The Good Life – Urban Vs Rural

It was off to the farmland scrubs of Rajasthan last weekend where I visited a friend in her VSO placement. We’ve often compared placements. She is living with a family in a village of around a thousand people. The family run the NGO, GVNML and she lives with them tucked away in a small part of a beautiful house, barely leaving the compound to venture out for weeks at a time. The surrounding houses are made of mud and most people don’t have a toilet. She’s so well integrated the family treat her as one of them. One of her ‘sisters’ pointed at the field on the outskirts of the village and told me that was the public toilet. She explained people don’t want toilets in their small houses especially when it is so hot. Now I know why there are more mobiles in India than places to do your morning ablutions.

By contrast I am in Delhi, India’s second biggest city and do things like go to the cinema and sing karaoke. The downsides I’ve documented well such as the heat, dust, chaos and the staring. I have access to everything if I want it but my £5 daily allowance doesn’t cover it. Equivalent prices in GBP: a small block of imported cheddar £5, marmite £4, cinema visit £4, cheapish night out with beer £10. These treats are paid for out of savings as the allowance tends to go on locally available food and ever increasing auto costs – well the Commonwealth Games are approaching you know.

How lovely it was to escape to the countryside and visit the family’s farm. Looking out at the green fields, fresh from the best monsoon in 10 years, previously drought-struck Rajasthan looked beautiful. From the back of the tractor it was green as far as the eye could see. I almost got agoraphobia. The nearest I get to lush greenery are the few small parks that I run around trying desperately to get some exercise. This involves dodging mums with babies in strollers talking into mobiles about Indian Idol, older women replete in saris with bright white trainers sticking out at the bottom. There’s usually a 50 something gentleman doing his morning yoga, clearing his throat and hacking something up as I make my way past. Occasionally someone burps, usually incredibly loudly. Luckily I’ve come to find most of these random bodily noises amusing. It’s a kind of acceptance necessary for sanity. Even at 7am the parks are full resulting in a lack of peace, a lack of space or clean fresh air. It can drive you mad and there are times I long for the English countryside, a long hike through fields followed by a glass of red and a Sunday pub lunch. My horse riding lessons in the UK seem like a distant memory.

Out in the sticks you’re more likely to learn a language too as in Delhi people see you coming and speak English. My roti man greets me with a daily ‘Guten Morgen’ even though I’ve told him I’m British three times. It’s all swings and roundabouts here, there's good with the bad, you take the rough with the smooth. It’s India’s extremes. I’d personally find it hard going rural for more than a couple of months so it’s lucky my placement was city based. I take my hat off to all those working hard in their rural placements, having seen firsthand how challenging it can be. They get to see the other side of the country, live closer with people and understand the poverty that affects so many of the rural communities. Being in the centre of things though makes my work more effective in terms of campaigning government and organising events such as interpreter training. I get the city benefits on the side. Dilli’s foibles may drive me mad on an off day but give me karaoke and beer any time; I’m a confirmed city-wallah. 

YouTube Channel Clip - Rotis in Rajasthan (eating breakfast with the family)

India Vs The Rest of the World

I took my credit card, a budget from my savings and for my birthday did what I always do: took off somewhere tropical to do some diving. Indian and Sri Lankan dive sites are currently out of season so it was off to Malaysia – home to Pulau Sipadan in Borneo, one of the top ten dive sites in the world. En route and on my return I went to KL, Kota Kinabalu, Semporna, Sepilok, Penang and back to KL to take in some sights, Orangutans and some tasty food. I  had a list made for me of must eats from another volunteer so steadily worked my way through Malaysia's famous dishes such as Laksa and Rendang. I also met up with two ex-VSO volunteers in Penang who regaled me with tales of life post VSO and took me out for some delicious Baba Nyonya food.

On my first trip out of India in eight months I found that I’d forgotten what the rest of the world was like. I’ve seen enough of India to know it is at least five countries rolled into one. The colder, mountainous North of the Himalayan belt has its Tibetan influences. The richer South has the tourists’ havens of Kerala and Goa alongside Orissa and Chennai where the local women wear every colour of sari as long as it’s bright. There are the more isolated, troubled yet beautiful Eastern states of Assam and around. The West contains the ports of Gujurat and cities such as Mumbai that have played an important part in India’s economic development. The varied central states from Rajasthan to Delhi to West Bengal are characterised by a dry heat and plenty of religious places: Bodhgaya the birthplace of Buddhism and Hindu mecca Varanasi on the Ganges.

