The logo

Bangalore

Spelling was never his cup of tea, but RJ churned out many wonderful sketches. He finally gave me what I had in mind. It was quite close actually!

For me what made the logo attractive was :

- the letter design
- the colours used and
- the sketch which was influenced from a Pulluvans art.

If the name "The Blue Yonder" had come from Chicago, the logo came from Dubai!. And, this was all for a company based in Bangalore and operates in Kerala! Truly, "the world was flat! even before Thomas Friedman's book!".

© GP 2006

Typo!

The work for an attractive logo was equally exciting.

Once again, it was coordinated between various places, amongst various friends. I had given a brief about the company, what we intend to do and how it should be perceived.

Ideas were shared with some of my friends, sent them various sketches, some pictures that I shot while I stayed in my village and then RJ called me from Dubai and said, "I am going to do it!".

RJ was the one who understood my style, my expectations and kept on sending various designs all of which I refused, mostly for the reason that there was too much of "Kerala" in all of them. RJ was a wonderful artist (he still is!), he brought in many fresh ideas, and looked totally out of place in Tirur, where there was nothing much for him to explore.

I enjoyed working with him, until one day he made me run for cover because of a "typo" in one card he designed for our college chapter of SPICMACAY.

As usual we were the typical lastminute.com's and organised some programs including an inauguration of the regional chapter and we needed our badges at any cost within a day.

It was delivered on time almost two hours before the event!!

The proof I gave read like this:

SPICMACAY
Society for Promotion of India Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth

And, what was printed on the card was this:

SPICMACAY
Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Against Youth!

I still don't know where we got the energy to print the expansion of SPICMACAY on a paper and spent rest of the time pasting it on to all the badges before the inauguration!

© GP 2006

What's in a name?

Bangalore

Everything!

I can't remember the time or the day when I decided to set up a company with the concept of promoting Bharatapuzha (river nila) as a destination and maintaining the same as a financial engine to support the nila foundation. It was rather, a process.

When we started, there were 'n' number of travel companies promoting various destinations in Kerala. Most of them were doing regular stuff and it was into this space that we had to position ourselves. Kerala tourism was going through a growth phase, it was a Super brand. "With a dynamic tourism-trade community and sustained Government support", Kerala was one of the most well known destinations in India by then.

We needed a name that would :

-capture the imagination
-that would have a recall value and
-represent what we intend to provide our guests

"Experience!"

AV and I had couple of meetings in Bangalore, exchanged emails while she was away in Chicago, and one day there came the email! She had suggested a list of names including "Blue and Green", "Green and Blue", "Floatels" (relating to the famous houseboats of Kerala) and then; there was the gem!

The Blue Yonder!

J wasn't convinced.
For me, there was nothing much more to think about.
I fell in love with the name. This was it!


©GP 2006

Here or there?

With the mounting expenses and all the committments I had made to support the research ; it was obvious that I needed to find a source of funding for Nila Foundation.

1) One of the options was to set up an NGO and apply for funds from local funding agencies, Government or ask for individual donations.

OR

2) Find a well-paid job and fund the activities of the foundation.

The experiences I had working with both the donor agencies (UNDP, CAF India) had given me clarity in terms of the models that I wouldn't follow when it comes to funding. I didn't want to go around with a begging bowl to local people nor did we want to apply to funding agencies and be at their mercy to pursue our dreams.

Rather we preferred to dream on our terms!

Though the second option was suggested by many people; I was sure about NOT doing this. I wanted to ensure that my feelings and emotions about Nila was not just another infatuation, but a passion that was sustainable in the long run. I had a history of some emotional interventions earlier. (of which I will write at some point of time through these blogs). Though I might have made some impact here and there, I wanted to ensure that my involvement with Nila had to be:

stronger and
deeper!

If at all, the feeling for the river was just a romance or infatuation, I wanted to ensure that I wouldn't leave the movement in the middle. For this I needed to ensure that

-every single bill that I had to pay,
-every single meal I had to eat

had to come from the projects that I am going to be involved in!

It was a very simple theory : No work? No pay!

Now, when I look back after three years, I realise that it was a well calculated risk (and not really a suicidal one as many of my friends and 'family' had thought!)

© GP 2006

Celebrating the river!

Bangalore

Why would someone want to come and see a dying river?

Unless, she is so much concerned about the environment and nature, there is nothing much to prompt a person to come and experience a river, if it was positioned as dying river.

