There are a few things I want to remember about the last few days in Pune as well as the trip home.

A couple of these happened Thursday, Sept. 14th. The day before, in my meeting with Rahul, he had suggested that I should see the Raja Kankar Museum. He was the second person to mention that to me. Vasu arranged for the two of us to go on Thursday afternoon. Combined with that trip was my shopping trip to buy silk for a couple people who had requested some. Rinku, a very nice lady who works for ECM-i, had very kindly agreed to give me assistance there. Silk stores donät exist on every corner in Pune, as they do in Bangalore.

So Thursday afternoon Rinku, Rahul, our driver, and I set off. Rinku knew a good silk store and we bought some silk. I took a couple pictures of her and Rahul at the counter with hundreds of colors of silk in the background and all around. Then, to my surprise, she took an auto rickshaw back to work while the driver took Rahul and me to the Kelkar Museum. I'd thought the driver would take her back to work while Rahul and I were at the museum. I already knew she didn't have time to go through the museum with us, which was too bad.

The Raja Kelkar Museum is named after the son of the man who collected the items in the museum. The holdings are quite varied and include musical instruments, doors to tribal houses, cooking utelsils, a "saddle" for an elephant, swords, rifels, a cannon ball, and one of the first rockets used in battle from Tipu Sultan (see previous trip). We had an hour and a half there before they closed and could have used twice that time. A new building is begin built for the museum in another part of Pune, and that should be nicer with more room and maybe more explanations of what things are. As it was it was still very interesting.

At the hotel most mornings there was a pretty young lady to greet guests entering the coffee shop. Her name badge said "ARTI". [draft ends here] On my last day in Pune there were no other guests walking into the cafe for breakfast when I did. Arti was crying as I walked up for breakfast. I felt sorry for her, but she said nothing was the matter. Of course I was not only a stranger but a foreigner.

At work, I finished up a few little things, mostly trying to get the files saved. I think it was Vasu that arranged to have CD's made of the pictures that were on the borrowed laptop I used while at EMC-i. And the very last thing was a get together in the cubicle area where everyone wished me well and I thinked them for their hospitality and hard work. They had some very nice gifts for me too. Over the course of the following year the one I see and use most often is the T-shirt from Pune University that Vasu gave me, but the other gifts were very nice too. The ECM-i team was as nice a group of people as one could want to work with, very friendly and very hospitable. Despite illness, I really enjoyed my trip.

Going to the airport, Mr. Sayed decided to take a different route than usual because of traffic congestion in central Pune. We drove north of the river and then went east. On the way north I saw something I hadn't seen before. It was an elephant and rider going north on our side of the side. I tried to get my camera out fast as I could, but we were past the elephant before I got the lens cap off. Mr. Sayed, seeing me do this asked if I'd like him to pull over so I could get a better picture. We had time. So I accepted his offer and he pulled the car in among the cars parked on the left side of the street. I got out and the elephant was quite some ways behind, but coming along at a good pace. I took a picture, and then another with him being closer. I realized that it wouldn't be long before he was close enough to fill the whole picture, so I waited a bit and took a picture with him much closer. Then I got in the car, but before Mr. Sayed could get going, the elephant had moved in front of the front right fender and, with traffic behind us, we couldn't get going again. I thought the elphant's rider had business there, and hadn't realized we wanted to go, but he sat on the elephant and Mr. Sayed dug in his pocket and pulled out a coin. He called to an auto rickshaw driver standing near the can. The man came over, a few words were said that I didn't understand and Mr. Sayed handed him the coin. The man walked over to the elephant and rider and then came back and handed Mr. Sayed the coin back and a few more words were said that I didn't understand. But by this time I did understand what was going on. We were being held till we paid for the pictures I'd taken. I pulled out my wallet and asked Mr. Sayed if 2 Rps. would be about right. Mr. Sayed said that it would, but not to give him any more than that. So I got out, walked over to the elephant and rider and reached up as high as I could with the money. The rider probably could have bent down and reached it, but instead he shook his head no and pointed to the elephant's trunk. So I handed the bill to the elephant, who took it in his trunk and handed, or "trunked" it to the rider. Then the elephand and rider went on and we were free to go. I took a few more pictures from the car just for good measure.

From Pune I flew back to Bangalore, for I had round trip tickets everywhere, that being the cheapest way to go. Rohith and Shruthi had been planning to meet me in Bangalore for my lay over there. I waited a long time for them, frequently being asked by cab and auto rickshaw drivers first if I wanted a ride and then after nobody came, where my friends were. One driver offered me the use of his cell phone to call my friend. As an American, I was leary of accepting any favors from strangers. Finally I asked how much it would cost to use his phone. He said I was a guest in his country and this was a courtesy, no change. So I reluctantly accepted, still fearing the consequences. I reached Rohith on his cell phone at the hospital. Shruthi had a minor emergency but would be OK, so they would be there shortly, as they were just leaving. I said good-bye and gave the phone back to it's owner, with a few words of explanation. He was very nice. There were no strings attached. He was just being nice to me. I felt a little embarrassed for being so suspicious, but it's hard to judge such situations without the little hints about people that one can pick up by living in a culture his whole life. I had nothing but my U.S. experience of needing to be suspicious to go on.

Rohith, Shruthi, and I had a very nice dinner together at a restaurant they know and liked. Then they took me back to the airport and I was off to Cologne, where I arrived very early Saturday morning.