On Thursday last week I began a really serious attempt at learning Hindi. It was triggered for the most part by my first consideration of the possibility of returning to India in the future. I have had a fantastic experience here but I don’t think I would come back to do the same children’s work as I am doing now in Maya Puri. As much as it means a great deal to the children to have a foreign visitor; I definitely have gained the most out this trip by a great deal since there has been little in the way of practical help that I have been able to offer. I think that I would be able to make myself a lot more helpful doing something in the office and this is what I would do instead if I were to return. Freddy Martin made it clear that I would be welcome to apply for a placement with Asha to stay here for a year or so after I graduate and I really am keen on the idea. If I were to return however, I would have to learn the language. It is such a frustration not to be able to communicate even after being here for just 3 weeks and I can imagine that an entire year would be vexing! I have started with the alphabet and found it surprisingly easy to pick up. Hindi is written in Devanagari script and it is entirely phonetic; every pen-stroke is a sound so you very quickly learn the vowels that are absent in the English language as you link them to corresponding shapes in the script. So I have, by now, a rough grasp of written Hindi; even if my vocabulary is still drastically limited. I have gained a superb and very willing teacher at Maya Puri in Balvinder, one of the Asha workers. I already have homework! It has had a hugely beneficial impact on the way that I play and work with the children since I can now talk to them (if only on very basic terms) in their own language and actually teach them the English words for things whereas before this was impossible. I am thoroughly enjoying it! The only problem is that I don’t know how I can possibly keep it up on returning to England. If anyone knows someone who would be willing to continue my teaching at home I would be glad to be in touch with them (for preference someone in the Leeds vicinity).
As far as the slum work is concerned; things are going very well indeed. I have taken to wearing the traditional Kurta Pyjama which has been a vastly liberating experience. They are a lot more comfortable than a shirt and trousers which now seem tight and confining in comparison. They also look quite silly but no one here seems to care! I get respect if anything from wearing it since most men here don’t. It has also been great to be given the chance recently to take the computer classes in the afternoon during which I really can be of genuine practical use. The previous teacher that was taking the classes suddenly left last week after being offered a presumably higher paid job elsewhere. I found that they were in a slightly sorry state; all the wiring was present for a fast Ethernet connection between the computers but none of the staff knew how to set it up! I busied myself doing so and making sure the printer (previously sitting idle) was working from all of the computers.
It never ceases to amaze me just how risky daily life is in Delhi for so many people. It is a safety inspectors dream (or rather nightmare!). It is more than just the roads of which I have previously written but elsewhere too. I recently observed a workforce of 4 men hacking away at the roof of a concrete bus stand with pickaxes; the very floor beneath their feet and a good 15 feet up! At the end of our road there is a large construction site where a massive shopping centre is being built. The workers apparently have no ladders and have to clime the scaffolding to quite perilous heights. Still the roads are the most obvious hazard. I have to fight the seatbelt reflex whenever I enter a vehicle! It is not uncommon to see women riding side saddle on motorbikes behind the man driving (I don’t think I have ever seen a female driver…). More alarming is when you see a whole family balanced precariously on a motorbike. I have seen as many as 5: the husband driving, the wife at the rear with a tiny baby in her arms (side-saddle of course) and two young children sandwiched in between. The driver is the only one with a helmet if that!It is all part of the “Indian madness” as Freddy described it.
I have been planning a weeks travelling starting this Saturday. An epic railway trip down the whole length of India would you believe! I will be catching a direct train to Bangalore (leaving on Friday evening and arriving on Sunday afternoon!) where I have arranged to meet Dr. Chris Gnanakan: “Professor & Head of Department of Pastoral Theology & Counseling and the “Dean of Chapel” at SAIACS“ (SAIACS = South Asia Institute for Advanced Christian Studies). I knew of him whilst he was doing a PhD at Leeds University and very much admired his sermons at South Parade Baptist church so I thought it might be worthwhile meeting up whilst I am in the country (even if I am at quite the opposite end!). From there I will then be moving on to Cochin in Kerala at the very southern tip of India where Sheeja, an Asha worker at Maya Puri, has kindly offered me the chance to stay with her family (on an island in the backwaters!). Then, on Saturday the 8th September I will fly back to Delhi. It should be great!
I shall be travelling in a second class, non-airconditioned sleeper; a class for which it took a fair amount of persuading to gain approval from Paul Frey, who kindly helped me organise the travel arrangements. Freddy’s reaction to the idea was a little alarming and quite sobering really, although I am confident that he was joking! He remarked in an unnervingly serious tone “you really want some Indian maddness? shall I turn off the airconditioning in your room and take away your bed too? would you like that?”. I do ask anybody reading this not to be too concerned about my choice of travel. The very reason I came here was to gain a taste of Indian maddness and to be honest I felt quite cheated on my airconditioned trip to Agra having paid a good deal more for a far more boring journey. The carraige felt quite sealed off from the world and with the windows tinted it was hard to get a sense of real immersion in the passing countryside. I actually longed to be in the bustle of second class where there are no windows and the doors are left wide open so you can really enjoy the culture and admire the sights and smells. It is the way that average Indians travel and that’s just what I am looking for. On the way to Agra, the carraige was full of only tourists and upper class Indians and it really was boring. I am also assured that it really isn’t as bad as all that – most backpackers travel in this class and the only major issues that have been raised are the bustle and heat, with which I am confident that I will manage, and the appauling state of the toilets. I am sure I shall survive!
Anyway, this may be the last of my entries for untill my return so if I haven’t written a new one by Friday then don’t expect one for another week. I am sure by then I shall have a great deal to write about!
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