And now, the end is near……..

 At least the end of the semester at UFV Chandigarh is near…..


This is the final week of classes for us, and we give our exams on Monday, the 25th.  Yes, the time has flown and it has been  enjoyable (and a lot of work) teaching the students here.

George awarded his "Honorary Canadian Citizenship (if he had the power)" certificates to the New Batch of 41 students.

In this photo, Mithat is representing that huge, noisy and very intelligent group of young people.

Budhiraja's Toy Centre, Sector 22-D, Chandigarh!  Every grandparent must visit this shop.  The third generation Budhiraja, Shrey, is not in this photo.  He was in class at the UFV Campus.  We expect he will create Budhiraja's Toy Centre International after he graduates.

CCT - Canada Connect Thursday at the Canadian Consulate was our last for this visit.  Carol is now heading Immigration here in Chandigarh.  Her husband, Jukka, is a fellow Suomilainen who worked in the Finnish Embassy in Delhi.  From them we have learned about suomibhangra.com, featuring a Finnish Bhangra group.  Check them out for unique and entertaining cultural fusion.

Satinder and Bernie are two Consulate Staffers who are always on hand to create this great social evening.

An office fit for a young executive!

Gurneet has final moved from his small cubby hole to this spacious office.  It is a great place for afternoon tea--at 5:00 pm which is Canadian dinner time, if I remember correctly.

 A highlight of our week was our Saturday visit to Satluj Public School in Panchkula to attend their Annual Event--a combination of awards ceremony and pageant.

The Serai family, owners of the school, always welcome and honour us.  Reekrit is a recent graduate of our BBA Program, Mom (Rema) helps Dad run the school, young Krimit is going to be a golfer, not an education.  Grandma is half of the dynamic grandparents who founded the school.  Unfortunately, Grandpa has had a health issue and could not attend.

We were honoured guests, though we have never done anything to deserve that title.  However, the Chief Guest certainly had.

We were surprised and honoured to meet, for the second time, Mr. Balbir Singh.  He is in the Guinness Book of Records for having won three Olympic Gold Medals while playing field hockey for India!  Where did we first meet him?  At a field hockey tournament in Abbotsford!

After over 600 achievement plaques were awarded quickly and efficiently to students,  the amazing pageant began.  Every student in the school was involved and each grade level made a colourful and musical contribution.

It was a perfect day for this outdoor venue.

There was dancing from around the world and from several states of India.

A bit of drama!

The Life of Lord Krishna followed by King Lear!

The staff and students had spent hours preparing for this show that flowed smoothly for one and a half hours.

The finale was a fashion show by the Class XI students.

While the young men looked pretty sharp, the young women were absolutely stunning!!!

Sunday dinner was at the Charaia home, Simlee's family.  I think we have been fed by every incredible cook in this country.

Dad was a great host….

And Mom, with Simlee's help, prepared the meal.  (We think she is really Simlee's sister!)

Sunday was also the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Guru and founder of the Sikh religion.  So, the family entertained and fed us before going to the Gurdwara.

Here is Simlee's brother and the family baby, Snoopy!

Simlee made the rounds so we could all have our photo taken with her.

Of course, our temporary Indian son (and housemate and chauffeur and caregiver), Adi, was there.  His birthday is tomorrow, November 20, so we are bracing for anything that might happen around midnight to announce that event!!  And we know that we will all be treated to lunch……...