What we did on our holidays

Ok…I said I wouldn’t, but it’s too hot outside and its another 3 hours before we have to go out again in search of the tigers…so as Rita sleeps, I write.

I must confess that I managed to be late in picking my wife up at Delhi airport. She cleared immigration super fast, and was standing outside the terminal when Mr Singh, our driver, and I arrived. At least it saved us the parking fee at the airport, and as Rita had called me and knew I was on the way, she didn’t seem too upset that I’d let her down. After an hours kip at my hotel and breakfast, we clambered aboard our super luxury Innova (recommended because it has a double a/c system and I’m very glad we spent the extra money), and trundled down to Jaipur. I say trundled because the state of the art multilane motorway that starts in Delhi lasts about 50km and then becomes your average India highway- two lanes but often one blocked by a parked broken down truck, a car careering up the wrong side of the road towards us, or a cow. Mr. Singh made steady but safe progress.
We stopped at the Neemrana Fort for lunch. This is a “non hotel hotel”, part of a luxury chain that specializes in stupendous restored buildings, and charging for the privilege of visiting. We spent more on lunch than I usually spend on 3 days food in Kolkata, but what the hell, we’re on vacation, and it was a splendid meal.
After this it was still three hours to Jaipur- the travel agents 4 hours is the drivers “5 or more sir.” I was glad to finally reach our hotel, via a short but expensive trip to a jewelers that just happened to be on the way- “only 5 minutes sir”- and clearly Mr Singh has a furtive “arrangement “ with them. (He was at pains to ask us not to mention this the following day as he could get into trouble with his company, who clearly have an “arrangement” with a different jewelers we just happened to pass by. That trip was also a bit hard on the wallet, but what’s a man to do- seeing his wife for the first time in 11 weeks and it being her birthday the next day?).
Jaipur is known as the Pink City- because when Prince Albert visited in 1876, the maharajah ordered the whole place to be painted that color (not Ian Poulter shocking pink, but a subtle orangey pink that blends with the dust very well). When the royal palace façade was repainted in the wrong shade a couple of years ago, everyone got a bit narked, but it still works, Its about 20 minutes from downtown to the Amer fort, which was where the big cheese Ruler lived before he designed his planned city ( think Milton Keynes but 200 years ago- and it does have roundabouts).
We’d booked a guide- partly because everywhere else I’ve been I had been pestered by people trying to be one and having a bona fide Indian with us gave us some peace. He also told us lots of interesting stories, (some of them may even have been true) and some local color on the state of play in the elections. I was a bit disappointed he didn’t know the IPL results though. We have the only two people in India who hate cricket working for us!!!

We were complete tourists….elephant ride…shopping (ouch!)…I almost got heatstroke in the afternoon. I could feel myself getting irritated by our guide insisting on long detailed explanations of how every instrument in the observatory worked- and what exactly is the point of a sundial that is accurate to 20sec anyway?? When we’d established that it was all done so you could work out your horoscope I lost interest. I didn’t know you have a major star sign ( month of birth) AND a minor sign (hour of birth), and as the temperature felt like it was pushing 45C I decided I didn’t care too much for the mumbo jumbo and retired to the cool of the car. We ate at a local “theme park” full of surreal Indian dancers, magicians, pipe smokers and camel rides…It must have felt to Rita, just 36 hours off the plane, as though she’d drunk a bhang lassi (yoghurt drink infused with special ahem..herb) and was hallucinating the whole thing.
Ranthambore was a long 4 hours away and the road was mainly crap, but they have Tigers, and apparently they are so used to being chased by jeeps full of camera clicking tourists, they are ”tame.” This makes it one of the most likely places to see one (unless you are David Attenborough who sees them everywhere). We were glad to arrive but I must confess, the only Tiger I thought we’d see was the picture on one of the lorries we followed for mile after mile.

