Adukkumalli

Girona is a nice city located in the north-east part of Spain. And I'm not saying it's a nice city just because it's my hometown! I really think it is and many people think so! It has a fantastic old part of the city and you can still see Roman roads and really antique churches, cathedrals and houses. Every May in the city we have a special event called "Girona, temps de flors" ("Girona, flower time"). During this festival, the monuments of the city and courtyards are adorned with floral decorations as installation art pieces, which are opened to visitors. They are accompanied by light and water and picturesque, sculptural and musical settings. Some of the flowers have to be replaced every now and then otherwise then don't last for the whole exhibition. There is a ... read more

During my research in internet for my previous blog about Neruda's poem "Die slowly" I found out something interesting and new for me! It seems that this poem is not by Pablo Neruda, it's by a brasilian woman called Martha Medeiros! I would appreciate any information if anyone has it! Thanks a lot!... read more

I’m in this amazing trip on the back of a Royal Enfield motorbike (Bullet) around India. We started in Mumbai on September the 9th and our goal was to arrive in Orissa by December the 10thto attend a wedding in Cuttack. We rode north to Rajasthan; we spent one month in Himachal Pradesh; then we went to Utrakkhand and down to Agra, Orchha and Khajuraho on our way to Varanasi. We arrived in this holy city on the 22nd of November. It was my first visit and I was really looking forward to spending some time in this city which is loved by many people. Even though my first impression was “this is a mess”, after a couple of days I started feeling very comfortable, relaxed and welcome. We got into a small routine going to ... read more

Suresh is 30 years old and lives in Jibhi, a small town in the Banjar Valley, the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Suresh is married and has one child of three years. His wife is studying a computer course in Kullu, the district centre about 60 klms away. He is master of the school Ghiyagi, and about thirty minutes from his home (half of which can be reached by foot only). Paul, my partner, met Suresh two years ago. It was a very cold day when Paul was walking to the Ghiyagi dhaba for breakfast and the teacher had picked him up on his bike and they had a chai together. A few days later Suresh invited Paul to make a visit to the school and join them for their cooked lunch (the school ... read more

In India under the left supported alliance which has allowed the Congress Party to stay in power, a number of radical bills have passed through the Parliament in recent years. These include The Right to Work Bill; The Right to Information Bill; and most recently The Right of children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (or The Right to Education Bill as it is known) which came into force on April 1, 2010. This historic law gives the people of India the right to an education on the same legal footing as (for example) the right to life as provided by Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. Under this Act, every child in the age group of 6-14 years is to be provided 8 years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity ... read more

Today I went to lunch at a restaurant in Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India. There was a boy who could not have been more than 13 sweeping the floor. As he wiped my table he gave me a lovely smile. On leaving the restaurant I went to a shoe repair roadside box-stall to have my Menorquines repaired. Dillip was about 12 and worked with hammer and nails as 5 peers looked on. I was very happy with the repair job. But being Tuesday Dillip should have been in school instead of being on the street ... repairing shoes. Yesterday in Udaipur I was excited watching skilled workers lining carved tables and chairs with silver foil. What patience! Among them were two children. Their parents would benefit from the extra income coming to the home to supplement what ... read more