My Graduation Trip

Hi, there.

Enjoy some pics taken during my graduation trip.

(Chilla, Hardwar, Varanasi, Varkala, Kollam, Allepey, Cochi)

1. Kathalali Dance (Fort Cochin)

2. The sunset in backwater (Kollam-Allepey)

3. Along the backwater...(Kollam-Allepey)

4. Beautiful cliff-top beach (Varkala)

5. A view from the train to Varkala

6. Drying sari in a sunny day at a ghat (Varanasi)

7. Beautiful sunrise (Varanasi)

8. Ganga (Hardwar)

9. An evening at the bank of upper Ganga (Chilla)

EMERGING INDIA - Indian Boom Coming to Japan?!

It's amazing fiding series of articles about India for a week that cover about half a page on Yomiuri Shinbun (name of newspaper).

It opens with this sentence...

India celebrates the 60th anniversay of indipendence this year. Long reffered "sleeping elephant," India has experienced consistently high levels of economic growth that have helped it emerge as a global power. The following is the first installment in a series of articles reporting on developments in India and where that nation is headed.

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EMERGING INDIA - Land of the Dream -

1. India's IT visionaries in limelight　30th. Jan. 2006 (It reports that india's prospectives and the problems and introduces Mr Nilekani who used to phrase the world is flat.)

2. 400 mil. in middle-income bracket 31st. Jan. 2006(It reports its high purchasing power among middle income classes but also focuses on the poor villege which has been increasing the number of suicides where the prosperity hasn't reached yet)

3. Education key to wealth in spite of caste system 1st. Feb. 2006 (focuses on prep school in Bihar for low caste students aiming on entering IIT)

4. Social change started with on-screen kiss 2nd. Feb. 2006 (It introduces changing Bollywood movie world through an actress Malika Sherawat who is known for Murder that showed sensational scenes. It also explains big animation market within the country.)

5.Foreigners taking advantage of cheap, high-quality medical care 3rd. Feb. 2006 (It tells us higher quality medical medical treatment in Delfi with lower prices. Accoring to the article, govt. of India started to issue "medical visas" for foreign patients and those who accomplished them. But on the other side, it also is true that advanced medicine only benefits foreighners and a handful of affluent people in India. On the streets outside the best hospitals, ordinary people are unable to receive satisfactory treatment...)

6.Coping with stress of succsess 5th. Feb. 2006 (It wraps up the series of articles with the today's boom of meditation within cities under the tense of competition and the deeply rooted religious problems between Hindus and Muslims.)

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Having read all the articles...I reconsidered that there should be both positive and negative aspects when developing. I would like India to learn something from Japan that also had had high-speed economic development in 60's. See what we got and lost. We got less and lost more?

Be calm and observe very carefully. Don't run to grab the fortune.
Ask yourself that are you really sure to part with simple life? Aren't you making light of your family because of your job??
Is it the best way spending and buying too much on materials? Have you ever thought of the nature?
Think what we, Japan, lost for these decades instead of the position of the second largest economic power.

It surprised me because I could barely find some articles about Indian economy on paper about 2 years ago. But, see!, it's amazing!

We can know how much more Japanese people are getting interested in India through the fact that today's India has second largest economic growth.

Since I lived in India as a student, India turned different.

2 years ago, I told my friend,
"I am going to India to study!!!"
and my friend replied,
"Are you serious???Are you going to India to study???!! Why? Why, India???!!"

1 year ago I told my friend,
"I studied in India for about 6 month."
and my friend replied,
"oh, that's nice! I know indian people have been occupying computer company in US!!"

Now, I told my friend,
"I had studied in India 2 years ago, having got interested in it, I worked in India as an internship trainee for 3 month."
and my friend replied,
"Oh, that's amazing! I know India is very famous not only for its potention of economic power, but also for its long and deep history, myth, oh i watched TV program about Indian education that said indian people are good in math...oh i know more about it! Yeah, indian astrology is amazing!! I wanna visit India someday! Please take me along with you on your next trip to India!!"


I guess you guys fully understood how image of india has been changing and getting known in such a short time.

I'm sure I was right that I had chosen India as a place to study...for sure. I'm very proud of it.

I hope it was interesting posting for you all!

Asami

Small Reunion at the Indian Restaurant

It's been long time no see!!! Good!

We, the second batch students, Ken, Kiyomi, Yuko, Yuki and me got together in Shinjuku.

Of course we had lunch at the Indian restaurant run by the Indian people. Yuki was late as usual:) Nothing seemed to be changed when we talk, but actually there were some changes among us. That's the way it is. Everyone grows up, get matured.

The food was good.

Having enough food, we talked about our futures and job.

It was nice talking to them.

Indian Astrologist Broadcasted on Japanese TV Program

Popular Astrologist Mr. Saurav Tripathi

Santar Mantar (Jaipur)

Amazing Indian Math Science

Indian and their math ability have been in spotlight in Japan.

Having had such a high attention, Japanese TV quiz show "Sekai Hushigi Hakken"(World Wondering Discovery) featured on it.

The guide visited Shatar Mantar to show how old and sophisticated Indian science was. I have been there last year with ex-trainee Jamie from England. Two of us was just amazed...We walked up the stair that was used to see the weather or constellation.

Then, according our date and time of birth, astlogist prepares the chart and give them advices.
The question was that:

What do astrologists prescribe for the customer in case result of the fortunetelling was bad?

Ready?

Answer: Jewels

It is proud of me that something about India is on TV in Japan.

WIshing You A Happy New Year!!

Dear friends,

Hi, there. How's going? How do you spend your holidays and with whom?

2006 has passed and I think it was the most exciting year of my life.

I thank everyone who supports and gives me a great time.

Wishing you a wonderful time as you are.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Best regards,

Asami, from Japan

Season's Greetings

Dear friends,

Wish you a wonderful holidays and the success in 2007!

Hope to see my old SIP friends and the future SIP friends next year.

Love,

Asami

Been While...

Hi, I haven't been updating recently. I've been busy having lots of application works that should be done til the end of this year.

Being depressed by those works, I've been feeling powerless...
So,

I decide to visit India nexr February!!

It would be third time visiting India if i make it.
Next time, I will visit Kerala backwater cruise that I've been looking forward to!!!

And maybe I'll be back to Goa visiting friends and cordinators, and I guess make it with new SIP students?!

Wow!! It's gonna be fun and I'm so excited and ... now I feel that i can do anything I want!

So, meet me at Goa soon!

Ken's New Place

Weekend trip to Tochigi prefecture taking 3 hours from our place, we, second batch girls, visited Ken's new place. There's a amazing story that led him to Tochigi...He met a guy at the middle of Mt. Fuji who was going to open cafe-dining bar in Tochigi prefecture. Having a crush on each other (not in a strange way), and Ken dicided to work for his place. Don't you think it is great destiny meeting stranger who changes one's destiniy totally. That bar where he works in is really nice, being decorated with cute accesories, Indian gift, and antique things...
See the first picture. This is the one we ordered called nabe, like a melting pot. We can put whatever we want into nabe boil them. In fall and winter, we feel like having nabe. There are salmon, mashrooms, vegetables, chickens, whatever. There wasn't any sauce added in it. It cooked only with nature's taste.
Visiting tourist place called Nikko, we've seen awesome Koyo.
Anyway, we had a great time in Tochigi visiting Ken. We'll make it with other members someday!