Carol’s India Blog

My time here is almost over because I have decided not to return for my final 6 weeks after the wedding. I will be very sorry to leave and will miss the people very much. They are completely eccentric, drive you mad sometimes but very endearing. There are so many characters and its impossible to describe them, you would have to experience them! For example there is the man in the orange boiler suit and old parka who follows me about the market every time I go there, he is very tall (unusual here) looks mad and keeps asking the traders what I am buying, then as suddenly as he appeared he disappears! And there’s the little man who does my ironing in his tiny wooden hut – just big enough for a table. He fills his large iron up with hot embers – no electricity required – and everything is beautifully ironed for 3 rupees per item (that around 5 pence) He is always smiling with his toothless grin and chats away to me in Oriya. He makes me feel good when I return home with my bag of beautifully ironed clothes. And then there is the deaf and dumb tailor, we communicate by drawings and he makes me clothes that fit without any measurements; however the style of women’s clothes is very baggy! Then last week I met the man who is employed to collect people’s rubbish, he blows a whistle and you rush out with your bag of rubbish which he dutifully puts into the cart. I was watching him other day and thought to myself ‘only in India’- he collects it and then goes along the road a bit and dumps it all by the side of the road and then collects another lot. But I could have dumped it there myself! Crazy or what! India must be the dirtiest country in the world; one of the volunteers described it as a vast theme park on poo ‘Come to India and visit the land of poo’

Tomorrow is a big festival in honour of Lord Ganesh, he is the one with the elephant head and my favourite. It’s him you worship before you start anything new as he is the remover of obstacles and makes things run smoothly. The atmosphere here is like Christmas with fairy lights and sparkly banners, tinsel and Ganesh statues everywhere. I bought some tinsel and glittery banners for my house so it looks very festive for my farewell party.  Hinduism is not just religion its a way of life and I just can’t imagine a group of guys in their 30s back home enjoying themselves as much as they have here this week – cutting up bits of polystyrene , gluing glitter and making little shrines ! They were all laughing and generally having a good time and not a drop of alcohol involved – see what I mean about endearing, you just can’t help but like them.

My old Oriya teacher, Prakash (the one who says we’ve been together in a previous life) called me last week; he had heard on the grapevine that I was heading home. What is this county like – he lives 300 Km away! Not only are they endearing but they must be the nosiest people in the world. Nothing can be kept secret, they know what you’ve had for breakfast. I had a man come up to me in the street and ask ‘Excuse me mam but what is in your bag’ What possible interest can the contents of my carrier bag be to anyone, and complete strangers have come up and asked me if I have fully recovered as their auntie, brother or granny saw me in hospital – and what was wrong with me anyway! Don’t come here if you want privacy! Prakash was heartbroken about me leaving so I told him I will come back and see him in Digapahandi – maybe I will who knows. But I will definitely come back to India and if everyone I have invited to the UK turns up I will be very busy!