Chillin in Delhi (Cait)

Shalini and Jonathon eating questionable fried train food en route to Varanasi

Our buddy Felix...no, a different Felix

The man, the legend: Paul Frey.

Tuesday afternoon we arrived back in good old Vasant Kunj. During our absence, a new roommate had turned up! Lisa is a 22-yr old med student at Newcastle Univ., though she's from Northern Ireland. The shadowing she'll be doing over the summer is part of her medical training; she'll be doing one month here and then another month back in Ireland. She seems very sweet, and we LOVE her accent. She even offers to get us something from the store while she's out. The beginning of a beautifuuul friendship.

When we get to the office Wednesday morning, we are surprised to hear that we won't be going to the slum this week. Instead, we'll be working in the office writing a grant proposal for Asha. Asha is applying for money from the Japanese embassy to buy two mobile health clinic vans, which will allow them to provide health services to 4-5 new slum areas throughout the city. So for the next few days, Shalini and I look through old proposals and annual reports and talk to different staff members to collect the information needed to explain the practical dimensions of the project, Asha as an organization, and the expected benefits to the slum communities. It's really interesting and a nice break from the usual routine, and we love hanging out with Felix and Paul, two of Asha's staff who work in the office with us; we're pretty sure we keep them from actually getting work done though, because will interrupt them all the time with "If you could go anywhere in India for a weekend trip, where would you go?" and "Paul, can you call the bus station for us to see if they have tickets left on the bus to Jaipur, pretty pleaseeee?" all the time. They put up with us remarkably well.

We also make plans to go to Varanasi with a big group, but Sam, Sean, and Michelle's train ticket's are inexplicably cancelled at the last minute and everything else is sold out, so in the end only Shalini, Jonathon, and I are going. We're disappointed about the others but excited to see the oldest and holiest city in India!! If only the train wasn't 13 hours long...

Wedding: Monday (Shalini)

Monday was the day of all of the main wedding ceremonies. We began preparing earlier today, learning from yesterday how long it would take us to get ready. Again, Mrs. Khandelwal was amazing and so helpful, lending us jewelry and telling me in particular, how to look more Indian. I wore lipstick for my first time haha. We then watched as the groom's family all arrived and we helped greet them with flowers. We were so included in this entire process! The bride's brother urged us to help out, and we were so happy to do so. We put flower bracelets on the female members of the groom's family. The groom himself arrived on a horse that was decked out in rich, colorful trappings. The entire thing was such an awesome spectacle.

Cait and I then watched the entire wedding ceremony. This must have been 3 hours long, but we were so intrigued by it all! The bride enters under this veil that was held up by male members of her family. She looked absolutely beautiful, and Cait and I are now convinced that a wedding is not a wedding, unless it is an Indian wedding. The coolest part was when they light the fire and the couple walks around it seven times.

After this, we waited in line to congratulate the new couple, after witnessing an Indian wedding tradition in which the bride's family steals the groom's shoes during the ceremony, which he then has to buy back from them. The whole thing involves a lot of good-natured bargaining, so fun to watch! We then saw the ceremony where the bride's family says goodbye. This was quite sad and emotional, and it was truly emblematic of how close-knit Indian families are. Getting to experience such a personal event as a wedding during our time here was truly an unforgettable experience, and we feel incredibly fortunate to have been welcomed so warmly by this wonderful family.

Mumbai Day 2

On Sunday we donned our first sarees. This took quite a long time to figure out how to accomplish. We then went to another hotel where there was a terrific display of entertainment by professionals (this included a sand table artist, which Cait was very impressed by), as well as skits and dances by the family members themselves, for the wedding couple.

Seeing this display of family made us so appreciative to have been invited to the wedding. Indian families are very large in number, but they all care so much about one another, which was evidenced as different members of the family each prepared and performed their dance pieces for the couple. What a privilege to have been in Mumbai for all of this!

The evening was equally wonderful. We heard a performance by a famous Indian singer, who sang a song that even I recognized!! It's called Mahi Ve, and it's from a very popular Bollywood movie. We then danced with the family. These people are so wonderful, we cannot tell you how much fun they all are! And such terrific dancers! We had a fantastic time.

We were also really unprepared for the wedding, however, in terms of our clothing apparel. Working in a slum everyday just entails wearing a simple kurta and pants. But this wedding called for much more. We are so grateful to the Khandelwals for all of their assistance in getting us dressed, and to everyone who lended us their salwar kameezes and jewellery. We were so overwhelmed by the generosity of the entire family as we were taken completely out of our element and welcomed into this fantastic and colorful Indian culture.

Bombay Wedding : Day 1 (Cait)

Bachelorette Party
Henna hands!
Indian dancer
Sweet Mughal-style hats

Saturday, June 19

We get to the airport, check-in, and link up with the first batch of Khandelwals that we will meet over the course of the weekend. We packed light for this trip, not wanting to slow the travel process down by checking luggage, but we quickly realize that we are the only ones without large rolling suitcases (and later realize the wardrobe deficiencies that result from such thirfty ways when packing for a wedding). After a two hour flight, we touch down in Mumbai where we are met by more relatives and ushered to the caravan of cars they have waiting to take us to the Grand Hyatt Hotel (which we are informed is "like 7 star quality yah").

Waiting in line to get our room keys from the front desk, we are offered drinks, appetizers , chocolates, and warm towls by uniformed waiters carrying trays and circulating around the lobby in search of weary travelers to refresh. They also place malas around our necks, the traditional flower garlands given as a sign of welcome.

