Back to reality

 Leo Smith From the moment me and the boys stepped off the train in Delhi, we thought we knew what we were in for. But oh how wrong we were. As we embarked on the short walk to "Hotel Namaskar" we saw what we saw in Kolkata, but worse. Whether it was the large piles of rubbish on the street, or the grey smog filled air. There was something about Delhi which was very unusual.

Our new homes, at the hotel, consisted of small rooms with only a bed and a toilet, pink walls and black mould. In true Indian immersion fashion, we boys just tackled these rooms with a laugh and a smile, and then we moved on. Introductions aside, allow me to describe my favourite moments from Delhi so far.

Firstly, the Taj Mahal. This was something that I was looking forward to from day one of arriving in India, and it was better than expected. There was something about the building and the beautiful ponds that almost removed all of us from the India we were familiar with. This feeling however didn't last for long, as soon after we were informed that our train would be 2 hours late, which was definitely a characteristic of India that we were all familiar with.

Secondly, the High Commission. This was once again was something I was looking forward to, as it would be a slice of life back home. I can' t say that international affairs are a point of interest to me, however as the high commissioner described her daily life in Delhi, I couldn't help but think about how much responsibility she must have. What was more shocking for me was when she said that her 3 children, who were around our age, were all living in Delhi and attending the American High Commission School, and I couldn't help but imagine how difficult that must be for the kids. However we all left the commission satisfied, not only from the delicious morning tea, but from how at home we all felt.

Lastly the slum at Asha.  This slum, after a rather long and delayed bus ride, was really satisfying to see. We firstly visited the headquarters where we were shown a motivational video regarding what Asha is doing in slums. Then we went to see one of their slums, which was a definite contrast to the Brooklyn slum we saw in Kolkata. The slum, while dirty and unhygienic, had more of a sense of community and infrastructure, compared to the Brooklyn slum. Asha's inclusion of dairy's and shops really made us appreciate how self-sufficient this slum is becoming. After that we met a small group of young girls, and, not for the first time in this trip, we embarked on a spontaneous dance lesson with them. The smiles on their faces and the happiness' they showed was all we really needed to see. (PS: you can ask Ben about the last spontaneous
dance lesson in Costa Coffee)

So in conclusion, Delhi is providing a small slice of Indian reality to us, after a rather chill time in Varanasi, and us boys are constantly growing together each day, to make this experience even better.