Across the street from the lab
2012-01-28
Today is a NO TV day in India and of course no one is following it. Our hosts say it is impossible to live without TV…oh well. It is also the biggest wedding day of the year and there are at least 5000 weddings only in Ahmadabad and all the elephants, horses and carriages are prebooked.
We started the day with usual morning walk in the neighborhood of million dollar homes ,peacocks and birds, then went for the factory visit of Pegasus Systems. This is a for profit company started by an IIT graduate with 20 years of experience at TI and other startups in USA. They make Solar systems for a customer base ranging from very poor huts in the deserts of Rajasthan to a developer of multi million dollar homes and offices. I am attaching a picture of the core product ( they call basic carbon atom) . It is actually quite impressive in that it provides not only the light for the house but also cooking power as well as a flash light. Interesting tit bit : they were saying that most of the government programs as well as the NGOs do just the SOLAR lanterns ( sort of Kerosene lamp replacement) but the villagers want the “tube light” in the home. If there is just the lantern, the man takes it with him to go out and socialize with his friends and the kids and wife are left in the dark J So, these guys decided to provide a LED tube light to be installed in the room.
It was a useful meeting, I think we can help the SEWA people interface the technical aspect of the Pegasus and make sure they get the good quality product and a well tested one. SEWA , it turns out, is very well respected social organization here and has helped millions of women over last 50 years. ( I had no idea that they are so big)
The R&D building of the company was just across a very poor neighborhood . It is just what India is all about. A big contrast between those who have and those who do not. Lot of my pictures and the blog is not a “tourist” picture of India but of real day to day life of Indian families and people. My observations are biased by who I am staying with and just who I am. SO, please do not think it is what you will see if you come here as a tourist J
Next door neighbor is having a birthday party for the three year old grandson. They have decorated the yard with all sorts of lights and decorations of balloons etc. The theme is “blast off”. They have theme parties for birthdays. They also have jumping thing , slides and some other kids games , just like back home or much more)
Going out or dinner with the head of the FDA ( Malav's Dad) will report on it tomorrow.
Good night
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