It has 35 Tigers in its 192 square kilometers (and two have buggered off to the North, and one died last month, and one just had two cubs so is in hiding). Being summer, it was quiet (just as well, I’d hate to be here in season with thousands of jeeps and buses) but ironically, it means the chances of seeing one increase as they have to go to the lakes for their water.
We sat for a long time admiring the peacocks and the spotted dear. It was very quiet and the guide said he could hear warning calls in the distance. (I didn’t want to confess that it was my stomach loudly complaining about lack of breakfast). I’d almost lost hope and was starting to get interested in the partridges shuffling around in the tree when suddenly, the dear all stopped, looked up in one direction and scarpered as Mrs. T strode out of the undergrowth and, ignoring the jeeps that had suddenly appeared from nowhere moseyed down to the lake for a bath. When a baby started screaming in one car she looked as if thinking….mmmmm breakfast…and then sauntered off down the track. We all followed her for about 30 minutes and then she disappeared down a track that only “VIPs” can use. I could cynically say that it was all staged- and after she disappeared, she went to pick up her daily “appearance fee”. However, the guide said he normally sees a tiger about 30% of the time and he was mightily pleased with such an excellent sighting. We were happy at least!!!
The evening safari was less successful. We waited for ages because “the tiger is in the undergrowth over there sir…honest!” Then we went miles, just in case there was one near the water hole. The people in our jeep described themselves as “jonahs” as they’d been to three parks and had yet to sniff a tiger. However, we were told that another group, on another route had seen one, and right at the end, our guys broke all the rules, went on a forbidden path, and we got a glimpse of a tiger sleeping in a stream bed. If I have a criticism it’s that it is all about the bloody tigers, and the guides seem to have little interest in anything else. There are some marvelous birds, and I’m sure lots of other interesting things in Ranthambore, but no-one seems to care about them very much.

I have commented on Agra before and a repeat visit enabled me to appreciate bits of Agra Fort I’d missed the first time. We also did the full “tourist rip off guide experience in Fattepur Sikri which was great fun. We were told all sorts of lies about the bazaar, the mosque, and blew money each making a wish in aid of erm “muslim charity”
It’s supposed to be a very secret wish- not even to be shared between husband and wife- although why wanting Chelsea to actually win something soon should be a secret I don’t know…so maybe I wished for something else hehe
We saw the birthplace of Krishna at Mathura on the way back up to Delhi- and I nearly burned my bare feet trying to get up the steps to the temple. Krishna temples are very like theme parks and whilst photos are not allowed, spending money on idols, tapes of weird music and all sorts of foods clearly is a requirement- so not very different to Disneyland.
The Rajdhani express ( first class) from Delhi to Kolkata completed my full house of Indian train experiences- at least the ones I want to have- I’ll let the poor students try out the non a/c unreserved stuff- been there, done that in Europe and have no plans to try it again. Actually, the food was indifferent, and the bed no more comfortable than in second class, but the private carriage and service were splendid. I could get used to first class. Back “home” the sultry humidity of Kolkata was a bit of a shock to Rita’s system. I’m used to sweating profusely and lightened my luggage by disposing of a load of T-shirts that smell bad having worn them for too long in this environment. We rose at 5am to be first out on the golf course, to find two fourballs in front of us- but at least they let us play through. Rita can now boast that she too has birdied holes in the Sub continent, although she seemed more keen on sleeping the rest of the day as it was so warm.

