18:30, 09/03/09 New Delhi

18:30, 09/03/09 New Delhi

I’ve just boarded the Shiv Ganga Express at New Delhi Station. This is one of my favourite train trips to do. It is an overnight train from New Delhi to Varanasi. It is scheduled to take 10 hours but usually takes 15. On my last trip I always booked myself into Sleeper Class, a berth of six blue bunk beds with rattling windows jammed open or closed and a filthy fan that keeps the air circulating. During the day the bunks fold away and hey presto, it’s a normal berth again. Below Sleeper Class are the straight seated carriages and above are berths with less bunks and more mod cons like air conditioning, blankets, pillows and curtains.
This trip, I’ve gone for AC1, i.e. the best of the best! Booking with Mum’s credit card made this a good option although it still only costs $60. There are 4 spacious, brown bunks in the berth, curtains on fancy rods, call bells for the stewards and little “Occupied” lights for the toilets…and doors! If you want the steward will even make up your bed for you. I’m sharing with three lovely Indian gentlemen. I greatly appreciate this luxury. With only a short trip and many kms to be travelled, every bit of comfort helps. After a week in Vrindabin I a nasty cold and little red spots on my face that I think (hope!) are harmless mosquito bites. This doesn’t bode well, as compared to Varanasi, Vrindabin is clean, quiet and hassle free. I may look a little like Shrek when I get out of Varanasi in a couple of weeks!
As I’m travelling at night there is not much to tell of the scenery between Delhi and Varanasi. However, let me recollect the trip that Sue, Col and Jodi will be taking after arriving at Varanasi airport today. If anything interesting pops up here, I’ll add it in italics.
My guess is after going through the passport check and collecting their luggage, they probably would have walked straight out (no customs check) into the welcoming smile of Pandey Ji (or as I affectionately call him, Pandi Wandi). He is the Admin Guy with SMF, but that is a very loose title and it would be boring to list the thousands of tasks he does. He is one of the few that is comfortable to give a hug, and with his Indian Sweets cushioning and jolly giggle, it is by far one of the greatest hugs out (I think the Lennox’s taught him how to hug!).
Exhausted from their travels, they would have piled into the vehicle (either Mahant Ji’s or a hired Pajero like car) and headed off for the 1hour plus/ 20km drive back to Tulsi Ghat.
At first, travelling along a lone road, heading toward the city, they would have passed through farmland, with what can only be described as mud houses spotted hear and there. Then into some more established road side towns, with open restaurants, red plastic chairs and big soft drink banners lining the dusty road. The “city” of Varanasi would start to show itself as half built concrete blocks posing as residential abodes, at first sporadic and then more consistent.
Ha! I think I’ve just been given a free pot of chai! First Class is SWEET!
Finally, without realising the actual moment, they would have entered the city itself. This is characterised by more dust, roads coming from all directions, buildings and… not buildings (hard to describe, but I think that captures it best), round-about's that don’t go a-round and more horns being honked than one cares to imagine.
At the beginning of the journey they would have shared the road with ox/horse/donkey/man-drawn carts full of farm produce or sand for construction. There would be the occasional truck with its multi-coloured paint work, Godly dingle dangles from the rear-view mirrors and a sign on the back actually asking drivers to honk please!! The trucks’ horns comprise five notes that ring a non-melodious, yet endearing tune. And of course there would be the numerous motor bikes, scooters and other cars. Altogether they use the whole road, with no care for keeping to an appropriate side (hence the request to use the horn). In town, the carts and trucks won’t disappear, but will be absorbed into the many more cars and bikes and rickshaws (pedal powered and motorised). It is at this point our friends will remember why the car’s rear-view mirrors are tucked in against the side of the car rendering them useless- because if they weren’t the two motorbikes, rick shaw and car, trying to overtake them at a busy non-round-a-bout would have each taken a part, if not the whole mirror off as they pushed by (best to keep them and never use them right?).

The train has set off and one of my companions is holding court in our berth, we have a visitor (not un-common, in fact there are usually more) and he obviously knows the speaker (quite un-common, usually anyone will drop by, expecially when the spectacle of a white woman can be seen). Speaker Ji is talking in Hindi but has mentioned parliament a couple of times, so either is a dignitary, or believes himself to be dignified; he certainly looks it in his doti and kurta (the long wrap men wear instead of pants and long shirt) and the tone of his voice, which is soft and sure.
Once, obviously in the city, the Lennox’s would have been deceived by a feeling of “almost there”. As the longest part of the journey would have just begun, weaving through the endless knitted roads. I have no idea what direction they approach from as any sense of direction is lost after the first 50 bends. They think they will recognise a road with a certain wall, but no they via right instead of left. Sure enough though they will recognise a building, perhaps a restaurant or an intersection and then they will be on the well known, monsoon pitted dirt road down to Tulsi Ghat, where Mahant Ji will be eagerly, but calmly awaiting their arrival in his “Throne Room”.
The bedrooms will have been dusted out, and a classic Indian Thali style dinner will be awaiting them, I’m hoping cooked by the cheeky Umesh.
And laid out before them, in all her glory, will be the goddess Ganga (Ganges River) slowly flowing by. With the sun setting behind them, the reds and the pinks in the Varanasi buildings will be glowing, a calm will be settling upon the city and the bells of evening arties will be starting up along the river. Upon seeing her, their hearts will fill with a love, like that of coming home after a long time away and any questions or doubts that plagued their minds in trying to justify the trip will be completely forgotten without a trace. Gosh, I wish I was there right now!!
The two young men who seem to be regularly passing by our door and trying to peer in remind me to prepare for the constant stares of intrigue (and more) that will follow us in Varanasi. I have to start getting into my Varanasi gear. This includes a mental head guard, a personal space detector (which warns me when someone enters mine inappropriately), some tummy bug vigilantes and a big dose of patience. None of this stuff tastes too good, so I mix it with a whole lotta love and it goes down a treat!

