Indian traffic

Let me talk about Indian traffic. The first time I've experienced this kind of (on the first view completly chaotic and mad) traffic in Colombo, Sri Lanka many years ago and thought it's time to die now. But fortunatly it was not and being here in South India now renting a scooter (for 1€/day) I was surprised to see how much I enjoy being part of this flow of vehicles.
It is a bit like those games you play in school, an obstacle course (Hindernislauf) and sometimes it reminds me to skiing as one has to constantly look out and find the best way from A to B. As I mentioned before, I've never felt unsafe so far and it is always interesting and fun. But I am also aware that I am far from being used to driving this way and that it is highly important not getting too comfortable and confident as there is always the chance of something big falling down the vehicle infront of you, a cow crossing, a man standing in the middle of the road, people driving on the wrong side or a huge bus driving dangerously close to you while overtaking.

In Auroville though, the hippy-village where Laura stays, its fun to jump over the hills of the dirt roads, to drive through lakes of water (and loose shoes while doing so) and give rides to women, children and dogs.

I will definitly miss all of that.

Pondicherry: Hippies, ants, raw meat and the French.

In India, one has to be ready for everything.
Yesterday, my bread was eaten by one million of tiny ants. For a second, I thought about the option, to let them disappear and eat what they've left over; but then... I threw it away. After this, I scared a crow (not intentionally) who as a result let go of some raw meat which fell directly on me. And today, I went to see Laura in her new home in Auroville and got lost on the way home (it IS a labyrinth like little village). I asked a few people to the way to Pondi and they all pointed in the same direction. I realised after a while that that was not the way I wanted to go but thought that this would be the short cut. Well, it was not. They sent me to the motorway, where I was driving ages and for miles to end up in Pondi centre which was not exactly where I was living either. It was my fault, I should have mentioned the beach-road. Anyways, this was the first time I could experience the real Indian traffic, as the centre of town is much bussier. And, I have to say, I like it! The weird thing is that I never felt unsafe and actually do enjoy using the horn so much. After what felt like an hour later, just before the turn to my road, I got distracted by a goat in a Motor-Riksha (tuk tuk) and - missed it.

On the road again!

After spending more than a month in industrial Gurgaon, gathering a lot of information for our project by interviewing, making surveys and researching, Laura and me were happy to make a move to the 'pink city' Jaipur a few days ago. Here, in the old town, one can see the 'full package' of real Indian life - traditional craft makers, traders and service providers are everywhere and a walk through the small streets is more exciting than the best documentory.








We went to the traditional area of the gemstone polishers where men (and some little boys) were sitting in their small stalls on the floor, often green of stonedust, concentrating on the cutting of the stones. People were friendly and smiled at us, and, when asked, agreed straight away on being photographed. In another little stall, sari-makers were working on stitching and glueing crystals on the fabrics which often takes more than a day to finish. In between, goats and chicken dominated the little street which looked like one of the poorer areas of the town.















In this quater, we came to talk to Amir, a son of a gem trader who really want to become an art teacher, who brought us to his uncle's shops (without pressuring us to buy) and then gave us a crazy ride on his motorbike back to the centre.

Yesterday, we visited a great project for streetkids called 'Ladli' http://www.ladli.org/, where girls are given a peaceful and protective shelter and were thaught to make jewellery. It was a heartwarming experience to see the happy faces of the girls after reading about some of their horrible childhoods.






Another day, a friend of Laura brought us to a gorgeous palace 40min out of Jaipur which has been used as the setting of a 'bollywood series' and we could watch the actors running around, fighting or just waiting. Later in the evening yestereday, we went up to the 'tiger' fort on the hill where we had a fantastic view of the surrounding lights of the city and the redish moon in pleasant silence.


And tomorow, we fly south to PONDICHERRY!! Sea, more sun and french food..:)

Village stay in Rajasthan, or: The beauty of the simple life

For those of you who don't know (exactly) what I am actually doing here in India: Laura and me are writing our master thesis about the (responsible!) tourism potential in an rural area of 9 villages. So now, we had the chance to stay in one of them for 4 nights to interview the locals and check out the area. (As facilities for guests are not there yet -most of the houses dont even have a toilet - we couldnt stay much longer)



What shall I say, I LOVED it...! The sincere friendlyness of these people was just overwhelming and the simplicity of their lifes made one realise once more that the consumerism of our 'first world' is simply perverse.
'Our' family made us feel like part of them and tried to do everything possible to make us feel comfortable. Even the heat could not dampen our exitement for this experience and we had the luck of cooling rainshowers on two of the evenings.




Our daily schedule included many visits to the surrounding villages (by motorbike with Subash and Raju, our competent local guides), to interview the locals about what they say about a potential tourism development. In each one we were treated with tea, water or coke, usually accompanied with extreamly sweet goodies or munchies. Soon, we were surrounded by about the whole residents who first looked at us with shy curiosity but quickly realised that we had come in peace (we DID smile a damn lot during those days). Once unbended, they smiled, laughed and asked us to take pictures to then look at them fascinated. Yes, many of them have not seen a white person despite in television so their curiosity about our look and manners (and sweat production) was understandable!



