Sewa Ashram- Friday

At 8.30 on Friday morning 'Hornboy' picked us up to drive us to the ashram. With our limited communication skills we confirmed he would be taking us to the Sewa Ashram at Narela. After about an hour it became apparent he had no idea how to get to Narela. After a few wrong turns and asking a few people we soon found ourselves heading in the right direction. After 2 hours of eventful driving we made it to the ashram where we were warmly greeted by the staff and volunteers.

   Soon after arriving Ray got down to work with Kaye and Nino, while Sam, Hunter and I had a bit of an explore. We went down to the children's house where we got involved in painting a mural on one of the walls. It was so great watching all the children and some of the handicapped men all getting involved and leaving their mark on the wall.

  At the ringing of the lunch bell we headed back to the main ashram and enjoyed a lunch of rice, dahl and chapati. At the ashram, lunch always consists of rice with some sort of dahl and filtered water which has a flavor that will take some getting used to.

  After a quiet afternoon with an afternoon tea of  very sweet chai the kids and I headed to the kitchen to watch the evening meal being prepared. About 15 kilograms of flour was being turned into several hundred chapatis. Making chapatis  for around 100 people is quite a long and laborious task utilising about 8 people in a very well organised process. The kids and I all lent a hand in the last step of the cooking process which is the final stage of cooking and browning of the chapatis. The evening meal consists of a potato based vegetable curry with chapatis. The food at the ashram is amazing. The flavors are truly delectable and I look forward to each meal with anticipation. The food is all vegetarian except on Sunday night when they have chicken, and a paneer dish for the vegetarians. Having only three meals a day with no snacks aside from a morning and afternoon chai is taking some getting used to. An hour or so before lunch and dinner I find myself starving; it is not because the meals are small; the portions are very generous and larger than what I would normally eat. Ray is having the opposite problem; because he is eating a regular breakfast he finds himself not very hungry at lunch or dinner. We where told by several people that we were guaranteed to lose weight while in India; but as yet there is no evidence of any weight loss and I am not sure that there will be with these high carbohydrate meals. 

  After dinner everyone pretty much heads straight to bed as it is very cold. Hunter and I shared a room and Sam and Ray were in the one next door. I insisted Hunter have the bed under the window as it had a mosquito net and she is a mosquito magnet. She was not keen as there was no glass in the window and there were about 200 cows and donkeys crowded outside her window. They literally put there faces right up to the window and a sharp exhale can cause the curtain to flutter. It took her a little longer than usual to get to sleep and we were woken a few times during the night by the donkeys braying and the cows scraping their horns against the wall. And every 5 or 10 minutes we would hear a sound like a tap being turned on as they frequently urinated throughout the night. 

So that was Friday... our first wonderful day at Sewa Ashram!

How many bricks can you carry... on your head?

Standing on our balcony watching the world go by... never a dull moment. As you may be aware we are surrounded by construction sites. Just about everything in terms of construction is done manually. I have watched an enormous pile of rubble be moved simply by women carrying baskets of dirt and rocks on their heads; a task that has taken several days. In Australia it would have been moved in under an hour by a bobcat. Yesterday I watched as one woman ferried bricks from one side of a construction site to another. She had a wooden board on her head and a man would pass her bricks 2 at a time which she would stack onto the board. She would carry 16 bricks at a time balanced on her head! I am not sure how much an average house brick weighs but I am imagining 16 would weigh a lot. Her neck muscles must be something else.

There was another Indian wedding up the road last night, it seems that weddings are not primarily a weekend occasion. When Indian's play music it is always full blast; to be at the actual wedding it must have been deafening.

Speaking of noise... every night, it must be at about 4 am there is someone who walks down the street blowing a whistle and beating a gong. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why, why, WHY this could be? Local alarm? call to prayer? milkman? I might find it less annoying if I knew what it was for.

We are heading to the ashram for a few days tomorrow and we are all really looking forward to it. The air is cleaner as it is outside of the city and the food is not spicy which will be a nice change for Hunter. We will leave tomorrow morning and hope for a good driver and a clear yet scenic run in the traffic. I should explain...to get around we have been using a driver service;  Ray calls up and orders the car for a pick up or a few hours or all day. Most of the drivers have been great, some speak OK English others none at all. Last night when we went to the supermarket "hornboy" picked us up. This guy does not let up with the horn, all drivers use their horns a lot here but hornboy is something else. He is a young guy that quite frankly drives like a maniac (hopefully he wont be driving us to the ashram tomorrow).

   We discovered a new supermarket last night called Spencer's... sounds a bit posh compared to the Big Bazaar where we usually go. But really as far as I can tell it is no more expensive as the prices are set and are printed on all goods... actually, I found toilet paper last night at Sydney prices...bargain! Spencer's was not crowded and chaotic like big bazaar and was much easier to get around. All the supermarkets are a cross between a small Coles and a small Kmart, so Ray bought an iron last night for the bargain price of $10. 