After stopping by our room, we head downstairs to the Ballroom where the little booklet waiting for us in our room tells us lunch is being held for the wedding guests. After a little confusion as to where that is exactly (there was literally food everywhere, but as we would quickly learn... nowhere to sit), we find ourselves seated in a room along one side of a very long white table along with many other guests. Waiters come by with trays of different kinds of wonderful Indian dishes, from which we select and place on the silver platter in front of us. After stuffing ourselves to the point where we swear we are never eating again (lies), we go back upstairs to the bride's suite where all the women are getting henna painted on their hands.

The skill of the henna artists is amazing! They draw the most intricate and beautiful designs so quickly, and without ever pausing or making a mistake. In less than an hour both sides of my hands are encased in their beautiful designs, though Shalini's takes almost two hours (this is Shalini: I was all like "just a simple design please" and the henna artist was all like "no, traditional design" so now my hands are decked out with a peacock and a hen, respectively). At some point the whole group moved back downstairs, where we recline on raised cushions as the henna artists continue their work. More people arrive, and then a group of dancers and musicians enter, dressed in colorful costumes, and begin to perform. At first we just watch the dancers, but then we form a circle and someone calls out for different groups of relatives, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends to dance in the middle with the bride. This part was so fun to watch! The whole family is so happy and everyone is having the best time dancing together. We join in, too.

That evening, we go to a gathering in a brightly decorated room where singers and dancers perform. When we enter, we are given blue hats with feathers on them to wear, which Mallika's father tells us is the traditional garb that the Mughals wore. I think they're stylin' ; Shalini is less keen. The performance is great, and afterwards we eat dinner from an enormous and delicious buffet.

Later on, we attend the combined bachelor/ bachelorette party, which features dancers and an Indian "DJ from New York", who also breaks out into raps about different members of the wedding party during breaks between songs, as well as an enormous dancefloor. We have a great time and do our best to keep up with the Khandelwals who are all enthusiastic dancers. Shalini and I, I'm ashamed to admit, are some of the first to turn in for the evening, exhausted from our day, but the party, we hear the next morning, kept raging for another couple of hours.

June 14th through 18th (Shalini)

First off, our sincere and deepest apologies for keeping our readers in limbo this past week. Our blogging negligence was primarily due to the fact that we didn’t take computers with us to Mumbai. But here it is, in as much detail as we can remember.

Miss you all!

Tuesday June 15

Today started off conventionally, but after work, we needed to find a tailor to make the blouse for our second sari for the wedding. This was not an easy task. Apparently, pretty much everywhere is closed on a Tuesday. We went to this one tailor who we read up on, but she refused to make our blouse. Apparently, sari blouse making isn’t a desirable task. It takes four hours for good stitching and little reward. The women then told me, as Cait’s tour guide to take Cait somewhere else to get our blouses made. I told her that, deceivingly, I too was foreign, but she still couldn’t suggest a place for us to go. We hopped into an auto and went to a market, where everything was closed, and then to the mall, where there are no tailors. Then, in what we expected to be yet another futile effort, we went to another market. Asking around to find a tailor, we finally arrive at this small shop in the middle of the market, with a tailor who promises a reasonable price and will make our blouses in just two days! Awesome (or so we think… the tailoring job was actually terrible. The result: Cait’s blouse simply refused to button, and I ended up sporting an off-the-shoulder look because he made the shoulders too broad, alas). But we were happy at that moment, and headed home relieved and content.

Wednesday

Class in Mayapuri, and then our Sam, Sean, and Michelle come over and Sean makes delicious pasta as we watch more soccer.

Thursday

Today was a wonderful work day. We had games day with the children, and I am proud to say that I beat two 13 year olds boys at chess. This is quite a feat considering I haven’t played chess in like 10 years. Furthermore, there were two of them, so that’s like an accumulative intellect of a 26 year old, and I’m only 20! To say the least, I was real proud, and they were real impressed. I’m like the next Bobby Fischer, minus his apparent bigotry. We also played carrom board. This was another huge occasion in my life, because for the past two decades of my existence, my father has also raved about this boardgame, and I never understood what the big deal was… until now. Cait and I are officially addicted. I almost lost a nail trying to get the queen!

Thresi also took us out into the field (the Mayapuri slum) for an hour. It was really really hot out, but so worth the experience of seeing where more of our students lived, and meeting more CHVs. The proximity of the slum to the train tracks is so close, and it’s really almost scary to think of the inevitability of death or injury that entails from this marginal distance. But being out in field is something that will stick with Cait and I for the rest of our lives, and we are really learning a lot about the world, people, and ourselves through our experiences here in India.

When we got home, Felix’s friend Jonathon had come to visit, and live in the house for a couple of days until his NGO could find him residence in Delhi. He’s awesome and it’s always nice to have more friends! A girl from Northern Ireland will also be at the house when we come back from Mumbai.

That night we went to dinner with our Indian friends who we made by extension of our Penn friends, and watched the Argentina game. Later, we went out to a danceclub, but decided that we were too tired, so headed back home within the half hour.

Also, I have learned how to use all of my Indianness and bargain for an auto really well. With a few head bobs and a smile, I can broker some pretty good deals, if I may say so myself.

