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Any friends in Chandigarh, India who can tell me about orchid societies and vendors in that area of
Hi All,
I expect to be signing, in the very near future, a contract to teach (several courses in programming and software engineering) in Chandigarh. Classes start the first week of May and so I'd likely be there the last week of April. The only uncertainty at this time is whether this is a one semester deal or a very long term arrangement. When I get there, I intend to go to the Canadian High Commission in Chandigarh to find out about Indian laws regulations regarding orchid export and Canadian laws and regulations in use at the time regarding import of orchids from India (but I'll wait until I arrive to phone them because I have heard from Canadian vendors dealing with orchid imports here that they face almost constant change in how these regulations are applied: and I'll make sure I get everything in writing so I can demonstrate that when I bring orchids back, I have done everything according the the letter of what they have told me). But, while I have been in India before (in Madras and Bangalore), that was a decade ago, well before my interest in orchids, and I now need to know if there are orchid societies I could connect with while I am there, and what vendors, greenhouses, and even botanical gardens, would be worth visiting. It would also be good if there are any orchid biologists working there on conservation efforts, with whom I could connect. Does anyone know what orchids would be most commonly available in the orchid market there, their cost, &c.? I would think that, being so close to the natural distributions of dends and phals, it would be easier to find species specimen plants representing several generations of greenhouse grown plants. What time of year would most orchids be flowering in India? I am told I'm in for a climate shock since the average temperature there is about 40 degrees Celcius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), and that when the monsoons start within the next couple months they moderate to only 30 degrees Celcius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). It is a very good thing that the college and provided accomodation is air conditioned! Hey, if in the late summer or early fall you hear apparently wild stories of a Canadian disappearing there, and there being found a large grease spot on the site where he was last seen, you'll know that was me and that I just melted away. ;-) I'm sweating buckets right now, and feeling very hot, just thinking about it. ;-) IIRC, India is at, of near, the western edge of the natural distribution of Dendrobiums and Phalaenopsis. Is that right? What other genera would be common there? Of the orchids I am aware of, the genera/alliances of most appeal to me are the phals, dends and catts, although some ladies' slippers are starting to grow on me. I especially appreciate large showy flowers with a nice scent. Cheers, Ted |
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OT reply to reply to reply Any friends in Chandigarh, Indiawho can tell me about orchid societies and vendors in that area of the Punjabregion?
I could ramble on presenting the other side of the offshoring issue, but
I think it's sufficient to note that the 2 US presidential candidates are on opposite sides of this issue [and you can guess where my allegience is]. Don't you find it interesting Ted that you have to go to India to find a good paying job? Just because you've got a good pitching arm, it doesn't mean you should use it to throw molotov cocktails at the house when its burning down. You might be mistaken for the arsonist. On a happier note, Phrag Mem. Dick Clements is blooming on 2 growths for the 2nd time this year! Ted Byers wrote: My comments are embedded below. "Dave Sheehy" wrote in message ... Ted Byers ) wrote: : "mg" wrote in message ... : : : Ted Byers wrote: : : I expect to be signing, in the very near future, a contract to teach : (several courses in programming and software engineering) in Chandigarh. : : Aiding the dark side, are we? : Huh? This is undoubtedly referring to the offshoring of engineering jobs to India. The inference is that you will be aiding this trend by training Indian SW engineers. Perhaps I am. But I don't really care. Everyone, regardless of where they happen to live, has a right to the best education they can get any any field of interest to them. If that means that Indian software engineers can out compete their north american or european counterparts, then tough. I do not believe, though, that there is a shortage of opportunity in IT. I have seen many cases where companies and public institutions have been "cheated" by charletans who claimed to be experts and who, judging from what they actually delivered, were grossly incompetent. Team up a good marketting man right here with a team of good software engineers, and you'll have a thriving business because if you're doing it right, you'll find plenty of work (in part reparing damage done by incompetent competitors). I know full well that if your mindset is that you have to be an employee of a large company, finding work in IT is insanely frustrating. The whole industry is in a mess, and many key decision makers are proving to be blithering idiots, leaping after one trend only to run head long into major problems that had been ignored before makng the leap. I, for one, will take work where I can find it. : All I can hope is that you don't know enough to export anything important. : What are you talking about? I interpret this statement as you "exporting" SW technology (knowledge) to India. The expressed hope is that you won't be able to them anything useful. That is rather insulting, don't you think? And it is foolish. After all, once India reaches a standard of living comparable to our own, they won't have a competitive advantage due to the cost of living. And it is a huge market. Any software company looking to market its wares would be wise to encourage international cooperation in order to better be able to sell TO India. BTW: some of my software has already been exported (a product used to evaluate environmental risk, and currently in use by every organization that currently has a Candu reactor): this is a product, the only one of its kind so far (to my knowledge - things may have changed since I finished it), developed here and sold there. Keep the folk there ignorant and such sales won't be possible. Products can not be sold to people who don't know they need the product and who don't have the means to buy it anyway. When it gets right down to it, I do not see the world in racial or national bounderies. There are only people, and these have needs and aspirations to be considered. If there is a chap on the other side of the planet who needs education I can provide, and there is a way I can earn a living by providing it, then I will do so. As an educator, who happens to have plenty of experience in software engineering (as well as environmental science), I have a duty to do so regardless of whether or not he will end up competing with a neighbor down the street, round the block, or half way around the world. Let the work go to the best egineer available regardless of accidents of birth such as gender, race or place of birth. And as an educator, I will make sure that those students who pass my courses are among the best on the planet, and I have the education and experience required to do so. Dave, if your interpretation of what mg wrote is correct, then I'd suggest that such protectionist BS be rebuked wherever it rears its ugly head (even if it is OT here :-). And, I'd say I would have rather heard about orchids likely to be available there, orchid societies, nurseries, etc. in Chandigarh, and if mg (whoever that is) didn't have any information relevant to my query then he or she should have kept silent. Cheers, Ted PS: such protectionist BS gets me a little angry, so I think I'll go grab a coffee and try to calm down. |
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