Rahim

Rahim is a 45 year-old man with mild intellectual impairment. Rahim was typically developing, however he suffers from severe epilepsy and by the age of 12 his mental functioning had been significantly compromised by the seizures and he was placed in a special school.

Rahim has still retained many of the things he learned in school as a child. His English is very good and he often translates between me and the other students. I am not sure I can always trust his translations, as he is more likely to invent something rather than admit that he does not know how to say it in English. He knows English rhymes and songs like "Jack and Jill went up the hill..." and others that I had not heard before. He knows multiples of 5 very well. When I give him the time, he will reply by dividing that number into 5 (i.e., The time is 3:45pm... 345= 69 x 5). He also likes to test me, but he is much faster than I am.

Rahim is one of the oldest and most mentally developed students at Asadeepam, and as a result he feels superior to both the other students and teachers. Rahim does not respond well to orders, which is the method used by the teachers. They all have difficulties working with Rahim because he does not respond well to their methods. I have found it best to speak to Rahim simply as a 45 year-old man, to which he responds much better. When other students are acting out, Rahim will tell me that their brains are "ill". He clearly sees himself as different than the rest of the students, and does not consider himself to have any intellectual impairments.

Rahim is a very devoted Muslim, and does not socialise with children who are not Muslim. When asked to distribute class materials, he will only give them to Hindu and Christian children last, or not at all. He refuses to say the common prayers with the other students, and prays at dawn and dusk on his own. The other teachers have told Rahim that I am a Muslim so we get along very well. Rahim stays at the school during the holidays because his brother is unable to take him. He is married to a Christian, and Rahim does not approve so he causes a lot of problems in their home. The wife has refused to let Rahim stay in their home.

Rahim has a grand mal seizure about once a month, and he is taking medication to control his epilepsy. After an episode, he is often unaware of what has just happened and refuses to rest. Rahim is also taking medication for blood pressure and diet pills to control his weight.

Rahim is one of 7 children, and his older brother visits every other Sunday. His brother speaks English very well and works as a pharmacist. Rahim's brother comes to the school to bring Rahim new clothes, take him for a nice meal, and take Rahim for things he may need like a doctor's visit or a haircut. I enjoy his visits since I like to learn about Rahim's childhood, and the development of his intellectual problems. Rahim's brother is also interested in psychology and my opinions on hypnosis, homeopathic treatment and pharmacological interventions. Rahim always looks forward to his brother's visits, and will talk about it in the days leading up to his arrival.

Rahim has mild intellectual impairment, but I believe his seizures are too severe for him to hold a steady job. Also, he has a strong personality and is not very tolerant of those who are different. Since he has been in special schools from a very young age, he has grown accustom to the comforts of the daily routines, and I do not think he could adjust very well to living outside of an institution. In North America, it would be possible to find an unskilled job for Rahim, however there are still preconceptions in India that make it difficult to find employment and support for individuals with special needs. Kerala is very focused on social services, so hopefully there will be more employment opportunities for individuals with special needs in the near future.

The Golden Triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur)

Georgie and I flew to Mumbai from Trivandrum together, but we were on a different flight from Mumbai to Delhi so I waited an hour for her in the terminal. We had called a hotel a couple days earlier so we knew where we were going once we left the airport. The hotel was in the Paharganj area of New Delhi, right by the railway station.

The next morning, we went to the railway station to book our ticket to Agra. Luckily Georgie knew where to go because there were so many men offering to sell us tickets which were at a much higher rate. We found the tourist office upstairs and bought our ticket to leave that afternoon. We decided to take a rickshaw to see the Red Fort, but since it was a Monday it was closed. We walked around Old Delhi for a while, then we headed back to the train station to make our way to Agra.