Friday

Today, we shadowed a doctor in a slum in Tigri. This opportunity was really once in a lifetime. We say patients who had tested positive for TB get recommended to a DOTS center (Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course). It’s really interesting to be able to actually see the reality of everything we’ve been learning in our global health courses, and everything we read about in our books in North America. We also were able to, hands-on, examine the stomachs of pregnant women to monitor the fetal growth. The people who worked in Tigri were so sweet and welcoming to us. They insisted that I try the food, and got mangoes and bottled water for Cait and I. One woman was immensely interested in our marital status. When Cait told her that she has no intention of marrying until she’s at least 30, the women looked grief stricken, and urged “no no bate, 25 MAX!”. We were then asked whether our parents met through love or arrangement. It was all quite culturally entertaining.

When we got home, we did laundry and packed, excited for our day tomorrow and our 10am departure time!

Vardaan Hospital (Cait)

Sometimes, it's impossible to differentiate the tourists from the Indians...

Making fajitas!

At Qutab Minar


Courtyard of Mayapuri Center



Monday, June 14

Monday evening after work Shalini and I jumped in a rickshaw and headed over to meet Mallika's aunt and uncle, Drs. Rajiv and Rekha, who own the Vardaan Hosptial in Delhi. Vardaan is a small private hospital which specializes in OB/GYN and pediatric medicine, and also serves as a sort of nursing home for some elderly in-patients. They showed us around and introduced us to many of the patients, many of whom were very talkative. One woman told us her lifestory, which was kind of a downer, about how her children have left her to move to (ironically) Chicago and Canada and she can't get a visa because of her health condition to join them. Then there was the friendly but slightly out-of-it old man who greeted Shalini with a "good to see you again," thinking they knew each other from their days in the army. Yes, yes, that is Cadet Shalini.

The hospital was great though, as was talking to Dr. Khandelwal about her work there, and how the hospital partners with an NGO similar to Asha to work with low-income kids and help them do well in school. Afterwards, we went back to the Khandelwal's house, where we met more of the family and ate an absolutely delicious dinner. We had a really interesting conversation with Mallika's grandfather about Ghandi and India's struggle for independence, and he very generously offered to take us to a Hindu temple sometime. Mallika's cousin, a doctor, also offered to show us around a government hospital...so excited to take them up on both offers!

(This is Shalini) I just want to emphasize how amazing this family was and how delicious the food was. Amazing. It was definitely a highlight of India thus far.
(Cait again) I agree wholeheartedly. The Khandelwals have been so awesome and we feel very lucky to have enjoyed their hospitality!

Weekend #2 (Shalini)

Friday:

Today was our average day, but then our Penn friends came to watch the world cup and we ordered Pizza Hut. Also, fyi, McDonalds delivers in India. This game was exciting! South Africa played so well and got the first goal of their World Cup! How nice. We then went outside and explored the park (with swing set and slide!!) that's near our house, and got some ice cream.

Saturday:

Felix is gone for the weekend somewhere north. He just hopped on a train, without a place to stay or a return ticket. He also doesn't have a phone. We are like two anxious moms, worried sick about him.

This morning we slept in, and then we went for brunch. It was a cool restaurant and we found out that they were playing the World Cup that night, so we planned to return. We then went to Sarojini Nagar market, where we bought more salwar kameezs and our second saree for the wedding.

We met up with Sam, Sean, and Michelle at the market and then made plans for later that night. We ended up going to the restaurant to watch the England US game. We had a really fun time.

Sunday

In the morning we went over to our friend's house and Michelle made wonderful, delicious pancakes. We then went to the Qutab Minar. It was really hot outside, and the group (except for me) war attacked by Indians who wanted to take pictures with Americans. At one point, they even kicked me out of a picture. If only they knew...

We then went to a mall to eat lunch and Chandi Chowk, which are street vendors inside, and then Cait and I went on a search to find a black dress for the bachelorette party at the wedding. This was quite an ordeal. We then piled 5 people into an auto and headed home.

That night I cooked fajitas and we watched some more soccer.

Cait and Shalini Go out on the Town (Cait)

Shalini, cait, Udai, and Michelle

ShaliniCait Thanks, Vishal




Highlights from the rest of this week:

Wednesday night Shalini, Felix, Nandini, and I went to dinner with Arwen and a few of her friends at a little restaurant that was only reachable by walking down several tiny twisted alleys and then up four flights of stairs in an unmarked building. Once you found it though, the food was great and really inexpensive, and there was even a lakeview! (Who knew they had random lakes in the middle of Delhi??)

Thursday we started teaching four classes instead of three, as we finally divided the boys into a more advanced and a more basic class. Though this made the teaching a lot more effective, it also made for a very long and draining day, especially as the heat was back up into the 100s. (Don't worry, we were able to recharge after work by watching the Glee season finale, after an epic 6-hour download.)

At one point during the day, Vishal, who is the cutest little boy who ever lived, was drawing people on the board. I told him to draw Shalini, and a bulbous, abstract figure appeared (a tribute to the drawing skills of a 7 year old). I then told him to draw me, and he drew an identical bulbous body with scary hair. However, this time, after the body was complete, his hand moved to its stomach and drew a smaller figure there. I looked at it in puzzlement for a minute before realization hit. "Nooooooo!!! No baby, Vishal!!" Turns out that the day before, Vishal had misinterpreted what Shalini meant when she had explained to all the kiddies that I was sick while rubbing her stomach. We got one of the workers at the center to clarify the situation in Hindi to Vishal. At least we know he pays attention...

That night, after Glee of course, we hit up the Delhi nightlife scene for the first time! First we had dinner with our UPenn/ Taj Mahal friend Michelle at an Italian restaurant (a nice changing eating something without the words "curry" or "masala" in the name) and then met up her friends Sean (also from U Penn) and a few of their Indian friends at a bar nearby with a interesting idea of what mood lighting was (randomly turning the lights off). The group was celebrating the birthday of one of the girls, and we had a super fun time with them. We went to a club afterwards which was full of expats and techno.

