October 29th - "Local" Days

In many ways, today was just like any other day – asana class in the morning, special muesli with the group and some writing, followed by time on the internet. But what made the day different was that I finished my last two posts for my Africa chapter of my blog and then uploaded all my Africa blog postings – yeah – I was done! I have been working hard at this for the last two weeks and it feels really good to get it done. I celebrated by heading into to town and getting a very, very long overdue pedicure! A week ago, I'd been waiting for the bus into town when a woman stopped and offered me a lift. She spoke good English and we discovered quickly she also had ties to Vancouver – she and her husband had visited and had their permanent residency but hadn't yet decided to move. She ran a local beauty salon / school where she trained hearing impaired students to be beauticians who then staffed the salon before moving on to other jobs.

Anyway, I'd been meaning to go by for a few days, as after effectively 4 months in flip flops and no pedicure after Africa, my feet were a disaster – heel cracks closely resembling the Grand Canyon ... The treatment was lovely – I have happy feet again! I also had the chance to talk to her and one of the staff – the receptionist, who was studying to be an aeronautic engineer and will be off to Scotland in a few years to further her studies – I thought this was great. And an interesting discussion on how India is developing, especially for women – people no longer have time for the full week wedding celebrations – maybe 2 or 3 days max – or even married in a courthouse ... arranged marriages decreasing - “love is in the air” I think was her direct quote! I also flipped through an Indian edition of Glamour – what struck me? the advertisements for skin lightening treatments – the lightness of the skin of the models – as Rajiv said on another occasion, "do these models look Indian?" They didn't in this magazine either. And then the fashion spreads – I wasn't sure where some of these clothes would be worn with the degree of leg, arms and cleavage being shown ... certainly not in Rajpur or Dehradun ... I'm getting more curious to see Dehli ... just how modern is India getting? And where? And is modern really the right word - I think western might be more accurate ...

The next day, I went back to Purkal – an organization in a nearby village started by a retired couple. It is quite incredible ... they have two operations ... one is a center for woman where they teach them to quilt, facilitate their production of quilts and other products and essentially provide them with economic independence. The second operation is a school for local kids where they directly provide education to the younger kids and then support the education of the older children e.g. pay school fees, provide uniforms and clothes for the cold, two meals a day and a place where they can come after school to continue their studies. It is quite amazing and again, I'm so impressed with the kids – they are bright, curious, and appreciative of the opportunity – with great smiles and laughs. We had been here the first term with the full group but this time just 3 of us went and it allowed us to learn much more about the organization's programs as well as spend time with the kids. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed Africa – getting to know the kids and contributing something to their development. Overall, it is an experience I want to repeat – be it Africa or India or somewhere else - for at least 3 months – to see the development and become more a part of the local community. Though when I learned that the year 10s were doing calculus, I realized I might have to brush up on a few math skills first ...

So all in all, both were great days – and I appreciated getting a little closer to the local life in India. There is so much to learn and I have so many questions ... won't all be answered this trip ... just more to continue to discover when I return.