  I forgot to mention yesterday that when we were driving back from the markets in Delhi we got a flat tyre. Rather than pulling off the road the driver decided to change it right in the middle of the busy 3 lane road. Ray served as traffic conductor while the kids and I stood as close to the centre barrier as we could. Several accidents where narrowly avoided...I am just grateful we were carrying a spare as I doubt it is a requirement here.

Sorry for the disjointed post...it will probably be a few days until I post again.

Until then...namaste

street markets

For dinner on Monday night we ordered in Domino's pizza (for Hunter's benefit- she is still finding much of the food a bit spicy) it was cheap by Australian standards for delivered pizza but not by Indian standards. I am not really a fan of delivery pizza at the best of times, though we all agreed that Domino's pizza in India would be a one time event.

On Tuesday afternoon we decided to once again go in search of some street markets. After referring to a few websites we headed into Delhi. First we went to Janpath in central Delhi where they have the Janpath & Tibetan market. We all loved it. The shops and stalls were full of cheap scarves, jewelery, brass, clothing, wood carvings and more. People coming up to you trying to sell you necklaces, peacock feathers and carvings. Bargaining is necessary (Ray's job- he loves it) except in a few of the fixed price stores. The first stretch we covered was a row of women selling amazing bed linen, table runners, saris, scarves and wraps; each one calling out for us to come and see. In the Tibetan section Hunter bought some anklets while outside a fortune teller tried to entice Ray. He said....Ray has a lucky face! That he is a deep thinking person that loves his family, although not many understand his way of thinking!...I am thinking that perhaps you could make this gerealisation about most people who are out shopping with their family deep in thought...

Up in the clothing market Sam bought an Adidas hoodie and a New York hat... the real thing...no really...haha. 

Ray's big purchase of the day was a trumpet... yes a trumpet (photos to follow).

I of course bought wraps and scarves...what else...I envisage myself coming home with about 50 at this early stage - I can't resist.

The street food is becoming more and more tempting, it all looks so good, especially the stands that sell the sweet potato's and the one that cells sprouts and lentils...mmm. Do I go there? Maybe next time...

After Janpath we headed to another market... Dilli Haat. Dilli Haat is an organised market where you have to pay a small entrance fee. Once again shopping heaven. We perused some amazing crafts and beautiful fabrics. Hunter saw lots of children playing simple violins...she was on a mission (oh the noise). By this stage Ray was starving; a lot of Indian places sell Chinese food as well so Ray had chilli chicken and Hunter a mild crispy chicken. Sam and I stuck with curry.

Hunter and I both had henna painted on one arm (pics to follow) the women are so creative in the way they can make amazing patterns from their mind.

Sam was fascinated by some young boys who performed with drums and dance and breathed fire... amazing performancs so if we go back I will defiantly bring my camera.

On Friday we will be heading off to the the ashram for a few days - we are all really looking forward to going back there again.

staying busy

Saturday we spent a quiet day at home catching up on emails, doing some work and eating curry. In the afternoon we were running short on water so we walked down to out local "departmental store" (think corner shop) and bought water and a few other bits and pieces. It is interesting to note how cheap some items are here such as bottled water, rice and lentils yet other items such a juice and toilet paper are so expensive. I am assuming toilet paper is expensive as nobody uses it here; I make this conclusion from observing the neighbouring field, where we see several people squatting in the morning with nothing but a bottle of water in hand. You would think that you would have to watch your step when walking through this area as 50+ people use this field as their bathroom but in fact any remnants are promptly removed by the many pigs roaming around our neighbourhood. OK, enough of that tangent... we also popped into our local fruit & veg store which seemed a little low on stock so we just stocked up on some very cheap bananas and onions to make dahl.

I am still trying to work out the people here in India, it is so different to other Asian countries such as Thailand or Indonesia where the people are very forthcoming with friendliness. When we step out into our street most people just stare openly with blank expressions... I do wonder what they are thinking. If we smile or greet them we receive a reserved nod or shy smile in return.

For dinner on Saturday night we decided to have some take-away delivered as there were several pamphlets in our apartment when we arrived (including one for Domino's). After we made our selection we attempted to phone through our order... easier said than done. The first 3 places we tried didn't speak any English or decided it was too hard due to the language barrier and not being able to understand where we lived. So we needed more options, google provided the answer when I entered "Take away sector 45 Gurgaon" There was a list of places nearby that apparently delivered. So eventually we got through to Saleem's takeaway who managed to take our order of naan, aloo parantha, butter chicken, chicken Marsala and palak paneer. Then the address problem, Ray somehow managed to convince the guy to call the caretaker of our building who speaks no English to get our address. 45 minutes later dinner arrived for the bargain price of $15. We grossly over ordered and the food has fed us for 3 days.

