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The first 7 days of India
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The following entry is actually an email written as a collaborative effort of our group including me. I will try to add more personal entries in the future, but this really paints a great picture of what Ive been up to...
Our flight to India took 25 hours in total with a three
hour layover in Hong Kong. We flew Cathay Pacific and we were
spoiled! We ate delicious food (and lots of it!), watched movies and
were generally pampered. From the air Hong Kong was beautiful. All
of the apartment buildings were tall with lots of beautiful colors.
When we flew over Delhi it was about 1:30 am and we noticed that th! e
surrounding area was flat and much darker. This was a bit deceiving
because by day Delhi is a vibrant and colorful city. From the airport
we hopped on a bus to take us to our guest house. On the sides of the
streets we saw people sleeping, fires burning and ornately decorated
taxis and rickshaws! As for the road rules. uh, what rules?
There is constant honking, cows have the right of way, road lines are
optional, but surprisingly, drivers seem to have a sixth sense
awareness of the traffic around them. To travel from Delhi to
Chandigarh we took the train. New Delh! i train station is a world of
its own! Our bus parallel parked a space fit for a Mini Cooper and we
had to carry all of our luggage for what seemed like five miles to
reach the station platform with sweat dripping off of everywhere! The
caravan of luggage seemed to intrigue the locals as we had many
quizzical stares.
When the train arrived it was absolute chaos to get our
luggage from the platform to being safely stowed on the train. Once we
made it and everyone and everything was accounted for we settled in
and enjoyed the views of everything from slums to a beautiful sunset
over farmland.
After arriving in Delhi we had an interesting meeting
with some porters who tried to "cheat" us. This happened the moment
we exited the airport doors and really helped us realize that we were
not in the comfort of Canada anymore.
At around three am we reached our guest house called
Likir House. After unloading our luggage from the bus and claiming our
rooms we soon fell fast asleep. The following morning, we walked to
the local market where we ate lunch and got acquainted with the local
area where we would be staying for the next few days.
After our first day of resting and familiarizing
ourselves with the neighborhood we were ready to explore the hustle
and bustle of India. We went to Jama Masjid which is a beautiful
mosque in Old Delhi. There is a high tower from which you can see an
aerial view of Delhi. After this site we walked through Old Delhi and
headed to the Red Fort. At the Fort we took a tour and learned that it
was created by the Mughal Emperor and later conquered by the British.
From there we went to Humayun's Tomb where we spent much time taking
photos of the grounds.
After our touring we went back to our guest house and
went out for a nice dinner with Mati's friends from UNICEF: "Mama"
Ellen and her husband Samphe. On Friday we went to visit UNICEF where
we discussed and learned about the education system in India.
After a quick lunch in the UNICEF cafeteria we went to
the Bahai Temple which is beautifully built in the shape of a Lotus
flower. Our next stop was the India Gate and the Parliament buildings.
After this we headed to Connaught Place where we all got a chance to
bargain and get goods from shirts to Indian suits to bags and
sunglasses. We planned to go back to Red Fort to watch the Sound and
Light show, but after dinner it began to rain really, really hard. We
hopped back into our cars to make the (should be) 30 minute journey
home, but given the traffic it ended up taking us 2 hours!
Saturday morning we visited the Maitreya Foundation, a
home in Dwarka, South Delhi for destitute and orphaned Tibetan
refugees. After a drive of an hour from our guest house we were
feeling quite tired, but the high spirits and energy of these 21
children soon rejuvenated us. They prayed with us, they ate with us,
they played games and sang with us. We felt very much at home as they
treated us like brothers and sisters.
Although these children do not have a home like you and
I, their modest facility is full of people who love them: the
volunteers, cooks, caretakers and Rinpoche (the founder of the home).
This experience was probably the most meaningful for many of the field
school students thus far. Seeing these children so happy and full of
life in their position brought us a whole new appreciation for what we
have in Canada.
After an approximately 4 hour train ride from Delhi to
Chandigarh, we were met at the train station by our home-stay
families. They are all very lovely people and they all feed us very
well. Needless to say, some of us will be coming home a little rounder
than you might remember us being. Our families are also good friends
with one another so they're all really quite close to each other. The
community is so caring that everyone has decided to help Bal in his
search for a wife J. The first ones to offer their services in this
quest were Katie and Caitlin's family, the Sandhus. They even pulled
out the matrimonial section of the local paper to use as research
material. Needless to say, Bal's future in the romance department is
lookin' up.
Back to the hospitality of the community: We've met some
very nice people so far. For example, Nate was told by a policeman
that if he needed a ticket to any upcoming cricket games after they
had been sold out, he would gladly let Nate in to watch the game
anyway. And the policeman didn't even ask for bakshish (bribe).
Channdika, Meghan and Yoosun have a lovely view from the
terrace (balcony) of their bedroom. The palm trees decorating the
border of the property of the house across the street are quite
lovely. If it weren't for the hawkers coming by every morning selling
their wares off of their bicycles or carts, one might think that we
were living in Beverly Hills instead of in Chandigarh.
All in all, life is good. Some of us feel like we're
back in Vancouver while some of us are truly overwhelmed by what we're
seeing and hearing and doing. Feeling overwhelmed can be exhausting in
itself but being the cohesive team that we are, there are lots of
shoulders to lean on (and times to cry on) as well as lots of ears
willing to listen. And of course, let's not forget the many arms ready
and willing to both give and receive hugs.
We hope that you are all well! We'll be in touch again with our next
batch of stories.
Sincerely,
India Field School 2007
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| 1. | The first 7 days of India - Delhi, India Oct 08, 2007 |
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