Ladies night

As a cultural learning experience (read girls getting giddy) we were able to wear saris (or is it sarees?) for an hour or so. It took about that long to get ready!

The female staff, Anju, Monica and Neha, brought their own beautiful saris with them to the home base and dressed us up, including Indian style make up and jewellery.

I was lucky enough to be dressed as a bride, wearing Neha's actual wedding sari! Red is the traditional colour for Indian brides, as white is the colour for funerals.

My didi (term of endearment - older sister), Anju, did all my make up and hair. It is a lot more full on compared to my normal style! Red/pink eyeshadow, liquid and pencil eyeliner, mascara, eyebrow pencil, lip liner and dark red lipstick! Plus an elaborate bindi pattern starting in between my eyebrows and curling around both my eyes.

Then the jewellery!! All gold:
Pendant in my hair parting onto my forehead.
Nose ring that was SCREWED into place (that brought tears to my eyes! "you're supposed to cry, its your wedding!"), that had a chain attached to my hair.
Earrings with droplets over the back of the ears.
A large choker
A large necklace under the choker
A belt with bells
2 anklets
2 toe rings
Bracelets with intricately jewelled chains attached to rings.
Glass bangles.

Phew! It was heavy.

I asked how long the bride had to wear everything, "just for the wedding, not the party/reception" how long would that be? "oh probably 8 hours!" Eek!

When all the girls came out to proudly display our new look the boys were in shock! Martyn as then given a very red tube with a lip gloss style applicator and he had to draw a small line from the centre of my forehead up to my hairline. "Now you are married!!!" :-D

There are many ways to spot a married woman, not a ring on her finger...

A large bindi
Red bangles
Toe rings
The red line in her hairline - this signifies the woman's wish for her husband to have a long life

The sari itself was very comfortable and I would love to have opportunity to wear another one, but maybe without all the jewellery!

Knitting group and health info. Jess' placements

I had my first session at a knitting group today. It was both a fun and funny experience! I've met the ladies before, they were the first ever day care I went to, to teach health information.

It was a bit stilted to begin with, I didn't know their level of knitting knowlegde and I'd only taken a few patterns with me. Turns out some of the women could knit and some couldn't.

With the women who could knit; we used a bag pattern that was supposedly 'easy', turns out it used complicated phrases unnecessarily which meant I read it wrong after about 4 rows! Oops. I ended up telling them my mistake and they laughed and happily started again. I'm now worried they think I'm stupid, saying to each other "why is she doing a knitting group, she can't even read a pattern properly?!" Hopefully they'll still turn up next week! Knitting will be Thurs/fri.

Mon/tues/weds is health info group. I go to different day cares and do a mini lecture on different topics that the ladies ask for; last week was diabetes, this week is cancer and detection.

I make little posters that have very simple info in English and Hindi, with my poor attempts at explanatory pictures. They run through the information that people will need and it means it's easy enough to digest that it's not passed on incorrectly through the grapevine.

I still get called Doctor-ji every now and then but I cope with it ;)

After the info session theres time for the ladies to ask me any questions they have about health. A lot is how to conceive children (I had to do an ovulation chart and explain EVERYTHING for 20 mins one day) and to explain what the doctors have told them.

I feel a lot more settled than I did, I think as I said to begin with its a slow burn. Hopefully having more of a routine will help too.

A weekend in Shimla

Just got back from visiting the state capital. It is completely different from both Dharamsala and Amritsar. The central Mall Road is completely traffic free so there is a lot less noise. No beeping every 2 minutes!

There were a lot more children around. It seemed a lot more family friendly, which in turn meant woman friendly!

Mall Road is higher than the entrance road into Shimla so it is accessed by either a lift or stairs. The lift is 10 rupees (approx 10p) each way, we went up it a couple of times. I don't think locals use it, as every time we asked someone for directions it seemed to be a tourist who didn't know their way around... The stairs were brutal. They were steep and uneven, but it meant we could see more on the way up. There were a couple of markets that are as noisy and exciting as the media would have us believe.

Our hotel was on the stairs, about a quarter of the way up. It was a budget hotel at 500 rupees (£4.50ish) a night per person. It was a decent place by not necessarily somewhere we'd recommend. I completely forgot to take photos of thr room but I think I can paint a picture with 4 words: round bed, mirrored ceiling!

