What a great day today was seeing some sites in the Pune area. Before I explain what all happened, I must first give many thanks to 2 of my Cummins colleagues here: Sneha and Pati.
- Sneha - I understand it was your suggestion that I visit Lavasa. THANK YOU!!!! It was a wonderful suggestion. I really liked the opportunity to be outdoors and enjoy the beautiful site and fresh mountain air!
- Pati - THANK YOU for being my guide and for all the assistance with shopping (much more on this further in the blog). Mission Accomplished! I hope you got to spend some time with your daughter when you finally got home.
At 9:30 this morning I was picked up at my hotel by the driver who then proceeded to pick up Pati and then we were on our way to Lavasa. On our way to Lavasa, we went by the Cummins plant I visited the last time I was in India and is the first place that Pati worked when he joined Cummins; what a coincidence.
Lavasa is a city that was built in the mountains outside of Pune in a way to replicate Italy. It is built around a lake formed behind a river that has be damned up to control the water flow. We drove around part of the city and then Pati and I went for a walk along the lake and near the houses and shopping areas. This is a very popular tourist area and many people come here to spend time relaxing and taking in the sites. As it is monsoon season, we were expecting rain at this elevation; however we had sunshine for much of the time. Here are some photos from Lavasa.
Here you can compare photos from Lavasa in India to photos I took back in Riva del Garda Italy when I was there on June 30 of this trip. Looks like a pretty good replica to me!
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| Lavasa (India) |
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| Riva del Garda (Italy) |
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| Lavasa (India) |
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| Riva del Garda (Italy) |
After our time in Lavasa, it was time for some shopping. Cathy requested that I bring back some Gem Stone Painting artwork. This artwork is created by crushing gem stones of many different colors into small pieces which are then glued into place to form the picture. This art form is most popular in the state of Rajasthan which is several states north of Maharashtra that the city of Pune is in. As I knew I planned to go shopping today, I asked Cathy to send a photo of the one I brought home last time so people would know what I was talking about when I asked for this. At the time, I had no idea how critical this was going to be.
I showed Pati and the driver the photo; neither of them recognized it. Pati feverishly used his phone to try and locate some places to buy some of the art. He thought he had located one place but we were never able to locate it. Pati was busy calling some of his friends and other locals to see if anyone had any suggestions; not much luck. He also called several arts and crafts places and most said either they did not know what it was or they didn't have any of it because it is made in another state and there is less demand for it here. We were having no luck and Pati was feeling bad. I tried to reassure him many times that it was OK if we didn't find it. I had no idea it would be this difficult to find. I told him Cathy would understand and give us credit for trying and that I had brought back gifts from India on my previous trips. Pati continued his relentless search. We finally decided to go to the very large mall (Mall of America size!) and had something to eat and checked out several stores there; nothing was even close. I told Pati again it was OK, let's give up and go back to my hotel; enough excitement for 1 day. He then came up with 1 more store to check out and it was on the way back to my hotel. I agreed to look 1 more place. As we pull up to the store I am beginning to think this place looks familiar. We walk up the steps to the shopping area and enter the store. I look around and immediately knew I have been here before! The last time in India I bought some items here. The store keeper said he recognized me (not sure if I believe that part of the story!). As I looked around, I did not see what I was looking for. We asked the store manager; he did not know what I was looking for either. I then showed him the picture that Cathy sent me. After seeing the picture he better understood and went upstairs to check. Bingo - he came down with 2 of them and I confirmed that is what I was looking for; I said Yes! He then went up stairs and came down with a few more pieces. I saw Pati have a huge sigh of relief - mission accomplished! I won't share any more so there is some surprise left for Cathy when I get home.
Again, I need to thank Pati for all of his efforts in finding these pieces. I know that if we did not find them today, Pati would have worked until I left India to find them somewhere for me. Thank you for your determination and thank you again for spending the day with me. I hope your wife and family understand why it took so long today and that you could enjoy the rest of the weekend with your family. See you Monday!
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