1 month-versary

Namaste!!

Sorry it has been a while - the roughness of India has finally caught to me! I was down with Delhi belly for a few days, after which the internet broke down due to its inability to handle monsoon season. My stomach and the modem are finally up and running again, which means I can eat greasy indian food while catching up on Breaking Bad after an exhausting day in the August heat!

Yesterday marked a month since my arrival in Delhi! It's overwhelming how fast time has been rushing by. I've seen so much already, but I still feel as if I don't have enough time to really capture everything Delhi and India has to offer. My tourist to-do list keeps growing!

Qawalis at Nizamuddin

Since I last posted, I've listened to Sufi qawalis at Nizammudin Dargah, flown (and attempted to cut) kites for Independence Day celebrations, visited the Golden Temple at Amritsar, impulse bought a tabla, explored historical artifacts at the National Museum, watched an awful Bollywood movie, and checked out crafts at a South Asian bazaar. And that's apart from working a job!  

Nizammudin Dargah is an old mausoleum dedicated to a famous Sufi saint in Delhi. Apparently, qawalis (hymns) have been sung there every night for 600 years, and those who sing the hymns today are direct descendants of Nizammudin himself. It was a very calming way to spend a Thursday evening at a concert in the middle of such a historical site! 

Kite challenges! 

Independence Day, August 15, is celebrated by flying kites on your rooftop, with fun company, good food, loud Punjabi music, and oddly enough, no booze. And so we too celebrated in true Delhi fashion (omitting the booze rule obviously - only young once!!) 

Golden Temple (roof is made of gold leaf)

After too many days in a chaotic city, we decided to venture out of Delhi and see Amritsar. Amritsar is a quiet metropolis located on the edge of India, and is home to the famous Golden Temple and Wagah border between India and Pakistan. After doing obligatory pictures at the temple, and after visiting a few other religious sites and a massacre site, we checked out the changing of the guard ceremony at the Wagah border. This happens every evening, and is essentially a "my horse is bigger than yours" ceremony between the Indian and Pakistan locals. Frankly, it was difficult to tell if this ceremony promoted amicable or hostile relations. We wrapped our day by eating the best Indian food I've ever consumed (with the exception of my mother's cooking of course!) 

Performing in Delhi 

As time goes on,  I’m starting to learn what adjustment really means.  The act of adjusting is more than just adapting to my new surroundings, but constantly and consciously realizing that I have no ownership to this country, and to the norms that exist here. I am merely a guest. I cannot expect that life should be conducted the same way that I am used to. I cannot demand that cars will watch out for me crossing on the road; instead I must move cautiously around traffic, staying out of the way as much as possible. I cannot wish that my autorickshaw driver use his indicator, stick to a traffic lane, or even look to the side when turning; instead I must accept the honking system that is so ingenious to Indian driving (as well as the headaches that accompany it). I must come to terms with the stares, on the metro or the street or even the grocery store, by women who are curious about my mannerisms, or by men who probably stare for more indecent reasons. However, I must not blow my nose into a Kleenex in public, or point at anything with my finger, or touch food with my left hand – customs that are considered bad etiquette in India, but that most of us would not think twice about.

Making friends during our travels! 

In spite of this adjustment, there are some aspects of the culture that are difficult to understand, especially as an independent Canadian woman used to having certain privileges and somewhat of a sense of equality in society. Being a woman in India can be a challenging experience – the respect is minimal, the attention is unflattering, the risks are vivid, and the expectations of your role in society can be rigid. In that sense, it is comforting to work for an NGO who aims to empower the girl child. Through my internship so far I’ve seen how abnormal it is for a girl to finish her education, and how predominant marriage is as a solution. For example, when deciding on candidates for our fellowship program, we interview parents to determine whether they would marry off their daughters if an eligible match came about, even if her education was incomplete, which is typically not a concern for similar programs back in Canada. If the girls in our foster homes are unable to support themselves independently after the age of 23, our organization takes the step to actually arrange marriages for them. I am in no way condemning this custom, nor do I find it repulsive, but I can realize that it is a norm that is drastically different from ours in Canada, and one that I would personally find difficult to accept if I was in these girls’ shoes.

Feeling inspired and humble! 

All in all, India has an unwavering beauty and kindness that is hard to find elsewhere. People here are hospitable and proud of their country, and will go out of their way to show you a glimpse into their lives. I have encountered humility and generosity in the unlikeliest of places, and I’m excited for the gems I'll keep discovering in my next 5 months here. 

P.S. If you dare to watch Chennai Express, it is 3 painfully long hours of your life that you will not get back. But I want the leading actress' saris! 

The Djinns of Delhi

We joined a tour group last Thursday, that was leading a walk around the Feroz Shah Kotla. The fortress was built by Feroz Shah, who I believe formed the 5th "city" of Delhi in the mid 1300s. Crumbling parts of the fort still exist today, along with a tower that dates back to the third century BC. Today however, the fort is so much more than a historical landmark. Legend holds that the fort is full of the good "Djinns" (angels), and is believed to be a very spiritual and holy place by most people in Delhi. Since part of the fortress is an open air mosque, Muslims from all over the city flock to the fortress to light candles for the Djinns and conduct their Thursday prayers. The fortress is full of altars, scattered with candles, coins, rose petals, and letters from people expressing their wishes & prayers - it was incredible to see!