After a 3 hour train ride we arrived in Agra. It took a while to find a hotel because some were full and others were asking for a higher price than what was listed in Lonely Planet. Finally we found Sheela Hotel, which was a beautiful enclosed space with a restaurant and garden...and it was minutes from the East gate of the Taj. We woke up at sunrise to visit the Taj since we figured there would be less people and it wouldn't be so hot. When we arrived, we were approached by a man who showed us his card and offered to give us a tour of the Taj. Immediately the scene from Slumdog Millionaire flashed to my mind, but we agreed once he lowered the price from 600 to 200 rupees. I'm really happy we got a guide because we learned a lot about the history of the Taj, and he also knew all the best spots to take the quintessential Taj Mahal photos. The Taj took 20 000 men 22 ears to build. It is made of 42 semiprecious stones and stainless marble that changes colour in the sunlight. The Taj is perfectly symmetrical, including two red buildings on each side which are a guesthouse and a mosque. The coffins of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal are below, but replicas are in the main room directly above. The Maharaja's coffin is larger because Islam states that the man's coffin should be larger. There is a red semiprecious stone inlaid in the marble that looks like fire when a light is shone directly onto it. I couldn't get over how large the Taj was. It always looked much smaller in pictures, but in person it was really overwhelming.

In the afternoon, we took a rickshaw to see Himad-Ud-Daulah, or the Baby Taj. My uncle travels to India every couple of years and this is his favourite building. We were the only tourists, which was a nice change from the Taj. It was much smaller, but still perfectly symmetrical and really beautiful. We checked out of the hotel and took the bus to Jaipur. I shared my seat with a little girl for part of the trip.

When the bus dropped us off in Jaipur we had no idea where we were. We were harassed by a group of rickshaw drivers. After walking a bit and losing most of them, we started to negotiate with one driver. We asked him how much it would cost to get to the hotel and he said we could pay what we like. We said we would like to pay 20 rupees and he agreed. The driver ended up stopping every 5 minutes to ask for directions, even though he said he knew where our hotel was. This has been happening a lot...drivers will pretend to know where to go in order to get our business, but then they will waste our time by getting lost and asking for directions. Once we finally got to he hotel and paid him, he asked for more since it had taken longer. We refused, and he waited outside our hotel for a while before leaving.

The next day we went to visit the City Palace, Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal. After a bit of shopping we went to visit the monkey temple, which was a little disappointing since there were only about 5 monkeys there.

In the evening, we went to Choki Dhani which was a decorated village restaurant 15 km outside of Jaipur. There were elephant and camel rides, dancers, tightrope walkers, magicians, henna artists, etc. It was a little cheesy but it was really beautiful and relaxing. We had a great thali and then headed back to the hotel for the evening.

Georgie and I walked to the train station the next morning at 4:30am to catch our train to Delhi. We arrived in Delhi at 10am and I checked into a single room at a hotel since Georgie's flight was that night and mine was the next morning. Georgie had really bad Delhi belly so we decided to take it easy and just visit Humayun's tomb. It was a beautiful place to walk around and explore. The tomb was a mixture of marble and sandstone. After, we went to Bengali Sweet House so Georgie could bring home sweets for her parents. For dinner we went to a revolving restaurant which had a great view of the city.

That night, I said goodbye to Georgie and then the next morning I took my flight back to Kochi. I had such a great time exploring other parts of India, but I'm very happy to be back at the school with the kids!

Munnar

After a little detour, we arrived in Munnar at noon. We walked to our hotel which was run by a very nice family. By the time we got to Munnar we were ready to take things a little slower so we had an early night after dinner.

The next day, we woke up early to go on a group tour. Our first stop was a viewpoint overlooking the tea plantations. Munnar is famous for being one of the largest producers of tea in India. We visited a sandalwood forest and I was surprised how strong the smell was from the trees. Our last stop was a two hour trek in Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary. We were able to see elephant dung, footprints, pathways and tree markings...but unfortunately no elephants. Our last stop was the tea museum, where we learned how the tea was grown and cultivated. The plantation has been around for centuries and it has really done great things for the community like providing jobs, education and healthcare to the local people.

The next day we decided to take another group tour with the same company. We visited Mattupetty Elephant park and got to ride an elephant. We visited Kundala dam, Echo point and the Top Station that overlooks into Tamil Nadu.

After the tour we packed our bags and went to the bus station to catch our overnight ride to Trivandrum where we would take a flight to Delhi.

Mysore

We arrived in Mysore at 5:30am so we decided to hang around the bus station until sunrise. We took a rickshaw to Mysore Youth Hostel but check-in wasn't until 10am so we waited until then. We checked in to a dormitory shared mainly with Indian girls attending university, but there were also a couple travellers. The beds were 50 Rs. per night and the place was super clean.

