Cows and Krishna
on Roundabouts in Delhi (India), 24/Aug/2011 18:12, 34 days ago
Chandelier balancing (carefully held together by live electric cable)I’d recently begun to worry that after eight months of living in India the things that turned my head in fascination and wonder when I first arrived had now become quite normal and habitual. This evening on my way home there was an enormous black and white dairy cow blocking the four lane freeway completely oblivious to the cars, trucks and autorickshaws swerving around it. I then arrived home to find my street blocked by a fifty piece brass band in full swing followed by a parade of boys balancing crystal chandeliers on their heads and a giant blue illuminated statue of Krishna. I realised then that these things might have become my new habitual and normal but they still make me smile and turn my head as much as they did when I first arrived.I’m sorry regular blog readers of four and international passers’ by for my longer than usual hiatus from this blog. I have no exact excuse except that life slightly took over for a while and whilst there was a lot to write about there never seemed to be enough time to sit down and write. A lot has happened over the last month including moving into a flat that has a regular steady supply of running water, a roof terrace and my very own curtain. I also have a landlord who is the absolute antithesis of the increasingly evil Aunty G who, in a final bid to win the slumlord of the year award, tried to move new tenants into our flat before Zoe and I had even moved out. This was also whilst going through the process of trying to find a new flat during which I was shown places which resulted in conversations with the broker (equivalent of UK estate agent) such as;            Me:“Is there another family living the other side of that wall?”            Broker:“Yes maam, but if you close this door and bolt it you will not see them.”            Me:“Where is the kitchen?”            Broker: Points to a table in the corner of the room the size of an A4 folder,“This would be making a very nice kitchen maam.”            Broker:“Room is very light and airy maam.”            Me:“But there are no windows!”I’m now adjusting to living on my own after saying goodbye to Zoe; my wife, flatmate and confidant on all things Delhi related for the last eight months. Thank goodness for cheap international calls which mean that even from thousands of miles away she continues to get my updates on the day my hairstopped falling out or the day when I used a washing machine for the first time in eight months and sat and watched it go through the entire cycle (you think that’s dull, imagine being Zoe and having to sit and listen to a blow by blow account of my washing going through the rinse and spin dry cycle).Meeting in tribal area in Ganjam DistrictI’ve also been getting out and about quite a bit with work and last month travelled to Orissa in North West India for a week. Neha and I had a schedule mapped out which we’d arranged with several Orissa NGO’s where we would travel with them to the rural parts of Orissa, including some of the tribal areas, to meet with various disability groups. We are planning to carry out a series of advocacy workshops there so the aim was to find out in what areas the advocacy is most needed and what resources they have available. It was an amazing week. People gave up so much of their time to set up the meetings and drive us out to the villages, and many of the individuals that attended the meetings had travelled for hours, in some cases by foot, to attend. Individuals of all ages and their families attended the meetings. We heard some positive accounts from some, one individual who is a musicianby profession and part of a band that is paid to perform at local weddings and ceremonies, another who started his own business as a rickshaw wallah. We also heard many negative accounts from individuals who have been refused work because of their impairment or been told by friends and family members (mostly because they are not aware themselves) that because they cannot see they cannot live independently. One of the most disheartening things was that nine out of ten of the children we spoke to had dropped out of school when they started to lose their vision because there were no accessible resources available to them, the school was not inclusive in its teaching methods or the parents of the child, believing that they could no longer learn, had encouraged them to drop out. Although I thought I knew about the situation in rural areas when it comes to disability awareness and availability of resources, it’s a very different thing hearing people’s first-hand accounts.Gopalpur, the Barry Island of IndiaOrissa is one my favourite parts of India yet, both because of the people who were so welcoming and accepting, but also for its landscape. It has large areas of jungle so I was always likely to love it (I’ll explain my attachment to the jungle for those who don’t know another time) and some of the most amazing mountain scenery, plus I got my first glimpse of the Bay of Bengal and my first sighting of the sea since being in India. We stopped a couple of times in seaside town called Gopalpur whichfelt a bit like Barry Island promenade except the fairground rides and the Welsh people had been replaced with paan sellers and Indian families and instead of 99 flakes they sold pistachio ice cream.So that’s been the last month and a half in a very rough nutshell. I will be back soon with more stories of the normal and habitual and if anyone would like the full story of the washing machine cycle just say the word and I'll give you all the soapy details.