Day 3

Sadly I wasn't feeling well last night and was suffering from a sore throat (too much talking partly) and a headache and took to my bed by 9pm. I missed an evening of singing and lights in celebration of Republic Day here. All day I wore a Proud to be Indian sticker and talked and talked and met and met with literally dozens and dozens of people. By 9pm I was exhausted.



At the end of the day though I took this picture above of the head of the Organic Exchange (LaRhea) and 2 of the lady farmers that Prabha (right) and I met in the hills of Tamil Nadu a few weeks ago. Some of the sponsors of the exchange had made funds available for the farmers from the remote tribal regions to come and join the meetings and take part for the very first time. So we heard from the real farmers what the real issues are. It was wonderful for them and for all of us and probably the first time some of them had ever left the area they live in. Amazing. It was great to see these 2 ladies there as they were the ones who greeted us in the best clothes and served us food on the first day in the hills.

Today was more of the same, talking, meeting and presenting and meeting wonderful people who all want to do their bit for the world and are interested in using our traceability system. I had a slot of 90 mins to present and it ran into 2 hours before I'd covered off every question from the assembled audience. A great experience that was totally exhilarating and draining at the same time.

This evening a fashion show was put on by some of the brands working in Organic Fashion which was great to see. Probably the first time I've seen really glamorous organic clothing. At the end we all ended up on stage on the cat walk dancing. (Who said all this working on Sunday was just hard work? Thankfully no one videoed me dancing as far as I know!)



Farhan had brought me a traditional Pakistani Shalwar Kameez from Karachi, so as it was a fashion evening I dressed in that which went down very well with everyone. Several other members of the OE crew were in traditional clothing too, and here I am with the latest OE recruit (a young lady called English) in our traditional clothing.



I wish I had breathed in a little more and eaten a little less curry over the past few days. I can't understand why I always have such a crazed look in my eyes on photos... I know some people back home who will laugh though!

I took a few video shots of the fashion show. Here's a flavour of it.



It was 11pm before I knew it and time for bed again. The evening passed in a flash talking to various people about places and people and traceability and changing the world for the better. A plate of curry was consumed washed down with locally brewed bottled Fosters of all things.