Cramming Everything We Still Wanted to Do in Delhi into Our Last Week (Cait)

The Lotus Temple

Last day in Mayapuri

Distributing Canadian souvenirs to the kids

View from the top of the mosque in Old Delhi

That week we were in the office again. I had already done everything I could do to help out with the text portion of the annual report, so my time was spent either shadowing the doctor in the clinic upstairs or surfing facebook in the office. Shalini, unfortunately, was still working on the layout of the report, which meant she was constantly busy changing pages according to Dr. Martin’s daily edits.

Shadowing Dr. Shamilla was great. She’s worked for Asha for over a decade so she has a relationship with many of her patients and is extremely familiar with their situations and the health challenges they face. Though the patient visits were conducted in Hindi, the doctor was great about explaining what was going on.

One thing that struck me was how many patients visited the clinic each day, often close to 50 in the space of 4 hours. Of necessity, each visit was quite short. We couldn’t help but wonder with these kinds of constraints how thorough a health evaluation was possible. Many diagnostic tests are expensive or must be done off-site, so the tendency in the slum clinics is to prescribe rather than performing a thorough diagnosis. However, this is not to criticize Asha in anyway: we understand the financial and personnel constraints that make more extensive testing impossible for the time being.

Another aspect which was noteworthy was the similarity of the problems which many of the patients experienced, many of them direct consequences of their standard of living. Antenatal care was the most common reason for slum dwellers to visit the clinic. Other common ailments were pain in the abdomen assumed to be kidney stones, severe asthma, and open wounds that needed cleaning and bandaging. Contraception consultations were also very popular. While shadowing the doctor underlined all the progress Asha has made over the past few decades, it also highlighted the ongoing challenges facing Delhi’s slum communities.

We also went back to Mayapuri for the last time to say goodbye to the kids and staff. Traci and the other ladies who work there gave us little farewell gifts and had bought cookies and chips for us, which we were so touched by. Shalini handed out all the Harvard and Canadian stickers and pencils that she had brought from home, which the kids went wild over (literally). When we finally had to leave, saying goodbye was very difficult. We have gotten to know many of them very well over the past weeks, and they have given us such hope about what is possible in the future. Throughout our experience, we have continuously been amazed by the strength and joy we have found in Mayapuri. We wish all of them nothing but the best, and our thoughts will be with them often in the years to come.

Monday night we saw the Lotus Temple, which was one of the most beautiful structures we've seen in India, offset even more by the huge park around it with actual GREENERY. It is Baha'i temple and welcomes people of any faith to worship there; the whole place was wonderfully serene.

On Tuesday, we went to Punjabi by Nature, a very well-known and upscale restaurant with supposedly the best Indian cuisine. It lived up to its reputation. The food was absolutely amazing and we all ate until our stomachs hurt.

Wednesday night, Shalini, Alex, and I had Paul, his wife, and Felix over for dinner. I left work early (I didn’t have anything to do anyway) to go home and start prepping for our feast. Shalini made a few wonderful Indian dishes including chicken and spinach curry and dahl, along with raita, parathas, and rice. I contributed the appetizer, bruscetta, and Alex made a delicious benafi pie for dessert. It was so nice to have a chance to have our coworkers over, and just hang out with Paul and Felix before we left. We’re really going to miss them!

Thursday night we went with Michelle into Old Delhi (about time!) and saw climbed to the top of a tower in the mosque and got a great view of the whole city. Then we caught an auto to the DLF Mall and saw Inception. Sooo good!

Our last night in Delhi involved the craziest auto experience ever. Our driver crashed into another auto, explained that the reason was because his brakes weren’t working, drove on the wrong side of a busy street into oncoming traffic, abandoned us for ten minutes during a traffic jam, took us to the wrong place, and made a pit stop at a liquor store before we decided that we had had enough and got out. The night went more smoothly after that. We finally arrived at our friend Udai’s house and had a great last night. Shalini showed off the skills she had honed during her tomboy years playing video games (Barbie alumni Michelle and I were amazed), and we played pool and Taboo. It was a perfect end to our Delhi experience.