"Hello, our river is dying. Please come and visit and let everyone know that the world should interfere ASAP!"

I doubt if this would have worked.
Instead, we decided to celebrate the river!

There was nothing much we could do based on the water left in the river, except during monsoon. So the celebration of the river had to be based on it's :

-legends and folklore
-culture
-folk art forms
-classical dance forms
-scenic beauty
-people
-history
-life style
-literature
-institutions
-martial arts lineage
-military tradition
-religion
-bio diversity
-architecture
-farming tradition
-music (mainly percussion tradition)
-festivals
-and on and on...

Sometimes we wonder if we are talking about a dying river at all?

© GP 2006

The thread

E-36 Bangalore

I can't remember when I came up with the name "Nila Foundation" to coordinate the work that we wanted to do for the river. The idea was to have the common platform for those people with diverse interests to come together in the name of the river. We started imagining the foundation doing research about rivers, we "saw" us supporting various research projects financially, we wanted the world to know about our "Pulluvan", "Poothan" and "Thira" and understand the uniqueness of this wonderful river valley civilisation.

The foundation was in a nascent stage, it wasn't even registered as a non profit organisation. But there was something else that was taking shape in parallel lines though. Our sole focus was to bring in attention to the river, and for this, the main audience that I had in my mind was the travelling community. Obviously they travel a lot, and if they like an experience, I am sure they will talk about it. This I saw as the most wonderful way of sharing the river with people who haven't experienced the river.

For us, the river was not just water flowing meaninglessly. A river is often the thread that weaves lives and traditions in an ageless manner. A river sustains a civilisation.

But, the question was all about:

"How on the earth are we going to bring the attention of a traveller (anyone for that matter!) to a dying river?"

© GP 2006

Ground reality

Bangalore

Within a month, it was clear that what we had budgeted was going to fly above the roof! Ground realities and what we had in our mind were totally different stories.

I didn't have much money left with me after the prolonged illness of my father; I didn't even have a job ever since I came from the UK. Until my father died, I was still playing with the idea of setting up a consultancy on disaster management in India. Since the discussions about setting up an office with Fritz Institute in India didn't materialise, I was totally at loss.

If not for the prompting from J, I think I would have stayed back in the UK.

When we (J and I) moved to Bangalore, I still was thinking about a career in Disaster Management. After moving to our new rented apartment in CK Gardens, the first thing I did was to get in touch with Dr. Venkataramana, a leading Neurosurgeon in Bangalore Manipal hospital, who was the brain behind Comprehensive Trauma Care (CTC). We decided to work together to develop a software program to ease the rescue and relief operations CTC was involved in and around Bangalore.

But none of this was bringing in any money to survive. With whatever little that was in the bank and overdraft facility that touched every possible limit, we had to figure out something. Luckily, J found a job quite easily and that was a relief.

© GP 2006

Research

Thiruvananthapuram

Search for good research material on Nila led me to Sujith once again. By that time, I had kind of identified my role in the whole scenario. That -

- I should let the world know about my river!

I knew I will be able to talk with passion and conviction. For this, I needed to have thorough knowledge about the river. Other than some stories that I knew since I was a kid and regular newspaper reports, there wasn't much that I could use to 'raise' this to a totally different level that I aspired.

When I came to know that Sujith had some dreams about researching the status of the river, I offered to help him financially. What we both had in our mind was a research project for an year and a half provided, regular flow of money was ensured.

For me, it was the best way to get to know the river.
I saw this as a learning experience and a wonderful opportunity to increase my knowledge base about this wonderful stretch of land in Kerala.

I had no idea how I was going to find the money and resources for this; but just knew that I was going to do it!

© GP 2006

Nila in news

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)

While running from one meeting to another in the state capital, CK sent me an email with this note that came in The Hindu newspaper :

"Indianur Gopi, who led the save-Bharatappuzha campaign since 1988, said the river was in a worse shape than when he and his colleagues had started the campaign. He said only a strong political will on the part of the Government coupled with determined efforts by society could save the dying river. "

"Stressing the need to preserve the rivers, hills and forests for the future water needs of the State, Mr. Gopi said providing drinking water to the people was a `basic political responsibility.' He said the outcome of his campaign to save the river and the hills and rice fields in the Bharatappuzha basin was a mixture of "little achievements and big setbacks" as the river was deteriorating by the day. "

Read more here

© GP 2006

Flight etiquette

Cochin

In a short flight (in a small ATR operated by King Fisher Airlines) from Bangalore to Cochin; even before the flight landed; there were at the least couple of mobile phones that were switched on! And, that too, it was when the flight attendant was making the announcement to "Please keep your mobile phones and other electronic equipments switched off!".

