Colourful and exciting India

If there is one thing to know about India, it’s that they love a good festival and celebrating in style. Luckily, we got to experience every first hand and on a quite a personal level. We started small and by the second day, it turned into one of the most intriguing events in my life so far…

We spent the first night (Saturday), at a small celebration in Janauri, there was some delicious free food, a makeshift temple near the bus stand, and some lovely traditional Punjabi music. It was a nice and low-key event to transition us into what was in store for us Sunday.

Earlier in the week, the councilor from a nearby (and much bigger) town came to invite us to his festival in Hariana. We happily accepted and went over in the afternoon for some more food and music. I think we underestimated our invitation but quite quickly it was brought to out attention we were “esteemed guests” and presented with a picture of some Hindu Gods, which we are planning to hang in the office. 

Aurelien, Amelie, Madeline and Breanne

Immediately after that, everyone around us was preparing for the parade-men in costumes, drum players, cars with stereo systems surrounded us. Much to our surprise, Amelie and myself were asked to ride camels in the parade and wave to the crowds. There were firecrackers and elephants in front of us and the whole experience was loud, colourful and incredibly and uniquely, India. Three hours later we were finally off on camels and own our way home to get back to work until the Kabaddi games on Friday.

Amelie and Breanne riding camels in the streets of Hariana

The Councilor invited us to come to Hariana again to see a Kabaddi Game with him on 23rd of this month. Once we reached, he got us seats on the stage next to the other counselors from where we had a good view on the Kabaddi field. For most of us it was the first Kabaddi game so it was really interesting to see it live and from a stage as VIP guests. But what was even more interesting was the show inbetween the Kabaddi games. Once, three men tried to fit in a ring that, to us, already seemed too small for two men, and another time they let five men aged over 60 try to catch a chicken. As interesting it was to see all these bizarre shows and talents unfold in front of us, you can’t help fell uncomfortable as you realize these old men are chasing a chicken for a money prize and are quite poor members of the community. To everyone on the stage with us, they roared with laughter as the men tried and failed to catch the bird, falling face first in the sand along the way. It was a good example of the cultural shocks we sometime face in India and how we have to learn to adapt to the situation without being offensive. While watching the game, the counselor introduced us multiple times to the crowd and we got served several snacks throughout the afternoon. And again, we got a painting and orange scarves as a gift for the guests of honour, which will keep reminding us of this interesting part of Indian culture we could experience that day.

Kabaddi game in Hariana

 Amelie and Breanne - Germany/Canada

Microfinance Project Managers, Paro (Punjab)

Cleanaholic in India

Being a person who loves it clean, very clean, clean in a way that you should be basically be able to eat from the ground it seemed to be an absurd idea to travel India or even choose it for the personal summer internship destination. Month ahead I only heard “And do you really think that it is the country you want to go to? You sure?”; not only from parents also from the rest of the family and friends. But my personal answer was clear “Yes I wanted to and yes I knew it will be a totally different world”. Regarding culture, gender equality, weather, landscapes, but also in terms of hygiene and cleanliness.

Typical documentaries show India as a place where waste just flies around. No one cares. No one thinks it is of his or her business. But was like that in reality? I wanted to find out.I came to research the environmental impact of the garment industry. Not too far from my idea of cleanliness and very high standards of hygiene. I am very disappointed about the garment industry and big companies negatively impacting the environment of thousands of people and consequently impacting their health. So I wanted to observe and find out more about the management of these businesses and how they treat their waste. 

But for now let us get back to me and my obsession of being clean and living in a clean environment; leaving the airport doors at the 31^st of May and stepping in the real Indian world was a big step for me. To see and finally smell the huge amount of waste being more or less everywhere definitely feels different than just watching it in TV. It smells. In some areas it smells a lot.  My first destination was Naddi, a small place at the food of the Himalayas, a place for higher casted Indians to go on holidays and at the same time EduCARE’s headquarter. Since it is a touristic place it supposed to be clean and beautiful. The latter is surely the case but with the cleanliness… I don’t know... Definitely not my standards and quick I realized in what troubles I put myself in - This place being called clean? I didn’t even want to know how the rest of the country looks like if this supposed to be clean. Welcome to the mind of a cleanaholic.

When I arrived in Paro, a small village in Punjab, which is my final destination for my internship, I started to clean up the intern house and to prepare “my corner” - I cleaned, cleaned and cleaned and bought a small shelf and hangers for my cosmetics before I actually found some rest from the travel. Eight hours from North to a little bit more South. Eight hours of seeing more of eye-catching India and also eighthours of seeing more waste; on the streets, in the lakes and rivers, on the fields, next to the houses. The next day a carpet to put my luggage on followed so that it is doesn’t get dusty; my suitcase spent the first night on the collection of mattresses. A proper mosquito net was the cherry on the cake. As a cleanaholic you always find something to do or improve, you are never bored.

 

Other interns mostly make fun of me. Finally, it all comes back to the question “Why did you choose India if you hate dirt?” I only have to say it isn’t impossible to enjoy India and my time here just because there is this one thing (even though it is a bigger thing) I don’t really like. People need to be more open-minded and tolerant with other people’s lifestyles. Judging someone just because he/she came here even though not liking dirt is unfortunate. I do love cleanliness and so do I accept India and it’s uniqueness. 

So now you might see the reason why I later on decided to be also part of a colleagues project trying to develop and implement a waste system for a smaller community. Doesn’t everyone say you should make your passion to your job? So will I and I am curious of what the next month brings. Not only cleaning, that’s for sure. There are many things to do and to explore - With toilet paper and wet towels or without.

Awa Sall - Germany
SWASH Project Manager - Punjab