Ok, so I’ve now seen a man with a spear through his cheek. Actually, several men to be precise and through both cheeks. Whist in town the other week attempting to visit the internet ‘café’ we got caught up in a religious melee… People took to the streets in devotion to Murghua, the peacock God. Oil burned, spears were brandished and huge peacock-style headresses were sported as crowds paraded through the chaotic streets to a burst of drumming and car horns. I was thinking it was not unlike the Notting Hill Carnival until a guy floated above me dangling from a [View Full Entry]

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The queues outside the house have been getting longer as we’re getting closer to the official start of school. Parents from all the local villages are desperate to get their kids into Shikshayan school thanks to the success Aruna and Raghavan have made of it and the children who attend. The parents don’t seem to understand that no matter how many people they pressgang and how many people they try to pay off and how much money they offer Aruna and Raghavan - if the child’s name’s not on the list they’re not getting in… A&R have one rule – the [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so the telephone lines have been down for a week now thanks to the widening of the road. It seems in cutting down some trees, they also cut down some phone wires. So after a trip into the local town (40 min on the bus) I found a working cyber cafe. sort of.... One of the things I’m loving here is the use of language. Indian English is very formal. Almost antiquated. “What is your mother tongue” is a common question for example. And expressions such as “What the Dickens”, “It’s beastly hot”, “What a rumpus!” and “He& [View Full Entry]

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Aruna’s fight continues. She has been explaing the ‘reservation policy’ to me. Here in India, the cast system is alive and well. It is visible in the way some children won’t play with or hold hands with others and it is visible in the number of unversity palces awarded to students of different backgrounds. Aruna addresses the former in here school simply. Everyone is expected to perform the same rituals as everybody else (normally only a ‘brahmin’ would be allowed to peform the dialy hindy temple rite of ‘puja’) and everyone plays with every [View Full Entry]

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So, the elections are over and the result was announced on May 11. The DMK won, with the party riding to victory on the promise of free colour TVs for all. Not even Indian-made TVs… they’ll come from Taiwan. After what seemed like a constant flow of motion and blur and noise I made to Arasavangkadu (yep, you try saying it…) and was met by the lovely Aruna. She allowed me a day to settle in and meet the family before putting me to work. The family is made up of: Amma - her white sari-ed mother and matriarch of the [View Full Entry]

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10 km outside of Pondicherry lies the community of Auroville. This Trippy Hippy settlement is mainly made up of French and German spiritualists (read ‘lost tourists) looking for enlightenment. I went seeking my own holy grail … I was still looking for a beach. The commune was set up in 1968 by Sri Aurbindo – A UK educated Indian who preached the importance of Independence and spiritual unity. With ‘the Mother’ he returned to India and set up a community (not unlike a kibbutz) so that “there should be somewhere on earth that no one can claim as property&# [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so I’m still in search of a beach. My guidebook led me to believe that the ex-French colony of Pondicherry would be full of French hippies tanning themselves on a sandy beach whilst sipping coffee and munching on croissants. No surprise then that Pondi became a pressing call on my journey South. So I booked 3 nights in the superbly named Hotel Jayaram :o), packed my bikini and thanks to Brett, Mark and Jim a couple of good books for a little r & r. The C18th French influence is obvious - with old-style colonial buildings, wide boulevards and French [View Full Entry]

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Many people warned me about the smell. It hits your senses before you even get of the plane. But it’s not a bad one. Quite the contary. A mixture of humidity and dust and spices and warmth. I’d booked a taxi to pick me up from the airpoirt. (Mainly cos I like seeing my name written on big placards). It wasn’t there. However I’d already found a Great Dane on the plane (who was taken for being one of the Back Street Boys at airport security ) and we agreed a good deal for a taxi straight to Mamallapuram, 60km or [View Full Entry]

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Palms have been squeezed, boxes have been packed, cheeks have been pressed, boxes have been unpacked, babies have been kissed, boxes have been repacked and cocktails have been drunk. Some photo records exist, but fortunately none from Friday. Or at least as far as I know.. I guess it's goodbye to the old and farewell to the new. Still no time to be exited though. More excited at the thought of sleep. Sometime someplace, or is that Martini? However there'll be none of that where I'm going as Tamil Nadu is a dry place. Thanks to Kalpana's coaching I've learned Hello [View Full Entry]

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88% of the world to go... http://douweosinga.com/projects/visitedcountries [View Full Entry]

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