Phase II: Discovering Kolkata...

We're a little sad that we have now had the last of our train trips across India as far as planned. Train is a great way to travel India - we've met some really interesting characters, including our friends travelling from Nagaland (see earlier blog), heaps of children who are very interested in how different we look (as well as many adults!!), and last night a friendly bunch of teenage boys (not quite your average teenagers from Melbourne's suburbs!). These guys were really keen to practise their English with us, on their nightly train trip from school in Varanasi to home in Mughal. They hunt for tourists to practise with. They have been learning English for 4-6 months (about the same amount of time we learnet Bengali for), but totally killed us in terms of their fluency!! They were keen to talk about Australia, cricket (everyone loves Ricky Ponting - more than any Indian cricketer especially at the moment!!), marriage, future... like I said their English was great! They were also nice enough to let us know that our very late train had had a change of platform, or we might still be waiting in Varanasi for the Doon Express!! Jeff informs me that overnight trains aren't the most comfortable for a nasty dose of the travel bug... but he endured it heroically!! He's on the improve now, hopefully!
Arrival in Kolkata came around quickly. Until now it had been a nervous wait to try and work out whether we would get an English sign at the station of destination, and if not whether we would meet someone who spoke enough English to help us out. This morning we were both asleep when we pulled into Kolkata, and it was a quick dash off the train and into the crazy station that is Howrah (the old name for Kolkata). We were a little nervous, as we had not booked a hotel for our one night in the city part of Kolkata, but with a few quick prayers and fingers crossed, the first place we tried took us in no worries.
Kolkata seems to be quite a different city to Delhi - not nearly as many animals roaming the streets and it feels a little more organised. We even found a park to sit in, and had a chat to a luvly guy named George. Today has been laying low, trying to kick the travel bugs that have been lingering a bit (nothing too dramatic though). We ran into one of our crew from Melbourne. We will all meet up tomorrow to head out to CCD where our work with Friends of Kolkata will begin. Who knows what lays ahead... things change everyday... but regardless there will surely be plenty to experience and learn and much to challenge us! Not sure what our internet access will be like in Madyamgram (where the boys home is), so our updates may become less regular. Thanks for tuning in and reading our ramblins thus far - your comments have made us feel really connected with our ozzie mob.
Lotsa luv.

some more of varanasi...

After a frustrating morning of persistant touts, being stalked down the street, and dodgy internet cafes, we've finally found a place to update you on our travels. Luvly.
Yesterday we had a full day of touristy stuff around Varanasi, beginning with a 5.30am sunrise boatride along the Ganges. This was a clear standout for us, as we slowly meandered past the ghats, observing hindus as they prayed, washed, swam, stretched, bathed, and in some cases cremated their family members. Needless to say this was an amazing glimpse into the cultures and rituals of hinduism. We have much to learn about spiritual discipline, or even spirituality. Many of these guys wash at this spiritually significant place everyday, summer and winter.

While we sat rugged up in the boat before the sun came up, mothers bathed their small children in the open air. Brrrrrr. We noticed a western woman brave the cold to do her Hindu prayers, but she only braved the cold water for a quick head and footwash. After an hour and a half on the Ganges, we were driven to a few Hindu Temples, and also took a drive around the huge campus of Banaras Hindu University, one of Indias largest universities.
We headed out again in the afternoon and visited Sarnath, which is the Buddhist centre of Varanasi. We really enjoyed this area, and it was a nice change from the plethora of Hindu Temples that we've already visited. The area had a nice feel to it as well, more trees and gardens, and many buddhist monks doing laps...it was all very welcoming.
At sunset we returned to the Ganges, and jumped on a boat to checkout Ganga Puja, the evening hindu prayers on one of the Ghats, complete with lights and microphones. It was a little like a hindu version of the nightly show at Ayers Rock...bit cheesy really, but it was nice to be on the river. (No offence intended!!)

Varanasi surely has its extremes, perhaps more than anywhere else we've visited in India so far. The levels of street badgering was pretty full on, but the streets and markets were fantastic, as was the glimpse into so much hindu ritual. The ganges river provides a peaceful oasis amongst all this, though it is atad eery after dark.

We leave for Kolkata this afternoon, signalling the end of the first travelling phase of our adventures.

