Carol’s India Blog

After my last entry I thought  had better let everyone know I am feeling much better! VSO shipped me off to Delhi for health checks and all those drugs/antibiotics they pumped into me at Koraput have done the trick and I have no passengers on board.  And some TLC and sleeping in a bed that’s not damp has taken 10 years off me!

It’s strange being back in Delhi, when I arrived in India last November I found it to be a manic, crazy and very Indian city. But after living in Digapahandi and then Koraput it seems quite sedate and cosmopolitan. No one stares at me. you can buy all sorts of western foods and there are lots of good restaurants.  The VSO volunteers in Delhi have a very different life to those of  us who live out in rural India – they go to bars, join the gym ,  go swimming and hang out with the ex-pat communities.  Those of us in rural India have to make our own entertainment and buying a new plastic bucket is about as good as it gets in terms of shopping experiences!  Must admit I am so glad I was sent to a rural place where I have led the life of a minor celeb! My India is so different from the tourist’s India and that of the Delhiites.  My only regret is that no one has been to visit me in Koraput and I have not been able to share the tribal villages and all the wonderful experiences with anyone.   

VSO have put me to work here in Delhi and yesterday I, and other volunteer, ran a session for the group of new voluneers on ‘Coping Strategies’ Hope we didn’t put them off!

However today I have to say goodbye to the comfortable bed, the TV and the warm shower at Sundeep’s guest house and make the 36 hour journey back to Koraput (2 nights on a train!)  Thus undoing all the good the visit has done me.  Oh well not long until I come home, but now I must dash and buy some toilet rolls for Ali’s birthday present – a rare treat in Koraput!