Khajuraho and some Kinky Karvings (Cait)

Temple

The usual suspects

One of the more PG examples of the erotic temple sculptures

Friday evening we caught a train to Jhansi with Sam, Michelle, Jonathon, and Sam's friend Siler. We got in around 1am and then had to drive about a half hour to a smaller town called Orchha where we were staying overnight. We got to our hotel and were shown to our rooms...which were less than ideal and had bugs everywhere. Unfortunately, it was too late to try to find anything else, but we were able to barter the price down a little and booked it out of there early the next morning.

That morning we explored Orchha, which was a small town that received far less tourist traffic than most of the other places we had visited. We had breakfast, walked around the market square, and saw a temple before heading to Khajuraho. Jon, Michelle, Shalini and I did what I might dare to say was the more sensible thing by hiring a car (about a three and a haf hour journey), while Sam and Siler opted for the more adventurous option of taking the local non-AC bus (a solid seven hours). Upon arriving, we settled in and had dinner at Mediterraneo, a “Dutch-managed Italian restaurant,” where we sat at a table next to an enormous Dutch family which appeared to be having their family reunion in Khajuraho, Mater Pradesh. Who knew.

Later on, we went to the lights show at the temples park, which involved sitting out on the lawn while various structures were alternately lit up. Meanwhile, we listened to a narration by a voice that was supposed to be the spirit of the stonemason who had built the first temple at this site. He recounted the stories of each temple’s construction, complete with sound effects and the occasional guest narrator who would recount another part of the story in the same strange faux-British accent. Needless to say, we thought it was great.

The next morning, we arose bright and early to see the temples. For almost every historical site in India, Indian nationals have to pay only a fraction of the entrance fee demanded of foreign tourists. This time, Shalini decided to try to pass as an Indian and spent about fifteen minutes trying to convince them that she was an Indian from Bangalore who just happened not to speak Hindi and was only showing her foreign friends around her India. Alas, the gatekeepers were not fooled and she ended up having to pay the foreigner fee. She gets an A for effort though.

The temples were really cool and interestingly carved as promised. After our second temple however, Shal and I decided that they all looked the same and let the others go on as we sat under a tree. When they were done, we had lunch together and headed out to catch our train. This time Sam and Siler saw the light and came with us in the car.

Our train back was the Shaderbhad Express, the nicest train in India. They fed us five different courses, and we were about an hour and a half late only. A huge improvement over our Varanasi experience.

Visiting Mr. Lama (Shalini)

Waterfall at the top of our hike

McLeodganj

Taking a breather

At the Dalai Lama's temple

Momo-making class

On thursday evening we hopped on a bus for what we felt might be the rest of our lives. A few of us were feeling pretty stomach sick that day, but we figured that how many times in our lives will we get to see where the dalai lama lives. Furthermore, he had turned 75 that very tuesday, so it was our duty to go help celebrate.

20 hours later, some turned stomachs, and a billion twisty-road-life-flashes-before-ones-eyes incidences later, we arrive in the beautiful mcleodganj. We spent friday exploring and shopping. The hills were such an unbelievably welcome sight for sore eyes. Everything here was so beautiful- it no longer felt like the same landscape that we've been surrounded by for these two months. The air was so much cooler and fresher. Everything was so cheap- we ate like kings!

The next day we took a momo making class. It was really awesome, just the 6 of us (sam, michelle, jon, lisa, cait and I) and this cool couple from new zealand. Some were better at momo making than others (we attribute lisa's incredible pastry folding talent to her growing up on a farm), we all had a terrific time. After this, we hiked up the Bagsu waterfall, which was spectacular. We then hiked down and sat among the rocks and water, and watched the monks scale the rocks as easily as mountain goats. I think that this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life.

That night we watched the third place game of germany and uruguay, in a pub that was jam packed with super interesting people- tons of backpackers.

The following morning we went to the dalai lama temple. I think one of the most striking things about this place was how peaceful everything is, and how immensely spiritual it felt. We spent the rest of the day shopping, walking, eating, and dodging the rain until our bus home.

So on the way down, we took the luxurious volvo ac bus. However, I couldn't find enough tickets for us all on one volvo bus for the way back, and thus we settled for the tata ac. What a a difference. The bus felt a lot less spacious, but more importantly, the bus leaked. Water dripped on us all night from the broken roof of the vehicle- it was like chinese water torture as we tried to sleep to pass the time.

