Saris and Elephants

Today was the festival of Raksha Bandan, where sisters tie a rakhi, or thread bracelet, around the wrists of their brothers as a symbol of their love and affection, in return the brother promises to protect his sisters and always be there for them. This does not necessarily have to be between blood brothers and sisters, a girl can tie a Rakhi on any one that she considers a close brother. However, this bond is taken seriously and the boy and girl will from then on be considered to share the bond of brother and sister, so no getting together later!I was invited by my students at Vatsalya Foundation, a centre for street children, to attend their Rakhi celebrations. Not really knowing what to expect, I arrived in the morning and was greeted by my students Tushar and Nuresh and seated at the back of the room while the ceremony got under way. The boys at Vatsalya were joined by some of the children from the Bandra centre and were all enjoying themselves singing along to the latest Bollywood tracks on the radio while waiting for the other guests to arrive.During a welcome from Ms Swati (Executive Director of the Vatsalya Foundation), all in Hindi, I was busy looking around, watching the children, when suddenly I heard my name and a room full of expectant faces turned to look at me! Before I really knew what was happening, two other volunteer teachers and I were standing at the front of the room, marking the boys’ foreheads with the traditional ‘tikka’ and rice, and tying the Rakhi to their wrists. My first ‘brother’ was a tiny boy, no higher than my knee with a big cheeky grin and huge dark eyes!Once all the Rakhis had been tied, the day continued with singing and dancing in true Indian style. Two young girls gave a great rendition of ‘I’m a little Teapot’ and other nursery rhymes, shouted in an almost military style, followed by Tushar singing a beautiful Hindi song, and a more questionable Akon number, which I hope nobody else in the room understood!At the end of the day I headed back to work, exhausted, but with a big smile on my face. These street boys had shown me so much love, and accepted me as their sister, or ‘didi’, a feeling that I really cannot express in words.  

With a due sense of apprehension, I left Mumbai for a weekend in the river with 5 of my colleagues. After breakfast at The Park, we drove on, through the monsoon rains, to Kolad. A small sign on the side of the road showed us where to park our car and catch a boat across the fast flowing river to our home for the weekend.

When we arrived we were greeted by Jehan and Samar, our guides for the weekend, who also instigated the song of the trip; ‘bana-na-na-na-na’ (to the tune of Frere Jacques) once they learnt my nickname!

Once we had settled into ‘Rose Cottage’ it was time to try our hands at river crossing. This involved hanging on for dear life to a rope while pulling yourself across the raging rapids in 20 feet of water. The current was so strong in places that the rope was shaking and two of our group were swept under the rope just by loosening their grip for a moment. Safely back on dry land, soaked to the skin from the river and the rain, with aching stomachs from holding ourselves upright and laughing so hard, it was time for a delicious lunch and sugary chai.

Before we had completely dried off we were told we were going to spend the afternoon relaxing in the Jacuzzi, however, this was a Jacuzzi with a difference. A short walk upstream led us to a sheltered section of the river where the water swirled to form a ‘cold-tub’! Here you could float round in circles just by taking your feet off the ground. After relaxing in the eddying water we took it in turns to float down the river on a body board, relying only on the current to steer us. This was great fun, and anyone watching from the side of the road must have though we were insane. We finished the afternoon getting to grips with kayaking, before changing into dry clothes and turning our hand to cooking dinner.

However, our day didn’t end here. After dinner we went in search of crabs, snakes and other creepy crawlies on a night hike, armed with torches, raincoats and stylish umbrella hats (ahem!).

Muddy, soggy but happy, we returned to our presidential suite of the camp to enjoy our warm champagne and laugh about the day.

Sunday morning started early, although most of us hadn’t slept much in between fending off the mozzies and scratching all our bites! We had hoped to go white water rafting, but a night of heavy rainfall meant that it was unsafe. So, after a tasty breakfast of uttapam (a type of rice pancake) we packed up our bags and drove to a small village nearby. From here we trekked up hill through gorgeous scenery and over slippery terrain to the top of an impressive waterfall. Here we relaxed on the rocks, some of the braver among us relaxed in the waterfall, and watched the locals playing games of football and taking a monsoon shower.

All too soon our weekend with nature came to an end and we were driving back towards Mumbai, planning our next trip before we even reached the city!

Welcome to my new blog!

I have been living and working in Mumbai/Bombay since March 2008, but have only recently discovered blogging! I’ve written short articles on my experiences and adventures over the last year and thought I should gather them all together here.

Teaching English in Mumbai/Bombay, every day is different, there is always something to make you laugh or to surprise you. Just when you think you understand the country, or the city, or even the people, something happens to spin your persepective.

Hopefully my ‘blogs’ will give you a little insight into life here, and maybe make you smile too!

Thank you for reading

Hannah