Tonight (Friday) we have plans to meet up with Sam and Michelle to watch the opening match of the World Cup!!! Go America!!!!! (and Brazil for Shalini!!!)

June 9th: Cait gets ill (Shalini)

So we woke up after our feast last night, and Cait didn't feel well. We all urged her to rest, and probably not be out in the heat (Delhi has once again regained its 40 degree stamina). And thus I ventured out into the world all on my own.

All the kids asked me where "Cat" or "Caites" was all day. This day was pretty good. Without Cait there, however, I kind of felt like I was babysitting all day. Daycare Shalini. I am tremendously exhausted as I write this.

BUT tonight, we are going to meet some of Arwen's friends. We'll let you know how it goes.

ALSO, Cait forgot to tell you in her Agra update, but while we were at the Taj Mahal, we made some friends (by this, we mean to say, that they asked us to take a picture for them, and then we made them give us their phone number) from UPenn who live in Vasant Kunj and are working for another NGO. We hope to hang out with them tomorrow.

So all is well.

And Cait's feeling well again!

A Side Note (Shalini)

The trouble with writing a blog, and being so open to the world, is that one's ignorance is so easily conveyed. We very much intend for this blog to explain how much we both want to learn from India. That said, we also know that we have been so privileged in our lives, that there is also a lot that we can do in India. The former reason is why we left our homes and places of comfort for the summer, and ventured off into a country that is very foreign to both of us. The latter, however, is why we decided to embark on this journey with Asha.

The other day while we were driving back to the office from Maya Puri, Cait and I had a discussion about cultural relativism: understanding the ways of other cultures and not judging these practices according to one's own cultural ways, and how it applies to our experience in India.

There are a few things that we would like to establish before we continue on with this blog.

It was never our intention to come to India and teach English. However, thus far, it has been an incredible experience, and we love what we do every day. We were both very much interested in the health component of Asha, but we have come to learn the importance of teaching English to the children. It is a sad truth that in order to get jobs, and to be elevated in contemporary Indian society, it is necessary to learn English. As such, we are doing our very best to both learn from the students and teach them, as we try our best overcome the language barrier. We understand that English is the "language of the colonisers", and thus we understand some of the criticism we've been getting, yet, because it is impossible to change the past, we must change the future to one of equality for the marginalized slum-dwellers in Delhi.

The second thing that we would like to discuss is the use of the word "slum" throughout our blog. Before we came to India, we would have to say that we very much agreed with you--this word just emphasized the socioeconomic difference and in doing so, made it more prevalent and classist. However, there are two reasons why we will continue to use this word, and we sincerely hope that you don't mind. The first reason is because this is what Asha, an organization created by one of the most magnificent woman I have ever met (and an Indian at that!), calls the areas. Furthermore, "slum" is how the people themselves refer to where they live. This emphasizes my second reason for using the word slum. When we go out into Delhi, into the more affluent areas, and we tell people where we work, they shush us at even mentioning that there's another side to this country besides its beauty. "Slum" is thus a very political word that, when hidden, also attempts to hide the side of India that politicians and those with money choose to forget in every day life. We think that it is very important as an initial step, for us to recognize our problems in order to find solutions.

Please let us know how you feel!

Conversation (Cait)

Tuesday, June 8

Class today with the boys good, but we are realizing more than ever the vast disparities in English proficiency that exist among them. Some of the boys already know a little English and are extremely bright, and we have been really impressed by how quickly they are learning. However, we have had a lot of difficulty teaching the ones who speak little or no English at all, since neither of us speak any Hindi! Conveying abstract concepts like what an adverb is or what "describe" means has been challenging, and we have realized the necessity of bringing an English-Hindi dictionary with us to class.

Soon after class started , Rashmi and Anoop came into the room and told us that since today was Tuesday they would have a Bal Mundal. The boys then stood and organized themselves into straight lines and began chanting something in Hindi which we think was the Our Father prayer. They also sang the national anthem.

Though we were confused at first, we gradually discerned with some help from Anoop that this was the meeting of the children's group, which is the equivalent of the women's group which is Asha's link to the Mayapuri community. The children's group has a President, Vice President, Secretary, etc and is very active in the community. Mr. Martin later explained to us that in order to participate in Asha's programs, the children must attend English and computer class regularly and be an active member of the Bal Mundal. The Bal Mundal occasionally has rallies in which the children spread awareness and educate people in the community about health topics like smoking. Asha very much wants everyone to join their group, but members must be committed.

One of the boys then came to the front of the room and explained to the group how to prepare ORS, or oral rehydration solution. Another boy followed with a presentation of a newspaper article, and then the meeting was over. Back to work!

During our lunch break, we also had two of the more advanced boys, Rajan and Dharmveer, come in for a special tutoring session. Shalini worked with them on grammar and comprehension, while I read with a few of the girls who had come early to hang out with us. One of the really cool things about Asha is the freedom they give volunteers to teach what we want and arrange classes or special tutoring sessions however we like; there is no set curriculum or schedule, though it can also be more challenging for people without teaching experience to come up with a lesson and exercises each day!

The afternoon with the girls dragged a little, as only one of the girls, Shalu, knows any significant amount of English. In addition, only three showed up to class! We spent most of the time working on reading and pronunciation, especially of the "th" sound, which is difficult for the children to pronounce. Instead of "thank you," they often say "tank you" or "sank you." We were all reduced to giggles after spending fifteen minutes sticking our tongues out to make the elusive "th" sound. We understand completely the difficulties of pronunciation, however, as the children will often correct us when we try to say something in Hindi, and many times we can hear no difference between our pronunciation and theirs. Oy vey.

