Meeting in Ahmedabad and on to Akola

I left my hotel at around 6am this morning to fly to Ahmedabad from Chennai.

The flight was a little delayed but the whole process went smoothly.

The driver was waiting for me in Ahmedabad I was whisked quickly through the streets to the offices of our customer here.

After a quick lunch I presented HF to one of the directors and 2 others. All was well received. I'm hoping we will get a chance to work with these guys as they are doing a wonderful job, more of which I'll come to shortly.

After the presentation I changed into my jeans to head off on the overnight train to Akola. Akola is in central India and the centre of a large agricultural area where cotton is grown. In this area many farmers have committed suicide in recent years due to spiraling debts caused by getting trapped into the cycle of buying seeds and pesticides among other reasons. Going organic gives them a chance to break free of this endless cycle and increase their income. So I like the sound of this project.





The 2 people I was traveling with got us some food to take on the train. A kind of ready meal Indian style. Interestingly named. A big plastic tray with little dishes of different types of food. It was remarkably good for railway food!

The train was heaving with people, and the fellas I was with had managed to pull some strings and get some VIP ticket allowance to get us on. Even so we still ended up in A/C 3 tier. Which is row upon row of 3 tier bunks all open to the world (similar to the train I was on in Pakistan). It was OK, but my bag was full and I didn't sleep much due to the bag taking up too much of my bunk. I also neglected to bring any loo paper and none was provided in one of those awful hole in the floor on-board toilets. So all night I was desperate and held off till the morning...!