Life rolls along at Child Haven Hyderabad

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It takes a lot of mental effort for me to go into the city of Hyderabad. Don't get me wrong, I love the hustle and bustle and people watching, it's just hard and I have literally seen less than 5 other white people I do go in. This is not a popular stop on the tourist trail and the foreigners who are in the city are working high tech in a specific pocket on the outskirts. Generally living in gate communities and some with drivers. Needless to say when I go out, I am a spectacle, unless I am in Banjara Hills or High Tech City. People want to snap their photo of me. I can just imagine that I am the western girlfriend that some boys show off to their friends. I hide behind my Maui Jim sunglasses (again an anolmoly as very few women except fashionistas wear sunglasses.)

I try to start my journey's early as the ride into Hyd is generally one hour and the buses are more frequent with villagers commuting for work. Problem is that the shops that I want to visit are not open until 11:30am and it's not like there is a Starbucks to burn a few hours in. I only wish that I could go sit in one of the 2 nicest parks in the city - alone. Not happening in a city of 8+M people. Forget about personal space.

I am riding the local bus for about $.15cents to get into the first major interchange and from there I can head to many different parts of the city. I find it amazing that I have been living here over 2mths and have not seen the major tourist sites of the city. Must make the effort to go. I did make the journey to the ritzy area of town and just rejoiced in the normalacy of the place. First the streets were clean of litter, I didn't see a child or a man peeing or pooing on the side of the street and nobody came up to me to ask for my photo. Girls were in jeans and long tunic tops (no sarees and punjab style dresses) and I had a real cappacinno at the Cafe Art, a nice little spot in the middle of Banajara Hills. I look forward to returning. I shopped and bought a pair of nice cotton pants, shirt for me and one for Rob, all for what is expensive by Indian standards ~$50 for all 3pieces. Next time I go in, I will take the time to go to a movie alone and have a nice lunch. That's the other thing, I like to go into the city alone and get lost in the crowd without having to worry about one of the children from the home getting hit by a bus (most don't have any street smarts as they don't go out from the home alone ever.)

Cultural Observation: People are the same all over the world. Romantic love exists despite arranged marriages being the norm (daily in the local newspaper are reports of double suicide of lovers whose families deny their union), mothers love their children like in any other country and weak men drink and destroy the unity of families because of their addictions. Most importantly, children are beautiful and innocent "creatures". I am blessed to have met 150 who without Child Haven would have a horrific life.

Check out the NGO website Child Haven

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