And A Wonder It Truly Is.......

In 2011, we stood on the Great Wall of China, and this past Saturday, we visited the magnificent Taj Mahal.  Both of these experiences were pretty emotional.  Imagine being so fortunate to visit in person these Wonders of the Modern World!
Our weekend excursion to Delhi and Agra was filled with many memorable moments, but the visit to the Crown of Palaces has to be the best!

We wisely hired a guide, and he fancied himself an artistic photographer, so we had a bit of fun having photos taken while we toured around.

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum started in 1632 by the 5th Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, as a resting place for his third wife.  Theirs was a love marriage and, unfortunately, she died giving birth to their 14th child.

She had made him promise two things.  First, that he would build a monument to her, and second, that he would never again marry.

The white marble mausoleum took about 17 years to complete and the surrounding buildings and gardens took another five years.

(I'm not sure why Dilmeet and I were jumping!  It was our guides idea!)

 Over 20,000 labourers and artisans worked on the project.  The marble is inlaid with multicoloured flowers made of semi-precious stones from around the world.

According to our guide, the hands of the workers were cut off after the project was done so they could never duplicate the work.  I hope that part isn't true.

(Harbans and George--strong men--could pick up this massive marble structure with the tips of their fingers!)

Inside the mausoleum are replicas of the tombs of both Shah Jahan and his wife for visitors to see--but not photograph.  The actual tombs are secured underground and opened to the public once a year.

 The symmetry, our guide said, is the reason Taj Mahal was chosen as one of the Seven Wonders.  One side of the entire complex is a mirror image of the other side with the centre line running through the middle of the queen's tomb.

Back in 1632, it seems they were also concerned with earthquakes.  The four pillars at the corners lean out slightly.  In case they should fall, they will not fall on the building itself.

The pool running down the centre of the garden was being repainted.  So, we were not able to see the famous reflection.  To the right and to the left of the Taj are identical buildings--at least on the outside.

The one on the left is a mosque, still active today. The one on the right served as a guesthouse back in the day.

 These building are made of a red sandstone brick that is seen in many old forts in the area.

The walls around three sides of the site are also made of sandstone and contain small rooms that were used to accommodate visitors as well.

There is no wall behind the Taj Mahal.  On that side is the Yamuna River that was the route taken by Shah Jahan from Delhi to Agra.

Behind us is the main gate to the site.  At the centre top are 22 small white domes--two rows of 11.  One dome was placed for each year it took to build the memorial.

Two other gates can be used to enter--the East Gate and the West Gate.  Shah Jahan's first two wives are buried outside these gates.

This was our entertaining, funny, informative guide, Raj at Taj.   I think we all would recommend him so I asked for his phone number - 09359080385.  If you call him in advance, he will meet you in the parking lot and return you to the same place after two hours of fun!

George and I want to thank Dilmeet for her care throughout this excursion and Harbans for being the best driver!  We had a great time!  

Happy Halloween......already????

India is a few time zones ahead....but how can it already be Halloween?  Well, it was at the Canadian Consulate tonight.  And we Canadians abroad must take our lead from the Consulate.

Tonight was the monthly social at the Consulate, and being the October event, the staff decided it should have a Halloween theme.

Above you may not recognize George.  He just borrowed a mask to get in the Halloween mood.

The host of the event was this pirate guy named Guy.

Those in costume, mostly Consulate staffers, lined up for judging.

First prize went to the man in black who had a shot glass on a lanyard around his neck.  He said he was "a shot in the dark."

Second prize was given to "the runaway bride."

The esteemed panel of judges consisted of the "kids" (a name that seems to have caught on) and  two SFU co-op students who arrived in India this week.  They are working for a firm from Delta, BC, researching biofuels or some such thing.

Bernie is a volunteer at the Consulate.

Harpreet is from Vancouver and she has found work in India for a short term with a program from Thompson Rivers University.


There was a larger crowd of interesting Canadians attending this month.  The social is a great event introduced by the Consul General, Scott Slessor.   Scott went home to Canada for Thanksgiving so missed this celebration.

Julia is a staff member at the Consulate and she has a little girl, Kia.

Gurneet is always welcome at the Consulate.  He is an honorary Canadian having studied at UFV Abbotsford.

Our good friend, Guillaume, has a few more weeks here before heading back to Sri Lanka.

Barry (visa officer) and Karen, with daughter Hazel, have now been here for about a month.  They have a friend, Hayley, visiting from home.



So, tomorrow we are off on another adventure in search of more blogging material.  Dilmeet will be our guide and Harbans our driver as we head off for Delhi and Agra--the Taj Mahal!!!

Midterm Angst Meets the Nutty Professor

It is hard to believe this it is mid term already.  The students in Organizational Behaviour had their exam today and the three other classes are on for next week.

There was tension in the air, but the result are not bad.  Fortunately, we had two classrooms to spread out the big group.