Sikkim and Darjeeling
The journey from Bagdograh to Gangtok was a delight. It takes 4 hours up a long windy road tracking a river. For me, seeing hills and verdant vegetation in a car that did not require a/c was a refreshing change. I also love traveling into mountains, and each ridge we crested revealed a new one much higher up. It goes on and on until the top of the world, as these are the foothills of the Himalayas. The sun shone, although the clouds moving in suggested that it might be short lived. Sure enough, we woke the next day to dense mist, which rapidly became rain. We hung around for ages for our passes to chongo lake, and then I lasted less than an hour on the narrow potted and rock strewn road before I concluded that 4 hours suffering on my bony backside to arrive at a 1km lake that we wouldn’t be able to see- so poor was the visibility- wasn’t worth the effort. Unfortunately, I made my final “grumpy tourist decision” just as we hit a long queue due to a recent rock slide which had clearly blocked the road, and reduced it to single file- which both upward and downward traffic seemed determined to ignore. That was another 45 minutes of my life wasted until we could turn round and head back down. My parents never saw a mountain, and I suspected that with cyclone Aalia having just hit Kolkata, (we got out just in time), and a huge swathe of cloud on the BBC world weather map from Hong Kong to Delhi, we would suffer the same.

Sure enough we slept through and woke to torrential rain the next day. There was zero point in visiting the viewpoints. I’m sure Kanchenjoonga (ok- a little artistic licence with the spelling, but the Indians all do the same) is up there, but ill just have to believe in the photos as we didn’t see it. We made our way back down the river valley and could see exactly why the forest is so green- its all that moisture! The river however had been transformed from a brook, gently burbling over the rocks into a brown torrent that swept everything with it. The rain lashed down, roads all over the region were closed and by the time we tried going up there, the roads to Darjeeling were the same. We passed numerous fallen trees, some cleared out of the road, one fortuitously had come down next to a petrol station and so everyone used the forecourt as the new road. I decided that risking hours in a mountain traffic jam to maybe reach Darjeeling, and sit in a hotel room worrying about whether we’d get out again was not worth the effort. (there would have been no way we could have seen anything had we arrived). With our sodden tails between our legs we retired to Siliguri and paid some stupid amount of money for a room in advance of the crowds who I’m sure followed us when they discovered they couldn’t get up that night.
So, we didn’t see a mountain, or much in the way of red pandas or tea plantations, but it was an adventure doing rallycross with our driver. I get the feeling India is done with me and is gently telling me that its time to come home….maybe Ill listen and make a run for it.
We had one final day in Delhi, with a car and driver I wasn’t aware Id booked taking us to see everything……and there is a lot to see in Delhi.
Postscript…..Darjeeling was still cut off two days later- so had we actually got there, we would not have escaped in time to come home.

So… was it worthwhile?

The IICP leadership

Last blog for a while at least, I am not planning on writing when I’m on vacation (the last 11 weeks have not been vacation. I’ve not been paid, and have occasionally done something akin to work. Its work scottie …but not as we know it!!!) I may continue to ramble after I get home (I’ve enjoyed the exercise of writing), but if you want to read, then you have to write me an e mail saying so- I am not planning on filling up your inboxes with my waffle unless you tell me you want me to. chrisinkolkata@gmail.com
I have a week of presentations, and frantic winding things up or handing things over so that if not finished, they can continue without me. Just like a 12 week summer student at P&G, only in the last few weeks have I felt I know what I’m doing, and with three more months I could really get things moving. However, I need to go back to work and earn some cash as my reserves are perilously low.

I can list my achievements as follows
Fundraising strategy- check
Progress on some specific fundraising projects – check
Some HR stuff completed – check
Some workshops for the staff with powerpoint slides – check
A bunch of kids had hydrotherapy with me- and didn’t drown, despite my best efforts.
Actually my last session was the most fun as we had only three kids all of whom could pretty much swim, so we had races and splashing contests. Its great to be a kid some days, even when you are 43.

I feel frustrated that I didn’t do more…..and whilst I can think of many excuses and reasons why not, I will still come away with a sense of “could have done better”.
Personally I have learned a lot as well. Probably the biggest thing is that im reasonably comfortable around people with disability. (Ranu said that if this is an outcome of any placement, then its been successful). They are all just people, even if communicating with them can be tough at times.
I have become a dangerous user (a little knowledge is a dangerous thing) of Microsoft publisher, open office writer, Facebook, blogspot, skype and backing up photos, music and data on external drives…. If you don’t have your life backed up- spend an hour and do it, as it saved me when my computer died.
I’ve met some amazing people motivated by more than just the monthly paycheque, and who have gone out of their way to look after me, knowing I was away from home.

