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on Jen's Indian Adventure (India), 13/Feb/2010 10:39, 34 days ago
It’s 34 degrees Celsius today with only a small breeze going through my home even with all doors and windows being open. I tried spending time earlier sitting on the balcony hoping that the breeze that was there last Saturday would be back again today but unfortunately not.I wonder if the young boy I saw wearing a ski mask last week is still wearing it today ?Having walked back from the shops yesterday with 3 bags of groceries, slower than I have ever walked I was ready to drop by the time I got home. I had even had the sense (I thought) to go before it got too hot. On arrival home, going straight to the fridge, for a cold drink I decided the next time I would see the shops in the daylight would be next winter. Even though it’s still hot and sticky in the evenings once the sun goes down (only to get hotter and stickier over the next few weeks) I am going to postpone all necessary shopping until early evening from now on.It’s at times like this I wished my placement involved the need to be able to drive a motorbike or scooter. As I walked home yesterday I was jealous of all the people that whizzed past me on their two-wheelers (as they are called around here). When I first arrived inIndiaI used to think how insane it was to see everyone on the back of scooters without any helmet, completely against everything we believe inIrelandfor health and safety. Actually, correction needed here– the men who drive the bikes wear helmets, but the women and children sitting on the back don’t. And yes, I do mean children. But safety aside, at least there is a cool breeze if you own a motorbike or scooter in this weather. This is important particularly if you’re wearing a sari which covers right down to your toes.January 20th was Republic Day here in India. Republic Day is the annual celebration of India becoming a republic having once been under British rule. Every city has it's own parade and Bhubaneswar was no different. Because of the heat here the parade began at 9am to be sure it was over before the mid-day sun. A bit different to home where parades start well after mid-day.The Republic Day parade here in Bhubaneswar was mainly a display of the military and police, as well as groups of Red Cross first-aiders and local school children. At the start of the parade everyone was marching in a straight line but somewhere along the middle, someone must have gotten tired, as the march that had started in the centre of the road, had swung right over to my side of the road by the time it finished.Something completely different…A few weeks ago a group of us went to visit Rushikulya, approx 2 hours by car fromBhubaneswar. We went to see some Olive Ridley turtles. Olive Ridleys are an endangered species and land en-mass in 3 main locations within Orissa every year to lay their eggs. All the eggs then hatch around the one time and I believe it’s an amazing site to see all the baby turtles attempt to make their way to the sea in the moonlight.Unfortunately we didn’t get to see any eggs hatching as we were a few weeks early, but we did get to meet some of the local tribal fishing community and meet some of the children. As I don’t swim I wasn’t brave enough to go out on the boat that my friends hired to see the turtles in the ocean. I spent over an houron the beach on my own, well me and all the locals, who left me alone to enjoy the peace and quiet, while they continued mending their nets.It was only when I decided to try to take some discrete pictures of the fishermen working that a lady who had been sitting with them approached me to see my camera and the photos I had taken. I then went over to the men to show them the pictures and even though the only word we had in common was‘camera’ we managed to spend a lovely few minutes in conversation.Clearly a very poor community, they all seemed happy in their work. The local children were as children are on a Saturday- all playing on the beach or out in their family boats. The best part for me and the memory I will hold of my visit to Rushikulya is when, who I can only imagine as the older brother of two, slapped his younger brother on the back of the head for forcing his way through the group of young boys to see the picture I had taken of them. But in his defence he had to force his way through– he was smaller than any of them.That and the time I spent on the beach on my own (with all the fishermen).It’s a beautiful, unspoilt part of the Indian coastline and I can only hope it remains that way.