Hey!
So I've arrived back to India and Gram Vikas after a month and a bit of holiday back in the UK where, apart from the London riots and a bit of a culture shock the first few weeks, I had a truly wonderful time. It was especially great to share my stories and passion with friends and family, even if it took quite a lot of explaining! I got to see Arcade Fire and my friends band Scratch Latin play live, surf in Cornwall, go on amazing mountain walks and see-side jaunts with my dad and sit endlessly in real English pubs and bars with the best of friends. You have no idea how much I missed the drinking and pub going culture in England. Loved that.
I've returned to a wonderful welcome with hugs and smiling faces from my colleagues which I see more as my second family now. I heard from Jane Feeney (who very kindly put me up for one night in Bhubaneswar following 2 days of travel and shared a duty free Jack Daniels with me) that the re-entry into India can be quite overwhelming but I seemed to have more trouble going back to the UK! I'm not sure exactly why this is.
The monsoon rain has really set in since I left in August with incredibly heavy rain falling 2 or 3 times a day. I wish I could record the thunder and photograph the lightning strikes. It feels almost dangerous to walk out into the rain and see the thunder crack the skies above me. I will try and capture it though as I have never seen lighning come down and illuminate the sky such a wonderful colour of pinky red. Like everything in India, it's loud and bright, its seemed quite an appropriate thing to return to India and see such a weather phenomenon. The rain breaks the humidity and I am happy to tell that I actually slept last night without a single fan on which is a first for me in all my time in India. I had some pretty vivid dreams though which seemed to be a massive amalgamation of thoughts and experiences from my time in England.
So what has changed since I left? I know its only a month but as you can see I am trying to make more of an effort to document my time here as I may not be here for another year so will try again this time round to truly capture the true essence of my Indian experience. My idea with the '5 a day' is that I will document my time at Gram Vikas by simply snapping 5 shots and uploading them somewhere where you can check everything out. I hope it promotes some kind of discussion or debate. Apart from my renewed interest in blogging and the intensified rains, there are now 2, I think, cows now moved into the nearby fields close to my accommodation to chomp at the vegetation which has grown at an incredible rate. I also noticed an intensified rice paddy farming as I crossed through Orissa as obviously when the rain is there, it is time to capitalise on the conditions. I love looking out on the patchwork quilt sea of paddy fields which seems to go on for eternity. It made me wonder how they co-ordinate the farming of the fields and how local villagers organise the land ownership of such a vast area of land, as my work has shown me however, I expect this is only accomplished with difficulty and in relation to the farming itself - with centuries of passed down technical knowledge.
I loved seeing the guys including of course Anvesh and Jospeh and sharing stories with Olive. Good to have this little network of people from very different backgrounds and expertise. I hope we can help each other out as the years go by. I definitely want to visit Ireland that's for sure.
So I've arrived back to India and Gram Vikas after a month and a bit of holiday back in the UK where, apart from the London riots and a bit of a culture shock the first few weeks, I had a truly wonderful time. It was especially great to share my stories and passion with friends and family, even if it took quite a lot of explaining! I got to see Arcade Fire and my friends band Scratch Latin play live, surf in Cornwall, go on amazing mountain walks and see-side jaunts with my dad and sit endlessly in real English pubs and bars with the best of friends. You have no idea how much I missed the drinking and pub going culture in England. Loved that.
I've returned to a wonderful welcome with hugs and smiling faces from my colleagues which I see more as my second family now. I heard from Jane Feeney (who very kindly put me up for one night in Bhubaneswar following 2 days of travel and shared a duty free Jack Daniels with me) that the re-entry into India can be quite overwhelming but I seemed to have more trouble going back to the UK! I'm not sure exactly why this is.
The monsoon rain has really set in since I left in August with incredibly heavy rain falling 2 or 3 times a day. I wish I could record the thunder and photograph the lightning strikes. It feels almost dangerous to walk out into the rain and see the thunder crack the skies above me. I will try and capture it though as I have never seen lighning come down and illuminate the sky such a wonderful colour of pinky red. Like everything in India, it's loud and bright, its seemed quite an appropriate thing to return to India and see such a weather phenomenon. The rain breaks the humidity and I am happy to tell that I actually slept last night without a single fan on which is a first for me in all my time in India. I had some pretty vivid dreams though which seemed to be a massive amalgamation of thoughts and experiences from my time in England.
So what has changed since I left? I know its only a month but as you can see I am trying to make more of an effort to document my time here as I may not be here for another year so will try again this time round to truly capture the true essence of my Indian experience. My idea with the '5 a day' is that I will document my time at Gram Vikas by simply snapping 5 shots and uploading them somewhere where you can check everything out. I hope it promotes some kind of discussion or debate. Apart from my renewed interest in blogging and the intensified rains, there are now 2, I think, cows now moved into the nearby fields close to my accommodation to chomp at the vegetation which has grown at an incredible rate. I also noticed an intensified rice paddy farming as I crossed through Orissa as obviously when the rain is there, it is time to capitalise on the conditions. I love looking out on the patchwork quilt sea of paddy fields which seems to go on for eternity. It made me wonder how they co-ordinate the farming of the fields and how local villagers organise the land ownership of such a vast area of land, as my work has shown me however, I expect this is only accomplished with difficulty and in relation to the farming itself - with centuries of passed down technical knowledge.
I loved seeing the guys including of course Anvesh and Jospeh and sharing stories with Olive. Good to have this little network of people from very different backgrounds and expertise. I hope we can help each other out as the years go by. I definitely want to visit Ireland that's for sure.
Whilst in England I was accepted for a position on the Tata Jagriti Yatra which as described on their website http://www.jagritiyatra.com/, is basically an 18 day train journey visiting 13 destinations around India ( a 9000km trip in total) where social entrepreneurs have established NGO's and foundations to assist with International Development issues. From over 10,000 applicants thus far I have been selected and I am very proud and feel privileged to be granted such an opportunity. I am always seeking inspiration for all my endeavours and I’m sure I will meet some great role models and highly driven individuals here. I was a little concerned that I might be one of the few foreigners on the train but upon looking on the website there are people from all over the world so I’m looking forward to that diverse mix of opinion and experience. My only issue is that the trip sets off end of December and my visa here expires in November so my visa extension, as well as job applications, is on top of the to-do list!!
In relation to my work: I am awaiting the finished designs for my motivational/educational posters to use in villages to promote RTI activities (Right to Information) I’m excited about finalising these and putting them to the test. I am also feeling great being back as I no longer pay for my accommodation here and this has really boosted my confidence as I hope this means my work has been recognised and I am valued. This means an awful lot to me, especially when I have such love for the organisation and its work. I also plan to document government schemes available for villagers in Orissa to attempt to define some kind of standard procedure so people know how things 'should' be working locally. Quite a long and drawn out task but I'll chip away at it. I think it could be a great resource if it is put together well and translated.
I’m getting a bit bored of writing now and want to get on with other things so that’s enough for now. I’m going to take 5 choice photos tonight and will upload them tomorrow. For now I will upload an image taken by my Dad when we visited the Wirral, UK and went for a deceptively long walk across to Hilbre Island.
Love to all
Rich
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