AGS India Immersion Programme 2017/18

Leo Smith Spirits were high as we woke up on the church floor at Saraswatipur, about to embark on a journey to Varanasi. However as we ate our noodles for breakfast we were told that the train was cancelled. Long story short at around 6 that night we boarded a little purple bus, that would take us to Varanasi instead of the train. As we boarded the bus spirits were high, we thought that the journey was only going to be 16 hours, which to most of us didn't seem that bad. The playlist was ringing through the booms, and the bus was cruising along at 30 km/h.  It wasn't till about 12 o'clock that night when the first disaster struck. Just as I was about to recline my chair to sleep, I realised that my chair was broken, and therefore I couldn't recline at all. To make matters worse, cam who was in front of me had his chair all the way back in a sleeping position. I had very little space to say the least. As a result I got to hear everyone else sleep on the coach, a...

​Today has been thoroughly enjoyable. We have slept, eaten, showered, and been massaged. We have taken in a new religion, and we have seen Mr. Tripathi again (more to come on the great man below). Not only this, but the tour infirmary remains empty - long may that last! Continuing on the positive trend, we want to wish both Jacob Lerner (Ben's brother) and the great man, Ian Rapson (Tom's father), huge happy birthday's. I particularly hope yours was superb, Ian, as you didn't have to spend it with your son. I'm going to regret these comments shortly when Tom decides to get his own back... But for now, here is how the 16th of December played out for 22 Kiwi boys in Varanasi, India.  Saturday 16 December ~9am - for the first time on the trip thus far, there was no set wake up time. Boys were told breakfast finished at 10:30, but apart from that there was no requirement to be up at any time. Breakfast was an Indian buffet extravaganza - fres...

Callan  As I have mentioned before, I take a little bit of time to process what I have experienced, and Kolkata has given me quite a lot to think about.  Darjeeling was serene, but I found myself too caught up in the majestic views of the Himalayas to be able to take myself back to the hectic and dirty streets of Kolkata. Saraswatipur was joyous, and I found myself beginning to reflect on Kolkata, comparing the smiles of the people, the levels of material wealth and the overall standard of living. I think it's higher. Varanasi is relaxing, quiet and an inherently spiritual place - the perfect opportunity to gather my thoughts.  There is a constant battle in my head over whether the joy of the people or the sadness and anger evoked by their surroundings will come to define the city. Rather than seek a clear winner, however, I think that I need to accept the fact that Kolkata can never be neatly defined, because it is pu...

Zachary Morrow (Written on the bus to Varanasi.) When I left Kolkata I was strangely asking for more, more conversations with strangers, more exhilarating taxi rides, more craziness and more joy. I felt like I was just getting into the groove of Kolkata. On the other hand, Kolkata was a slap in the face every day and there were several moments that were extremely confronting. Future Hope was a refreshing dose of joy and hope for everyone in the group and I especially enjoyed hanging out with eight of the young girls from Future Hope. I felt very privileged to be there and could not help but feel that these were the future leaders of India. I also felt guilt throughout my stay in Kolkata even at Future Hope where the children there are considered lucky. The conditions for learning and living were cramped and much lower than most of New Zealand, yet they were accomplishing so much more than many of us were at their age and they are not sacrificing their childhood for thi...

Ben Lerner Saraswatipur was the first day in 5 or so days that I haven’t been completely sick. Although I hadn’t had any food in my body for around 36 hours by the end of the day, I didn’t want that to hinder my experience in this hidden gem of a village. I say hidden gem in the highest sense of the phrase, the village is surrounded by dense jungle on 3 sides, and a river on the other side. The drive to the village was quite rough, regularly driving through rivers and beds of rock. One thing in particular that hit me about the drive was the fact that our driver had to turn off our music so we wouldn’t attract elephants. As a 16 year old from New Zealand, who had never seen an elephant outside of a zoo before, the notion that we’d be driving through the Indian jungle with wild and possibly aggressive elephants was quite a foreign thought, and definitely led me to question how I even got in that situation. Our welcome into the village was one of the most humbling ex...

