Close encounters
Hello, my name is Roy Walker, I am a volunteer with Link overseas exchange and over the course of the next few months I am going to write several blogs for the Deep Griha website. Firstly I am going to start off with my jet-lagged trip to Pune from Scotland.
As we all left the plane at Mumbai airport and boarded the Deep Griha bus headed to Pune I could not help but gradually feel the sudden impact of the huge contrast between the Indian culture and the Scottish culture; the stifling heat, the sight, the smells, the three hour bus journey to Pune, the throbbing thump on my head as we hit another pothole and, mostly, the kind good nature of India’s inhabitants (even though the driver didn’t talk much). As I sat on the bus and let these new experience wash over me like the seasonal monsoons I could not help feel almost every single emotion possible; fear of the unknown, anxiety from the knowledge of starting my placement in a few days time, excitement from reaching a new stage in my life, happiness from finally arriving safely and the knowledge that I would be helping a few people so much. Gradually, after mulling over these and falling asleep several times (difficult when you consider the amazing driving!) we all arrived at the Deep Griha Cultural centre.
Even though I’d like to make this next experience about how good the formal greeting was, several pages long, Hans has given me strict orders not to make this too boring so I’ll try to keep it as short as possible.
A few days later after settling in and overcoming the fear of being “British” (ok I’m Scottish) in the middle of Independence Day, we all travelled to the Tadiwala Road Centre. After being greeted with the cheery eager-to-learn eyes of the local children, we all went upstairs to the rooftop where there was a large gathering of the pupils and teachers and we all felt very welcome when they sang, danced and greeted us with a rose. After heading down stairs again and drinking some really sweet tea (which was good to me and I’m not a tea drinker!) we all really felt like we were going to make a difference in each of our placements around India.
As we all left the plane at Mumbai airport and boarded the Deep Griha bus headed to Pune I could not help but gradually feel the sudden impact of the huge contrast between the Indian culture and the Scottish culture; the stifling heat, the sight, the smells, the three hour bus journey to Pune, the throbbing thump on my head as we hit another pothole and, mostly, the kind good nature of India’s inhabitants (even though the driver didn’t talk much). As I sat on the bus and let these new experience wash over me like the seasonal monsoons I could not help feel almost every single emotion possible; fear of the unknown, anxiety from the knowledge of starting my placement in a few days time, excitement from reaching a new stage in my life, happiness from finally arriving safely and the knowledge that I would be helping a few people so much. Gradually, after mulling over these and falling asleep several times (difficult when you consider the amazing driving!) we all arrived at the Deep Griha Cultural centre.
Even though I’d like to make this next experience about how good the formal greeting was, several pages long, Hans has given me strict orders not to make this too boring so I’ll try to keep it as short as possible.
A few days later after settling in and overcoming the fear of being “British” (ok I’m Scottish) in the middle of Independence Day, we all travelled to the Tadiwala Road Centre. After being greeted with the cheery eager-to-learn eyes of the local children, we all went upstairs to the rooftop where there was a large gathering of the pupils and teachers and we all felt very welcome when they sang, danced and greeted us with a rose. After heading down stairs again and drinking some really sweet tea (which was good to me and I’m not a tea drinker!) we all really felt like we were going to make a difference in each of our placements around India.
posted by Anonymous at 2:00 am
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