A few more turned stomachs later, 4 fake north face jackets to keep us protected from the rain inside, and with big smiles on all of our faces after an awesome weekend, we returned around 7am monday morning, and headed to work.

Work at Asha (Cait)

Week of July 5

We finally met Dr. Martin, the founder of Asha this week, as she'd been out of the country since our arrival. She took Shalini, Sam, and I to lunch at Barista and talked with us about ourselves, Asha, and our experience here so far. She also told us what she had in mind for us for the next couple weeks. Since this year has been a huge milestone for the slums in terms of students accepted to college, she wanted the three of us to put together a workshop to prepare the university-bound students for college life. She also asked us to help out with putting together the annual report for Asha. We agreed and headed back to the office to start working. We hope that this will be a good opportunity to get to know the full scope of the organization better.

On Thursday, we got to meet Mr. Chidambaram, India's current Home Minister and former Minister of Finance. We were very privileged to have this opportunity, as the Home Minister is the most important and powerful person in the country after the Prime Minister. Mr. Chidambaram is a special friend of Asha's since he backed a scheme during his term as Finance Minister that provided slum dwellers with access to low-interest loans through Indian banks. This was revolutionary, as most slum dwellers at the time didn't even have a bank account and had no knowledge of basic financial services. Any time they needed to borrow money to invest in their business or pay for medical bills, they were forced to turn to money lenders who charged exorbitant interest rates. The microfinance scheme designed by Asha and Mr. Chindambaram changed all this.

We went to his office with Dr. Martin, Sam, and two slum dwellers who were recently accepted to college. Because he's so very busy and important, we had to keep our visit relatively short, but Mr. Chindambaram talked with us very graciously for about 20 minutes and allowed us to ask questions. He was very thoughtful and well-spoken, and we enjoyed the visit immensely. We feel lucky to have had so many wonderful experiences over the past weeks.

Jaipur (Cait)

Our trip to Jaipur was our first taste of the Indian bus system. To our surprise, we found our AC Volvo bus (the top-of-the-line in transportation, we were assured) to be more comfortable than the train, which is the opposite of what we usually find at home. We got in without a hitch and went to our hotel, the Umaid Bhawan, which was a very traditional restored heritage hotel with decor to match.

The next day we hired an auto through our hotel to take us around the city. First we hit the Amber Fort, which our fort guru Paul told us was a must-see. From the bottom of the hill we had to take a jeep up the steep, bumpy roads to the ancient fort itself. We spent about an hour walking around and got some great photos. Then, hot, tired, and sweaty, we considered our cultural duty done for the day. As we were exiting the fort, our eyes caught a bit of red glittering through the haze of heat and dust. Could it be? Was it only a mirage brought on by excessive sun exposure and dehydration? We ventured closer. It was! In the most unlikely of places, a Cafe Coffee Day (CCD to those in the know) had appeared in our hour of need.

A brief aside on the importance of CCD in our lives:

There is a CCD about a five minute walk from our little home in Vasant Kunj. Whenever we need a brief respite from the 116 degree heat, have been bamboozled by autos who don't know where they're going, have spent an afternoon scouring four different parts of the city in search of a tailor that is open on Tuesdays, or feel particularly drained or frustrated for any other reason, we go to CCD and the world is made right again. Their drinks, which are described on the menu as akin to "drowning the crimson glory of the blazing sun" and "a drink for the gods- or as we like to call them, our guests," have put smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts many a time. CCD, we love you.

To continue:

We had an enjoyable rest at CCD before heading back down the hill to where our auto was waiting. We drove back into the city, and saw a beautiful palace in the middle of a lake. Jaipur, the "Pink City," is truly gorgeous. We also stopped to ride a camel! So much fun, though when the camel stands or sits, a strange jerky, rolling motion, you almost see your life flash before your eyes.

We then went to the hug bazaar in the middle of the old city shopped to our heart's desire, which wasn't too long given the heat. Later that evening, we went to Choki Dani, which is supposed to be a recreation of traditional village life but which is really just a fake posh tourist trap that somewhat resembles a village. Don't get me wrong though...we thoroughly enjoyed our time at the fake village. We rode an elephant, watched the dancers, and ate a traditional Rajastani thali dinner. Maybe not actually representative of village life, but highly entertaining nonetheless.