George Before I get into this I'd like to launch a formal complaint to my parents for my legs, they are frankly far too long to be sensibly put anywhere on a bus this small.  During this trip, I have debated at length with myself about what exactly it is I'm feeling. Because being here has left me feeling all sorts of wacky ways, and what's the point in an emotion if you don't know what it is and what caused it right? However, as I sit wedged in this bus, I recall the state I've been in for the past few months. I remember blankness. No emotions sticking out, not enough sadness to bother with, and not enough happiness to feel exceptional. Of course I still laughed and had my down moments. But when I compare that to how I am now, the difference is remarkable. Everything here causes strong emotion: the people, the stares, the food, the scenery, the smog, and of course the boys. I'm finally feeling, I'm overjoyed, I cry, I'm agitated, I'm at peace, and w...

Matt Forgive me for two blogs in a row but I wrote this on our bus trip so I though I would post it anyway.  As we slowly progress from Siliguri to Varanasi, through villages and cities, past tea estates and dry rice paddies, along river banks and bumpy roads I find myself reflecting on the past three days spent in northern Bengal.  Imagine a town of 100,000 people perched on a steep hillside two thousand metres in the sky yet still overshadowed by eight thousand metre mountains. Those mountains are covered in snow with only grey rock faces and ridges breaking the white blanket and their bases covered by clouds so that all you see are rough triangles breaking the low cloud in the distance. The sky above our imaginary town is blue and the sun shines down, you have escaped the perpetual brown haze that blankets much of India's lowlands. The sun warms your skin as you look down from your hillside to see hundreds of buildings and villages on similar hillsides throughout seemingly inacc...

Matt Using his exquisite science teacher analysis skills Mr Jordan has deduced that there has been considerable beard growth since Kolkata and especially since we boarded this bus eighteen hours ago and thus I have decided to take up the prestigious post of writer of a beard update. At the front of the race it is a close showdown between Reuben McGregor-Sumpter and Mr Jordan with Reuben with perhaps more coverage but the striking inky black hairs sprouting from Mr Jordan's face make Reuben's ginger hairs pale in comparison. Nikau Reati-Beazley and Mr Crook are close behind the leaders though Nikau's growth is slowing and soon he may fall behind other well-performing students. Mr Crook still fails to show any colour, so much though that one must look twice before actually noticing his nearly translucent facial hair. Ben Lerner is currently dominating the fifth form category with a great neck beard complete with a nice moustache and sideburns. Richard...

­­­And, boy, did they go round a few times. From getting on the bus at 6pm yesterday to getting off at 5.30pm today, we ended up spending a cumulative 23.5 hours on that bus – now affectionately known as 'Barney' for its purple paintjob. 23.5 hours… a new record for the India Immersion Programme, surpassing the 23 hour effort of the 2011 tour which had to catch a bus from Varanasi to Delhi after a cancelled train. Today was a mammoth effort from our boys, whose positive attitudes and patience never once wavered. A real credit to the quality we have travelling with us on this tour. They have most definitely earned the top-class accommodation we are now staying in in Varanasi. Hotel Surya, a former palace for the King Kaiser of Nepal, is an escape from the India we have been immersed in over the past week and a half. With spacious gardens, a laundry service, and warm showers – to say the very least – Hotel Surya is a welcome return to 'normal' (or at least as no...

Cam MacFarlane As someone who values their personal space highly and who has the utmost of respect for quiet time, I think I can speak on behalf of most of the boys that Darjeeling and Saraswatipur acted as a refreshing change of scenery after a hectic time in Kolkata. Kolkata was an incredibly humbling experience and has certainly already acted as an eye-opener to me; nonetheless the barrage of cars tooting their horns, the consistently filthy streets, the overwhelming smog, and multiple times our country's population crammed into a beautiful, confusing and thought-provoking city well and truly had worn me out physically and mentally. I feel privileged to be in the first India Immersion Programme to have visited this stunning part of the country (Darjeeling). The nippy climate, cleaner air and tranquil environment agreed with me more and the Himalayan setting offered a means of reflection. Despite developing some issues in the digestive region (I'll leave i...

