Day 6 - India

Submitted by Rajeeb on November 11, 2005 - 18:07.

7am roadside pit stop on the way to Ahmedabad; time for some traditional sickeningly sweet chai (which I must admit is a favourite of mine). The music shop next to the roadside cafe decided to blast out some music in the hope of enticing us to buy something. Kate and I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to entertain the locals and thus with a little egging on by the rest of the group started performing the Macarena dance to the latest Bollywood hit. The rest of the contingent looked on in amusement, as did the locals. Unfortunately showtime was brief as we were on a mission – to actually reach Ahmedabad.

We returned to the sleeper bus and this time, after spending nine hours or so in a suspect smelling compartment (a suspect smell peculiarly similar to urine) I decided to share the last few hours of the journey in Sue’s compartment. Sue and I decided to play some word games to help the hours pass as well as trying to get some sleep – but I am sure the driver was determined to not let that happen as he was trying to deafen us with his collection of Bollywood tunes (perhaps in the home of an encore by Kate and myself….who knows?! :-) )

Healthwise the group was suffering slightly, Rupert had a dodgy stomach, Andrea was suffering from a severe headache and I had started to get a temperature – but we’re a resilient bunch and didn’t let it slow us down. We arrived in Ahmedabad around 10am – slightly behind schedule and were greeted by our hosts, Chetna, the project we will be visiting tomorrow and the people we will be staying with during our time at Ahmedabad.

We arrived at Chetna’s accommodation feeling a bit groggy, having spent nearly 15 hours on a bus we were all desperate for a shower and wanted to freshen up, ready for our visit to Navsarjan and the Dalit Shakti Kendra. All the guys (and Sue – who had become an honourary male) were staying in one place – the Naiwada Heritage Hostel, whilst Pooja, Kate, Andrea and Nikala were staying a few minutes down the road in the Samvaad Heritage Conference Centre (SHCC). Both places were remarkable, simple, traditional buildings with intricate architecture and a strong sense of being a home away from home. The places are hard to describe but we certainly felt comfortable.  

After having a quick shower and change we went to SHCC for some snacks and a brief welcome by Indu Capoor – the inspiration behind the Chetna programme. At this point we were some three hours behind schedule and thus had to move on quickly to the our next visit – Navsarjan.

Navsarjan is an organisation working to empower Dalits in Gujarat and to fight for Dalits’ rights. The word Dalit means ‘the oppressed’; Dalits are traditionally regarded as the lowest caste in India, and are often referred to as the “untouchables”. We learnt that despite these derogatory terms and often humiliating roles given to the Dalits being outlawed, such as “manual scavenging” (the process of clearing human excrement), its practice is still common in some places and the stigma attached with Dalits in general is still prevalent.

Navsarjan as a place seemed to be in a bubble almost. It seemed quite different from its surroundings – a self-contained Dalit college almost – harnessing the power of the Dalit community by empowering women, educating and training the youth and fighting for their legal rights. It sounded to me like they had a huge battle on their hands but they certainly seem to be making progress.

Unfortunately during the discussions with the team at Navsarjan my health and Andrea’s took a turn for the worse. I became nauseous and Andrea started to feel faint. It was decided that we should go and rest whilst the others continued to have a tour of the place – visiting the workshops and classes. Kate, Richard and Pooja all adopted the role of nurses to look after both Andrea and myself. The group split up into three – the patients and nurses went to visit the Doctor’s surgery; Michael, Rupert and Salim went to a meeting at the Council for Environmental Education whilst the rest of the group returned to the hostel.

Going to the Doctor’s was quite an experience. The car journey was treacherous and scary to say the least – extreme dodgems comes into mind! When we reached there the doctor went onto give Andrea and myself a thorough examination – asking a million and one questions about our family, medical history and stay in India. He subsequently went onto diagnose Andrea as suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection and that I had contracted gastroenteritis. We were both prescribed medication as well as being given a medical lesson explaining to us how our body work and assuring us that we wouldn’t die – although he did say that if my temperature continued beyond tomorrow I needed to get a blood test to rule out the possibility of malaria or Dengue fever!

We made our way back to the SHCC to be reunited with the rest of the group. They had decided to treat themselves to Dominos pizza, but I couldn’t indulge as I was told to remain on a diet of fluids and “semi solids” for a few days. Despite Sue’s ingenious offer to mash up the pizza for me, I didn’t think that it quite constituted as semi-solids so gave it a miss! After quite a chaotic day the group felt like it needed a treat so we went to Agashiye, a lavish rooftop restaurant, where there were many delights including Hookahs and nice food (which annoyingly I couldn’t eat). With the group now fully chilled out we left around 11pm and returned to our accommodation. At this point we were quite exhausted and ready to sleep. Today was quite an experience, very manic, the Macarena felt like a distant memory, but I’m sure there are many more interesting experiences ahead.

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