Day Three at Symbiosis: How Bazaar

Today we headed back to the school for an assembly put on by the students and their teachers. But first we met with Farrukh Parvez, the brother of Mrs. Ahmad, who owns his own solar product company, Global Eco Power. He mainly sells smaller solar items, but he wanted to meet with us because he was interested in our project and wanted to hear what we were planning. Apparently he was involved with EWB in Africa and has a passion for green energy. He definitely sounds like a good person for us to keep in touch with. He raised a lot of good points about starting first with the needs of the school, and as a result it is his opinion that a battery system would be an unnecessary cost.

After the meeting, we gathered in their assembly room with the students and teachers for their performance. We filmed the whole thing, so rather than go through the details, I’ll just say that it was fantastic and the school is so appreciative of what we’re doing for them. Hopefully we’ll be able to post that video of the blog shortly. Also, Avesh has been filming clips the entire trip and he and Eva interviewed some of the teachers and students and the principal, which means we have enough material to make a kick-ass informational and fundraising video.

At the end of the assembly, they presented us with trophies and certificates from their school, indicated that we’d worked on a project to promote environmental sustainability and make the work a better place. In case we haven’t mentioned it before, that’s really big at Symbiosis. They’re all about sustainability and conservation, and they have signs and plaques all over the school to remind the students of this.

After the assembly, we spent what had to be at least an hour taking photos and signing autographs. That’s right, autographs. So note to the next travel team: work on your signature.

We tied up all the loose ends at the school and said our goodbyes by five and headed off to the Rampur Bazaar, mainly to pick up some items to sell at grilled cheese and auction at winter gala. The Bazaar was crazy, but the prices were even craaaazzzierrrrrr. We bought about 200 bangles for like $12, which we can probably resell for at least 50 cents a piece. We (ok, Eva and Sabrina) also bought scarves, jewelry, and a sari for fundraising.

We left the Bazaar, some of us by rickshaw, and proceeded to Sam’s sister’s house where Eva and Sabrina got henna tattoos on their hands while Ken, Tejank, Avesh and I did important manly work-related stuff, like drinking tea and napping. Also blogging. At around 8, we left for the hotel and grabbed a quick meal. Mr. and Mrs. Ahmad met us their to say goodbye and help us settle the bill (working around the language barrier was a lot of fun on this trip. I’m serious). They were, again, extremely grateful for our project and everything we’ve already done. It was tough saying goodbye, especially knowing that most if not all of us won’t be returning on the next trip, but after this trip I certainly plan on going back to India, and when I do I won’t feel satisfied unless I check back in at Symbiosis Public School.