Why are we like this?

I have noticed this kind of behaviour so many times and frankly; these are those moments I mentioned in the first blog. I was so desperate to give one-tight-slap to that young man who was sitting on the other side of the aisle.

What will happen if he waits another two minutes to switch on his mobile?

Some of the things that irritates me a lot during flights (and endangers many!) are:

-passengers getting up from their seats even before the flight lands
-passengers opening up the over-head lockers before the flight comes to a stand still
-running to the toilets when the "fasten your seat-belt sign" is on!
-spreading around the food all over while eating
-soiling the toilet seats and pissing all over (mostly in international flights!)
-drinking as much as they can as if there is no tomorrow; just for the reason that it's a "free drink!"
-"violating the -personal- space of the fellow traveller by virtually and physically occupying every single millimetre that's is possible
-disrespect the cabin crew members
-sitting next to a strongly perfumed woman (most of the time in Air France!)

(Nothing against Air France or a woman sitting next to me, unfortunately I am allergic to every known perfume in the world!)

When I requested the young man to switch-off his mobile for the safety of fellow passengers and the plane itself, you should have seen the look on his face! As if I just got into the plane from Mars!

© GP 2006
PS: It's always a pleasure to land in Cochin International Airport. One of the few airports in India that is clean, efficient and a place where you feel that there is some sort of system and governance in place!

Committee Disease

Bangalore

Malayali love "committees".
Look at this sample:

-Palli Committee (Mosque / Church Committee)
-Ambala Committee (Temple Committee)
-Utsava Committee (Festival Committee)
-Samrakshana Samiti (Protection Committee)
-Vana Samrakshana Samiti (Forest protection Committee)
-Kshetra Samrakshana Samiti (Temple Protection Committee)
-Ksheera Vikasana Samiti (Dairy Development Committee)
-Vyapari Vyvasayi Ekopana Samiti (Giving up on translation :))!
-Paada Sekhara Committee ...

Want to try adding more to this?
Welcome aboard!

Common Platform

Bangalore

My thoughts went on this line:

"Where do I fit into the whole scenario?
I am not an activist,
I have not been involved in any such movements,
I have no scientific knowledge,
I don't even know why the river is dying or
If it's actually "already dead!" or
better, if it was actually dying at all?"

All I could see was emotional responses.
Earlier, when I decided to stay back and work for the river, I really didn't have much idea on how the whole thing was going to take shape. I just knew this is what I wanted to do. All of a sudden, there was clarity in mind in terms of what I didn't want to do with my life!!

Even at that moment, I never thought that I would set up a foundation and then that I will explore ways to support the same foundation to work for the river!

While doing a SWOT analysis of the situation, I started looking deep into my own "Strengths" and "Weaknesses". Then as if it's a board of chess game, set up those along the "Opportunities and against the "Threats" that the situation offered.

If I need to talk to the world about a dying river, I need to have thorough knowledge about it. Unless, I don't have that, I didn't think that I would ever be able to talk with conviction for sure.
I did consult couple of my friends in my village if they know about any research work that could throw light into this. They told me about "bits and pieces" lying down with various people; but not any single published source. This statement took me back to what I noticed that night once again. There were people on the banks of the river, who have had undertaken studies, there were "n" number of "River Protection Committees" (Puzha Samrakshana Samiti).

But, they hardly come on a common platform. What keeps them apart?

EGO related issues
Superior-Inferior complexes.
Fear of not getting the credit for their hard work
Fear of someone stealing their hard work and
many more...

Well, now this is another topic for discussion :) May be in the next one...

© GP 2006

Own up!

Bangalore

While lying down in the warm water in the river one evening, I went through the previous weeks experience in that night.

There were three strong elements in the whole situation:

- Individuals who can't pursue their dreams just because they are worried about monetary aspects of running a day to day life; which in turn takes them away from their passion.

- Artists and ritualistic healers like "Pulluvars" who can't make a living any more out of what they are passionate about and what they know the best.

- Lack of knowledge sharing by NGOs and individuals about the river. I did meet some people who have painstakingly undertaken research and explored their river in their own ways.

