Monday, November 14, 2011

Making Marble

Today, we drove from the clinic in Lamba to a hospital in Kishingarh where we will host our clinic for the next two days.  Kishingarh is the city with the biggest marble industry in the world.  We suspect that the marble made in Kishingarh was the supply used to build the Taj Mahal.  It was hard driving into Kashingarh because of the intense dust caused by ubiquitous marble cutting.  On the roads,  big trucks carry loads from who knows where, and the streets are wide, busy and loud.  Houses are hidden from the main road by all the big factories.  Most of the people we saw, when we were coming into town, were handling or selling marble.  I suspect this is because the people here have few other jobs to choose from other than those in the marble industry. 











This morning, we left Lamba we had a relaxing and peaceful car ride.  Mom, Ivan and I made the good decision to ride in one of the two support vehicles.  Because of the accident, there are two rickshaws now driven by professional, local rickshaw drivers and two rickshaws driven by Americans.   

I did two notable things in the car.  I took pictures and completed a lesson of math.  Out of the window, we saw dessert landscape and small villages.  I had fun shooting pictures of the rural villages and even some of the urban towns.  Soon my Mom said  “Ho, Ho, He, He, you have to start your math. Ho Ho. Ho”  (Actually, she said it nicely.)  My picture taking came to the end and I did math until the outskirts of Kishingarh.



















Once in Kishingarh, we drove to the hospital where we will be staying and where our clinic is based.  We are staying in a spartan hospital dorm with shared bathrooms down the hall.  We checked into our room and found a new rival: mosquitoes.  These are particularly dangerous due to the disease they carry: malaria.  My parents took a shower while I slaughtered a massive amount of little biting buggers infesting our room!  We made sure to put on a lot of DEET and have made it impossible for mosquitos to enter our room by using a handy mosquito net.

Tonight, we went to dinner with Rally for Health group.  I am excited to see more of Kishingarh tomorrow. 

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!

      

6 comments:

  1. Hi Rohan,
    Great blog and pictures. From your title, I first thought, Marble? They make marbles in India? I must have marbles on my mind because I recently did several crossword puzzles that asked questions about the game of marbles.

    Was that a boar in one of your pictures? We have wild boars here in TX (also called javalina) that can be quite dangerous.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rohan - Do they cut the marble from quarries? I never thought much about where marble came from. I'm learning alot from your blogs. Thanks. Love, Grandmalish

    ReplyDelete
  3. He he, ho ho, got to kill them mo-squi-toes

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Rohan..
    more great info.. have you noted that each region is source for a huge industry.. and near nothing else? i.e. stone area..its why I adore Jaipur for gem cutters and jewelers..i call it the Manhatten of India, a condensed busy city..not so endless as Bombay..if you go that way. . I know the best cheapest travelers hotel there in Jaipur.. In Varanasi ~ the Hotel Surya - owner Mina is the sweetest.. best restaurant..in an old palace..
    seems you hit the edge outskirts of everywhere! great for an experienced back country Alaskan family..
    have fun tomorrow! I have sent your blog to many friends!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Rohie- so great to see the world through your camera lens and read the inside scoop. Hope you're feeling better.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Grandma Doris, I think they are just pigs that have gotten really dirty! They don't seem to be aggressive or have any tusks.

    GrandmaLish, I am not sure where the marble is cut from the ground. I am pretty sure it does come from quarries.

    Debi, thank you for the hotel advice! We are going to Jaipur and Varanasi later in the trip.

    Amy, I feel great. How are you guys doing?

    Chopper, he he ho ho, thank you for commenting he he!

    Rohan

    ReplyDelete