Does volunteering really make a difference?
I had separate long discussions on this subject with Ranu, and Simon Palferman (Mondo challenge operations manager who took the plunge and sent me here, rather than make me teach chemistry in Tanzania (I still shudder slightly at how I personally could have ruined the education of 90 schoolchildren).
Ranu and Simon….party animals

I think we all have similar feelings about this. I could have stayed working, written a fairly large cheque to IICP and covered a chunk of their budget deficit this year (they can’t accept my credit card…yet, so they’d have to pay to get a sterling cheque cleared into Rupee, and go through the pain of trying to get the money, at least until someone sorts out their website).
Three months is not a long time to make a fundamental change to an organization. It was onlythe last couple of weeks I felt I knew what value I could bring to the IICP- and lets face it, I didn’t get them much in the way of new donations. I had to learn fundraising (thank you, thank you those who helped teach me), and the IICP had to learn that I could do other organizational stuff of use.
In some cases, volunteers show up, are not around long enough to actually do anything, and are just a drain on the limited resources of an NGO trying to do good work. (Ranu has told me many stories of some of her “gappers;” Gap year students who show up, party, get sick, travel and occasionally show up at work. For the receiving organization, this is just a pain in the ass. ( actually I did most of those too… maybe I am one of them )
In some cases, westerners showing up in a slum trying to do good works, is interpreted by the slum community as meaning, this NGO is rich- so give us the money instead. Hence the IICP has always worked on these projects with other NGO’s whose focus is poverty. I was fortunate to spend a couple of days in the slums and rural communities, but a careful Indian, local approach is what’s required there.
My conclusions are as follows.
- If you have a specific skill, that fits naturally with the organization- GREAT-use it! A physiotherapist or special educator can do amazing things at the IICP and is seen as help.
- Often its our secondary interests and hobbies that are useful. Had I been a web designer, I could have done the website myself. My slightly geeky inclination for the internet was where I focused my attention and my experience of managing an organization has helped on the HR stuff. ( I am not applying for a role in HR though)
- Spend the time before you start working out where the skills and needs overlap. Had I spent more time doing this in January, then I could have done 4-6 more weeks of useful stuff at IICP- because it took me this long to actually get moving
- If there is no overlap then get involved in an exisiting programme that is up and running- even if you are “just another volunteer who they can slot in”- because at least you are tangibly, supporting the ongoing work.
- The receiving organization also needs to overload you with work. Better to ask for 50 things and get 30 of them, versus ask for 20 initially and only get 15. For me hydrotherapy was an important routine thing for me, and I knew that it made a small tangible difference.

Do I regret it? Not at all- its been an amazing experience , and for me, better than just traveling। Would I do it again? Possibly- but I’d look for ways of making the time most efficient. I could have done so much more in a 6 month placement, and I’m sure in a year the IICP would have money pouring in…I hope they will anyway- I like this organization.

And the rain came down…( go on musos..tell me which song that is from?)
I (and everyone else here) have whined about the heat, and last Saturday was 42.1C (hottest ever in May apparently. I was playing golf with a bunch of mad dogs and Indians. I won Rs 30 as well with a birdie on the 9th J).
However, the week before my round was curtailed. In the space of 10 minutes the sky went from bright blue, through grey to angry malevolent black, the temperature dropped at least 5C and a howling wind sent us scurrying to the halfway house. Om Kaul declared it would blow over. We stood on the tenth tee for 2 minutes, felt the first drops of rain and decided it might be better to wait, and then watched as the heavens opened. It was disappointing because after we stopped, changed and had tea and toast, it brightened up and would have been a pleasant evening to play golf.
Yesterday was slightly different though- the heavens not only opened, they stayed open for a good 4 hours, and I ventured out only to watch the fantastic light show put on by Odin special effects Inc. (dunno if there is an Indian god of thunder- Im sure there is as they have a god for everything else). I thought this would close down the street market, but they put up an extra waterproof sheet over their stall, and carried on selling. Even my icecream man was still on the corner trying to flog “Mango Funs” at Rs20.
Rain? What rain…..should it stop me selling you a saree at a very good price sir??


