Do SOMETHING!

Sat, 2007-09-29 08:43 — Ian Forber-Pratt

I just got back from a little Ian solo exploring mission. It was everything I hoped it could be. This morning we went on a quick trip to a beautiful garden. It would have been amazing if the fountains worked, but they were off for cleaning so it was nice -ut not amazing. The tough thing was that outside the garden were some women and children, dressed in rags begging and banging on the bus. It was a little overwhelming. We then went to this 'mock' village that is set up to show tourists what it is like in the villages. The problem was that it was like a 'Beverly Hills' view of villages and not the real deal. But it was nice to see.

So after our 'expensive' meal I wanted a taste of India. So on our couple hours off I took a rickshaw to an NGO called Seva Mandir which does slum outreach and education, womens' empowerment and health care for tribal villages. It was VERY real and I'm glad I went. I filled out an application to volunteer during any free time I have. It was really nice to be off on my own. The landscape here is getting more and more beautiful. As I rode along in the rickshaw I saw camels and cows and all sorts of vehicles. India really IS its people.

We then headed to the monsoon castle to see the sunset. The place was, in a word, magnificant. We rode the bus as far as we could and then had to take rickshaws the rest of the way up. Although, again. this was very touristy, it was amazing to say the least. I'm in the processright now of uploading the pictures onto facebook.

I wonder if it's okay, that tonight I will sit in a posh window seat and read my book lone in a nice restaurant eating all the food I want while the taxi outside will hook so as to avoid the woman and her children sleeping on the street. It's a stuggle...

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Sat, 2007-09-29 15:52 — jazzersxlii

Re: Do SOMETHING!

So, i finally made an account here, so now I can plague you with comments! ha! That probably won't happen, but there's a chance.
Anyway, that's so cool that you went out by your lonesome like that. I was just reading for my China class, about how a couple journalists were taken (by guides from the Chinese gov't) to a "poor village," to talk to a peasant, who was so poor he only afford a motorcycle. fa. And then one of the journalists took 'vacation time' and went off on their own to see a truely poor village- and it was a pathetic situation. I wonder if the Indian reasons for having the fake poor villages are similar to the Chinese reasons for them.
It must be hard to be comfortable, when faced with just desperate situations as the woman and her children on the street...but if there are more and more educated, connected people interested in them and their plight, perhaps they can someday get off of the street, and have window seats themselves!

Sat, 2007-09-29 14:05 — Rissy