The schedule today was to visit two final producers and it proved to be extremely valuable. I feel we start getting a good picture of the problems and how to possibly address it. It has been so interesting to learn how to “do business” in India. In India, you invest in the relationship, and then talk business. This might seem “inefficient” in our Western eyes but it is an expression of cultural values. In this way, Indians show that they still prefer to value people and relationships over material things.
However, if I make one comment, it would be on the, in my opinion (!) unbalanced love for animals. As we pass a state-or-the-art hospital for abandoned, old, or sick animals with an ICU for animals (which, by the way is free), I struggle with the extent to which no resources are spared on animals, and yet people, children, are condemned to horrific circumstances. I myself am an animal-rights advocate, but when I see children living like animals, why can they not get the same privileges?
Anyway, I still amazed at the way the cows (and there are a lot!) just walking freely throughout t
he town. The cow is a holy animal in India and people are so used to just driving around them. They will walk or stand in the middle of the roads, lie down wherever they want to and are not bothered in the least by the large trucks of heavy traffic swerving around them. I asked Kishore what would happen if someone ever hit a cow, after all the traffic is hectic and fast paced and the cows come out of nowhere whenever they want to. He said nobody does. Ok. 
Our visits to the producers were again so fruitful! I still marvel at each site how simple the surroundings and tools are and yet how beautiful the results can be. They are truly masters in their fields and I love seeing the pride and joy in their eyes when they tell me how they have learned the skills from their father, who learned it from his father, who again learned it from his father etc. So many places have had the business for
generations and they are so proud of that. On the way back we made a pit-stop photo-shoot at a temple called 72-Temple Jinalaya (I hope I got that right). Kishore kept telling us how famous this religion is in the US and I just marveled at the enormous temple with amazing architectural decorations.
That evening, we were invited to Kishore’s home, but not before stopping at the Kings’ Palace, built in 1928. Vasand explained that when India became an independent nation in 1947, all the kingdoms were also unified. Until then Kutch had had its own king and this was one of his favorite palaces to visit. We saw peacocks strutting their stuff and Kishore explained that the peacock was the state bird. It was indeed
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