Category: India
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Remembering Shimla. The edge of the Himalayas.
We had been to the main tourist sites. With the remaining time left it was a chance to reflect on the whole trip and what India had shown us. Unfortunately the darkest hour was still ahead of us. My memories of Shimla are hazy, but I will use the images below to describe our remaining…
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A night on a Delhi train platform
Travelling through the slums had left us shell shocked again. We had arrived back in Delhi in the morning, spent all day with the ASHA Deep Foundation and were to meet with the rest of the group at the hotel before moving on again. Being crushed on the metro had just become another of those…
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Relaxing in Jaipur, a day as a tourist. The calm before the next storm…
Maybe my memories of Jaipur are romanticised. We had left the slums of Delhi where we had worked with the charities and seen some of the worst and best of humanity. I had my health problems on the train heading south and was still processing what we had seen and our experiences in the ashram.…
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Jaipur – palaces, elephants, colour, history and life.
Jaipur allowed me to catch up with myself. I was fully rested. All the experiences so far were still waiting to be properly processed but my body, and mind, knew it had to relax. Safely inside the walls of the Umaid Bhawan Hotel we could relax and talk without any of the pressures that had…
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Onwards to Jaipur… Luxury! And a trouble-free train journey.
The train. An overnight train. I was recovering physically and emotionally and here we were boarding an overnight express train to take us back up towards Delhi again. This was the train we were taking to Jaipur. We had now finished our two ‘charity’ stops. I think we were all emotionally and physically worn out.…
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Gandhi and me.
Gandhi and I. We have all heard of the name Gandhi. Or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. I was aware of who he had been and many years before had watched the three-hour long Richard Attenborough film. It was an extraordinary film about an extraordinary man, but here in Sevagram we had the opportunity to visit the…
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Reset. A new beginning and ‘Was that a tiger?’
When I woke I was so weak, I had no idea how much time had passed. I was in a basic room where there was a line of beds. My body felt empty, probably because it was, but I did not feel hungry. Moving took all my effort, but there was bright sunlight outside and…
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Blash, splosh, splat. Adventures in an Indian train toilet.
The GT Express 12616 will remain as one of the worst 24 hours in my life. The overnight train trip from Delhi to Sewagram. In the retelling of the story the timings of that journey have ranged from 18 hours to 28 hours. I really don’t know. I was dragged off the train in Sewagram…
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Reflections and trying to buy train tickets for the Indian rail system!
The bus journey through the slums allowed time for reflection. Looking at individual people – the eye contact – meant even more now. Would they ever have the opportunity to achieve anything in their lives? Is survival winning? I don’t know. We said our goodbyes at the Metro station, but our timetable for coming back…
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Into the darkness, the slums of Delhi.
We were met at the station by Jimmy from the Asha Deep Foundation. He was a ‘jolly, larger than life’ man, an instant friend who made you feel welcome. His contagious smile and laugh was comforting .Boarding the old yellow bus we moved away from this area towards the Foundation’s Centre. The roads became narrower,…
Reluctant travels in India 