We took a rickshaw to visit Mysore Palace, then wanted to see a travel agent but they were all closed because it was a state holiday. We decided to check out Devaraja market, but we ran into a man who said it was closed and that we should visit the British market which would only cost 10 Rs. to get to by rickshaw. We thanked him and said we would go, but that we would walk there. We were a little hesitant because we had never heard of the British market, so we stopped to ask a store owner for directions. He also had never heard of the British market. I asked him if Devaraja market was open and he said yes. We turned around and started walking back towards Devaraja market, but we were confused as to why a stranger would lie about it being closed and then walk away. Thirty seconds later, the same man that had told us about the British market drove up in his rickshaw...suddenly it all made sense. We told him we weren't interested and kept walking. Many rickshaw drivers will offer cheap or free rides, but will then take you to stores or hotels that will give them a commission for bringing tourists. We made it to the market but they were selling mainly produce so we walked around a bit then caught a rickshaw home.

While travelling and speaking to people who had been to Mysore, all of them told us to make sure we were there on a weekend because the Palace is lit up at night and it's really beautiful. Unfortunately that didn't work with our plans so we were there on a Tuesday. While walking around the city though, we noticed that it was a state holiday so when we went back to the hostel we asked whether the Palace would be lit that night and they said it would be. So by total chance we got to see Mysore Palace all lit up and it was definitely worth seeing.

The next day was spent organising a way to get to our next destination. We visited the train station and two bus stations trying to figure out when to leave and where we could leave our bags. Finally, we found that we could leave our bags at the train station and a man assured us that our bus left at 9pm. We decided to spend the day walking around the city. Mysore is much cleaner than a lot of the other Indian cities that we've visited so far. After wasting our time wandering around the city, we arrived at the bus station at 7:30pm. After waiting a while, we decided to double-check our bus time with one of the drivers. He told us that our bus had left at 6:30pm. Georgie and I were both pretty upset considering we could have easily gotten there on time had we known that it left at 6:30pm. Georgie went to talk with the man that we had spoken to earlier, but he kept insisting that the bus was at 9pm and laughed at her when she told him it wasn't. Georgie was also receiving calls from her parents in England because her top choice for university was about to make a decision about her acceptance. It was a stressful time, but we found a less direct bus that left at 9:30pm and were able to get a seat. Georgie was very tense until she got a phone call from her parents saying that she had been accepted. After that, things went much better for all of us...except this bus had bed bugs. The fabric seats are more comfortable than the vinyl ones but it really isn't worth the chance of catching bed bugs.

Hampi

We got to Hospet in the morning and found a bus to take us to Hampi. This town lies in the ruins of Vijayanagara which was the capital of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire. Once we got off the bus, there were dozens of rickshaw drivers waiting to take us to hotels. Luckily we decided to walk because it turned out that we were a 2 minute walk from all the hotels. It's very tempting to just hop in a rickshaw once you get off a bus, but this is when you can be charged a lot more because you have no idea where you are. We checked out a couple places and finally settled on a place run by an older couple. Once we settled in the room, I found red marks all over my thighs and lower back. I found a bug crawling in my pants and realised there had been bed bugs on the bus. My cousin was alright since she was sitting in a different set of seats. I showered and washed the clothes I'd been wearing. All the hotels in Hampi seemed to have rooftop restaurants so we went up to ours for a quick bite to eat.

After lunch, we walked to Virupaksha temple located on the main street of Hampi. It is considered the msot sacred pilgrimage sight in Hampi. Monkeys climbed over the intricate carvings on the entrance way. There was an elephant named Lakshmi who blessed visitors to the temple by tapping them with her trunk once she received a coin from them. A group of men asked if we would take a picture. We assumed they meant a photo of them with the elephant, but they actually wanted a picture of us. We refused, and were surprised that even in the presence of an elephant that gives blessings, they were still interested in a couple of foreigners.

After visiting the temple, we walked up Hernatuka Hill to check out some old ruins and temples. The hill was high enough that you could see for miles, and the terrain was very interesting because it consisted mainly of hills made of large boulders. Hampi is a really peaceful place and I loved walking through old ruins and sitting on boulders while watching the view.

For dinner we went to Mango Tree which was a restaurant recommended in our Lonely Planet guidebook. It was built on a cliff by the edge of the water surrounded by trees. We ordered mango lassis and cashew nut curry, then headed home since we were waking up early the next morning.