On Sunday after a breakfast of leftover curry we headed into Delhi for the day. We spotted our first elephant strolling up a freeway similar to the F3 with 2 riders on its back. I don't know if it was the backdrop but this elephant seemed particularly large... does anyone know if Asian or African elephants are larger?

Our first stop was the German Embassy School which was holding its annual Christmas fair/market. The ashram had a stand there selling some handcrafts made at the ashram. It was a nice market with some really beautiful handicraft items as well as German food. The kids enjoyed a slightly dodgy magic show and Hunter was asked to participate in one of the tricks.

We then decided to head to South extension to peruse the shopping. Our driver stopped at the government craft store (which we had already been to) and tried to insist we have a look for just 10 minutes... do these guys earn commission or something? Frankly its not how I like to shop, I prefer to get lost in an open air bazaar where Ray can haggle for me rather than some very expensive tourist shop. After convincing him we had already been there we arrived at South extension. I should mention that waiting in traffic often presents itself with shopping opportunities with hawkers selling  magazines, car chargers and other knik-knacks. South Extension was not really what we were expecting much of the same western stores that we have here in Gurgaon. What I am really craving is a vibrant bazaar with Indian cottons, silverware and carvings. So my search continues....

In the evening we went to a Christmas concert that we had been invited to. After collecting our tickets we joined a line that was several hundred metres long that moved painfully slow as every person was frisked and every bag checked. We just made it in before it was standing room only. They then proceeded to pack the remaining people in the line (another 200 metres by this stage) into the remaining standing room... No fire exits or safety codes here! The concert proved to have some very entertaining performances by some very talented musicians. Hunter and I enjoyed an amazing pianist by the name of Stephen Devassy who has the fastest fingers in all of Asia and produces some amazing music and unique sounds (well worth looking at on you tube), Ray particularly enjoyed the Punjabi music with its amazing dance moves and rhythms. By this stage Hunter could barely keep her eyes open so we left before the end.

On turning into our street after the drive home we found the road blocked by an Indian wedding... I am sure you are aware of how full on theses events are, but nothing quite compares to your Indian driver with his hand on the horn pushing through 100 men dancing like you have never seen behind a truck laden with speakers while the groom with a lei made of cash sits quietly behind the ruckus on a white horse... I was sure the horse would bolt when we squeezed by with the horn blaring, though it probably couldn't hear us over the music. I would not have minded hoping out of the car and walking home as I would have loved to have a bit more of a sticky beak... 

Until next time....

Delhi

Yesterday we made our first trip into Delhi. Ray had a meeting set up with an architect to get an understanding of the development process in Delhi and India generally. Another colleague of the architect joined us for lunch and we all had a have very interesting dialogue discussing poverty, sustainable communities and some design aspects. It was very fruitful with further contacts and introductions being arranged for Ray.

  Before lunch we went to Connaught Place which is in the centre of Delhi formed by two rings of colonial style buildings. Literally, as soon as we were away from the car we had a person asking us if we needed help? Where were we from? etc. He took us to a tourist office where we picked up a map and got a quote for a 3 day trip to Agra and Rhajastan. We then continued wandering around looking at a few shops here and there. Delhi is very different to Gurgaon where we are occasionally approached by beggars; in Delhi everyone seems to speak some English and is trying to sell you something. Whether it be postcards or a shoe shine.

  We had lunch at the India International Centre in Delhi, the food was once again very good; if we keep going at this rate we are not going to lose any weight which we were assured would happen.

   After our lunch, our driver (who actually spoke OK English) took us to see a couple of sites including India Gate and the government offices. We drove through some of the nicer leafier streets of Delhi and visited a government tourist shop where you could buy all sorts of handicrafts - although not very cheaply. 

  After a long day we headed home. Our driver explained to us all about his village and life as a driver. He was 22 years old and the eldest son in a family of five who live in a one room house. He was the only one in his family with a job and earns 4500 rupees a month ($140) He pays for the education of his brothers and is paying back a 150,000 rupee loan to the bank which he needed to pay for an eye operation for his father. He hopes one day to be able to build a two room house in his village so that he might be able to get married. As a driver he works 24 hours a day and sleeps while he is waiting for people.

  I have just finished reading a book called The White Tiger, I believe it is on the bestseller list in Australia as it is in India. It recently won the Booker prize. Much of the book is set in Delhi and Gurgaon where we live (including the places where we go). It follows the entrepreneurial rise of a village boy to a driver and beyond. The book gives an interesting insight into the area we live and how things work around here. I warn you though there is nothing pretty about the story but it is a good read. Although Gurgaon is a "new" area it does not look new in the Sydney sense; it is dusty with construction going on everywhere and there is rubbish everywhere. Funnily, we bought an ice cream each at the mall before we went home the other night and as we were waiting for our driver I could not bring myself to drop the empty cup on the ground with all the other garbage... it just felt wrong, so I carried it home and put it in the bin...