After our daily visits we went 'home' to eat, chill, play with the kids or visit neighbours. We also got dressed up in beautiful saris and had the chance to finally learn how to play cricket. - So, as Indian as it can get.
Due to the heat in the summer season, people sleep outside on very comfortable woven beds and we did the same (in the middle!), which was an exeptional experience.






























As we arrived back in Gurgaon last night, we were quite exhausted due to the heat and the fact that we had constantly been the centre of attraction for the last days. But I already know that I will definitly go back and visit our new made friends whenever I ve the chance to come back to India.

Rain dance, adrinaline kicks and kaise bole

The last week was full of organising, reading, sweating and planning.
But we also attended a rain-dance where we had the luxury of dancing in huge running showers. Yes, this is not a good thing to do in a time here in northern India where water is rare and the heat often nearly unbearable. The government had even banned such parties for this reason. Guilty as hell, maybe we shouldn't have gone. BUT, apperantly they had a special permission bc of water recycling actions AND it was just a too big temptation to deny this oppurtunity to finally cool down and be surrounded by w-a-t-e-r.



The trips through the town (on tuk tuk well riksha) is always an adventure itself, the ones of you who have been traveling through Asia know what I mean! But we love the little market in our sector where ALL things can be bought and people can be watched at their daily working habits such as sewing cloths on the pedestrian, dyeing fabrics, painting mihindis or prepering delicious treats. So many things to see, so much to explore and wonder...

























We also attended an exibition of End Poverty www.endpovertyindia.org , where we informed people about the NGO, sold pouches produced by the girls/women in the villages and recieved donations for books, goats, chickens or shoes. Its always great to see when people care and are interested in projects to help.



Tomorow we will leave the civilication for 5 days and make our way to the villages we write about in our final report. We will stay in a family and live with them, to explore their daily rythm, discover the surrounding and find out what they think about the eventual development of tourism in their area. For this purpose, we did some intensive hindi - learning this week (playing memory is a fabulous idea! Thanks to Laura) because only one man can talk a little english there and thats it. Of course, our questionairs will be translated and we do have assistance who know exactly what our project is about. But we might have to learn a few more words to be able to make at least a basic conversation with them! So, no toilets, often no electricity, no fan, no room door but very very friendly people, a highly interesting livestyle, a beautiful surrounding to discover and ADVENTURE PURE! :)

Kids and survey-action

5th May

Last week we worked quite a bit on our laptops but were also taught how to make Chapati, got a Mehndi (henna painting on hands), had a massage and a haircut (just me) and were experiencing the local market (great!) and a mall (boring). We also went out to the 'field' again to see a couple of more villages, a girl's education group and a traditional indian 'community farmhouse'. That was great fun and I am afraid my heart is lost once more to those georgeous little kids...!













Yesterday we went to Delhi (1h per metro) to chase some international tourists for our first survey action. It is complete coincidence that 90% of our interviewees are in their 30's, male and increadibly good looking. I m of course just kidding, Simon, don' worry. (its 80%) Anyways, it was a lot of fun and we are quite happy with the 16 pieces we've done, given the fact that there are only a few tourists around at this crazy hot time of the year. Somehow, I can understand why..

Getting the project started

30th May

So Laura came and we spent a day hanging out together and then took the metro to Gurgaon, a big town 1h south of Delhi. There, Vinod, the founder of End Poverty, the NGO for which we are making our reports, got us from the station and brought us to our new home for the next 4 weeks. We are staying in a nice and airy appartment together with Rachna's sister (Rachna is the 2nd boss of EP) and three other young Indian women.
After lunch, we had a welcome meeting where we shared our visions to realise that we are quite on the same way concerning our plans. Both, Rachna and Vinod are very competent, enthusiatic and heartly people and we really look forward to work with them!





























Yesterday, we went straight to the 'field' and visited a small and remote village with which EP potentially will work together in future (and we could try to smoke a shisha!), a temple, a market and one of the villages they support and we will write our reports about. In that village, we spent a couple of hours drinking rose water, tea and getting to know one of the families. The woman of the family is also the teacher of the girls of this village and she insisted that we stay at their house when we stay in a village in about 3 weeks time. We thankfully agreed as we felt very comfortable around these friendly smiling family members. Also we already fell in love with the children there who did not hide their curiosity about these funny looking visitors who seem to be a very sweaty kind of species.

Nothing beats the Taj

26th May

Yesterday, on the way to Agra, I did not only have the chance to see a few more beautiful temples but also a marble-souvenir-production site. Here one could see how busy workers produced souvenirs out of the same marble as the Taj Mahal decorated with the same design as the famous building. It was amazing to see with which precision those objects where formed and they were all gorgeous. Some of you might already guess – yes, I was stupid enough to buy a plate of marble which weights around 2 kg (don’t ask me about the price). BUT, it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! I swear. And it is just perfect to use it as a pad for my notebook… Anyways, it’s me who needs to carry it around now for another 2 ½ month.









