Visiting The Para
Another big day here in Kolkata comes to a close. Unfortunately a few members of the group have been smacked with a bout of sickness today. Rowan Burns, Matt Illing, Sam Lindberg, and Josh Roberts have all come down with a stomach bug but we hope with some good rest tonight and tomorrow they'll be back in the game by Saturday. In good news, Leo Smith is on the mend and made a strong appearance at dinner tonight. Congrats, Leo, you're an inspiration to those following in your footsteps at the moment.
I hope you're enjoying the blogs that are coming in from the boys, detailing their initial impressions of Kolkata and the variety of thoughts and emotions the place evokes. I for one am extremely proud of the way they are opening themselves and the world they are seeing to you, the readers, with such honesty and insight. This is definitely a relentless place, simultaneously uplifting and unforgiving, and operating at a level of chaos that is simply impossible to comprehend so full credit to the boys for being able to put our current environment into words. Fortunately I have the easy task of simply relaying what we did rather than what we saw so here we go:
Thursday 7 December
7.30am - Mr Crook woke everyone up to a chorus of 'God Save the Queen'. The crescendo was just able to be heard above the sound of the horns from the streets outside. Aaron Wyllie then replied with "Happy Birthday" in honour of his father, Fraser. We hope you had a great day, Fraser!
8.00am - Showered and refreshed after a good sleep, the boys headed to our favourite Blue Sky Cafe for breakfast. Of note was George Skinner's apple pancake which arrived doused in nutella despite none of the chocolatey goodness being ordered. Also big ups to Miller Hawkesby for braving/enjoying an Indian breakfast of aloo dum (curried potato).
9.30am - Members of the Jungle Crows who we played touch rugby with yesterday arrived at Blue Sky. The boys split into groups and jetted off with these local legends on a tiki tour of their home city including their own neighbourhoods, which they call their 'para'. A simply fantastic day for our men, talking with and seeing, up close and personally, the lives of young men of similar ages. They were taken to a range of places around the city, some for punting on a local lake, others to local schools and orphanages, some to the local rubbish dump, and some to a number of theme parks (where you apparently pay an entry fee, a fee for each ride, and even a fee to leave the park. Great business model!) In particular, the boys visited many of the communities that the Jungle Crows support with the NGO Khelo Rugby. What is Khelo Rugby, I hear you asking...? Khelo Rugby ('khelo' meaning 'play' in Hindi) sees volunteer coaches take sporting opportunity to children (girls and boys) of local slum communities, most of whom would not normally have any chance to take part in organised sport. Through the relationships that the coaches build with these children, they spread messages of road safety, the health benefits of good hygiene, the danger of mosquitoes, the importance of education, etc. A very special organisation. If you want to know more, here is their blog and Facebook page:
https://khelokhelo.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Khelorugby/
Back to the boys... many found visiting these communities rather confronting; most are unfortunately examples of great poverty. I'll let the boys detail the experience in their blogs but know that today they made some incredible friends despite barriers of language and circumstance, friends who - with pride - showed them Kolkata at its most honest.
5pm - All the groups returned to Hotel Emirates (whose water issues of yesterday have been resolved, by the way!) The boys were then given free time to nap, shower, blog, write home, and hang out with their new mates on the roof of the hotel.
6.30pm - Buckle in, this is going to be a long one... I need to vent! We headed to a nearby restaurant we have enjoyed in the past, the Fairlawn Hotel, with the Jungle Crows in tow. Fairlawn, to say the very very very least, was an absolute shambles; it made Fawlty Towers look good. Despite confirming earlier in the day that the restaurant would be able to cope with the demand of 40 hungry men (ourselves and our new friends), Fairlawn was most certainly not prepared. 2 hours in, no food had arrived at our table so, quite ready to leave, I asked our waiter how long it might be before we were able to eat, to which he replied "actually, sir, your food is ready". So I said "Fantastic, thank you very much, in that case can we please have it to eat!?" "2-3 minutes please, sir." Half an hour later and the first dish we had ordered 2 and a half hours previous arrived, cold, and all delivered to 1 table (of the 10 in total). Staff now fed up and playing waiters, we delivered the remaining curries, unfortunately also cold, to all the tables. Then came plates and knives and forks (no one had thought it might have been a good idea to distribute these 2 and a half hours ago...) Finally, the last dish, a lukewarm chicken butter masala, arrived, with the warning "please don't eat it, sir." This place never fails to amaze...
9.30pm - We said goodbye to our Jungle Crow mates, Nikau Reti-Beazley giving a great thank you to them for their hospitality and good vibes today. Well done, Nikau. We then headed back to the hotel via the 'dairy', picking up some biscuits to supplement dinner.
10pm - Debrief followed by bed. Tonight the boys were asked to share a highlight and lowlight of the day and to answer the question "in the past 2 days, what have you learned from mankind?" Some stunning responses ensued, including the following idea:
Thought - Life is unfair. The boys sick tonight know what I'm talking about but also today we had the opportunity to witness Kolkata at its most honest and, at times, it was tough. In debrief tonight, many drew comparisons between their own lives and things they had witnessed today, concluding they have been dealt a lucky hand. Their counterparts and the communities they work with - through no fault of their own - haven't been so fortunate. The big question of 'why?' arose tonight and there really is no good answer. Life is just unfair.
MVP - Akash Balmiki. What a man. Akash is a leader in the Jungle Crows organisation and visited New Zealand last year, hosted by previous tour participants. Today, despite it being his birthday, Akash not only organised the entire day for the boys but he also played a fantastic host for us staff, including taking us into his home for a delicious lunch made specially by his mother. Akash is also giving up a few days later this week to travel with us to Darjeeling and Saraswatipur. A great man. Thank you, Akash, and happy birthday, brother!
