What does it take to get a new laptop charger in India?

An act of god.

In a world where the gods are white people living in countries in other time zones who have issues communicating with Indian people who can actually release replacement parts. Three days, and four hours of infuriating cell phone time later, I have electricity for my computer again--HOORAY!

Otherwise, life is going brilliantly. Mysore is such an incredible place to call home. I wake up at 5am in the dark every morning to practice yoga as the sun rises; sit in the cafe next to the school and have a delicious and healthy breakfast; then spend the day interviewing industrial managers and come home to run, eat dinner, mediate, and collapse into bed to bird song and the wind in the trees. It is a great schedule and a beautiful life to live. My yoga shalla (school) is a haven of serenity every morning before careening to work. Well, peaceful in some ways, but my teacher pushes us harder than any sports coach I've had in the US. He is only maybe 4'8" and 70 or 80 pounds, and I regularly find him completely standing on one part of me while bending another part of me in a direction that I hadn't realized was possible and intermittently find myself in lifted off the ground--hanging upside down. So, class itself is not so peaceful, and borders on grueling, but I like the discipline and feel fantastic afterward (even if I'm unable to walk straight). The cafe is attached as a garden in the back and is populated by other students, four hand sized kittens, and their mother.

Research is proceeding faster than we had planned! We have almost all of our initial interviews completed. From here out, I mostly need to track down the scrap dealers who interact with my industrial areas and find the companies that are otherwise closely linked with the area. This should be challenging, but really interesting! The rains have come now, but that means an intermittent 10-minute downpour and then clear skies and cool breezes. Nothing like a serious monsoon. Hopefully, the real rains will wait until I have left :)