Check "Older Posts"

There are more pictures related to the trip to Dehradun in "Older Posts". I went a little nuts posting, and put too much on in one setting. Sorry....

The Absolute Highlight of the Trip

On Friday befor we headed back to New Delhi, Prakash took us to have lunch at his parents house. (He is from Dehradun.) His family was very nervous to have three Americans coming to their home, and almost the entire family was there to celebrate his neice "Anishka's" first birthday. They were very nice to us. Gave us gifts, fed us a nice meal, and welcomed us into their home. We expressed how much we love and appreciate their youngest son, Prakash, and "Kaushalya Devi",(mom) broke down in tears of pride. It is obvious that all of the brothers and sisters are proud as can be of Prakash. Dad, "Ganga Ram Binjola" is an extreemly fit 80 year old, that is very proud of his son, and very loving to his grandchildren. Oldest brother "Harish" is a taylor. I bought two shirts from him that fit great, and he is making me a suit. Ashok, the other brother is the father of Anishka, and he takes good care of mom and dad. We met sister "Babita" in the store on the way to the parents house, and she was hiding to avoid meeting us because of her shyness. Now she has requested that I visit her house when I come back to Dehradun. Three nephews were there, Adarsh, Tushar, and Tetesh. I told them that I would show the girls in the US their pictures.

It is easy to see why Prakash is such a good guy. He comes from great stock! His family is very loving and supportive. The highlight of this trip was meeting, and breaking bread with the Binjola family.....I hope to do it again some day.

Trrricks of the Trrrade

I taught Satish and Prakash how to run the buffing machine with the electrical cord instead of holding the handle. They were very pleased with themselves, and are committed to continueing to practice.

Fun Around the Campfire

Every night, we had our dinner outside around a fire. There was a lot of singing and storey telling, and laughter. A lot of it was in Hindi, but we understood enough to have fun. Prakash danced, and he is very good. Several people sang, and some were better than others. It was a good chance to "let our hair down" (me litterally), and have some fun.

Students Lined up for Lunch

Very orderly procession! Very little noise or confusion...

Out Door Hand Washing Facilities

Thought this was a cool way to hook up a sink.

Musoorie - In the Himalaya Mountains

Just some random shots from our bus trip into the mountains. We went up 6,000 feet on winding roads, and I thoought I was going to die. (no western bathrooms, and my stomach was not ready for that level of motion!!) Musoorie is a mountain village.

SIS Guard Training Center-Dehradun

Adjacent to the school campus is a SIS Guard Training Center where new guards receive 2 months of residential training. Starting April 1rst, Janitors will go here for 1 month of training also. We visited the guards, had tea, and saw their outdoor kitchen area, and the rest of their 2 acre training post. I was encouraged by the rest of the ServiceMaster US people to fall into the haircut line, but I was able to resist the offer, even though the cut would have been free. It's noteworthy that my Indian co-workers never make those kinds of suggestions. I really like working with them. haha

Other Animals kept on Campus

The school has its own bee farm for harvesting honey, it's own dairy cows for getting milk, and it's own bulls for making more cows. They don't raise their own chickens yet.

The Dogs of Dehradun

Part of the complex at Dehradun is a dog training center for SIS. They provide guard dogs to customers, about 200 or so! When the dogs are pups, they are brought here for training. Tango is the big dog with Rituraj, and he lives at the school.

The Dehradun Campus

Dehradun is located between the Himalaya mountains and the Shivalik mountains. The picture of the whole group in the previous post has the Himalaya mountains in the background. Here are some shots of the campus of the school.

The Training

At the training we had about 30 people. Half of them were SIS Regional Managers and Senior staff that will be helping to sell ServiceMaster Cleaning Services all over India. The Purpose of the training was to "sell" them, and to expose them to the other trainees which were the entire Divisional Team of ServiceMaster Clean- India. Four of us, myself, Tony, Gary, and Prakash conducted the sessions, and the topics included sales, job costing, sales, work loading, history of SMC, relationship between SMC & SIS, and even some "hands on" cleaning. Enjoy the pics.

Accomodations in Dehradun

While we were in dehradun, we stayed at IPS (Indian Public School) which is a school owned by the Sinha family. (The owners of SIS & ServiceMaster Clean-India.) This is a private school that goes through High School, and houses 400 students. The campus was a hunting lodge under the British rule, and has been renovated and upgraded to create the school. The building that we stayed in was actually where the hunters stayed 50-100 years ago. The place is "top shelf" by Indian standards, but I found it a llittle "cold and old" for my taste. Hope you like the pics.

Traveling to Dehradun

It's been a long time since I blogged. I have done a fair amount of travel. We spent an incredible week in Dehradun. Above are pictures of my ServiceMaster boss, and the guys that we traveled with and worked with for the past week or so. My boss Bisher, Gary with the shaved head, and Tony, with Prakash and I. We rode the train from New Delhi to Dehradun. It was a long ride.