But it was kind of obvious that night that they prefer to remain in their own island of knowledge, and that they look at everyone else with doubt. ( A typical social dynamics of Kerala, I guess!!)

One person after the other, came forward to address the gathering :

-Some one literally cried about how sad it is to see this river like this NOW
-Some one shared how wonderful the river was when they were kids
-Some one nostalgically talked about the days when the river used to touch both the banks
-Some one criticised about wrong actions about the Government and ....

While hearing all this, I was thinking the following:

"Well, its wonderful to see these people being so passionate and even romantic about the river. I don't know if I will ever meet such people any where else."

It was truly touching to see them singing for the river in that moonlit riverbed.

But, what's the point in just being romantic and do nothing about the situation? I agree, its wonderful to be able to sing and remain passionate about the river. Not many people would do that. The way they were communicating their anguish was impressive, but again, for me it was about:

"Hello guys, wake up and do something!"

If you feel so much about the river and it's present plight, own up!
It's high time that you take responsibility for what you can!


© GP 2006

Striking a balance

When I heard Sujith, (say that he was willing to live for the river), I was reminded of what my friend Venu had told me over a drink one night, while we were volunteering at the Pain and Palliative Care Clinic.

"There are many people in this world, who want to do many things in life, but can't afford to do so, because they can't strike a balance between passion and pursuing a life to make a living. "

The two years I spent as a volunteer at the Pain and Palliative Clinic is still one of those phases in my life that I value a lot. That's where I realised that I could be useful to someone. Even though it was just about listening to people, or just jotting down the case histories of patients, it meant the world to many terminally ill patients, with head and neck malignancy or osteo-sarcoma or any other sorts of cancer.

I went to volunteer for two weeks at the clinic as suggested by my girlfriend who was a student at the medical college there. By the time I left that place to do my Masters, almost two years has passed and I hardly even noticed where the time disappeared.

Venu continued,…."Someone like you shouldn’t be just volunteering here, instead you should be the driving force to bring in funds to support initiatives like this."

Somehow, the whole thing resonated in my mind that night. Maybe people like Sujith or Anwar or many others I met that night, may not be able to pursue their passion, for the simple reason that it was not financially viable to do so! They had their families to support, they had their school bills to be paid, and they had various commitments.

On the other hand, perhaps they would continue to work for the river or continue pursuing their passion if they had a regular source of income that was closely related to their passion (river). I was dreaming about such a scenario, about being able to be passionate and not really worrying about the payments to be made in the nearby grocery store or the monthly amount that their parents would have appreciated receiving.

Or even to think about buying something small as a gift for their nearest and dearest. ....

© GP 2006

The connection

Bangalore

That night we met some wonderful people. With curiosity and fulfillment, we went around listening to different people who were there. Many of them were strangers to me, but there was definitely a connection there……a connection that would change my life from thereon in.

It was when I took the dip in the river as a ritual on behalf of my late father, that I knew that I wouldn’t be returning back to Europe. Instead a powerful feeling ran through me – it was as if my roots were holding me back. That moment was probably the trigger for all the changes that have happened since.

This was quite surprising, as I never thought for one moment I would stay back in the country as I always had the urge to travel, move from one place to another and found it suffocating to get used to living in one place. Reading quite a lot of existential writing right from childhood hardly helped I guess!.

Three faces from that night still linger in my memory - Sundarrajan, who spearheaded the people's movement and hunger strike against the Coca-Cola factory in Plachimada in Palghat district of Kerala, Sujith Kumar who ran an NGO called CEDAR based out of Thrissur and Anwar Wakkad who was involved in many conservations efforts in various parts of Kerala. Hari (Govindan) also sang a requiem for the river and I remember him crying by end of it, which also brought tears to many faces in that moonlit gathering.

Alamkode Leela Krishnan who wrote "Nilayude Theerangaliloodey" (By the banks of River Nila), (which I think is still one of the best books written about the cultural history of River Nila), was also present and felt some responsibility for not having done enough for the dear river, which was now struggling for life.

The connection I felt with these people and the magical moments we shared reminiscing about this river that had once been so beautiful and romantic, willed me to share some of the decisions I had made a few days back with Sujith.

About not going back to Europe and
About doing my bit for the river.
About wanting to share my passion with them
About my readiness to spend the next five years working for the river...

He smiled, patted me on my shoulder and said, "I am quite impressed and happy that you are ready to dedicate the next five years to the river." This was a man whom I came to know little by little through various projects we worked on together. It was during one of those intense discussions about reviving Bharatapuzha, that he emotionally declared,

" I am actually willing to dedicate my whole life to this river!"..