The spiritual centre...Varanasi

Somehow we've managed to make it to Varanasi. As predicted, our train journey was long and drawn out, with the train arriving at 2.30am, 3 hours late. We'd managed to kill a few hours earlier in the evening in the lobby of our hotel, and they arranged a car for us to travel the 30km to the station, which was great... but we were still lucky enought to sit in the absolutely freezing cold for 5 hours! Lovely!
We passed the time shivering, eating sensational potato fritters and attempting conversation with some other indian travellers. Our cross cultural communication skills are improving (I think!?) and the little bengali we learnt in Melbourne has already been useful, even with Hindi speakers.
Eventually our train arrived, and we went straight to bed, sleeping well. We arrived at our station 5 hours late (although our western minds are slowly geting around the fact that there is not late in India!), having met some Canadian travellers (Michelle and Magic) who we decided to make the 30km trip to Varanasi with. We were suprised to be found by a contact from our hotel who agreed to drive all of us to varanasi as part of the hotel cost. The dramas began when the driver attempted to stop at "the office" which was a travel agent, as an attempt to organise our hotels, travel and tours. We protested, and luckily the boss was not there, so we escaped.
We dropped Magic and Michelle at their hotel, and then on the way to our hotel, we were informed that we were going to another hotel. We again emphasised our booking, and miraculously "the boss" drove by on his motorbike and gave the driver some instructions. When finally dropped at our hotel, I was handed a mobile phone by the driver, and his boss informed me that the hotel was fully booked so we could not stay there. I said we'd go in anyway and he hung up. Followed closely by the driver, we checked in, although the driver informed the porter we were checking out in attempt to get our bags back!!
After all this we settled in our comfortable room, ordered a big lunch, and relaxed and slet for the evening.
Varanasi is the city of Shiva, the Hindu God. Hindu pilgrims flock to Varanasi to wash away their sins in the Ganges. It is also where Hindus come to die as it offers moksha - liberation from the cycle of life and death. It is home to many ghats (baths) where many hindu rituals and ceremonies occur, particularly connected to dying. We're taking a sunrise trip along the ghats tomorrow, so we'll include some photos soon. Unfortunately Varanasi is also known for it's darker side, including massive levels of pollution in the ganges, crime and scamming.
Upto this point we've been pretty lucky to escape these elements in our travels, but were warned in broken english by locals in Agra to "Remain Alert" So we shall!

Today we'll take it easy and wander a bit, before a full day of touristy things tomorrow. We're looking forward to it. Hope all is well downunder...we're not missing the heat...though these nights are pretty bluddy cold!

Agra...our return to the city

After easily finding our train and seat in Jaipur, we settled in for our 7 hour stop start journey to Agra. We enjoyed being in a slightly lower class, with openable windows, and a chance to see the countryside. We discovered the travelling economy that is the Indian Railway, with many hawkers selling chai, peanuts, meals, lollies, chips, pani(water) the entire journey, as well as the odd beggar and busker. The chai here is fantastic, and we don't usually need to be asked twice(although we were a bit disillusioned to see it being made with a tea bag on the train!). It's been warming as the nights have been cold. Despite the chilly nights, the days have been clear and sunny, and quite warm in the sun...(even a tad of sunburn). We've adjusted pretty well to the food, and eating with our hands, although the spice is still a little fiery sometimes!

We arrived in Agra Fort a hour or so late, and amazingly found an autorickshaw driver who again took us straight to our hotel. The nice hotel in the middle of the tourist city was a bit of a culture shock after saharia... but it was great to have a warm shower!

Today we've spent some mandatory time at the Taj Mahal, which is pretty impressive in reality, and we're glad we made the effort to get out here. We're ready to leave the tourists though! We're learning that Internet Cafes are a lovely refuge from the busy streets.
We'll pass some time in Agra this afternoon, and then find our train station, which is about 35km away. Our train to Varanasi doesnt depart until 11.20pm tonight, so we're in for an interesting evening.

The sensational Saharia Organic Farm

So...New Years Eve. Our normal experiences are parties with friends, lots of food, lots of noise, and perhaps a drink or two. Picture if you can a mud brick shack with thatched roof sitting amongst fields of wheat and mustard, with the resident camel keeping an eye on things from out the back. This was where we found ourselves on Sunday night after taking a bit of a risk in Melbourne and booking a few days at a farm 28kms from Jaipur.
We passed the new year, strangely enough, sitting in a thatched room, watching Narnia in Hindi on a laptop, through the smoke of a fire set at our feet. Similar to last year but different!! (We watched Narnia in Canberra with Paul and Amber just on a year ago when it came out). We were joined with some of the local families, and Bill, a volunteer from England who's Woofiing his way through India. (http://www.wwoof.com.au/)

Saharia turned out to be an amazing experience of connecting with some local organic farming families, and being let into their simple yet amazing lives. Saharia allowed us to relax after some pretty intense days in the city and on trains, as well as giving us the opportunity to share a chai squatting in an outdoor kitchen with local families, taste the most amazing chapatti straight of the fire(drizzled with gee...hmmm), and walk through the fields and learn about their organic techniques. Did you know Cow's urine is great for polishing wood?? Harley...you'll have to give that a try on your next project!! We were thrown in the deep end at a village school nearby, where we were expected to teach 4 rowdy classes English in 20 minutes. Needless to say, we wont be giving up our day jobs in a hurry. It definitely gave us a good taste in preperation for Kolkata. We're stuffed!

We were blessed to spend some time with amazing people at Saharia who shared their lives and their wisdom with us, with inspiring integrity. It was a really grassroots example of community and communal living in action. The families all lived completely self sufficiently from the farm, and the happy contentedness that emerged from this simple living was contagious.

We were sad to leave this amazing place after only a few days. It encouraged us to give Wwoofing a try sometime, and challenged us about living more simply in Melbourne.
We left Saharia on the Camel Cart, a sensationally slow way to tear ourselves away from the place. We caught a local bus to Jaipur, took a wander, and prepared for our train trip to Agra.