No matter its different forms, India is still unmistakably India. It’s bewildering, confusing, noisy and altogether different. So what does the rest of the world have that India doesn’t? Malaysia was a welcome reminder. Public toilets (men don’t piss on the street here), pavements (India has them but people use them to park bikes and scooters), people that don’t stare (they wave and say hello), transport is easier to navigate and on time (I got stranded once in a town at 4.30am as the night bus was early) and a huge mix of people from the influx of immigrants. Malaysia has a high Indian and Chinese population, extant for up to four generations. In reality, they are not afforded the same rights as Malays and this is causing unrest and mass migration. KL also had skyscrapers. Delhi buildings are rarely over six stories so for the first time since leaving built-up London I walked around looking skywards.

Despite all this, after 10 or so days I may have missed India. Just a little bit, but don’t tell anyone. A country so diverse from within it doesn’t suffer culturally or otherwise from a lack of immigrants. The food is obviously great. I avoided all the Indian dhabas in Malaysia in preference of pretty much anything with beef or seafood. Now I am back it is tasty, flavourful masala doused dishes all the way. It’s not that there is animosity here. You just need to work harder to meet people before being rewarded with their excellent hospitality. I’m taking my work colleague up on that offer of a roti making lesson as soon as I see her. Why do I need to marvel at the mosques of Malaysia or if I was in Europe, churches? Here I can see mandirs, gurdwaras, mosques, churches and Buddhist and Jain temples in every neighbourhood. Most stalls or shops even have their own shrines with incense burning away inside. My Saturday morning trips to replenish stocks are always interesting. And there is a reason the world loves Bollywood. It’s brilliant. One Malaysian taxi driver was singing songs to me on the way to the airpoirt. I declined his marriage proposal but that’s another story.

For all its confusion, India will never be boring. Even after eight months I still find it exciting, wonderful, intriguing and colourful. I could carry on with a whole host of adjectives but I think you get the picture: I still quite like it here.

Delhi Eat-a-thon

I’ve now been in India for two weeks and it’s about time I mentioned food. It is a big topic of conversation between all the volunteers here in Delhi as we love it. We are provided with breakfast and lunch at our training centre. The food is good although thankfully the breakfast is not curry.

Lunch is a variety of curries, lentil Dhals, potato dishes and rice. There is usually Roti provided, an unleavened round bread otherwise known as a Chapatti. I find these a welcome choice if the curry is particularly oily or cooked with plenty of ghee, a clarified butter that will happily clog your arteries. The Roti is particularly good with the blow-your-head-off lime pickle, extra chillies included.

We eat out in the evenings. There is a really good vegetarian restaurant within walking distance and a belly-busting dinner can be yours for 100 rupees (just over one British pound). The Aloo Dam is an amazing mix of cauliflower and soft potato. It’s a welcome not-so-spicy alternative to curry. The butter Naans here are a hit amongst the volunteers due to their similarity to hot buttered toast. Others tell me the Tandoori Chicken is a hit. Any food here washed down with a sweet yoghurt Lassi is a perfect cheap meal.

A local auto rickshaw ride away provides a few options, the best being another veggie restaurant serving Dosas. These light pancakes, filled with a potato and veg mix served with extra fillings and coconut chutney, are a good choice for curry-weary travellers. Otherwise, I have mostly gone for the curry options: mixed veg Parantha (stuffed pancake that is deep-fried) with hot chutneys and a variety of Masala curries including Paneer (cheese curry which is delicious believe or not).

I have mainly been vegetarian here for a few reasons. Cows are sacred in Hinduism so beef is never eaten, the lamb is often mutton or can be goat in disguise. It is hard to tell where meat is from and food poisoning is less likely on a veggie diet. There is little reason to eat meat though as often restaurants don’t serve meat and there is a great variety of well-cooked delicious dishes.

On the whole the food has been great and we have all over-eaten on occasion in an attempt to try everything on the menus. Some of the group aren't used to hot food though and have been struggling to get food they find palatable. Although I’ve enjoyed and mostly stuck to Indian food over my first two weeks I have cracked on occasion. Last night a group of four of us crept away secretly to a nearby McDonalds to order McVeggie burgers and Masala spicy fries. It seems we weren’t alone in wanting a break from the food as on ascending the stairs we discovered another four volunteers silently munching away on their chicken McMaharaja burgers.