That was the level of dedication, passion and commitment these youngsters had and it was then that I realized there is no going back for me either. If I ever chose to work for someone or work with someone - it would definitely be for the river.

That was three years ago.

© GP 2006

Pulluvan

Three years ago, my father died after a prolonged illness. We have a tradition of offering prayers to free the soul of the dead on the banks of the river (Bharatapuzha - River Nila) in Tirunavaya. It was whilst offering prayers and when I was about to take a dip that I noticed that there wasn’t enough water in the river to take bathe properly. It wasn’t even the start of summer yet I literally had to roll over to make sure that my body was wet enough.

As much it pained me to see my father dying in front of my eyes, the sight of the Nila dying choked me to the core. This was the river I went to when I felt sad or happy. This was where I shared my secrets and where I lay down looking up at the stars. It was part of my day to day life; it was part of my growing up. Like many other Malayalees, I grew up reading literature from the banks of this river.

Literature, by writers from the banks of Nila was such an integral part of our lives. MT Vasudevan Nair,( who famously said, ‘'For me, Nila's significance is greater than that of the greatest ocean in the world. Much of my inner and external life is associated with the river Nila and Koodallur village located on its bank''…… read more here ) or

O.V Vijayan (Who nostalgically wrote about Tootha puzha in ‘Guru Sagaram’ that formed one of the richest tributaries of the River Nila) or

C.Radhakrishnan (Who once told us when we met him in Chamravattam, ‘Nila is my University, this is where I learnt my science, my biology and astronomy’) and many others were part of our reading, and our day to discussions in schools and universities.

Probably it was just a coincidence that I talked to Hari Govindan, the musician ( son of legendary Sopana Sangeetham singer - Njaralathu Ramapothuval ) during those days and he mentioned a headline in the ‘Mathrubhumi’ newspaper "Thilothagathinu polum udhagaatha Nila": which roughly translates into ‘ Nila : A river that doesn’t even permit ‘obsequies’'. He mentioned that it was probably a ‘Nimitham’ (Omen) that I called him on the same day.

A few days later, I was walking on the riverbed with some of my European friends who had come to visit my village and this was also where we all come together to share the legends of the river. Walking "through" the river bed in the splendid moonlight, we could hear the haunting music in the distance. It was altogether an enthralling experience - the rawness, the depth, and the rustic appeal of the string instrument that accompanied the male and female voices. (That was Pulluvan playing the ‘Veena kunju’.)

Wondering what they were doing in the late night singing on the banks of the river, we came across a small group of people, singing and talking about the river. They were nostalgic about the river that once flowed where they sat now. They were talking about the emptiness they had in their minds and in their lives.They were passionate, romantic, and very sensitive. They were a group of musicians, activists, teachers, students, mothers and children,(in the middle of the night!)

They had one thing in common.

The river,
The dying river.
The river they couldn’t live without,
The river they wanted to share with their future generations.

They didn’t just want to show photographs or talk to their children about their memories of a river that ‘once’ used to be part of their lives. Instead they wanted to hold their children’s hands and stand on the banks of the river and tell them stories about the river. They didn’t want to live in the past; instead they wanted the river to continue their lives.

That was where I saw many things in common.
And this is what I felt deep within me…..
I wanted to hold my child’s hand and share with her the beauty of the river.

The River…
that was part of my life and
would continue to be part of my life…….

On the way back, while still dragging my feet through the fine sand bed, I heard Sooryan (the Pulluvan) singing aloud, the rustic, nostalgic, haunting verses praising the snake Gods!

© GP 2006

Awards and more

Paris
There were many moments in life where I felt like giving ONE-TIGHT-SLAP to:

*The System
*Society
*People
*Individuals
*Relatives and more importantly..
*Myself!!

Frankly, I haven't given much thought about how I would like to see this blog now and later in the future. I don't write a journal any more, but there were several moments in my life when I thought it would be wonderful to read through all these and share the same with others. I am not sure if I should stick to a topic, or just blog some incidents or events as and when they happen or note down memoirs that still makes me smile, laugh or make me sad.

Let's see how things evolve from here :A year back, i.e November 2005, I was attending the Responsible Tourism Awards Ceremony at the World Travel Mart, London looking at the joy of those people gathered there. There were winners, short listed nominees, members from the travel industry and quite a lot of people who mattered, people who could make changes to the lives of many others through their work.