The class got to have a bit of fun learning following their exam ordeal.  They are never quite sure what their Nutty Professor has in store but they willingly participate.

For this experience in working as a team doing a complex, non-routine task, we were able to take advantage of the beautiful sunny day.  We do have lots of those.

Half the class was blindfolded.  The other half tied the blindfolds and observed.

Milanpreet looked after a blind Razia.

And Abaynoor made sure that Guneet didn't stumble as the task was being set up.

The students had to stand in a line holding on to a portion of a 12 metre long rope.

They were then told that their task was to form a square--with no coaching from the sighted onlookers.  The blind students were allowed to talk to one another, of course.

It was very interesting to listen to the various strategies suggested and to observe those who automatically assumed the leadership roles.

The strategy was good but when the blindfolds were removed, the students were quite surprised to see that they had formed some misshapen oval.

A good debrief session followed.

And while the Nutty Professor marked the exams this evening, some of us were able to go to the movies!!

Barfi! is one Bollywood movie that even non-Hindi speaking people can thoroughly enjoy.  Barfi is a deaf mute so there are many scenes that have very little dialogue.

The movie has been nominated for an Academy Award but is facing a bit of controversy.  Critics say that much of it resembles the Charlie Chaplin movies.  I loved it and will give it my vote if/when the Academy asks me to participate!

Speechless in Chandigarh........

It was one of those normal, relatively quiet days today.  Nothing much to write about but...

Here is the grand finale photo from the Hans Raj Hans concert last Saturday.  Hans Raj Hans, all dressed in white, on stage for a photo with the crew from UFV Chandigarh!

This morning did start with the photo op I have been waiting for though, I would like to have been closer.  These beautiful long-tailed parakeets are often flying around but are difficult to catch with a camera.  They blend in with the trees when they finally land.  This one, however, was sitting on the wires outside our window when we opened the blinds this morning!

Tim Hortons in India?  Not yet, as far as we know.  But Gurneet was surprised with this little packet he found the other day.

He was buying some street food from a vendor when he noticed the bags that were being used-- unmistakably Tim Hortons.

Definitely not printed for the Indian market because the wording was en francais et en anglais.  So, he concluded that some printing for Tim Hortons Canada is done in India.  These bags may have been made from rejected labels because we do often see bags made from newspapers.

Use whatever materials you have!

A quiet day in Chandigarh.......

We joined Gurneet today when he spoke to a new dean from SD College.  Dr. Vaidya was introduced by Sumant Dutta who is the Technical Assistant at SD College.

Sanatan Dharam College is, of course, the "landlord" of UFV Chandigarh.  Dr. Vaidya wanted to tour the facilities and gain an understanding of the relationship between our two institutions.

He is a wise and thoughtful man who has some interesting views on the education process.


We continue to be amazed with the knowledge and capabilities of Gurneet!  His presentation to Dr. Vaidya was clear, concise and filled with passion for UFV.  It is hard to believe that he is only 24 years old!

Later in the day, we went with some staff members to the beautiful five-star JW Marriott Hotel for lunch.

I will not include the obligatory photo of all of us sitting around a table eating.  We seem to do a lot of that.  Those shots could fill an album all their own.

So, here are scenes from the hotel itself.  It is modern and spotless!  There are several restaurants and bars, and a spa.

Advertisements say that the rooms start at 8900 rupees per night, about $170.

Maybe we can treat ourselves to a night there before we head home!

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!!!

We decided to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Chandigarh by cooking our improvised version of a dinner and invite our UFV colleagues.

Well, Adam and Kathryn did most of the work.  They bought every fresh vegetable they could find and set about washing and preparing it.  Adam shed real tears when peeling the onions.

Kathryn wanted to make sure the table was set perfectly for this feast for ten.

She moved in a patio table, found a bed sheet that would serve as a table cloth, and set it all up to welcome our guests.

My job was to make the stuffing.  What is a turkey dinner without stuffing?  But, we were having a turkey dinner without a turkey!!!

Unfortunately, we don't have an oven so finding a turkey wasn't the only issue.

Simlee was the first guest to arrive and she got right to work helping peel potatoes and carrots.

We finally sat down to a delicious sort-of- Canadian-style Thanksgiving dinner, the first one ever for our UFV Chandigarh friends.

Stacy had found a shop that sold barbecue chicken so we did have that.  Kathryn and Adam made garlic mashed potatoes, steamed cauliflower and broccoli, and stir fried beans, carrots and cabbage.

Dilmeet's mother sent along a delicious Indian semolina pudding.

After eating that, we didn't have much room left for the strawberry cheesecake.

nor the chocolate mousse cake.

Adi loves to have his photo taken, so he even pretended to help clean up to get into this one.

At the end of the day, the result is the same as it is at home--a pile of dirty dishes!

Except, our faithful Suresh will wash them up tomorrow.


We do have a lot to be thankful for!!!

Hope everyone at home enjoyed their day......