OzGREEN's India Trip 2009

Dear All OzGREENers,


I’m sitting at Melbourne International Airport. In a couple of hours the engines will start spinning and jet fuel will be combusted as Thai Airlines flight TG980 perpares for take off. I will be on that flight and in so being I am going to blow my eco-footprint out of the water (sigh!), but I will be heading for the wonderful Varansi, India (yeah!).

You have all heard about Varanasi and OzGREEN’s partner organisation, the Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF). Some of you have even been lucky enough to visit. The city, the SMF Team and their campaign are such an essential part of OzGREEN and Sue and Col have been there almost every year for the last 15 years. One could safely say that OzGREEN might not exist if it wasn’t for the profound experiences they had on their first trip.

I will be meeting Sue and Col, and Jodi, in Vara in about a week and I thought for this trip, it would be a great idea to share the experience with you all so that you can get a sense of what goes on, why and how. I shall endeavour to introduce you a little more personally to the people and I will do my best to describe the sounds, smells and sensations, but believe me I won’t do it justice!

Some of you will know that I lived in India for 8 months volunteering with SMF in 2007/8. It was a challenging and fulfilling experience and different in so many ways to what I expected. Perhaps, some of these experiences will be revisited over the next month and I’m sure there will be entirely new ones as the context of this trip is quite different.

Only two months ago (10 months after returning from Vara) Sue and Col sent me a simple email: “we are going to Varansi in March, can you come?”. Without need for much contemplation I replyed a day or so later: “YES!!!!!” It almost suprises me that I am at the airport waiting to leave now, it has all been so quick and easy. It makes me think of the Qualities of a Leader section of the Youth LEAD/ Leading with the Heart workshops, where we are asked to think of a time when everything felt “right”; this trip feels exactly that, I have been extremely fortunate in the support that OzGREEN have shown to have be a part of this trip and the result is that I’ve not questioned the decision once..

Time jump- Well I’m now burning up the carbon at 11,000 feet. I’ve already switched my watch to India time in an attempt to convince my body that it is really only 8.30pm; its perfectly natural that I’ve just had a second dinner and that I can settle down to watch at least one movie before its sleep time. I am enjoying relative luxury on this flight. My long legs are stretched out over three seats all to myself and I’m loving the brightly coloured upholstery and blankets. I’ve had a little wine to go with my meal and I’m drinking lots of water (apparently it helps with the jet lag). It’s a high cost to travel internationally (and I’m not referring to the dollar), but a wise friend taught me of the priveledge that we have in our society to be able to travel. It is a priveledge and should be undertaken with thanks, respect and an awareness that your experience brings experience to those who can’t travel. So, acknowledging my grievances
(and these are shared by the Lennox’s also, believe me the decision to return to India once again was not made lightly by them) I am perfectly happy, enjoying this flight!

So what to expect if you wish to keep reading these emails:
I arrive in Delhi on the morning of the 4th (India time). I’ll need to haggle with some taxi drivers to figure out a fair price to take me into the city, wait for an hour or so while I meet with Deepa Gupta, a director of the Indian Youth Climate Network (the AYCC equivalent for India) and then drive me the three hours or so it takes to get to Vrindaban. Like Varanasi, it is a Holy Hotspot. Here I will be taking a bit of a personal journey and doing some sight seeing (its not far from the Taj). From Vrindaban, I’ll be heading back to Delhi to get the overnight Shiv Ganga Express to arrive in Varanasi on the 10th and to meet up with the wonderful SMF Team, Sue, Col and Jodi.

We will spend three weeks in Varansi. In this time we hope to have some conversations with the Team about how they are going with their campaign, what role they have in the climate change world and what direction they want to head over the next few years. We will be using a lot of Strategic Questions and one converation may last for several days as we allow for the constant but irregular interruptions that come with working alongside a highly respected High Priest in a city that is based on mostly disfunctional infrastructure (eg electricity cuts everyday).

On the 22nd of March is World Water Day(WWD). The Foundation have been organising the residents of the city to form a Human Chain along the banks of the river in solidarity for a Clean Ganga for many years now. This year we are hoping to run a climate change focused Youth Leadership program and then a Youth Forum in conjunction with WWD (which is why I am meeting with Deepa in Delhi).

Aside from the work, I hope to be visiting my Indian dance teacher on a regular basis and making a couple of trips to Dashaswamed the main market place for innocent tourists. Jodi and I have suggested a Bollywood film would be in good order and I’m very much looking forward to chai on the ghats and hot sizziling chocolate brownies at the chinese restaurant around from where we stay (mmmmm, hot sizziling!)

So, stay tuned for more, feel free to send questions, dare me to try something out or whatever else might interest you in this blog.

Lots of love

Angie (aka OzGREEN Correspondent!)