Oh... I have added more photos to my facebook page as it is easier to add photos on fb. Please add me as a friend if you would like to see them. I will add a few more on the blog but it is a tedious process until I work out an easier way.

Phir milege! (See you later!)

The end of week 1

Well, it has been one week since we boarded the plane in Sydney, and what a week it has been. So much to take in and so many new experiences. We have settled into a bit of a routine now that our body clocks have adjusted. We wake at 7.30am when the maid arrives (I hate referring to her as "the maid" ...as soon as I work out some simple conversation skills I will enquire about her name), we check our emails, turn the hot water on, have breakfast and then a shower. We tend to spend much of the early part of the day at home researching, reading or studying. The kids keep themselves entertained with games, piano, reading, writing a journal and tallying the number of blackouts we have (there were about 6 yesterday). In the afternoon we head out to a shopping centre to eat and buy any supplies we need. The other night we made the mistake of heading out to dinner at about 6pm to the business district to go to a nice restaurant for dinner... never drive into the business district during rush hour... It took us over an hour to get there (should have been less than 10 minutes). As I have mentioned earlier the traffic is chaos at the best of times. What astounded me most is that there is no such thing as a clearway during peak times, cars were parked anywhere they like. We eventually made it to the restaurant named Punjabi by Nature. Great food and ambiance but very expensive by Indian standards. Hunter is still having problems with finding foods to eat simply because everything is so spicy, but she is starting to get used to a little bit of heat.

  One problem that I forgot to mention earlier is mosquitoes, because it is winter and a bit cool I didn't think they would be a problem, but in the evenings they are out in force. The kids have been bitten quite a few times despite wearing long pants and sleeves to bed and dousing them in repellent. We have ordered some mosquito nets, hopefully they arrive today.

  We have discovered that India has the most amazing bookstores, we have found two in particular that rival Borders. The books here are so cheap as well - a paperback novel is about $6. Last night I spent about as hour in the health section with naturopathy books starting from about $2, I could have bought so many but I restrained myself and started with just two. Its not just the price that is amazing it is the variety of books under each topic. We have started more than a small library at home (I will add a photo soon), which could pose an excess baggage problem when we come home. We had to make a rule last night that no more bookshops until we have read everything we have bought already.

 Last night we ate in a food hall style restaurant in the bottom of a shopping complex ,that was recommended in a guide book. We can feed all four of us including drinks for under $10, so we have decided to work our way through the menu. Last night I picked something random that I have never heard of and it was great...you cant go wrong with Indian food it all tastes so good. I plan to work my way through the sweets menu too.

  Tomorrow Ray has a meeting lined up in  Delhi so we will probably make a day of it. 

Until next time... namaste

The Work Begins....

Na-ma-ste! (Hello!) Well the journey has now well and truly begun. The enormity of the task ahead has now sunk in and we spent most of the day reading, researching the web, writing and planning the next couple of weeks before we head back to the Ashram - which we are all really looking forward to.

We took the kids out to a few more of the western style shopping malls in the late afternoon and had a bit of a feed. I ordered enough food to probably feed several families - but it was very good. If I keep this up, not much chance of losing any weight - will probably put some on!

The kids are doing great. It is incredible to see how quickly they have adapted to this new way of life and take in the challenging things they are seeing. They are also very creative in keeping themselves busy while Lou and I work on this project. Sam has even taken a liking to reading! The books here a very cheap, so we have already starting building quite a family library.

Sam and I also had our hair cuts yesterday. Because of the language barrier - at the moment - it was challenging trying to tell them how we wanted our hair cut. I asked for a magazine, and they came up with 2 pages of male haircuts that took me back to the 80's! May work for some, but not for Sam and I. We hedged our bets and opted for the same style - short! We even experienced a blackout during the cut - interesting sitting in the dark with a man holding scissors still trying to cut your hair!

Lou also had a successful day in her mission to solve our clothes drying dilemma. There was no need for a drying rack, as our house maid showed us that we in fact had a drying room in the apartment! (what we thought was the storage room, however the screws in the walls were in fact to tie rope to act as a clothes line). Lou found the rope and we now have an Aussie style clothes line in our apartment. Next step for Lou is to try and convince the house maid it is easier to wash the clothes using the washing machine, rather than by hand - good luck with that one!

 

Well we managed to stay up till 9.30pm which should hopefully see us just about over the jet lag.

All is good in this wonderful, exciting, interesting and diverse country they call India.