts, and tour guides. The cost was roughly $600 per person for 5 persons (local domestic airfare was extra and came to $100 per person). A car picked us up from the airport and the car and driver we got were the best parts of our 6-day vacation. Although we were promised tour guides, no one called us and told us when and where the guides would meet us. And all the tour guides were scripted to take us to shopping places where they would get commissions instead of places that were useful to us. It was a pathetic and appalling display of shamelessness by wasting our time on such shenanigans.

The misinformation about tour guides proved to be a systemic problem in Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur and all other places where we were told that guides would show up. In Agra, we were ready at 9 AM, but the guide showed up only at 10:15 AM. And whenever we called Orbit Elite to inquire about the guide, we were told that someone would call us back. NO ONE ever called us back from Orbit Elite – a cell phone call in India costs roughly 3 cents a minute and this level of cheapness on Orbit’s part is unfathomable – that when a customer calls in to ask about the services that have been paid for, there is no direct response made to the customer. And the hotels where we stayed (with bed bugs and all) were supposedly upscale luxury resorts, but when we inquired later about the prices of these so-called resort hotels, we were told that such breakdowns are not given to customers after their money has been collected and that “we just operate on package deals.” The resort hotels which were booked in the “package deal” turned out to be very ordinary with poor front-desk service and an indifferent attitude to simple customer requests.

Hawa Mahal, Jaipur (Palace of Winds)

A friendly tip to visit India:  If you do want to visit India from the U.S. and take a ten-day tour of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur, contact Say Travels (http://www.saytravel.com/ ) or Smartchoicetravel (http://www.smartchoicetravel.ca/) – their rates are very reasonable – $999 per person which includes air fare to and fro from New York, stay at luxury 5-star hotels, entrance fees at all sites covered, and a dedicated tour guide for sight-seeing.  Certainly beats our 6-day price of $700 per person from Mumbai, which did not include entrance fees to the sites (which are outrageously high for non-Indian citizens).

All I can say about the trip is that it left a very bad taste of India for my children who were looking forward to learn about their heritage, least expecting such pitfalls to be inflicted by Indians on persons of Indian origin. When we brought these issues up with Orbit Elite’s office in Mumbai, they just shrugged it off, treating it as a part of our “learning experience.”

Such fly-by-night travel and leisure companies are symptomatic of greedy, mismanaged, and unaccountable corporations that snare customers without giving them a detailed breakdown of the actual horror of their package deals. Their corporate culture promotes profit at any cost over customer satisfaction. In fact, they probably take great pride in customer dissatisfaction.

If you want to avoid being victimized, shanked, and tortured, I would strongly recommend against using Orbit Elite or Orbitz to plan your next vacation.

The Shanbhag High School, managed by the Konkan Education Trust does not receive any governmental aid. But it follows the state determined academic syllabus and guidelines. While we attract many students who can afford fees, our family wanted to make good education particularly accessible to the poor. Thus last year we gave 16 scholarships to very needy students to attend either the Shanbhag High School, or the affiliated primary school, Saraswati Vidya Kendra. At a new site dedicated to our Scholarship activities, (Shikshan.org), you can browse the list of Scholarship Recipients for 2007-2008.

You can also read about my personal challenges in identifying needy girls: Where are all the needy girls?

We did not rest, last December (2007) during my travels to Kumta I visited most of the scholarship recipients in their homes. The visit served two purposes: (a) to meet the families and convince them of our commitment to support their child’s education ~ and in turn expect them to make education a priority; and (b) to ensure that these were indeed needy families, which I could determine from their living conditions.

They lived in simple 1 or 2 room homes, or with relatives, and it was emotionally overwhelming to experience the gratitude of these families. Below, I share with you some of the scholarship recipients in their home settings. Appropriately I have omitted their names.

We supported the girl; this was their front room/living room/bedroom and the kids studied on the bed. Behind was a smaller kitchen/dining area.

She came from a family of traditional fisher folks.

We supported the boy. As discussed in Where are all the needy girls? the sister in 4th grade was enrolled in the Kannada language school. She wanted to be in the Shanbhag School with her brother but unaffordable. On hearing this, I asked her mother (father is no more) to enroll her in our school for the next year. When I visited Kumta last month, we got the girl enrolled with a full scholarship! Yaay!

You can see the kitchen and dining area in the back. As traditional families do, they sit on the floor to eat.

We are supporting the boy. You see one of several sisters in the background, who have all graduated from the Kannada language school. With limited professional or career options, they work as cooks and serve meals to students in a part of their house.

We are supporting one of these delightful twins, seen here drawing and finishing their home work.

If you are interested in helping children get an outstanding education, see what we have started at Shikshan.org; and particularly, How to Help!