We visited Hanuman's temple at the top of Shimla on Saturday. He is a deity in the Hindu religion and he has the appearance of a monkey. Therefore there were monkeys everywhere at the temple! There were signs warning that they liked to steal glasses so I walked round half blind just in case. There is a statue of Hanuman so big that you can see it all the way down the mountain in the main centre of Shimla.

There is a small temple in the centre of the complex where you can get offerings for the monkeys, they go mad for it. Rice crispies covered in sugar. Who wouldn't like it!?

We went for a walk up to a giant waterfall called Chadwick Falls, it is about 60 metres high, in the middle of an evergreen forest. We could have been anywhere in Europe, it was raining and green. Wales eat your heart out!
In the taxi on the way back we noticed we'd gained some friends along the way - leeches! There was a lot of squealing, not all of it from me (!) But we managed to get them off, virtually unscathed.

There are a lot of buildings in central Shimla that have a British/mock-tudor look to them. Think Stratford with bonus statues of Gandhi. We didn't get chance to look round them all, but we'll soon rectify that. We've added Shimla to our itinerary for after we leave Dharamsala!

(photos are on my camera, not phone. I'll see what jittery pokery I can do to get some on here...)

(in other news "jigri puggri" is a Hindi expression to explain Indian Time. Ie, nothing runs to schedule but that's ok because we're in India!)

A Weekend in Amritsar

Just got back from a weekend away in Amritsar, which is in Punjab, the state next door to Himachal Pradesh, where we're living at the moment.

Punjab and especially Amritsar is the spiritual home of Sikhism, and the Golden Temple in Amritsar is a holy shrine for Sikhs, who come from all over the world to worship, bathe in the Pool of Nectar and view the original copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book.

We visited the temple early this morning, when the temple was quietest, and so we could see the temple at night and at sunrise. The whole temple area is open to tourists, and like all Gudwharas is welcoming to people of all faiths, including giving out free food to visitors.

The Temple is absolutely beautiful. The outside ring of the Temple is made from white marble, which surrounds the pool and Golden Temple at the centre.

There must have been thousands of people at the Temple, even at 5 in the morning, yet the atmosphere was calm and reverent.

Just outside the Temple couldn't have been more different. The old city is the busiest place I've ever seen. Think Oxford St. on Christmas eve and double it, add rickshaws and you're close. I felt safe the whole time despite some friendly warnings from police about pickpockets - but I did worry a bit about Jess and the girls we were with (Jess will probably blog about this) who got some negative attention, but were safe.

We went to the Jalainwala Bagh, which was where in 1919 the British Army opened fire on 1500 unarmed protesters. The area has been turned into a memorial for those killed. It was a very sobering experience. In the museum there were quotes from British politicians, including Churchill, which were placatory and made me feel ashamed.

By contrast, letters written by Gandhiji in newspapers were calling for calm and restraint in response. We came away with mixed feelings about the place, and about visiting it as British people.

We also spent a few hours at the India - Pakistan border at Wagah, to view the elaborate ceremony theyes hold every day. Its basically an excuse for both sides to outdo each other with military pomp and circumstance. There are stands on both sides for viewing the ceremony, and the Indian stands were full to bursting, with few people on the Pakistan side. There was a great atmosphere, with patriotic songs, calls of "Bharat Mataji" (Mother India) and flag waving. I'm not normally into patriotism, but I got swept up in the mood. It was really really fun.

Despite the fun we had at Wagah and the beauty of the temple, I don't think we'll be going back to Amritsar. The whole place was so busy that I don't think we'd be comfortable going back. Important glad we went though.

A woman's touch

Returned back to Dharamsala today from Amritsar, Martyn has filled you in on the details of splendour and history. I however can tell you about my personal experiences of a busy Indian city from the point of view of a white woman.

I've read in many guidebooks and novels about the treatment of women in Indian culture; we went to a lecture from a leading feminist last week who also spoke at length on the topic. India is once again the country of opposites, as with anywhere there is domestic abuse, yet brides are revered as some of the most beautiful and important women. Women in rural areas generally don't work they look after the children and household, yet a strong female prime minister has been elected. Tourists are welcomed as an excellent source of income, yet when white women visit they are treated as eye candy, a piece of meat, or worse.

Walking through the bustling streets of Amritsar under the shadow of the Golden Temple, the holiest place on the planet for Sikhs, men openly stare as a procession of white (predominantly female) tourists walk by trying to jostle their way through the crowd to the next destination.

