Chemistry Department Excursion

This past Sunday we went to a city called Mandu about 65 miles from Indore. It is built on a plateau 2000 ft above sea level. It is a fortified city, protected by a deep gorge on 3 sides. Each of the castles, or temples have their own special story which I will briefly talk about as I, one more fantastic than the other. It took us a little over 3 hours to get there (65 miles!) ...and we think our roads were bad in Haiti!! Not only do you deal with broken roads in parts, but also remember the cows, goats, people, rickshaws, monkeys!!!

All along the road we could see the remnants of the forts, castles, temples, that were part of the city. It was built in the 900's-1500's.

One of the most romantic story is the one of a king named Bahadur who heard the beautiful Roopmati sing one day in the forest, fell in love with her. He wanted to marry her but she insisted that the only way she would marry him was if she could see the river Narmada, that runs through the state of Madhya Pradesh (where Indore and Mandu are located). So he built her a castle way up on the plateau where she could see the river! And his castle was built right below hers so she could serenade him from the left tour you see on her castle!!

How romantic is that?!!

Then there is the king who had 1500 wives!! The women actually ran the place!! They had their own castle that had 6 levels, 3 underground and 3 above ground. There was an incredible ventilation system with a body of water around it which was like the best AC system you could imagine! They had the best sona ever! One side had like a chimney (lower left of picture) that heated up the water on one side of the bath (upper right side) and the other side was cool.

And we thought we were so clever!!

This is the pool for the queens. Do you see the beautiful filtration system? Those curved canals were filled with charcoal and the water allowed to pass through them to fill the pool.

These stairs are the "gym" for those ladies!! The king would drop gold coins on the steps and have them go up and down the steps to exercise!! I tell you, just going up them was hard, I can't imagine bending to pick up something, even gold coins!!!

All in all it was a very enjoyable day. It gave me an opportunity to interact with my colleagues on a personal level and it was interesting. I have been having a private issue with them speaking Hindi in the office in front of me all the times. It was as if they did not speak English at all. And to say it frankly, it used to bother me a bit. And I think, to see them in this less formal setting, doing it so naturally and at the same time so obviously enjoying my being there, I understood there was no carelessness or malice involved. This is just them. Hindi is their language and they speak it among themselves naturally. I think if they had to force themselves to speak English all the times they would then resent me or something. And so, I am there with them, it's good, and life goes on. I don't know if I made sense here, but what's important, I get it. I went back to school on Monday with a different disposition to sit in the lab and not understand a word that they said. I interrupt and ask for translation from time to time and they very gracefully oblige and continue their conversation. I start Hindi classes tomorrow :-) I can't say I'll be short of practice opportunities!!!