To register our plot of "Solitude", we had to go to the government magistrate in a small town called Paud, about 30 km outside Pune. Compared to the millions in Pune and Hyderabad, Paud boasts a population of about 21,000. Situated in the state of Maharashtra, where the Marathi language is spoken.....different from the Telugu that Mom, Dad, and "L" speak.
From the get-go, we had difficulties. The "Solitude" sellers communicated poorly with us, not letting us know what we needed until the day of (e.g. photos), so we had to get those taken at a nearby shop. Then our sales rep failed to show up as promised, sending one of his underlings. Once at the magistrate's building, we submitted our signatures on some paperwork, then waited for our number to be called to get fingerprinted on more documents. We waited....10 am...11 am....12 pm....1 am. We were #33 and they were only at #17. We were getting frantic, since we were scheduled to catch the train back to Hyderabad at 4:30 pm later that afternoon, and we needed at least a hour and half to get back to our friend's apartment, pick up our luggage, and race to the train station. To boot, we didn't have seat confirmations for the return train tickets we'd bought. Dad gathered us to pray. To make a long story short, after praying, the train tickets not only got confirmed, but after our friend pleaded directly to the magistrate on our behalf, we got our paperwork processed and our fingerprints in! The magistrate was a gruff, abrupt person who wielded a lot of power. Our friend was quite nervous confronting her, but somehow we found favor in her eyes. The magistrate even chewed out her meeker associates for not expediting our paperwork, given our time-crunch. Miraculously, we made it to the train station on time, marveling and thanking God for His goodness all the way.
Main road going through Paud
Veggie/fruit stand along the main road going through Paud
Stray goats outside the magistrate building that ate the peels from the bananas we bought from the veggie/fruit stand along the main road going through Paud
