Ray and I headed on out to the Morning Star English Medium School to rendezvous with Mahendra. He had made copies of various documents as well as proposed plans for the rest of the year. After a brief meeting in his office, we boarded the taxi once again and drove a very short distance to the tea nursery. This young man began his nursery enterprise as a youth. For him it was just a hobby...making things grow and propagating new plants from older ones. He had seen many movies with gorgeous gardens and dreamed of recreating those in his own areas. School students and teachers knew about his success with horticulture, so they often would come to him for plants to use in their school projects. It wasn't long before others came to him and his hobby developed into a very profitable business! He welcomes guests under the umbrella of a beetle juice tree near the entrance to his home.
His most amazing endeavor is the acres and acres of tea plants he has propagated and sells to local tea gardens to replace their aging plants or to local enterprising young men who want to begin their own tea gardens. From the precise cutting of each leaf to its placement in rich soil bags...mud dams and well water pumped into the bamboo thatched greenhouse...weeding and protecting...the leaf matures to a profitable plant! When an order comes in,he is ready! 
Recently he has branched out into seeding various trees and his workforce has multiplied! 
His taxi service is another hobby he enjoys. Mahendra has called on him in emergencies with the girls' health or to ferry guests such as Jyoti's sister or "Sisters" Jonnie and Pam to and from airports, schools and train stations.
Fifteen years and dedication to both of his "hobbies" has provided his family: wife, son, daughter, mother and father with a very nice living. The income from the cell tower augments his salary as well.
We enjoyed lemonade and a tasty treat similar to our hush puppies made from beans, peppers, etc. All grown on their land! Even the milk in the tea was from their cow! They are self sufficient indeed!
From the nursery, we headed over to the house where Jyoti had prepared lunch for us. We enjoyed the banana buds Mahendra had shown us yesterday all stir fried and seasoned. Dolma (Elizabeth) had picked lady fingers and they had fried them as well. We were honored with slices from a large cucumber Amit had brought back from Darjeeling recently. The rice base enhanced by Dahl and a potato dish completed the meal.
Later we drove out to see the children's home some of the Morning Star teachers had told Ray is being run by an American lady named Alex. When we got there, she was not in town, so we were not granted entrance. She is from Minnesota and has a huge gated compound. The walls are high and topped with glass and nails, so we could only see the top of the two story home that houses the children. We walked around to the three roomed school from which we could see the church building and guest house in the opposite direction.
We returned to the house for a "last tea" and to get a family picture. Jyoti had prepared a rice and coconut pudding instead of tea! It was a delicious treat as we waited for the girls to return from school.
After a last picture, we headed back to the hotel. The rains have not come to this area of West Bengal yet, so the clouds hanging over us seem to envelop us in a blanket of heat. A refreshing afternoon shower and the refuge of an air conditioned room welcome us at the end of the ride.
Mark is still sleeping it off...
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