Miller Hawkesby Seems that nothing can immerse you in India as much as sitting in a bus tardy by two hours, awaiting another 23 hours of driving, due to a train booked months in advance being cancelled.  It also seems that I unequivocally love it.  This adventure has bequeathed upon me many new abilities: solving a Rubik's Cube, how to win a game of 500, and of course how to use a digital thesaurus to sound like an upstart in my blog. It has also given me the opportunity to reflect on the last few days while listening to some bangers.  Kolkata feels now like a distant memory, with highs and lows.  While not the cleanest or even prettiest place, Kolkata is a city filled with some fantastic people, many of whom don't have it easy.  I have however discovered that sometimes it is the worst of times that brings out the best in people, the work done by organisations like Free Set, Future Hope, Khelo Rugby, and the Jungle Crows are all examples of the legacy of Mot...

Ollie Schnauer In just the time frame of 2 days I was able to see both ends of the spectrum in terms of fortune of the people living in Future Hope. Future Hope lightened the mood for me about people living in the chaotic city. We entered this fully civilised space to view an English play these kids had been learning. Their English was incredible. Our group sat for about 2 hours as these people of similar ages to us were able to coordinate word with actions in a foreign language. I was then further impressed when we visited the younger kids (aged 3 to 12 approximately) who had the ability to hold a long, in depth conversation and tell me different stories in English. Very impressive. It was clear to see that the kids were well educated and some had dreams to work in the business world, like myself. In complete contrast to that, the following day we visited a slum community. 'A  picture speaks 1000 words'. Walking through this horrif...

William Pretty Following a night sleeping on coconut husk pads (mattresses) on the floor of a church, the prospect   of a 15 hour, relaxing train ride was mere bliss. However in our beloved India fashion that was not to be, instead of getting on the train at 2:45pm we managed to spend a delightful 6 hours camped out in NJP railway station waiting for a coach to replace our train, all the while depleting the local vendors of food and drink, doing laps of the train station or in my case falling asleep on the floor in a platonic spoon with Lachie that was nothing but a necessary turn of events. When the bus finally arrived spirits were high and continued to lift as we calculated in our supposed 18 hour bus ride, we could play the playlist a minimum of 5 times. I would love to say the bus ride was bliss and I just fell asleep to the gentle bouncing of our coach but my mother taught me to never lie, so instead here is the truth. It took us 30 minutes befor...

Boy, do we have a story for you. We must apologise again for the lateness of this blog, but all will make sense when you read the events of the day. We always said that this country loves to throw a curve ball at you, and today we experienced that for real for the first time. Long story short, our train was cancelled. No warning, no condolences, just a man at a train station telling us we wouldn't be able to travel. So, long story short number 2, after a 24-hour ride in a coach we have made it to Varanasi, safe and sound and the boys are all showered, refreshed and tucking into an epic meal. So, for the story: Thursday 14 December Sickness Update – Only Cam MacFarlane remains remotely sick, but he would like to make it known it is only on a technicality. 6:30am – a combination of roosters, and Mr. Crook playing The Circle of Life off his phone, formed our early rising alarm. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Crook was then promptly fined for playing a song not on the tour play...

Apologies for the delay in this blog. We have had a huge couple of days since leaving Darjeeling with very little internet available. Callan Adams, in particular, is exhausted after celebrating his mum’s birthday too hard on the 13th - happy birthday, Catherine! It's been hectic but extraordinary and I can't wait to update you all on our day yesterday: Wednesday 13 December Sickness Update – Not much to report here with no new arrivals to the infirmary. Ryan, Ben, Cam and Nikau feeling better but still not 100%. One more day, boys. Reuben would like to tell you he's feeling fine – better than ever, in fact – but I would argue otherwise. 7.45am – We were woken up, this time by an elderly Himalayan man chanting incantations outside the hotel. Being our final day in Darjeeling, we packed up our rooms and headed on to Darjeeling's main street in search of breakfast. 10am – With goodbyes said to the Pulgers, the family who owns and operates The Bellevue Ho...

