Jamnagar Gujarat India

 As I visit with our good  friends Sonia and Maurice in Jamnagar India, I am once again faced with the issue of class and caste which, although obviously exists throughout the world, immediately smacks you in the face here in this sub continent of over 1 billion people.  The Reliance Township, built to house to employees of the worlds largest oil refinery,  has changed since  Chuck and I lived here nine years ago.  We were pioneers, living through the early days of construction. Sonia and I were the first to live in the houses built for upper management.  We lived through rats repeatedly attempting to take up residence in the places we had attempted to claim as our own.  The air in the morning was always thick from the fires built by the workers and their families for their cooking and heat source.  Their homes made right on site from whatever materials they could gather.    In our homes, windows and doors were always kept closed to keep the malaria bearing mosquitos at bay.   Now as I return to find lush green gardens and neat residential areas it's difficult to not overlook those who work daily, not only in the early days of construction but now maintaining such an oasis.  Just outside the parameter of the gate you will find such camps of workers, as they no longer live within the confines of the former construction zone.  I found the dichotomy troubling.  An ever present reminder of the blessings shared by some, myself included, but not others.