• Shanbhag School in Kumta
• Academic Update from the Shanbhag School
• Lunch at the Shanbhag School
• Lunch at the Saraswati Vidya Kendra; Audio of Kids Chanting
• Scholarship Activities at Shikshan.org

A few blocks from our place in Kumta is a little “girNi” (or mill) which grinds various types of flour. It is run by a distant relative ours; apparently everyone in Kumta is related to each other! And fortuitously for me, he was milling raagi flour that day. So here’s a little tour of the making of Raagi Flour.

Shanbhag maam (in Kumta I call all elders by this honorific ~ we are all related, you see) poses with a bag of Raagi flour.


Raagi comes in these 110 lb bags and Shanbhag maam hauls these on his back!

My first look at whole raagi (Red millet or African millet).

In this simple contraption, the millet is ground. Through the homemade bellows in the foreground, the ground raagi collects in tin cans. The husk blows up through the pipe at the top and collects in the cloth bag in the back.

To cool, the ground raagi is heaped on newspapers on the floor, then hand filled in plastic bags and sealed. For a pittance I bought a couple of bags of raagi flour and carried them to our home here. On our dining table, raagi bhakri will appear more often. Yaay!

A closer look at the owner/manager/laborer/bag filler/cashier/cleaner/load hauler!

shri ramachandracharanau manasa smaraami
shri ramachandracharanau vachasa gruNaami
shri ramachandracharanau SHirasa namaami
shri ramachandracharanau SHaranam prapadhyae

On Rama’s feet I meditate
With words I praise
With lowered head I pray
At Rama’s feet I seek refuge!

Rama.
During times of cosmic crisis, Vishnu as Preserver and Caretaker of the Universe adopts various avataars or earthly forms, to save Creation from calamity, and rid humankind of suffering. Rama as a model human, is one of Vishnu’s most popular avataars. Rama is revered as a devoted son, faithful husband and a righteous king. To fulfill his father’s promise, he willingly accepts exile and wanders forests for many years. When his wife Sita is abducted, Rama enlists birds, monkeys and other animals to track her to Lanka – kingdom of the villainous Ravana. After a prolonged battle, Rama slays Ravana and saves the world from terror and torture. Rama’s victory is celebrated during the Vijaya Dashami festival, and culminates in the burning of Ravana in effigy.

During festivals, devotees raise their voice to Rama. Temples ring to countless chants of his name. Uniquely, the mere recitation of Rama’s name is said to bring ananda or bliss.

The reason for this can be traced to the Mahabharata, when Bhisma bestows on the victorious Yudhishtra, the Vishnu Sahasranaam (Thousand names of Vishnu). Noting the long sermon, Devi Parvati asks her beloved Shiva, how an ordinary person can attain the same benefits as reciting the Vishnu Sahasranaam. Shiva assures her that uttering but once the name of Shri Rama is equal to chanting the name of any other God, a thousand times. With these invaluable words from Shiva, mankind has been blessed with an easy path to happiness.

In the Rama Raksha Stotra – hymn asking Rama for protection, which millions of devotees recite with fervor everyday, the opening verse affirms that reciting even a single word from the life of Rama is able to destroy the greatest of our sins. Mahatma Gandhi also urged followers to recite the blessed name of Rama. Prophetically, “Hey Ram” were the last words from his dying lips.

Included above is verse 29 from the Rama Raksha Stotra, which resonates well with the theme of bhakti for Rama. As Sant Tyagaraja has written, simply by asking the virtuous Rama to shower his blessing and compassion assures us of experiencing ananda.

Hanuman visits Sita in Ashokvan (Ashoka gardens) Lanka where she is held captive by Ravana. (stone carving stored in the Hampi Museum)

During my travels to India, I look forward to visiting our ancestral town of Kumta – Jewel of the Konkan in coastal Karnataka. And when I read that Shilpa’s Aayi (mother) actually lives in Kodkani, a village near Kumta, I had to make the pilgrimage and take darshan of this Devi – the inspiration behind Aayi’s Recipe. I contacted Shilpa and asked to visit her parents. She readily agreed and gave me their contact details.

And on a beautiful Saturday, I hitched a ride on a school bus dropping kids off to kodkani. Now, that in itself needs a separate post.

As the bus pulled up at the designated place, Shilpa’s father was waiting and brought me to their beautiful home! Wow! A traditional style bungalow, which immediately transported me back to the home of my grandparents in Bhatkal. Terracotta tiled roof; an open ‘jagli’ and a tulsi vrindavan in the front yard. The magnificently blossoming tulsi gave me great vibes of the place (see pic later).