It was just the second year for us in the business. I was there basically to understand the trends, meet the movers and shakers and learn. I was sitting behind a woman smartly dressed in a beige suit with short hair who was obviously nervous. Her partner (I presumed), was sitting next to her and it was only when she stood up to walk towards the stage that I recognized her as Sofia de Meyer, as winner of the 2005 First Choice Responsible Tourism award for Innovation. Whitepod, her company, provide alternative ways of exploring the Swiss Alps. They have pods (dome shaped tents) pitched on raised wooden platforms and offer low impact accommodation in a pristine environment.

After staying back for the debate on sustainable tourism, I bumped into her and congratulated her for her achievements. I still remember that her hands were still shaking and damp! Looking around, I saw almost all the winners in the same situation, happy, overwhelmed, excited about the work they were involved in and happy about being able to connect with like-minded people and recognized for their achievements.For a small company, still struggling to position ourselves and be known within the travel industry, these were the kinds of people we wanted to be associated with. These were the people who not only talked, but acted in running travel businesses in a responsible way, in a way that doesn't create negative impacts on the environment or on the people / culture they work with. Rather, they all genuinely worked hard to increase the positive impacts of tourism.

Very impressed, I thought for one brief moment…."Maybe in another 5 years time, it would be great to see The Blue Yonder up on the stage." Until that trip, I wasn't really aware of Responsible Tourism as an organised way of travel, the way it is now (Though, this was the foundation on which we built the company). In the first year and a half of the business, I didn't venture out of India. We were busy setting up the business piece by piece, day by day. Until we were sure we had a solid foundation beneath our feet, we were ready to lie low and this decision was shared by all those involved in the company at this time. Once we developed the "products", (I dislike this word very much and prefer to say that we provide an “experience” and not just a saleable commodity that anyone can buy from a supermarket!), and had developed the capacity locally to operate, we decided to slowly move out and find out what was happening elsewhere in the world.

The idea was to raise funds for the Nila Foundation, that we had set up three years ago to share our passion for Bharatapuzha (River Nila). It was pure joy to know that what we were practicing a business model that had a market, something that was practiced elsewhere in the world as well and was being documented well. All of us in the team had an academic interest in what we were doing, we were keen on sharing, as well as learning what we had tried, and here was an opportunity to interact with the leaders within the industry.

Three months earlier, Arun came screaming to my desk in the office yelling, "Gosh, I have JUST forwarded an email to you, read it"……. This was from the 2006 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards committee advising us that we being considered for an award for using tourism as a tool for "Poverty Reduction". There were more than 1200 nominations for thirteen different categories and irrespective of having an outside chance of reaching the final stages, Sajo and I smiled. A smile we have seen on many people's faces in the last couple of years. A smile that has changed our lives, a smile that has touched many hearts. A project/concept that was conceived whilst lying down on the sand banks of the Nila, whilst staring up at the stars…… was finally making sense to the world too.

Arun, Vinod, Sajo, Sanila and I were in office that afternoon. If I remember correctly, we were writing the concept paper for The Blue Yonder Associates and scratching our heads how we were going to make up for the absence of a colleague who was asked to take a break from work. The award committee had sent us an email with a LOT of questions including :

* Our single most significant achievement
* How do we reduce negative social and cultural impacts of tourism
* How do we increase the economic benefit of tourism to the local community
* How do we reduce the environmental impact of tourism
* How we monitor our commitment to responsible tourism etc etc etc....

After setting up the company three years back, those two hours were the most exciting for us as we were being asked by someone else to explain and convince them about what were about and more importantly how we were doing it. The experience was truly amazing as it took less than two hours for us to reply to those questions. That was when I felt so happy about the "healthy growth" of the organisation (irrespective of the financial constraints we faced until recently) and how strong we were on the concepts. Even those who joined recently (Vinod for that matter) had observed and studied so much and that he could just give his input as if he was an expert in the industry!

If we ever get to meet those people who reviewed our nominations, we would like to ask them one day if they had ever before received answers to all those questions in such short time ;) hehe!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, The Blue Yonder was up on the stage at the World Travel Mart in Excel London on the 8th of November to receive the 2006 First Choice Responsible Tourism highly commended award for Poverty Reduction. When our name was called out and displayed on the World Stage, I think my hands were equally shaking and damp as were Sofia’s at the last awards ceremony!!

© 2006 GP