The staring is a shock, even after all my reading, I expected some staring as I am different but the intensity and frequency were more than I could ever imagine. At home to stare at anybody is rude, yet if you challenge these men by staring back they don't avert their eyes or seem apologetic, they smile. White women are still a novelty and the locals love it.

We visited the memorial gardens of the site where over 1000 men, women and children were slaughtered by the British. A sobering visit to say the least, yet instead of locals taking in their history they came to me. At first it was a couple of people who wanted me to hug their mum, but eventually it was essentially a queue. Young boys took photos on their smart phones, women came and shook my hand. One woman even thrust a screaming infant into my arms for a photo! It was overwhelming, even when people weren't coming up to me everyone was staring and whispering. Privacy and personal space had gone out the window.

I never felt completely comfortable in this holy city. It was packed. Thousands of people pound the streets every day and it seemed that most of those thousands also wanted to see me, touch me, have a photo, hear me say hello for the hundredth time or just wave. It was draining, emotionally and physically. It became easier to cover my head with my dupatta (headscarf, remember?) and walk. This wasn't the best solution, I feel I've missed a fair few sights this way and from the welcome I received I won't be going back to find what I've missed.

Returning to Dharamsala felt like home. The locals talk to me and smile, not because they want to lech but because they are interested. The feeling could not be further from Amritsar, yet it's only 150km away.

We take for granted the rights women have at home. I don't think I will anymore...

A small reflection...

I've now done 5 days of volunteering and have spent just over a week with all the same people in one house. Both of these things have lead to contemplating this experience.

I visit different day cares and speak to the women that work there. Initially I felt uncomfortable, a white woman younger than most of them whom they've never met coming to tell them about how to look after themselves. Very patronising... However they were very welcoming and asked me question after question being intimately personal, just to ensure they would have an answer to their problem. I couldn't write fast enough!

My role seems to be to give advice but its not very well defined so I have also been given Xrays and reports to decipher. I keep telling them I'm not a doctor, but I still get called Doctor-ji!

The amount of work I do day to day varies, yesterday there was a huge storm which had cleared by the time I got to the day care but it still meant that no-one came. I saw an old man who didn't really have medical issues he just wanted to chat. When he found out I was from "London" he started spouting Italian! It was lovely to talk but I was also frustrated. Other people come home after placement and theyve had a fantastic day at day care playing with the children and I've spoken to one elderly chap in pigeon italian! I think my experience is just more of a slow burn.

So, the house; there are about 18 American people, and 1 person from France, Italy, Belgium, India, Germany and China. Everyone is very friendly but it can get loud. It can be quite difficult sometimes to get some space.

There is always something to do, we've watched bollywood films and played cards at the house. We've gone on walks to temples, the market and around McCloed Ganj (north dharamsala). It's really intersting to see the same thing through everyone else's eyes.

As a british person used to high immigration, speakig with the locals isn't a problem but there are many people who haven't spoken to someone with a strong Indian accent so I find myself translating!

Overall, this experience so far is an enjoyable one. It has already given me so many memories and it's only been one week. Who knows what will happen in the next 8?!

International Volunteering

Jess and I have been in India for a week now, probably the busiest week we'll have for a while. We've both had a few days of our volunteering placement now, so I thought I'd write a bit about mine.

I've been teaching in a government-funded school called Divine Public School in Dharamsala. The school has a kindergarten, and in the main school they teach children from 6-10 years old.

Originally I was assigned to teach the 6-9 year olds in classes 1-3. However each day I've been there I have taught a variety of classes, ranging from the youngest kindergarten children to the 10 year olds.

I've been asked to teach mainly English, but will also cover other classes such as maths, art and "general knowledge" (which is everything else).

The teaching for all of the classes seems to learning by rote, so the children have a relatively shallow understanding of the subject matter. By this I mean they can repeat or write out what they've been shown, but don't necessarily understand the sentence, or can't use words in a new context.

I hope I can help the students with their understanding of English with some different teaching styles, and maybe a few games.

A few of the past and current volunteers here have tried to address this whilst on placement and get the feeling they've met with a bit of resistance from staff, which is understandable. Who are we to come in and tell them they're doing it wrong?

I think that introducing new ideas and approaches into a culture without alienating the local people is the biggest challenge that international volunteers face, just behind learning that they're often not right about those ideas! We'll see how we do.