And what a joy it was to finally meet Shilpa’s Aayi! Yes, Aayi of “Aayi’s Recipes.” Hundreds of thousands have salivated at her dishes, as shared by Shilpa. Legions have been inspired to try her creations for their loved ones. And so many look forward each day to new posts to titillate the palate. And I was invited to a beautiful konkani lunch made by her!

Look at the spread. I hurriedly captured it before wolfing everything down. By the time I was through, not a morsel was left. What is more beautiful than all those recipes Shilpa posts on AayisRecipes? Eating dishes lovingly made by her Aayi! … and I got to eat it! nyean, nyean, nyean, nyean!


Here is the Tulsi Vrindavan in the aangan.

After lunch and general discussion on the state of Kumta Schools, Shilpa’s father took me to the nearby river Aghanashini – translating roughly as: “Remover of sins.” I know what you are thinking: “Arun go take a dip!” You are just jealous I got to eat that Aayi-made lunch. nyean, nyean, nyean, nyean!

What a idyllic place grow up and raise a family. This dug-out was going out to the delta and picking up sand, which is a significant economic activity here.

Another pic of the river with a nearby boat resting on its side. I can see myself, taking a nap in the shade of the coconut trees yonder. (click image to see a larger version)

Shilpa’s father then drove to me a nearby Devi temple and then dropped me off to a mutual friend’s. All in all a great way to spend an afternoon! Thank you Shilpa and your Aayi for inviting me into your home!

On our trip to Chennai last month, M and my mother both wanted to go saree shopping. They conspired on the research and identified the store to visit. And believe it or not, they planned it for the same evening we arrive in Chennai. I softly recommended shopping at the end of the trip. My argument: “you won’t have to carry the sarees around for the entire trip” did not go far. “We will just put the sarees in the car, which will be with us the entire trip,” was the quick rebuttal.

I resigned and enthusiastically went along. … and I survived. And you will too!

Here are Ten Survival Tips!
And pics from our shopping extravaganza at Nalli’s (Nalli Chinnasami Chetty), Chennai. Apparently THE place for sarees! Don’t fret, all the cabbies know the place!

1. When your hear the first hint of going saree shopping, be enthusiastic and jump to it!
   Elephants and wives have great memories in this regard. She will remember if you try to dodge your way out. Eventually she will get her way, so might as well go along and get it over.
2. Plan! Plan! Plan! Who? What? How much?
   Talk to her and identify who the sarees are for. What event are they for? What general color (s)? This may all change once you get to the store, but get her to start thinking. It will save a lot of time and indecision later.

   In Nalli’s for eg. they have four (or five) levels of sales areas with different pricing and styles. They must have about 25 sales folks on each floor. As soon as we approach a counter, the salesman would bring out and unfurl 20 – 40 sarees in a matter of seconds. Completely overwhelming! Even her head will be spinning. My mother’s vast experience in saree shopping was apparent. She quickly honed in on a style and selected her picks within an hour. Poor M was still darting from counter to counter, and floor to floor, in a daze!




3. Get a Price Estimate!
   Then add 50 – 100 % and consider yourself lucky. You didn’t think this was going to be cheap, did ya?
4. Plan at least half a day.
   Anything less and you are only asking for a grumpy shopper. And you will have to do it all over again. Don’t try to plan any activities after the shopping. You will be exhausted!

   But you will be surprised at the energy reserves women have, when it comes to saree shopping. This same girl who wilts in 10 seconds in a camera store, can shop sarees for days!



5. Take a Pill for a Headache – before you go!
   The wide array of bright colors, and the faint aroma of new fabric will overwhelm your senses. And constantly having to make comparisons is sure to induce a migraine. Remember to take your favorite pill for headaches – before you head out.
6. Go on a Full Stomach.
   I get cranky when hungry; and it shows in my demeanour. And she will interpret it to mean you are being skittish on accompanying here and spending money. So eat well before you go.



7. Don’t say, “OMG! That much for a piece of cloth?”
   No, my friend. You will look cheap AND you will be ridiculed in front of all relatives – for evah! Remember the elephantine memory. Some things are never uttered in this temple.

   And one more thing my friend, there is no such thing as an ugly saree. At least not that we guys can tell. She may point to some as hideous, and you should simply agree!



