The Beginning

Welcome Back Everyone!

I hope you were all eagerly awaiting my next update on Reuniting with the Motherland! Well I have finally reunited and with being here for less than a week my initial journey has been a crazy whirlwind!!

Okay, so the first thing I noticed about India was that people do not have a concept of queues, and neither do they have a concept of rules and regulations, which probably explains why the people here are so used to the constant sound of beeping horns.

Unfortunately my internship had to take a backseat for a couple of days as a result of my irresponsibility: I lost my passport. You’re all probably gasping, thinking ‘OMG, that’s the most important thing!’ So was I, but alas it has happened and now I’ve managed to fix my mess, therefore we can focus on the positives and get on with the project that I am here for.

So today was my first day on the project. I visited a village on the outskirts of Aurangabad the city in which I’m working and living. The journey there was filled with the never ending noises of car horns beeping each second (as I mentioned earlier) and the scorching sun shining over the roads filled with potholes. Anyhow, we successfully reached there, and I have to say the villagers here are wonderfully creative, everything was vibrantly painted in pinks, greens,  blues and oranges, juxtaposed to the dull images we see in the media.

I was then introduced to some girls who were enjoying themselves whilst decorating their school doorstep with Rangoli patterns. My skills at keeping a conversation going were really put to the test here as these girls were being incredibly shy and coy despite the fact that they are not. However, I used my love for Hindi Movies to my advantage, this helped me to break the ice as we shared mutual love for films like Hum Aapke Hai Kaun and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. And then they began asking me questions such as ‘What games do you play?’ ‘How do you get to school?’- (They walk 1km back and forth each day) and ‘Do you have lots of friends?’ This first experience that I shared with these young girls, was utmost endearing, however the interactions I have had with them for now are fairly raw and they need time to ripen, hopefully these six weeks will allow our relations to flourish and deepen.

This is only the beginning, I’ll be back next week, with my next update, for now check out some of the pictures below!