Jaipur... it's growing on us!

We have taken our first Indian train trip, a train from Delhi which landed us in Jaipur at midnight - eek! We shared a train booth with a beautiful old couple, who had been visiting their son in Nagaland, and had already been on the train for 2 straight days, with 6 hours left to their home in Jaipur. The old lady spoke no English, but had the most gorgeous face and manner, and looked like a Naga tribal woman. The man chatted to us about cricket (we're learning a lot about cricket in India!!) and offered us his papers to read. They were delightful, and as they left the woman farewelled us with "goodnight" - her only word of English the whole way. They hopped off the train into the pitch black one stop before us - very brave for 85 years old! Arrived in Delhi, and managed to get a rickshaw to take us to the right place, only to discover there was no room at the Inn!! So out to the stables for us... well not quite, but not the room we were expecting. After some terse words at our original hotel informing them that we had already paid for the room, they managed to scrounge around to find a room for us at a neighbouring hotel. It is busy season in Jaipur!! We got a bit of a vibe for how Mary and Joseph felt!

Despite feeling a bit down on Jaipur (it did have an eery feeling on arrival despite the hotel debacle!), the morning sunshine showed a brighter, happier place, with a view from our room of kids all around Jaipur flying their kites from their roof tops. We've had a slow morning sitting in a park, and catching our breath and finding our feet, and now time to find our accommodation at Saharia Organic Farm (www.sahariaorganicresort.com) for some retreat. We're feeling a bit weary and ready for a bit of down time after Delhi and Christmas combined! Happy New Year all - enjoy the NYE celebrations (who knows what we'll be doing!!).

A Small House but a Big Heart

On Friday we had the priviledge of meeting a lovely young woman named Janet who works for a small NGO in Old Delhi called Sahara House. I have read a little about the work here and it's beginnings through my readings on Urban Mission. It was started as a Christian Therapeutic Community in the 1970's by a couple of Christian hippies who were living in India at the time, and exploring ideas about Urban Mission and Radical Discipleship (www.daveandrews.com.au)

Sahara House is now a therapeutic communitiy which supports people who are Injecting Drug Users, as well as people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. I was lucky enough (maybe divine intervention!?) to meet a woman at our church who had been working at Sahara House and had just returned to AUstralia, not long before we left for India. She gave us Janet's contact details, and arranged for us to be able to visit Sahara (www.saharahouse.org). Our visit began at the Crisis Centre, which provides accommodation and detox for about 20 blokes for up to 15 days. We spent some time with Kumar, a weathered program manager whose tired look gave him credo as someone used to a long life of grassroots work with the marginalised. Kumar lives at the Crisis Care Centre with a number of other staff. The crisis care centre is open 24/7/365 for people to come and go as they please - a high calling! They have a strong Harm Minimisation and educational approach, and see many relapses as a natural part of the recovery process. The crisis centre also houses and cares for children of injecting drug users while their parents are going through rehab. The children were out having fun at the annual Winter Olympics on Friday! Sahara House also runs a separate rehab centre for women with the same issues. On a Friday evening they run a coffee night where the men and women and children can get together and they have games and music and coffee with anyone involved with Sahara. This is a chance for the families to reunite regularly while rehab is happening. Janet also works doing advocacy counselling and education work with commercial sex workers, as well as working in the outreach centre.

We visited the outreach centre also. This consisted of a doctor sitting at a card table by the river with a number of frail looking men sitting around him. The doctor was dispensing clean syringes (this was their Needle and Syringe Exchange Program). They also see 35-40 clients between 2 and 4:30 each day to dress nasty abcesses which come about as a result of injecting diazepam, a very thick oily substance which is particularly bad for your veins. Of all the staff at Sahara, 80% were Injecting drug users in recovery - an impressive figure. We met a guy who was a counsellor at the home for people living with HIV/AIDS, who was in recovery from injecting drug use himself. Later, at the outreach centre, we met a guy who was now a peer educator with Sahara, not long since beginning his recovery process! They also have a strong volunteer base, mainly made up of recovering users, as a way of maintaining the support and providing meaningful work which is significant for confidence and self-esteem. They were particularly keen that this work needed to be work which harnessed the gifts and passions of people. Unfortunately, they are beginning to reach saturation point in terms of the amount of this type of work which can be offered to people.

I was struck by the simplicity of it all - they manage to provide so much with very basic and simple resources - a doctor at a card table by a river giving out clean syringes. It's easy to forget how simple it can be to support people.
Janet took us back to her small, simple home for a meal later, in South Delhi. Her home is just one small room with a small kitchen (about the size of your pantry) and a small bathroom outside. We really appreciated and enjoyed her hospitality, and she assured us that if we were ever to come to stay in Delhi again we must stay at her house - "I have a small house but a big heart". This sums up the essence of Christian hospitality for me, which was demonstrated both through the work of Sahara House and through Janet's hospitality - no matter how little you have, as long as you have a big heart it will go far.