Byeeeeeeeee, Delhi!!

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November 29th 2011

Published: November 29th 2011

Firstly: Apologies on how damn late this is! I have been on the road and am in a place called Hampi right now (which I love) where I have to crawl around on the roof to get an internet signal, and that is also the reason why I have no pictures on this one - hopefully better luck next time!

Leaving Delhi was hard, but not impossible, and definitely not without tears (it is me, after all!). Seeing as I had not left the city in almost 2 months (due to the two ill-fated trips to Rishikesh), I was really looking forward to hitting the Indian rails again and coming down south to a place I had never been before!

I said my goodbyes to the boys at Apna Ghar, the permanent shelter home where I work in the afternoons, and that was a particularly emotional goodbye. There is one boy named Sahil who misbehaves for absolutely every other volunteer but is amazing to me, so good and helpful and kind that he has become one of my favourite parts about working there. When he found out that I wouldn't be returning, he got really quiet and wouldn't look me in the eye. Amit, the head social worker there, told me that he was getting a bit emotional so I took Sahil to another room (away from the other boys) and gave him a big hug and let him cry on my shoulder for a little bit while I cried on his. These boys have such a tough shell about them and rarely let their guard down but at the end of the day are still 8 and 9 year old kids, who have the added issues that life on the streets brings, and so for me, for Sahil to be letting me in, it was really tough and really emotional and of course incredibly touching. I held his hands and told him how much I had enjoyed my time with him and what a good boy he was and that I hoped he would continue to grow into a wonderful young man and that I hoped I could see him again next time I came to Delhi.

I question the wisdom of volunteer projects like the one I was working on in cases like this – you have a bunch of kids with abandonment and attachment issues in general, from either having run away from, having lost, or having been left by their families to life on the streets of Delhi, who come into shelter homes that are amazing and supportive but lacking a mother and father and that sort of structure. Then you have volunteers who come in and shower the kids with affection and attention and activities for a couple months but then who ultimately have to leave and move on, leaving the kids right where they were in the first place. I am not saying that volunteering should not exist – on the contrary, I think it is so so so so important, it's just I wish that I could think of a more permanent way to effect positive change and a sense of love and security into the lives of these children! I just have to hope that however brief my time there, I left some sort of positive impact on them!

The rest of my goodbyes were not so challenging! I had lunch with the City Walk boys and my friends Ronita, Alan and Nick, where I discovered the chocolate banana dosa (I am actually glad this discovery came at the end of my time in Delhi otherwise I probably would not have eaten anything else, ever!) and went to the “true” Indian wedding I have been after the entire time I've been here, past and present trip included! While I was sari shopping a couple weeks ago, the shopkeeper found out that I was going to be wearing the sari to a wedding and so invited me to her nephew's wedding, and so obviously (since I am such an opportunist) I said yes and invited Nina, one of my volunteer friends, to come along with me. It started off a little weirdly since I arrived at the home of the shopkeeper who invited me and she was nowhere to be found and Nina and I were greeted by empty stares as we tried to explain (to people who speak no English) why there were two white girls in saris on their doorstep. Eventually the message was relayed and we walked a few blocks to where the wedding was to take place.

This was a REAL Indian wedding! We were behind the groom, who was seated on top of a horse-drawn chariot and was wearing a wreath of rupee notes around his neck with more money stuffed into his turban. Men blasted trumpets, banged drums, carried fluorescent lighting tubes (I guess due to the absence of lamps?) and women carried pots on their heads that guests stuffed money into. Men danced and sang and jumped around to music that is difficult to describe – something like a marching band hopped up on amphetamines is what it sounded like! Nina and I stood a little back and just took everything in before entering the reception hall, where there was a DJ blaring Bollywood fusion and a group of amazing women dancers who welcomed us into their circle were throwing down a seriously intense dance party! We loved every moment and worked up a serious appetite for all the FOOD that we subsequently ate – every dish imaginable and everyone kept bringing us more and more until we were totally stuffed but totally satisfied. By that time, the bride had arrived, and so we went out to have some photos taken with the couple (I would say happy couple, but no one was smiling so it is really hard to tell how they were feeling hahaha!). No women were dancing anymore and it was purely drunk men on the dance floor, which looked hilarious but the women we were hanging out with would not let us near them as they feared for our safety which was very sweet and showed very good foresight as there was a power cut right after dinner and which led to the drunk guys tearing apart the DJ's set up because they were so angry and then led to a bunch of fights breaking out – Nina and I were shocked and felt absolutely terrible for the bride, and we were escorted home very shortly after all this started, but in talking to my friend Ronita afterwards I found out that apparently this is common at Indian weddings, when you have a bunch of family getting together after a long time of not seeing each other, and old feuds start up again and grudges get revisited. Still crazy to see but we had an amazing time and it will definitely be a wedding to remember!

My time in Delhi was so rewarding and really showed me that home (however cheesy this is going to sound!) is where the heart is – I found my peaceful little enclaves within the city, I found family in the Germans and their flat, I taught every single boy who came into the SBT shelter while I was there how to use a computer, I found a routine and a purpose to my time in this city with a population that is half that of Canada's, I found out how to be invisible and anonymous in a city that pitches sales non-stop to foreigners (it is by going to a mall in South Delhi :S ), I got dengue fever and Delhi belly, I tripped over a man smoking heroin in the staircase of the train station (not a happy moment), I celebrated Diwali by nearly being set on fire by wayward firecrackers, I met some amazing young men at SBT, I took the best Metro in the world, I was on a tv show, and I fell in love with a city I never thought I could possibly love, living in a chaotic whirlwind of a neighbourhood – just more proof that you cannot have expectations about things before they happen! I loved my time in Delhi and am looking forward to what is ahead for me, while also looking forward to sharing the place with my mom when we come back in February!

Namaste my loved ones, until next time!

Xoxo Love Shannon

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