Two weeks in Bangalore have already passed by and my work kept me quiet busy, as well as India in general. In the first few days you just experience an input overflow. There are so many different things to see and to realize that taking pictures in the first days was quiet impossible as well.
The traffic still gets me crazy. But I already started to ignore the sound of wonderful horns on my way to work and back. Safety is a very big issue here as I can tell so far. Only the driver of a motorbike wears a helmet, well that’s what the law dictates. Anyway Motorbikes are seen as a family vehicle. One child, the father, another child and in the back the mother, that’s how it works. And again only the driver wearing the helmet. Why should the others.
Why I don’t miss South Africa so much? I have it all around me. In the form of T A T A ! Yes you heard right. First heard of this very safe and expensive car brand in South Africa it is here everywhere. Tata cars, jeeps, trucks, tuck tuck’s,… There are a lot. And not only vehicles. Tata produces everything here, from water filter to their own mobile network company. I feel persecuted.
Ooty’s Children’s Home is the name of my Volunteer Project. It’s a Children’s Home that hosts orphans, semi orphans or children from poor families that cannot afford the education and the nutrition for their children. At the moment though they actually only have children which still have their parents. They visit them in school holidays if there is money enough. Otherwise it’s a big event for all of them to call their parents from time to time. In total there are 10 children at the moment, between 4 and 10 years old. Eight gone for vacation and only 4 coming back cause the others finished school last year. The school will start again at the beginning of June, just like the Monsoon. In the last few days and as well today there were summer showers and I can imagine a little bit how the Monsoon will feel like. Must be crazy. Due to the rain we have power failures nearly every time it’s raining and yesterday because of the hot summer weather the kids had no water for a whole day, simply nothing coming out of the tap for 24 hours.
The children are very sweet, innocent and thankful for any kind of help you provide them. In the mornings 1 or 2 other Volunteers plus me give them English, Maths or other lesson and our other obligations are to help them with their laundry which they all do by themselves, play with them and make sure they all take their bath. Bathing takes a long time because they don’t have running water in the bathrooms but must take buckets, fill them and use the water like this. That’s also how I take my shower.
At the moment their living situation is a bit… not adequate. They used to live in Thoppur which is three hours away from Bangalore but due to problems with the landlord. Arriving in Bangalore I actually thought I would go there but learned on my first they that they moved shortly and quiet spontaneously to Bangalore. They are now living in a kind of church, yeah I know how that sounds like. It’s a kind of Christian church run by the father of the project manager and that’s why they children temporary stay there. Looking for a new place isn’t that easy and as everything in India it will take it’s time. The Indian time.
What you can only love about India is the food. Okay after two weeks I really can’t eat too much rice anymore, because Indians always eat rice, a lot. But I still love it. Hot and spicy but eating with your hands, the right one please cause the left they use to wash something else.., makes you experience the food in an extraordinary way. Massala Dosa, Chiapatti and of course CHAI I can’t get enough of.
Very important as gesture is the head wagging, I read already in Shantaram about it but I didn’t really understand what it was till ten children looked with a smile on their face at me wagging their head from one side to the other. It should mean YES but actually Indians do it all the time during conversations. Without realizing it I adapted it as well. It just looks funny and makes me laugh every time I see it or realize I’m doing it myself.
I still have one more week in Bangalore now and then I’m off to Mumbai or Bombay how I actually prefer to call it. I am so looking forward to as there is really nearly nothing to visit in Bangalore. Number one activity is shopping which is really cheap. Especially just buying material and bringing it to the tailor. Indian clothes are too comfortable to be true that’s why they are too hot, in terms of you feel too hot in them, in terms of…Wearing long trousers and t-shirt doesn’t really cool you down but you should cover your shoulders and knees. As lucky as I am two days after I arrived the hottest summer period in Bangalore started. For 21 days the temperature is 30 degrees plus! I am really melting away. That’s why for a bit of rain you should actually be thankful.
Since I am here I realize how spoiled you are when you live in Europe, especially regarding water. Please try to save more!
O M !
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