Since then Ive tried to yell my final presentation at the IICP over the delicate sound of thunder, and was woken at 4.45am this morning by the earth moving I seriously thought it was an explosion for a minute. When I finally ventured out for my run, it was deliciously cool for the first 20 minutes, but thereafter I could feel the sun working, and see the puddles evaporating, wispy tendrils of steam rising and making it very sticky.
This isn’t even the rainy season yet, so when the monssons come its even worse. However, this has been a weird year for weather. I hope its not too hot when Rita comes out to stay.

The IPL, and Election Fever,

I now have something akin to a daily routine. Its scary that I only have 8 working days left, but routine it now is.
I start with a run in the morning around the lakes. It is quieter and cooler at 6am and makes me feel sanctimonius to have done some form of exercise. (My gym membership probably didn’t really pay out as I have not used it as much as I intended). I then take a rickshaw and bus to work (if one of my Aunties isn’t giving me a ride in their car). This is faster than the school bus, and only costs Rs16. (20pence for those of you who do not carry the exchange rate in their heads). I buy the paper on the way and get 10 minutes of local context plus the world sports results and some stuff on Bollywood stars I have never heard of. As this is for the princely sum of Rs 2.5 its seems to me to be a good deal. I then drink my morning coffee (Anujit, the volunteer who also educates me about cricket makes a mean cup of black sludge- just the way I like it). I work a little- (actually it’s a lot at the moment as I have many things coming together and Id like to finish one or two of them before I leave). Twice a week I have my bath…er do hydrotherapy…. And then work some more. Without my computer- still with Sony India who are “waiting for a part,” I’m reliant on a dodgy laptop and a desktop with internet access (when the power is working). It means nothing is easy any more, but I am progressing slowly.
I take the bus and riskshaw (sic) home। There are very rarely accidents in this city because everything goes at about 15km, but the rickshaws race the taxis who race the buses and everyone tries hard to run over any poor cyclist or pedestrian who steps out in front of them. A couple of times I’ve though I was going to die, but everyone has a cheerful disrespect for traffic lights, and no-one seems to mind being cut up too much. God forbid they ever discover road-rage as the place would be carnage. Just outside my apartment is a Kwality (yes…the spelling is such) ice cream trolley and every day I have a RS5 “orange fun.” When it is really hot this can be the best moment of the day, and the ice cream man and I are now on smiling terms.

If I don’t have shopping to do, I can relax and watch the Indian Premier League on tv. Mark Tully, respected journalist and commentator, described India as “a country without full stops”. I must confess, I have no idea what he was on about and found his vignettes a little tiresome when I tried reading his book. (It was part of my Indian prereading before I arrived). However, India is a country of contrasts and beguiling solutions that defy logic. (OK I’m a bloke and logic isn’t my strongest suite). Hence, it is perfectly natural here that when the country’s national passion (cricket) collides with the general election, and there is a dispute about the availability of security (plus an alleged undercurrent of political pressure being applied to try and use the IPL matches for party advertising), the solution is to move the IPL to South Africa. (the weather was better than in the UK apparently).