Another quick note, this time to let you know we are off to Varanasi. Tom's blog detailing our day yesterday will hopefully come in tonight, depending on service. The man is currently tucking into a train station chicken pastry, so wish him luck! Reuben

Just arrived back into reception from Saraswatipur, and are sitting at New Jalpaiguri train station. All are well after an awesome 24 hours with some incredible people - we were treated like kings. More detailed blogs to come.  Reuben

Dear readers, just a quick note to say we are currently on our way by Jeep down the hill from Darjeeling to Saraswatipur, a small village home to the tribal Adivasi people. I'm unsure of internet access in the village so I apologise in advance if we are unable to upload any blogs tonight. Know that we are safe and well and all sickies are on the mend! Happy Wednesday! Tom

Raymond Before I start, I acknowledge the fact that this blog is long overdue. However, I feel it is unnecessary to apologise, as being late in India is acceptable therefore my actions are totally fine. Thus this may be a bit long (warning in advance). Anyways, let's begin. Dear People of Kolkata Out of this place, where garbage decorates the sidewalk, where the smell of human excrement never leaves your nose, where the pollution makes it safe to look at the sun directly and where beggars never let go of your clothes; lies an oasis of smiles, positivity and possibility. Colloquially known as the "City of Joy", the landscape could be described as anything but, yet it is the people, who wholly fulfil this namesake. While my journey in Kolkata has come to an end, this place has left me with a lot of food for thought. To the workers at Freeset, your work deserves more recognition. The support, expertise and more importantly, t...

​First up, SHOUT OUT – we love hearing about the community this trip creates, and we have been informed of the 'India Tour Reflection Group', a group of parents gathering every Monday to chat about the trip back home. Shout out to you legends, great to hear you are enjoying the blog. ​Tonight is our last night in Darjeeling, and we are so pleased to have taken in this leg of the journey. The place feels little like the India I know, and for that, it is refreshing. So I sit here, literally above the clouds, attempting to articulate for you how day 8 played out, and I hope you enjoy. Tuesday 12 December Sickness Update – it is with a heavy heart that I add myself to the list of those fallen. I am currently trying to practice what I preach, and hope to be back to 100% shortly. Cam MacFarlane and Nikau Reti-Beazley are also new additions, with Ryan Donovan and Ben Lerner still on the mend. Michael Derevianko is now fully recovered – champion. 4:00am – after thi...

Sam Lindberg Life is like cards, you don't choose the hand you are dealt. Some are dealt aces and kings, and some get dealt threes and fours. In Kolkata there is the full deck of cards. Aces living the high life, in suite resorts with the best views and unlimited wealth.  These royalty cards have pictures and colour and are important and everyone wants to be one. Then there are the twos and threes; begging on the street, living under tarpaulins with holes and little to no essential needs for life. These cards have no picture and are considered wasteful cards yet they do not reflect the poor people of India. In this blog I want to specifically talk about Brooklyn the slum and how these people have been dealt low cards but seem as if they had jacks and queens. This is a very plain, black and horrific place yet so full of life and hope.  I remember vividly viewing the rundown filthy living environment these people were in and it hit me like a brick wall and my heart skipped a beat in ...

Roni Chapman I think I wanted Kolkata to hit me harder than it did. When I pictured the India trip I thought I would be brought down to being close to tears by seeing what I saw in Kolkata. I think I wanted this because I believe it would build me as a character. When Kolkata was unable to bring me to this emotional state I was confused about who I am, and I was disappointed in myself as a member of the trip and an individual. I was disappointed because while a few other boys were telling me they would break if they stayed any longer in Kolkata, I found myself to love the place. I felt like I was missing out on the full experience even though I saw what they saw. I felt as though I was perhaps not as emotionally rich as these other boys. I think I blocked myself from the negativity of poverty and only saw the happiness of smiling faces, and felt guilty that I was only able to fully engage in this part of life here. I think the negativity was too overwhelming for me to ...

Leo Apologies for my lack of blogs. I have just finished one of the most hectic weeks of my life in Kolkata. Currently we are having some down time in beautiful Darjeeling, so I thought I better update you all about my most memorable moments in Kolkata. Firstly, I must address the sickness. As you may know it took me less than 24 hours from arriving in Kolkata to receive the honorable title of being first sick. This brought about many uncomfortable situations so I'll describe the main one. It occurred at the Mother Teresa house morning mass at 6 o'clock in the morning. During the first standing prayer I got that tingling feeling in the stomach, so I know I had to make a move. Unfortunately, due to my disorientation in the house, the best place I could find to vomit, was the flower pots outside. After this I was swiftly taxied home by Mr. Jordan, and nothing was ever said. I would like to give a shoutout to my caring roommate George skinner, who was always th...