We arrived in Dehli at 7.30am via the overnight train. Not sure i can adequately describe the experience we had on the train. There were compartments of 6 beds but no doors or separations. There was tonnes of food supplied but the beds were less comfortable than the experience of sleeping on the ground in the tent. All of which is all good except that some of us were unlucky enough to share airspace with a farting, burbing and snoring machine - and i mean constant! I was close but not enclosed like some (poor Jackie on top bunk in same section enclosed behind a curtain).
Quite a few of us got far more sleep in the tents than we did on the train. We were entertained by a group of students from the design institute in Ahmedabad in the section next door - we amused ourselves paying their word guessing game ourselves (yes you had to be there). At one point I Googled to find games to play and came across a wiki page entitled "how to enjoy a long train trip in 5 easy steps complete with pictures" wtf it included such great ideas as look out the window at the scenery!! what the heck has this world come to?!
The outskirts of Delhi train station showed me just how different the slums in Ahmedabad we went to are from those I caught a glimpse of the Delhi ones.
After a quick shower at the hotel Elaine and I headed out with a driver and a guide to have a little taste of Delhi. We only had 4 hours so we could not really do much. Basically we did a little bit of shopping at a jewelry place and pashmina place the guide recommended and then headed straight for old Delhi. As it was Friday and so the mosque was closed to the public and so were most of the roads for cars leading to the mosque, our guide a former long time resident of old Delhi said we should ditch the car and take a rickshaw (which was a bike one unlike the tuk tuk like one in Ahmedabad! And he took us through the back streets of old Delhi to the mosque. It was quite a ride and we certainly saw non tourists anywhere along our route. We rode past the mosque and took a few shots on the run and kept going to the Red Fort. The Red Fort is huge and it along with the mosque (known as the "world reflecting mosque") was built by Mughal emprorer Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal in the 1600s because he could no longer stand to live in Agra and look at his beloved wife's tomb (the Taj) so he moved to Delhi but wanted to live in the same place and worship at the same mosque so he replicated them in Delhi!
The Red Fort took 9 years and 3 months to build which is incredible given its size. Unfortunately as we had so little time we could only go in a short distance so we did not see much of it.
We then headed back to the hotel for final goodbyes - Jenny and especially to our wonderful tour leader Kate and the brilliant Angchuk who I will miss - who will organise my life for me now?!
As i head home to Sydney - very excited to see my family again - i reflect on what an astounding experience I have had and how eternally grateful i should be for my good health and for my beautiful family - and that in the end possessions and wealth mean nothing without love and belonging. I feel we are lacking something important in our western society something we need to get back - not sure i can put words to it or that I really understand it but it could be - community and compassion.
A postscript to yesterday's blog is that we got to visit an Anganwadi that is not one built and maintained by The Anganwadi Project. The difference was astounding and i got a little taste of what may have driven the founders of the charity Jodie and Jane to undertake such a wonderful and amazing task in bringing a new approach towards Anganwadis. The other one was a very small and dark space with little ventilation and did not appear inviting - with these Anganwadis they have tonusw spaces they can get a hold of - usually a person's home in the slum.
So basically this organization The Anganwadi Project (TAP) is doing wondeful and essential work and I have experienced first hand the impact they are having so please feel free to donate to them - i am setting up a donation page for a few weeks and will be hitting up those who did not get a chance to donate to my kids helpline page so standby for a request real soon!!
If you want to read more about TAP go to www.angawadiproject.com
Lastly I would like to thank Jane Rothschild for agreeing to have me along and giving me this amazing opportunity - Jane you are one generous whole-hearted human being.
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