At the end of the day a group of older girls came, who were all in the range of 14-17 years. This was easier (and more fun!) since we could have more of a conversation with them, which consisted mostly of discussing Bollywood movies (which was carried primarily by Shalini as my knowledge in this area is sorely lacking). Shal even demonstrated the typical male Bollywood dance move for us, which I strongly suggest you all ask her to show you at home...alas, I could not get to my camera in time to get a video.

That evening, Mr. Martin took Shalini, Felix, and I out to dinner at an Indian restaurant at the Indian Habitat Center, a grand complex containing several restaurants and spaces for conferences and meetings. The food was delicious, but the conversation was even better. We discussed everything from Indian politics and gay rights to Asha's development to the best place to get Indian food in Harvard Square with Mr. Martin, who is an extremely charming and intelligent gentleman with the most melodic British accent. We learned a lot more about the slum communities as well, about the "slum lords" who are sometimes figureheads, sometimes real powers in each slum, and some amazing success stories of people who, after taking loans through Asha, were not only able to pay them back in full in a short amount of time, but who were able to build successful businesses, move out of the slums, and send their children to good schools.

On the drive home, we drove by a slum on the side of a busy road which we pass every morning on the way to the office. Mr. Martin pointed to a dwelling on the very edge near a traffic light, where a woman he knows lives. Some time ago a truck barreled through the intersection and struck the home, killing one. For every success story in these communities, it seems there are many of tragedy.

We went to bed very full of the best food we've had yet and with Mr. Martin's assurances that we would go out to dinner again soon. Can't wait!

Rain in Delhi (Shalini)

Monday July 7

Today was the typical day at work, except that during our hour and a half break between classes, we got to sit in on the visiting doctor. This was so great. She was administering pre-natal care, and we learned a lot. It was exactly like a case study right out of one of our global health classes.

The pregnant woman was currently in her third trimester and on her third child. However, she was very, very frail. Apparently, she told the doctor, by the time she finishes cooking for her other two baby children and her husband, there is either no food left for her, or she is too exhausted to cook for herself.

The doctor, who had just met this woman for the first time, urged her to eat and drink more, and to rest. The doctor tried her very best to relate to the woman on a level of humanity that transcended their different places in Indian society, so that the woman would listen to her and take care of herself. While this was all happening, I was holding the woman's youngest child. It was all an amazing experience to witness, and Cait and I felt very lucky to be granted permission to sit in the doctor's room.

Usually we teach two classes during the day: the boys in the morning and the girls in the afternoon, and we fill the rest of the time learning about India and Maya Puri from Thresi. Today, however, after the little girls, another group of older girls from 8th through 11th grade came to learn from us. This was really exciting for us because they know enough english to understand some of what we say!

After work, Cait and I went to pick up our saris and our blouses. Cait's wasn't tailored properly so hers will be dropped off tomorrow at our house (why couldn't they just drop it off in the first place instead of us spending an hour and a half by rickshaw to get to and fro Connaught place!!).

We then hopped into a rickshaw, but this guy was commissioned, and just took us to his store instead. We didn't buy anything, and Cait was really annoyed at the driver who kept asking us for "American or Canadian coins for his three daughters" haha.

So we got into a different auto to go back home. It was rush hour in Delhi. Cars everywhere.

However, this auto driver was awesome!! When we were stuck in traffic, he'd start teaching us hindi. His english was also fairly proficient, so we asked him to wait for us when we went to the grocery story to get food for dinner. And he did wait. He trusted us. That's sooo much more than we've learned to do for auto drivers.

For dinner, I taught Cait how to make egg curry. She also made some awesome raita. Felix also gets credit for chopping up tomatoes really finely to use in the sauce (no canned tomatoes in India...). This meal was delicious!

Also, in regards to the title of this post, Delhi has cooled down exponentially for a few days. It's only like 20-30 degrees (70-80 for the Americans). This is so nice! We feel so much cleaner when we're not sweating buckets!!

Week Two (Cait)

Day 9: Agra

Beep beep beep. I look at the clock. 4:30am. Ewwwww.

In order to get to Agra at a decent time and beat the lines (and the worst of the heat), Shalini and I were up, showered in the freezing pre-dawn water, and out the door by the time the sun was rising. After a little difficulty finding an auto so early, we arrived at the Asha office to meet Arwen and the driver who would be taking us to Agra, and then were on our way.

Now as a sidenote, since I could never adequately capture the madness that is Indian driving, I'm including a chain email that my friend Mallika (shoutout!) sent me:

Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best, and leave the results to your insurance company. The hints are as follows:

Do we drive on the left or right of the road?

The answer is "both". Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rules leads to much misery and occasional fatality. Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the intended direction. Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself except for a belief in reincarnation, the other drivers are not in any better position.

Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back. Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.

Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. We horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, romance and bare lust (two brisk blasts), or, just mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar.

Keep informative books in the glove compartment. You may read them during traffic jams, while awaiting the chief minister's motorcade, or waiting for the rainwaters to recede when over ground traffic meets underground drainage.

Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking colored lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty, often meeting with success.

Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi): The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare. After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their school bags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions with other vehicles on the road cause no permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton's laws of motion en route to school. Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate.

Mopeds: The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often "mopped" off the tarmac.

Leaning Tower of Passes: Most bus passengers are given free passes and during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload (so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked. Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.