The following afternoon before boarding a bus back to Delhi, Shal and I looked through the Lonely Planet to find the perfect restaurant to have our last meal in Jaipur. We alighted upon a description of a restaurant at the top of the Om Hotel which revolved. Kitschy? Maybe. A perfect end to our weekend? Definitely. Decision made.

The restaurant was on the 14th floor, which is higher than pretty much anything else in the city, so we got some great views. The actual rotating of the room was so slow as to be barely perceptible, but during the course of our meal we made a full rotation and got to see all 360 degrees of Jaipur. We saw that there was a Revolving Thali Special on the menu and thought "when in Rome," and completed the experience with the Revolving Sundae. Dizzyingly delicious.

Week Of June 28th (Shalini)

Sarojini Nagar Market... where we bought a lot of your gifts..

Mr. Martin helping us celebrate the mango festival in Delhi!

We are in the office all the time now that the children are back at school. It's sad actually, and I really miss them. I found that work a lot more rewarding. We worked on a grant proposal all week, that was for 2 mobile health vans from the Japanese Embassy. We learned A LOT about what it is to both work in India, and work for an NGO. Ask us about it sometime.

We also went out a couple of times during the week. On Thursday, we went to Reggae night, which was awesome. A lot of fun. When K'naan's Wavin' Flag came on, the entire club erupted. It was really something cool to be there, surrounded by Europeans, during the World Cup.

Home from Varanasi (Shalini)

I am so proud of the awesome pictures my little camera took! It's almost impossible to capture how beautiful this boat tour was. It is something we will never forget.

The next day was a hot one in the Holy city.

We decided to relax and take advantage of the spa, which was highly recommended by our Lonely Travel guidebook. We got massages, which were really quite different to any other massage ever partaken in at home. We also swam and met other travellers. All around a good day. Until...

It was time to leave. We get to the train station, half an hour on time, because we're still silly and punctual, even though nothing is on time in this country. Our train was upwards of two hours late. We waited on the platform in the Varanasi heat for what seemed like forever, and then boarded the train. Everyone pushes! I yelled at a man for pushing me as I was waiting for a woman with two children to board. We then arrived (finally) at our seats. We were riding 3AC which seemed right away, to be a whole different world from the 2AC that we arrived in. We were lucky enough, however, to be sharing out section with 3 Sri Lankan religious pilgrams: a family of two sisters and a husband. One of the women lived in Melbourne.

This was all fine, and we were getting comfortable, until it came time for us to search for blankets. Jon and I went to the back of the train where there was some sort of strange and panicked money exchange occurring. It was really bizarre and we had no idea what to take of it. We decided that maybe they would drop blankets off to us? How wrong we were. Later that night, Cait and Jon went in search of the blankets, and found that they were all being hoarded by a group of Sikh men, who refused even Cait's offers of money for a few blankets. An hour or so later, when the conductor came to check our tickets, I enquired, and his response was, get this: "There are 85 blankets on this train, only." Why?! why in the world were there 85 blankets. Ridiculous. We were really cold that night, as we wrapped ourselves in scarves.

Jonathan, however, had a bunk buddy. The Sri Lankans decided that the top two berths should be occupied by their massive suitcases (they were only travelling for 2 weeks, but people in this part of the world, to generalize, do NOT seem to pack light, and are all amazed by our backpacks). That left 4 berths and 6 people. We were awoken in the middle of the night to "Nononono" as the Sri Lankan man refused Jon's request to move the suitcases and for Jon to sleep there himself. The man had woken Jon up by moving his feet over so that he could sleep on the same berth. Retrospectively, it was really quite funny.

The train was 4 hours late in arriving. We thought it would never get there. But then finally we arrived way north in Delhi. We took the metro and then an auto for the 1.5 hour trip home. The metro is a sight to be seen. It's so urban and cool. However, in typical Indian travelling style, people pile up against the doors, as if they will shut right away- the car of the metro isn't even half full, and they're all pushing against the doors and windows to get out!! As soon as the doors open, people fall and are sprawled across the platform, and basically walked over.

But we finally got home, hungry, tired, and probably smelling terrible. But it was a great experience of a weekend all in all, and I wouldn't have traded it for anything, I just never wish it upon anyone haha.