The whole tournament is designed around Indian TV advertising revenue, and the razzmatazz of Bollywood stars who own the 8 franchises. Just like 20/20 in the UK, they have dancing girls (One Indian commented to me that the best thing about it being in South Africa was that the girls wore less this year), rock music and occasional fireworks. They also have the cream of world cricket, and Freddie Flintoff and Kevin Pieterson. I would have loved to have visited Eden Gardens in Kolkata to have seen the Kolkata Knight Riders play, but I cannot really justify Durban or Cape Town. However, I do watch quite a bit on tv. For those of you not into cricket- its twenty overs a side, lasts about 3 hours and is great to watch them slugging out as many sixes as possible. Unfortunately the KKR are absolute bottom of the heap (played 9, lost 8, and many of those miserably). I get the feeling that they don’t care too much. There is loads of money and the majority of them will be back next year. They have smart uniforms, and are adored by millions. Who cares if they don’t actually win very much?
On the other hand, winning the general election is much more important, although exactly how you win is still a mystery to me. One of the wonders of the modern world… one billion people voting (more or less) democratically, over 5 weeks. (in the UK with a paltry 60 million we should be able to do it in a day). I am not going to comment too much on Indian politics- because I don’t want to get locked up. (I saw a couple who were volunteering in the Gambia got imprisoned because they blogged about the local government). I have heard many opinions about politicians, none of which I will print. ( I have no idea what the libel laws cover in India).
I actually live in a state ruled by the communist party. Other than the odd painted slogan on the wall, and now every tree and wall being festooned with a sickle and star flag, you couldn’t tell- although admittedly I don’t pay taxes.


The leader (Rabin Deb) does not have his picture posted anywhere. He does not play the game of personality politics, unlike his key opponent here, Mamata Banerjhee who is standing for the local grassroots Congress party (not the national one…its different you see..) and they have cool Indian flags with flowers or hands on them, and lots of pictures of her ladyship. ( I confess officer…I may have one or two flags as souvenirs!)

The key players in Indian politics appear to be as follows_ and I have taken this stuff from the national general election website so its all kosher and party approved.

The BJP- humanist ( Im not totally sure what a humanist is, but it sounds good)
Making India a Developed Nation and a Great Power by 2020
Broadening and deepening of economic reforms, based on a self-reliant approach
To fulfill the basic needs in education, healthcare, housing, cultural development.
Commitment to women's all-round empowerment · Intensifying dialogue with Pakistan to find a lasting solution to all bilateral issues
The Indian National Congresss – whose head is sonia Gandhi (and having that surname seems to help in this country. Her namesake (Varun Gandhi) just served a two day jail sentence for making racially inciteful speeches which were videoed and played to the world on Utube….he claimed to no avail they had been tampered with–The INC stand for the following
Generation of more jobs
Eradication of poverty
Step up public investment in agriculture
One-third reservation for women
Commission for the problems of North Eastern States
The other parties are less clear to me.
Bahujan Samut Party BSP – I think are worried about caste ( “the majority are ruled by a minority”…..hmm sounds like anywhere) and are mainly regional- They do however have a cool elephant on their flag
Samajwadi Party stands for Equality and Prosperity of all. It is deadly against communal forces and is in favour of 'Indo Pak Bangladesh Mahasangh'. Party believes in democratic socialism and opposes uncontrolled entry Of Multinational companies to India, It believes that Agriculture, Small and Medium scale Industry is the backbone of Indian Economy and hence every assistance should be given to these sectors.
Finally the Communist Party of India (CPI) supports the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, but without taking part in it. The party is part of the coalition of leftist and communist parties, also known as the Left-Front in national media. The part has been against India's recent nuclear treaty with the United States and even withdrew support to the Manmohan Singh government over the issue.


So there you have it in a nutshell. Next time you go to the polls and struggle to define if New labour are actually more right wing than Maggie’s conservatives ever were, spare a thought for the poor Indian population who have been voting for 5 weeks and it’ll be another month before they know who won.


The only other thing about election day (which in Kolkata is Wednesday 13th) is that we all get a holiday and Horror of horrors, it is a dry day so Ill need to stock up on beers beforehand.