One-way Street: These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives. Don't stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms, it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once. So drive, as you like, in reverse throughout, if you are the fussy type. Least I sound hypercritical; I must add a positive point also. Rash and fast driving in residential areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker"; two for each house.

This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting.

Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience (for those with the mental makeup of Chenghis Khan). In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes. Our roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck is the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to little more than a naught. Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill. Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point posthumously. Of course, all this occurs at night, on the trunk roads. During the daytime, trucks are more visible, except that the drivers will never show any Signal. (And you must watch for the absent signals; they are the greater threat). Only, you will often observe that the cleaner who sits next to the driver, will project his hand and wave hysterically.

This is definitely not to be construed as a signal for a left turn. The waving is just a statement of physical relief on a hot day.

If, after all this, you still want to drive in India, have your lessons between 8 pm and 11 am-when the police have gone home and The citizen is then free to enjoy the 'FREEDOM OF SPEED' enshrined in our constitution.

You get the picture. And our driver, I may say, was a true master at the art of Indian driving. Mr. Martin had said that the trip to Agra would take around 5 hours. Our driver got us there in 3, a little deafer or his use of the horn perhaps, but thankfully in one piece.

After shaking the swarms of rickshaw drivers and street vendors selling mini plastic renditions of the Taj Mahal, we met up with Arwen's friends visiting from Scotland, ate breakfast in a little hole-in-the-wall, and headed to the main event. Following the advice of Shalini's sister, we enlisted a tour guide to take us through the Taj Mahal, which turned out to be a great idea. He told us all about the building, how it was built by Shah Jahn in memory of his wife and took 22 years to complete, and pointed out details like the Evening Prayer from the Qu'ran inlaid in onyx and the semiprecious stones forming the lotus flower design on the white marble. As beautiful as the Taj Mahal is in person, it's even better when you can see all its exquisite detail up close.

We walked around for awhile, took some awesome pictures, and then headed for the nearest restaurant with AC. After allowing our body temperatures to cool down somewhat and refueling on some wonderful Indian food, we located our driver and headed home. Another hair-raising drive and a brief rainstorm later, we collapsed happy but exhausted in our apartment.

Week One (written by Shalini)

Day 1: The Plane Ride

14 hours from Newark is a very long flight. It first struck us that we were going to India when we saw the number of Indians that were about to board the massive plane. Boarding the plane was not an easy ordeal. To the exasperation of the American flight attendants, Indians are not easy people to board on planes. They don't quite listen to the order of boarding, and they all crowd around the gate. In many ways, this would be our first introduction to much of how Indian society works: people everywhere without any sort of order.

The flight consisted of movies and sleep and wasn't terribly exciting, but our muscles definitely needed a stretch by the end of it.

We arrive in Delhi around 9. I go through immigration in a breeze. This is because, as I have learned to adjust to, everyone in this country thinks that I am 100% Indian, and thus I should speak Hindi and know the culture. Cait, on the other hand (my friend from Harvard with whom I am traveling), nearly causes accidents as we walk down the street and drivers peek their heads out of the windows of their cars. After some prodding, they let her through immigration.

Then there was the baggage claim. Cait, who was one of the last to arrive at the gate in Newark, was lucky enough to have her bags come out really early. After about 40 minutes of worrying, mine finally arrived on the belt--the second last piece of luggage removed from the aircraft.

We past through customs without a problem, and then exited to a ramp where a man holding an "Asha" sign greeted us. We hopped into an air conditioned Tata van and were on our way home.

The house is really close to the airport- maybe 15 minutes. It's a flat in an area called Vasant Kunj. Cait and I are sharing a room with two twin beds, but tons of room for both of us. Nandini, another to-be junior at Harvard has already been at the house for a week or two, so she explained the ropes of the house to us. The house has 3 bedrooms and can host a max of 6 people. There's AC, the cold water in the showers is actually hotter than the hot water, the kitchen's small and hot, and there's a tv and wifi.

After that, we were both exhausted and went to sleep. Cait passed out. I didn't sleep a wink all night. Oy jet lag!

Day 2: Getting Adjusted

We woke up, or in my case, we got out of bed, and then got ready. Nandini showed us around the area where we are living, and took us to an ATM, internet cafe (the internet in our house wasn't working for a few days), and then to a grocery story. The grocery store is in a big mall that has no stores and only vacant lots, save a KFC, a Subway, and this grocery store. The selection here was terrible and the prices are outrageous. I couldn't even find spices to make Indian food!

After that, we went home, and Cait and I passed out for a couple of hours. When we awoke, Nandini took us to get some clothes to wear during the week to the slums. We took an auto, which was an awesome experience, to a mall that's a 5 minute drive from our house. This mall is ridiculous. It is apparently the most expensive mall in India, featuring a Louis Vuitton, Versace, etc. We tried to find the cheapest Salwar Kameez possible and then headed home.

Delhi is certainly not the center of India's beauty, however. The city is incredibly dusty and hot and not very attractive. We look forward to seeing much of the rest of India in our travels, because we know they beauty this country has to offer.

At home, Cait and I made some pasta for dinner. We were still getting used to the gas stove, so to say the least, this pasta was kind of terrible. Also, there's no strainer in the house, so our Ragu sauce was super watery. But don't worry, our eating experiences look up from here.

Night time. Cait falls asleep quickly. I count sheep until around 6 am.

Day 3: Maya Puri

Cait wakes up at 6 am because that's when the sun comes out. I wake at 7:30. We begin our first day at Asha.

The office is great, the organization does so much and it was very exciting to begin to see how we would spend the next 8 weeks.