I encountered my own "good djinns" at the Jama Masjid on Sunday evening. We arrived close to iftaar, when Muslims break fast at sunset, and sat down to immerse ourselves in the festivities. As we sat, people came over to our group, bringing us dates, rice, fruit, and water - even though none of us were fasting. I was deeply touched by the generosity and humility of strangers who shared their food with us; people who have much less wealth than we do, but certainly have bigger hearts than we do, and are so immersed in the spirit of giving. We ended up giving most of our food away to street children who probably needed a meal more than we did, but it was an emotional, inspiring and overwhelming moment nonetheless, and one that reminded me how far a small act of kindness can go.

In the Middle of a Zoo

It has been an incredible, overwhelming, exhausting, hot, and fascinating first week here in Delhi! The heat and humidity is tremendous - I'm sweating out more liquids than I take in and my hair's in permanent buddha bun. I am eagerly anticipating the onset of September!

Living room in our apartment! Classy plastic white chairs!

The rains on our first day may have given me a misperception; Delhi is crowded and smelly and the streets are scattered with plenty of poop - human, dog, cow or otherwise. The heat doesn't help the stench (but I'm sure we don't smell like roses either). It's an adventure nonetheless! Speaking of animals, I've seen a monkey on a neighbour's roof, a lizard in my bathroom, a pigeon in my kitchen, plenty of stray dogs, and cows mulling about on the roads. Who needs a zoo right?!?





Getting around Delhi is a breeze - the city built an incredible metro system a few years ago connecting most major parts of the city. Big points for the AC, women's only car, and the fact that men can get fined for serenading a woman whilst riding the metro. To all my family who warned me about the metro - I've been keeping my elbows up, and you'd be proud of how well I can push through people! Rickshaws and autos are also so easy to use (except for when the drivers don't understand our haphazard Hindi), but we've gotten so accustomed to haggling down prices here! I have an immense respect for rickshaw cyclists and their legs of steels, and am seriously considering taking it up as both a part time job and work out.

Dance performance portraying the rights & challenges of Muslim women.

I started my first week at Udayan Care, the organization that I've been placed with. You can check out more about their programming here: www.udayancare.org. I'll be working to develop the Shalini fellowship program. I can't publish much more about my work as it is of a sensitive and private nature, but please read more about what our organization does on the website! It's been an amazing and inspiring week so far, as we've had the chance to immerse ourselves with the programming, the beneficiaries, and the brains behind the organization.

My team at India Gate

I haven't had much of a chance to see Delhi yet as we've been busy working, or recovering from the heat. We've done a bit of shopping, plenty of eating, and met tons of amazing people. We've met quite a few expats/foreigners working at NGOs here, but our local friends live up to the truth about Indian hospitality, and have gone out of their way to make us feel comfortable and welcome. India Gate was the best experience this week - the gate is a monument to the Indian soldiers who died in WWII. Surrounding the gate is an expansive park, full of families and friends from various income classes enjoying their evening. It was a poignant example that no matter who you are, or how much you have, we all find contentment in the little things.

First Steps

Luxury for a night

14 hours of flying, 2 hours of sleep, a narrow flight connection, and too many airplane meals later, we touched down in Delhi safely! We were put up in a swank hotel for the night, and officially started our time here in India with an orientation session the next morning.

CIDA & Shastri welcome us 

Just thought I'd fill you in about what I'm actually here to do. I'm part of the Bringing Youth Into Development internship program, set up by the Canadian government (specifically ex-CIDA, new DFAID). The program partners with various organizations who further set up internships for us. In our case, CIDA partnered with the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, an institute that has been around for over 40 years to strengthen relations between India and Canada. Shastri selected 20 Canadian youth to be a part of the programs, and has found us various projects to work on in 4 locations around India. I, along with 3 other interns, will be working in New Delhi at Udayan Care, which works to develop foster homes, as well as educate and empower young women.

River Roads

We jetted off to our digs for the next 6 months after the orientation session, and got our first real taste of the monsoon season. (Toronto drivers - you got nothing on Indian drivers during a flood). We drove through rivers - literally, kids were swimming in the roads. Any Making Waves Board friends reading this - I really think our next international fellowship should be in India during monsoon season, we wouldn't even need a pool.

monkey on our neighbour's roof

Our apartment is on the third floor of our landlord's building, in a pretty safe "colony" in South Delhi. 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, rooftop terrace, pretty spacious, and most importantly has AC.


It's been a fascinating day here so far. Contrary to what some people have told me, it does not smell like piss, roads are not that brutal, and I haven't felt overwhelmed by swarms of people - but then again it was raining heavily. However, I have experienced the wild and reckless driving (it's exciting and pretty similar to Nairobi), as well as beggars pestering your car for $. That so far has been my roughest adjustment - having to blatantly ignore kids who rap on your car window for minutes on end sometimes just for a few rupees. It feels inhumane, cold and disrespectful, but I know its a way of life here, and I've been warned enough that it is what you need to do.

The next few days of orienting ourselves around work & life here should be pretty crazy! Signing off for now! 

Pre Departure

Hey friends/family!!

Welcome to my blog! I'll be updating this frequently with stories/pictures of my experiences!

In the past few months, I've received a flood of information about India. It's been overwhelming, but I'm grateful for all the tips. It seems that India, and Delhi in particular, is the epitome of paradoxes - the progressive mixed with the conservative, the exorbitant rich beside the slums, the vast modernization and the traditional. I've been warned plenty - take your meds, only drink bottled water, don't walk around alone, don't venture outside after dark. It's clear I will need some time adjusting to a new way of life, but I'm doing my best to have an open mind and an adaptable nature. I'm hoping that India will show me all the beauty it has to offer.

Thanks for all your wishes and kind thoughts so far!