Videos of Uttarrakhand courtesy of John Stough

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What has been happening in Dehradun

We have had lots of great meetings with academics, NGOs and Officials in the last couple of days. (I can't reveal any level of detail since the information I am collecting really is for the benefit of Water For People). There are so many good hearted people we have met who are trying to help the poor especially those living in the mountainous regions of Uttarakhand. Often the men leave to work in the cities so women are on their own...they might have to spend up to 5 hours a day hauling water and the rest of the day plying the fields and looking after the children. The people have very difficult lives because of the inavailability of local clean water.

Getting Things Rolling Indian Style/ Clement Town

John and I sent out over 25 e-mails, which we were later to learn is not quite the same medium of communication it is in the west. Apparently government offices contain a single computer and a secretary (often a male) in that office who prints off all the email and places it in folders on the officials desk. It can take up to two weeks to get a response to an email!

Nevertheless we attempted to set up meetings with government officials from the many departments concerning water and NGOs in Delhi and locally. And of course a day passed and our of the 25 e-mails we had a single response, which was a bit disappointing. Until a member of the team, Juan, emailed us and suggested that we contact the Mayor. John and I looked at each other and said "That makes sense!" John is (by the way) an unstoppable force of nature and went down to meet the Secretary of Water for all of Uttarkhand. That's like walking in and asking to meet Obama. I predicted failure and John returned with success. We had a second visit after creating business cards for ourselves, which are essential in India. We now have a third appointment with the Chief Secretary (the Secretary's boss) and if he says so all his ministers will set up appointments for us with all the key departments. Without such permission from the top it is not possible to work cooperatively with the government of Uttarakhand.

We have many contact for which e-mail addresses were not available. Some of the organizations sounded like terrific possible parters including local childrens advocacy organizations. We have needed translation services a couple of times and Mrs. H from our hotel who is from Delhi and quite fluent in English has happily assisted us on a couple of occasions. Happily another key water expert regarding the mountainous region who authored a colorful report we both admired agreed to meet with us Friday. We got another response for the afternoon on Thursday! It is wonderful that there are good hearted people here who want to help us.

In the afternoon I requested we visit Clement Town, where Mindrolling Monestary is located.

It is quite a beautiful part of town. Very serene and meditative. They have an amazing Stupa. Inside the monks were chanting, droning and using both the drums and long horns. The walls of the the Stupa were covered with awesome paintings. There is also a very large standing Buddha there and many many prayer wheels (which I was able to turn). It was truly inspirational and I would love to return to meditate if we have time. I'm very grateful to be here!

Next we visited the market place which felt pretty safe. We both got some great bargains and got to the South Indian restaurant before dark. John was exhausted and has probably hit the sack, but here I am writing to you!

The Trip to Uttarakhand

One can not fly directly to Dehradun or most of the smaller cities in India, which has a hub system much like the US. One must fly through Delhi. On the way to Delhi I sat next to a Bengali couple who work for the Rotary Club (an NGO) in India. The woman I sat next to let me know that the big problem in India is corruption. Money intended to benefit the poor and needy gets funneled off by greedy officials. She was interested in making contact with Water For People in Kolkata and we exchanged contact information.

Sitting in the modern Delhi airport waiting for the next flight I met a Western Buddhist Monk (a student of the Galugpa tradition) who was delightful and I told him about the Journey. We exchanged mutual blessings and shared a table while I enjoyed Pizza Hut Indian style. When he got up to catch his flight a young man took his place who also bemoaned the corruption of the police in India. Apparantly a policeman had ticketed his motorcycle for being parked illegally just as he was walking up. The policeman then solicited a bribe to not ticket the vehicle.

On the flight over to Dehradun (which is very short) I was happy to discover I was sitting next to John S, my partner from the Huntsville Office. That was very auspicious or perhaps great planning from the travel department of our company. The landing into Dehradun was a bit turbulant, possibly because of the nearby Himalyas. After some negotiation we got a cab into town, which was a long ride. There were many trees and monkeys sitting next to the side of the road. There is no other way to describe this taxicab driver's style than motion sickness. This is the point when I first felt nausea...not something I normally feel.

Those readers sensitive to descriptions of bodily functions should stop reading at this point.

By the time I got to the hotel room in Dehradun (much more modest accomodations than the hotel in Kolkata) I was feeling pretty darn bad. And I continued vomiting all night long. I continued to hydrate myself since I figured I must have caught food poisoning from Pizza Hut!!

When it continued into the next day the hotel called a Doctor who prescribed Cipro-D a sleeping pill and a mystery pill that I could not figure out. The doctor charged 1000 rupees which is about $20 and the medicine was inexpensive by western standards. The doctor recommended I eat rice and curd or Kichuree. I decided to try both. The hotel brought the rice and curd with hot chiles (which I knew to stay away from). The Kichuree was prepared in a very spicy manner and was unsuitable in my condition. I next requested apple sauce. Apple sauce is not available in India. One can however order bananas and brown toast. For some reason I had to order this 3 times before I got it...I suspect they thought I was ordering in advance for the morning. (We have had some communication problems with the staff at our hotel since there is only one person on staff who is fluent in English.)

This is why I have not blogged in a while...I have been asleep....or sick...

The antibiotics or the original cause of the nausea (gastroenteritis?) next caused diarhea of the dramatic dark impulsive variety. But that all seemed like a holiday compared with the vomiting I had experienced earlier and I just took imodium until it stopped. I don't know how long imodium lasts but it has been a couple of days now and Imodium really seems to work.

Kolkata Experience Today

Today I hired a cab driver to bring me to some places I wanted to see in Kolkata: Mother Theresa's Mission, the Indian Museum, Kali Ghat and Victoria Memorial Hall. The Mother Theresa Center was very stark and really showed the way she and her sisters immersed themselves in poverty while serving the poor. Her room and tomb are at this location. I made a donation and had some time to talk with one of the sisters. It is wonderful that Mother Theresa's legacy lives on. Her sayings were posted in one room: "So let us be one heart full of love in the heart of God and so share the joy of loving by sharing, helping, loving and serving each other."

Next I saw the Victoria Memorial which is an extremely impressive building (in need of repair) which serves as a historical museum and art gallery. It is the big white building in the photo set.

I should mention that there were several really disturbing incidents where I was chased by women holding their babies pleading for money to take care of their babies. We gave them money at the last minute before getting into the cab, which seems to be the best strategy because a crowd gathers if you stop to give money in a public place.

I was also chased by women holding babies after visiting the Kali Ghat, which is a Hindu Temple to Kali. The priest allowed me to see the Kali statue, attach a rock to the holy tree in the temple, showed me the location where goats and buffalo are sacrificed, recited blessings, wrapped a string around my hand, and we gave a hibiscus wreath offering to Kali. After a donation my cab driver rolled his eyes at me and soon afterward we had a large group including baby toting women chasing after us.

Next I had lunch at a Bengali Restaurant. The place became packed. A couple from Jaipur with excellent English and an elderly gentleman were very friendly and kind to me. I told them a bit about Water for People and why I was on my journey.

We also visited a crafts store and a textile market. My driver was looking worn from hours of dealing with traffic. Pedestrians jumping out and constant near misses with automobiles, trucks, buses, and rickshaws hauling cement. Near the Kali Ghat temple I remember (in addition to all the smells and filth) workers using a really narrow long ladder constructed of bamboo. The whole city feels to me like that ladder with it's flexible tough resourceful use of basic materials to stretch toward something greater.

Pictures from Kolkata