We met Mr. Martin, the husband of the founder of Asha, Dr. Martin. These two are amazing people. He set up phones for Cait and I, and bought us some pizza for lunch.

Cait and I will spend the summer in the Maya Puri slum, teaching english to children, watching clinical work, and helping slum students who, for the first time in history, are able to apply to Delhi Universities. Hopefully we will get to shadow a doctor too. This organization does so many incredible things. Their most recent undertaking involves the Minister of Finance. He created a special loan agreement for Asha slum dwellers, trusting Asha to ensure that the microfinance loan will be paid back. Amazing!

We then ventured into Maya Puri. This slum is about a 20 minute drive from our house and has over 10 000 residents. The building is a government facility, given to Asha to provide services. It's basically a concrete structure with 6 rooms, and some fans. We do, however, have a classroom, with a lot of Hindi books, and a white board. There's a window in the classroom which leads out to a dusty, dirty area where the children can play. The smell of the slum is indescribable.

According to Wikipedia Maya Puri used to be a major hub of small scale industries, but following recent government sanctions, most of the heavy metal industries moved out. The place is now a combination of metal factories, service stations, and the slum houses built amongst them. When you drive through Maya Puri all you see is mud, metal, and people scrapping metal to sell. Even the 4 year old naked kids are working with hammers and magnets to find nails in the sea of mud that is Maya Puri. I can't say I was surprised about the condition of Maya Puri, I knew I would be working in a slum. I can say I was confused about where the actual slum was for the first couple of days. Every morning we are dropped off at the Asha Center/Clinic and work from there. It wasn't until my third day in MP that I got to see where and how the people actually lived.

We were told that the day would be spent meeting people and getting to know the center. I guess no one told them that. We arrived to an incredibly warm welcome of Mala's (necklaces made of orange flowers given to guests to welcome them) and '"namaste's" from the staff and to a classroom of 15 boys waiting to be taught English.

That's right, the staff all looked at us and asked, in broken english, what our curriculum for the day was. We looked at each other and decided to just see how much the kids knew.

The ages of the kids ranged from 5 to 15, which is a HUGE gap in english speaking ability, even in America. Furthermore, Cait and I know NO Hindi. These next weeks were going to be really difficult for us.

I found myself drawing extensively to teach words. And doing hand diagrams and motions with my body. The kids love it and replicate me. And I think they're actually learning something.

The girls come in the afternoon, so we would meet them the next day. Hopefully by then, we would be a little more prepared for this undertaking.

Thresi is the name of our team leader and she is the boss lady of the MP Asha Center. Under her is Reshmi and Anita, neither of whom speak english, but are full of smiles and strange tasting coffee for us, and Anoop (the theres-something-off-about-him-that-I-can't-quite-put-my-finger-on computer teacher of the center).

After this, we returned to the office, ate the pizza, went to Fabindia to buy some more salwar kameeze, and returned home, completely exhausted and totally sweaty and filthy.

Day 4: The Prince of Persia

Today, we taught class and met the kids. The girls are awesome, though they know far far less english than the boys. However, they are also really keen on trying to please us. There's this one little girl named Shalu, who, as my name sake, is adorable. She is also the brightest in the class. She listens to everything so attentively and tries things out. It's so cute to hear them speak in their little accents and then to laugh at each other.

By the end of the day we were exhausted. I still hadn't really slept at all, but we didn't want to take naps. So we showered extensively and then went back to the big mall to see a movie. The mall is actually kind of a reprieve.

Obviously, the contrast between the mall and the slums is powerful. India is a country of two complete opposites. We are so lucky to have the opportunity to actually see both sides.

This said, Indian movies cost virtually nothing and the air conditioning and big seats were so nice! We ate dinner at an Indian food restaurant (our first authentic meal of the visit) and then went to see... The Prince of Persia. It's not so much that we had our hearts set on seeing a Disney movie, it's more that most movies don't actually come out in India until a few weeks after the US. So there wasn't much of a selection.

The movie was reaching a climax, Jake Gyllenhaal had us on the edge of our seats... and all of the sudden... the lights came on and it was intermission. For a movie. At a crucial time in the plot. 15 minutes later, when Cait and I had almost forgotten what point we were at in the movie, it resumed. What a strange and cool experience.

That night, I got the most sleep yet.

Day 5: Monotony

Today we started realizing that, although teaching was amazing, it was not really what we came to India to do. We will have to talk to the NGO about doing something in addition to speaking english. The classes are great and the children are delightful, but doing the same thing every day, when we know that there's so much more for us to learn from the organization, leads to a sort of monotony that we can feel already. This is one of the inherent problems with NGOs: they always have trouble placing their volunteers.

The people at Asha are great though and we're beginning to get to know them better. When we got back to the office from Mayapuri after work, we had a chat with Arwen, who has worked at the Asha office for about 2 months now. She's Canadian and spent the last 5 years doing journalism and NGO work in Western Africa. She also told us that she had some friends from Scotland visiting this weekend and that they were all going to Agra to see the Taj Mahal on Sunday, and invited us to share a car with her. (In case anyone is confused, as I was at first, this did not mean that Arwen was going to brave Delhi's terrifying traffic and drive us herself...rather, rented cars here generally home with drivers, thank god). We told her we would definitely be up for it.

Day 6: The Elite of the Slums

Thursday began like many other days, Cait and I woke up and got ready, ate, had some tea, and then waited for the Asha driver to arrive (always late, but always punctual according to Indian Standard Time--when I come, I come) .