So today I went to see the Taj Mahal in early daylight, at around 6h30 (sunrise it was not, don’t ask me why, longer story). The atmosphere was just stunning, the tourists little and the temperature perfect. I guess every one of you has seen pictures of the Taj, so you know about its beauty. But, the closer you get, the more you see all the little details, like the semiprecious stones (Halbedelsteine) carved into the marble, (just like my beautiful plate has it got!) – one can see how 20 000 people have worked on it for 22 years.
Anyways, I spent quite a while in this peaceful setting until we headed back to Delhi where I got my internet connection (after two, not one hour). So, now I can be constantly online, theoretically. In practice, the connection is very S-L-O-W… Well, I urgently need to work on my patience now, otherwise I will have turned nuts when coming back home after spending so many hours (or days) waiting. Yep, that will be a challenge. But, when the internet is stuck again, at least I can admire my astonishing beautiful marble plate!

And tomorow comes THE LAURA! :)

Hard-core-sightseeing in slow mode

24th May

On the list of today’s sights was Delhi’s Nr. one attraction, the Red Fort; The India Gate, which is about 5 times bigger then the Triumpfpforte in Innsbruck; the astonishing beautiful Humayun’s Tomb which resembles the Taj Mahal; The lotus-like Bahai’s Temple which was designed by the same architect as the Opera House in Sydney and is open for prayers to all religions in a very peaceful atmosphere; Mahatma Gandhi’s grave, his living house and the Gandhi-Smriti-Museum. This sounds quite a lot (it IS), and the only way to be able to enjoy it (which I did) with now 40°C, was to move very slowly and, of course, drink lots of water. The funny bit of this tour was the understanding that for the Indian tourists visiting these sites, I myself was a tiny attraction as well. Those Indians, who often come from areas where hardly any tourists ever go, made it their hobby to take pictures from western visitors. So I ended up being on at least 30 pictures with shy smiling men, children, women or whole families.

From the sad side of this country, today I have seen one man begging with a deep open wound in his lower leg and a couple of kids trying to sell stuff at the traffic lights. One of them I gave a Tyrolean bio-apple that I still had in my backpack which he happily took over.
At the end of the day, Sanjay, my friendly driver, helped me to get a sim card for my mobile phone and internet connection. This took about 1 ½ hours, as the photos needed had to have a white background, the pen a black colour and, well, because everything just takes longer here in Asia. So now I am sorted with an Indian phone number but the internet does not work and I have to go back tomorrow (which probably will take another hour). But that’s ok as I haven’t really expected it to be working straight away anyways.

Smooth Welcome

23rd May 2011

When I arrived at Delhi airport at 7h10 after a 7h direct flight from Munich, a driver from my guesthouse found me (or I found him after a little while of an hour) and brought me into town. As I have only slept for about an hour, I took a shower and went straight to bed. I woke up at 4h30 local time (which is only 3 ½ h before Austrian time) and went downstairs to ask a few questions about where to get a sim card for my phone and stuff and to get a map of the area to walk around. The owner called his partner who took me to the office of his tour operator close by. There, he informed me about the main sights of Delhi and 1h later, I’ve booked a personal driver for sightseeing the next day ( 15€ for 8h), a tour to Taj Mahal and three more nights, including one for Laura who I will be meeting on Friday…

I was aware to have paid a higher price than I could have, but having just arrived and still being a bit sleepy, this sounded to me like a nice start, a smooth and easy way to get used to all. ‘India Light’. And as I will be spending most of the following weeks working on my final report, it seems just logical to try and get a bit of sightseeing out of the first days! Anyways, now I was hungry and the boss of the tour operator offered me to send one of his boys to guide me to the market close by and a restaurant. Again, I liked this idea about not needing to think on my first day and took the (free) offer. So Maoj walked me around and I was very happy and exited to finally BE in India, being able to watch/smell/hear all those things I’ve heard so much about: The beautiful saris of the women; the mixture of delicious exotic smells; the old fashioned tailors, blacksmith and hairdressers in their tiny open shops; the dogs; the busy bargaining in the market; the casual hanging around and chatting of the rickshaw drivers… To my surprise, I have not seen any other tourist, probably because it is the hottest season of the year right now. (Still I m lucky as the temperature today is not higher than 35°C as it has been raining the last days and consequently the town has cooled down from its 44°C last week) Neither did I see any beggar or homeless, nor was it as dirty and chaotic as I expected it to be. Well, that must be the area, I thought, I guess tomorrow on my sightseeing tour, I’ll get the ‘full package’ and won’t escape it.
So, after a little misunderstanding with my guide (‘no, please, no western food! I want some Indian food’ when he understood ‘Indian fruit’ and brought me to a couple of food stalls only to be surprised that I don’t want bananas or watermelons), I found myself eating my first proper vegetarian masala, chatting with Maoj about his love-marriage (compared to arranged marriage)and was wishless.