8. Helpful phrases:
   That is a beautiful color!
   Look at the delicate embroidery!
   Yes, it is expensive, but definitely worth it for you!
   I think everyone will love this saree of yours!
   Memorize a long list of such phrases and you will be a chum.
9. Buy Lungis for yourself!
   They are cheap. I splurged on two! Not that I wear them, but at least I got something. At Nalli’s the most expensive lungi was about 125 rupees. What asymmetry! How come they don’t have Kanjeevaram silk lungis with elaborate gold “jaari?”
10. Carry a Credit Card.
    Yes! you could get a back ache carrying that much cash! And bring out the card in a flash! No hesitation here. And smile widely the entire time you see the bill and sign for it. Don’t even think of that nice D-SLR you could have purchased for that money.
11. Bonus! Be thankful the day is over.
    At the end of the extravaganza offer to carry the heavy saree bags and remember to say: “What a great day! We should do this again!” (just kidding!)

So go ahead! Smile, go saree shopping and splurge!

And before you wonder, the Shanbhags here were no relatives of ours. But the owner was a Konkani and hovered around the front lobby in his uniform white munda, white jhabba with a pocket stuffed with a diary and a stack of folded paper, slicked hair and heavy black framed glasses. Could have been one of my uncles, and I referred to him as “mama.” Quite an entrepreneur. He owned two hotels diagonally across a busy intersection called “Shanbhag Circle,” about a block from the bus-stand. While we stayed at the “International,” the one across the street was Shanbhag Lodge, catering to the local middle class. There he also had a Restaurant (Shanbhag Restaurant).

Here in the “International”, he had a Bar plus Non-veg Restaurant and our favorite, the “Shanbhag Fastfood.” The fastfood catered to poor laborers. Only high tables and no seating – you stand and eat. So folks are encouraged to eat and move-on. You pay first and get coupons, which you turn in for your food. All snacks (Dosas, idli, vada, etc) were 5 Rs and Tea or coffee were 3 Rs. Really! M and I had our fill for under 25 Rs (slightly over 50 cents with the sliding dollar).

It was not the money, it was the experience of eating here. The spectacle of buying coupons, getting the food, standing and enjoying the delicious fare. During lunch he also served a Sambar-rice for 8 Rs. The place was packed as laborers crowded for a filling meal. For dinner (10 Rs) he served a simple thali and I saw entire families eating here. You could feed a family of five for about a dollar!

We were here for about four days, ate at all the Shanbhag restaurants and had a gala time. Highly recommend if you are visiting Hampi. There is a western touristy hotel nearby, but what fun would that be!

Before the pics, I share an anecdote. Taking a break from the blazing sun, M took a nap in the room, while I wandered the local bazaar and came back to the room with a couple of mangoes and some grapes.

I said to M: “Heh, the lady who sold me these fruits was very nice.”

She replied: Of course they love you; you never bargain!”

I said: “M, let me explain what happened and then you tell me if I should have bargained:

“I saw this push cart with fruits tended by an elderly lady. In my basic Kannada, I asked her the prices and got two types of mangoes and some grapes. She tallied and it came to 60 Rs. So I give her 60 Rs. Then she looks at me again, nods and hands 25 Rs back to me, saying “saaku” (enough). I insisted she take the entire amount, but she refused.”

I asked: “So tell me, what should I have bargained with her for?”

Ok, Here are the pics.
The one and only! Shanbhag Fastfood!


Dosas are made right in front of our eyes. We were salivating watching these brown!

M pursing her lips in anticipation of digging into the dosa! I could not get her to pose any more pics before she tore into it!

And a nice dosa has to be followed by a hot kaapi!

Today, she doesn’t remember the temples we visited, or the palaces we were wow-ed by. But ask her where she would like to go and without any hesitation she will say: Lets go back to Shanbhag International and eat dosas at the Fastfood place.

On this visit to India, we won’t actually go to Hospet, but we will certainly scour the South to find great places to eat, which steal our hearts and make us want to come back.

We will be in Mumbai for a few days only, so if any of you want to go for an early morning run along Chowpatty, drop me a line.

Have a great Thanksgiving and a busy Shopping Season!

Indian farmers would celebrate, simply breaking even for the season. Many are frustrated by the cycle of debt and end their lives, leaving their families deeper in debt! According to Govt of India figures, more that 17,000 farmers committed suicide in 2003 alone, and the plague continues. Read NY Times article here. This is when India is celebrating stratospheric stock market valuations, rocketing real estate prices, aspiring for 'superpower' status and newly empowered youth are lining up for MacDonald's greasy fries and sloshing their brains in imported vodka! This is globalization, I guess! And don't even get me started on the new polio cases afflicting our young!

During an earlier trip to India, we traveled through northern Karnataka visiting many of the temples on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We passed this little peanut farm. This farmer oversaw a crew, primarily of women weeding and working the fields. Here he was thrilled to see us city slickers and enthusiastically pulled out a plant to show us the peanuts on the roots.

Women removing weeds by hand in the peanut field. This is where we need the innovations! Forget about writing new code to make the next generation of messaging! We want more peanuts! )