Tom
I hope you're enjoying the blogs that are coming in from the boys, detailing their initial impressions of Kolkata and the variety of thoughts and emotions the place evokes. I for one am extremely proud of the way they are opening themselves and the world they are seeing to you, the readers, with such honesty and insight. This is definitely a relentless place, simultaneously uplifting and unforgiving, and operating at a level of chaos that is simply impossible to comprehend so full credit to the boys for being able to put our current environment into words. Fortunately I have the easy task of simply relaying what we did rather than what we saw so here we go:
Thursday 7 December
7.30am - Mr Crook woke everyone up to a chorus of 'God Save the Queen'. The crescendo was just able to be heard above the sound of the horns from the streets outside. Aaron Wyllie then replied with "Happy Birthday" in honour of his father, Fraser. We hope you had a great day, Fraser!
8.00am - Showered and refreshed after a good sleep, the boys headed to our favourite Blue Sky Cafe for breakfast. Of note was George Skinner's apple pancake which arrived doused in nutella despite none of the chocolatey goodness being ordered. Also big ups to Miller Hawkesby for braving/enjoying an Indian breakfast of aloo dum (curried potato).
9.30am - Members of the Jungle Crows who we played touch rugby with yesterday arrived at Blue Sky. The boys split into groups and jetted off with these local legends on a tiki tour of their home city including their own neighbourhoods, which they call their 'para'. A simply fantastic day for our men, talking with and seeing, up close and personally, the lives of young men of similar ages. They were taken to a range of places around the city, some for punting on a local lake, others to local schools and orphanages, some to the local rubbish dump, and some to a number of theme parks (where you apparently pay an entry fee, a fee for each ride, and even a fee to leave the park. Great business model!) In particular, the boys visited many of the communities that the Jungle Crows support with the NGO Khelo Rugby. What is Khelo Rugby, I hear you asking...? Khelo Rugby ('khelo' meaning 'play' in Hindi) sees volunteer coaches take sporting opportunity to children (girls and boys) of local slum communities, most of whom would not normally have any chance to take part in organised sport. Through the relationships that the coaches build with these children, they spread messages of road safety, the health benefits of good hygiene, the danger of mosquitoes, the importance of education, etc. A very special organisation. If you want to know more, here is their blog and Facebook page:
https://khelokhelo.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Khelorugby/
Back to the boys... many found visiting these communities rather confronting; most are unfortunately examples of great poverty. I'll let the boys detail the experience in their blogs but know that today they made some incredible friends despite barriers of language and circumstance, friends who - with pride - showed them Kolkata at its most honest.
5pm - All the groups returned to Hotel Emirates (whose water issues of yesterday have been resolved, by the way!) The boys were then given free time to nap, shower, blog, write home, and hang out with their new mates on the roof of the hotel.
6.30pm - Buckle in, this is going to be a long one... I need to vent! We headed to a nearby restaurant we have enjoyed in the past, the Fairlawn Hotel, with the Jungle Crows in tow. Fairlawn, to say the very very very least, was an absolute shambles; it made Fawlty Towers look good. Despite confirming earlier in the day that the restaurant would be able to cope with the demand of 40 hungry men (ourselves and our new friends), Fairlawn was most certainly not prepared. 2 hours in, no food had arrived at our table so, quite ready to leave, I asked our waiter how long it might be before we were able to eat, to which he replied "actually, sir, your food is ready". So I said "Fantastic, thank you very much, in that case can we please have it to eat!?" "2-3 minutes please, sir." Half an hour later and the first dish we had ordered 2 and a half hours previous arrived, cold, and all delivered to 1 table (of the 10 in total). Staff now fed up and playing waiters, we delivered the remaining curries, unfortunately also cold, to all the tables. Then came plates and knives and forks (no one had thought it might have been a good idea to distribute these 2 and a half hours ago...) Finally, the last dish, a lukewarm chicken butter masala, arrived, with the warning "please don't eat it, sir." This place never fails to amaze...
9.30pm - We said goodbye to our Jungle Crow mates, Nikau Reti-Beazley giving a great thank you to them for their hospitality and good vibes today. Well done, Nikau. We then headed back to the hotel via the 'dairy', picking up some biscuits to supplement dinner.
10pm - Debrief followed by bed. Tonight the boys were asked to share a highlight and lowlight of the day and to answer the question "in the past 2 days, what have you learned from mankind?" Some stunning responses ensued, including the following idea:
Thought - Life is unfair. The boys sick tonight know what I'm talking about but also today we had the opportunity to witness Kolkata at its most honest and, at times, it was tough. In debrief tonight, many drew comparisons between their own lives and things they had witnessed today, concluding they have been dealt a lucky hand. Their counterparts and the communities they work with - through no fault of their own - haven't been so fortunate. The big question of 'why?' arose tonight and there really is no good answer. Life is just unfair.
MVP - Akash Balmiki. What a man. Akash is a leader in the Jungle Crows organisation and visited New Zealand last year, hosted by previous tour participants. Today, despite it being his birthday, Akash not only organised the entire day for the boys but he also played a fantastic host for us staff, including taking us into his home for a delicious lunch made specially by his mother. Akash is also giving up a few days later this week to travel with us to Darjeeling and Saraswatipur. A great man. Thank you, Akash, and happy birthday, brother!
Tom
Sounds like a truly amazing day for the boys, and one they will remember for many years to come - not only due to the fantastic hospitality from the Jungle Crows but also for those who have succumbed to the almost inevitable stomach bug that has laid them low. All the best boys for a speedy recovery so you are back on your feet and ready to SMILE again.
ReplyDeleteMaree Illing