During our lunch break at Maya Puri, however, we were taken into the slum for our first time. Thresi and Anoop took Cait and me to see the houses of the children we teach. The slum consists of 10 000 people, so obviously, our class numbers of 40 are only reaching those within the immediate vicinity of the government building where Asha is located.

The first kids we see are Shalu, her sister Seema, and her brother Vishal. Vishal is 9, can't speak a word of english, but is the cutest kid in the entire world. His smile melts the hearts of Cait and I. He is also the only boy of 5 girls. We keep urging Shalu to teach him more english and not to spoil him! Shalu also lets me hold her little baby sister, who is adorable.

Seeing the slums was incredible. We didn't bring a camera that day, but the next day, we will definitely take pictures.

The saddest part of the slums is actually that we know that who we are meeting are the slum elite. Though their housing areas are only 10 by 10 living spaces, some of these people have electricity, and one of our students' living space even had a tv! The kids also live near a train track, they cross it in order to use the bathroom. According to Paul, our coordinator at Asha, this has led to many casualties.

We visited a couple households, talked about the problems in the community and what Asha was doing to help, and got to know some people. To my surprise, Asha had eradicated most health issues and had empowered the women's group (termed the Mahila Mandal). Asha requires that each slum create a women's group (Mahila Mandal) and a children's group (Bal Mandal). Each group holds elections and has a defined board of leaders (President, VP, etc.). They meet every week and discuss community issues and how they can be solved.

We moved to another household and met one of the eight CHV's (Community Health Volunteers assigned to a lane of houses to keep tabs on). She explained her work and how she checked on each household frequently to make sure everyone was healthy. She had a small shop that sold juice and fruit.

That night, we went on an adventure to find more clothes and get more groceries, and then I made chicken curry, and taught Cait how to cook Indian food!

After we had just gotten in bed, the 4th resident of Vasant Kunj Sector C Pocket 9 Gate 6 Flat 9896 arrived. Felix will be a sophomore at Harvard, and he's from France. The poor kid was totally beat by his long day of travel, but we made him feel welcome and showed him around the house.

Then, to bed.

Day 7: New Friend!

Friday morning: same routine of cold showers, tea and breakfast, and donning the salwaar kameeze. Only this time, there's a new face around! We explain a little more about what goes down at Asha to Felix, and hear a little bit more about him. He definitely seems like the adventurous type-- he tells us that he went for a walk around the neighborhood last night when he couldn't sleep, only hours after arriving in this country. While the wisdom of his choice is debatable, at least it seems that Felix is eager to sink his teeth into India. Mr. Martin picks us up this morning and takes us all to the Asha office.

This was another day at the slum, and another day of what has become the usual. Next week, we will have another class, and this will consist of university students. The Indian system of college admission is kind of ridiculous.

The past two years has been a joyous time in Asha because it is the first time in Delhi history that slum children were accepted Delhi universities. India is very different from the US when it comes to applying for higher education. In the states we have entrance exams, extracurricular descriptions, recommednations, etc. whereas in India you are only accepted based on your entrance exam. 4 lists come out with names of accepted children, each list accepting a certain range of percentiles on the entrance exam. The first list names all those who got over 90th percentile on the test. After those students have accepted spots in the numerous colleges, the 2nd list (80-90th percentile) is released and so on until the 4th list of 60th percentile and above is released. Everyone at Asha was hoping we'd get some kids in on the 4th list and to our surprise many of the slum kids were on the 2 and 3rd lists. 30 children from Asha slums got in, one girl scoring in the 90th percentile on their entrance exams. Asha is paying for their schooling, books, and clothes and after 20 years of working in these slums is seeing unprecedented educational success.

To get into college after living an incomparable lifestyle, is mind boggling. These students are amazing individuals, and we're excited to get to meet them and to teach them what we know.

That night we were beat so we just hung out at the house and went to sleep.

Day 8: Delhi

We slept in for the first time in India! It was so nice. And then, Cait and I ventured out into the main part of Delhi for our first time. This 100 rupee rickshaw drive to the Lodi Gardens confirmed our beliefs that Delhi is not the prettiest city in India. The gardens were by far the prettiest thing we've seen yet, and the tombs were awesome, but we can't wait until tomorrow when we see the taj mahal.

We then got into a rickshaw that we quickly learned was commissioned by the Central Cottage Industries Emporium. He took us to an area where we could eat: that was great, and the food was good. But then he took us to the CCIE. We were really suspicious of him and glad to finally be in the center of Delhi, called Connaught Place. This store was super targeted towards foreigners, and we tried to convince them that we really aren't rich haha. However, though we felt betrayed by our autorickshaw driver, we both ended up buying beautiful saris!! This is something we're very excited about. Mine is royal blue and Cait's is turquoise. We'll have them made by tomorrow, and pick them up during the week. Cait has a wedding to go to in Mumbai (I'm hoping to tag along), so she needs one. I just really wanted one! And I hope my family will enjoy it when I arrive in Bangalore!

Everyone today spoke Hindi to me, and then stared in disbelief that I couldn't speak a word, except to count to ten. They then asked me why I look so Indian. I explained that my father is from Bangalore. "Oh, very very nice place", they replied. So I'm excited for the last two weeks in Bangalore!

Cait and I then shopped around a bit more and bought a lot of cool stuff, hopped on a bicycle rickshaw to get back to an area without commissioned autorickshaws, and then were on our way home!

Now, as I sit here, there's a lightning storm outside our window. Really cool, we just hope we don't lose power. Tomorrow: Agra and the TAJ MAHAL!