What a stroke of luck that I was put onto this man. B Murali Krishna had been given my email by my contact in Hyderabad. CEO of the Village Vision Bio-Power, he had sent several friendly emails to me earlier in the year, and also a couple since I arrived, expressing concern for me in the heat, and advising me what time of day to go on farm visits. I had experienced some difficulty in maintaining contact with my original host. Although I had kept him informed of my visit, of the possible volcano-driven delay, and emailed him my Indian mobile number, I was a little concerned by the sudden lack of response.
Mr Krishna’s sons met me at the Secunderabad railway station, and set me in a taxi for my hotel. He was concerned about me being alone in a foreign land. I later discovered that my original contact, a man of some renown, and a man to whom I had attributed high ideals, had intended to exploit my visit by deciding, without my knowledge, that he would charge me $1000 daily for site visits. Now I never expected or requested a free ride round India, but at no point during our previous communications had money been mentioned, and had this sum ever come up I would certainly not be in Hyderabad now. Murali Krishna was so appalled at this underhand attempt to extract money from me, that he resigned from the company. Naturally, I am acutely embarrassed that I have caused such a good man to leave his position – I hope it was just that I was the last straw in some other set of circumstances, but I doubt if I will ever know. Murali Krishna has not only saved my bacon, and taken it upon himself to acquaint me with a range of biogas sites within reach of Hyderabad, but he has taken me into Indian life itself. No tourist could ever get this insight.
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