We woke up early to see the elephant Lakshmi being bathed by the river. There were many locals washing there as well. We took a rickshaw to the Royal Centre of Hampi, where many more ruins had been preserved. It is a little tricky to bargain for rickshaws in Hampi because there are not allowed to travel without a passenger. It is best to reserve a return trip to avoid being stranded somewhere. Also, to get around this rule, many drivers travel with one of their friends so it can be awkward getting into a rickshaw when there is another stranger. After the Royal Centre, we visited Vittala temple via a footpath along the river.

We had been told by several travellers to check out a nearby waterfall so we set out the next morning to find it. We got almost all the way there but we were having trouble figuring out how to cross a patch of tall bushes. A man on the other side pointed out the way and then showed us to the waterfalls, which was really more like a stream rushing through a ton of boulders. The water had eroded them in to interesting shapes and it was a lot of fun to navigate our way around. The man told us that he lived in a small hut under one of the boulders and he made a living by taking tourists on boat rides back to the main city. We decided instead to walk but thanked him for his time.

Once back in the city, we decided to do a little shopping. Many of the shops had been built into the structures that remain from the Vijayanagara Empire. We bought a couple things, but noticed that the experience was very different from the other places we had been. Hampi has recently become a new tourist destination and I don't think all the shopowners are used to dealing with tourists yet.

That night, we took the bus to Mysore. It was definitely my most uncomfortable bus ride so far. The roads were incredibly bumpy and at every bump the windows would slide open so it was freezing all night. On the plus side, the bus was pretty empty so we were able to lie across several seats.

Arambol

We went in search of a hotel with a German musician/artist/acrobat that we had met on the bus. We ended up finding a group of cheap huts near the beach. At sunset, we walked down to the water. There was already a large group of people gathered with drums, guitars and flutes. People were doing acrobatics, dancing, and relaxing as they watched the sunset. There were people from all over the world and people of all ages. Arambol was much more like the hippy, bohemian image of Goa that I had in my mind. Anjuna had great food and shopping, but the people were much older and usually it was their only stop in India.

For dinner, we went to a place with low tables and pillows on the beach. It was run by a man from London who had moved here a year ago to start his own restaurant. We ate with a Spanish girl who had been living in London for 10 years, and a man who was originally from North England but he had been travelling non-stop for the past 15 years so he had lost his native accent.

After dinner, we walked along the beach and stopped for drinks at a beachside bar.

The next day, we spent all of our time on the beach swimming and reading. In the evening we went to a restaurant owned by a Russian couple. There were a lot of Russians in Goa since India is fairly nearby and there are beautiful beaches and resorts in Goa. The menu of this restaurant was written in English and Russian. We ordered Tibetan momos and chicken biryani.

For our last day in Goa we decided to spend the morning at the beach, then had chicken curry sandwiches and lemon cheese pie for lunch. We left for Mapusa in the afternoon and caught an overnight bus to Hampi.

Anjuna

The train to Goa was 16 hours, but fortunately it was overnight and we met a group of travellers from Melbourne, Australia. We chatted about our experiences in India and one of them had a guitar so we listened to him play for a while. The train stopped in Madgaon which is a small town inland. We took a second train to Thivim and a rickshaw to Anjuna.

We stayed in a guesthouse about a kilometre inland from the beach. Since it was early, we set out to find some breakfast. I had the most delicious fruit salad with apples, bananas, pineapple, papaya, pomegranates, and red and green grapes at Cafe Diogo. We spent the afternoon at the beach, but we made sure to apply lots of sunscreen after our experience in Varkala. For dinner, we went to a beachside restaurant with an amazing view of the sunset. I ordered the stuffed crab and it was so delicious. Anjuna has definitely had the best seafood in India so far.

The next morning, we went to the famous Anjuna flea market. There were hundreds of vendors selling all kinds of Indian souvenirs. Georgie and I found lots of things that we were looking for, but our bargaining skills were really put to the test. When we finished shopping, we checked out of our hotel and took the bus to Mapusa where we caught a second bus to Arambol.

My Birthday

March 6th was my 22nd birthday, and I had promised the school that I would return to celebrate with them. In the morning, Georgie and I taught the Primary-I class which consisted on Abin and Chachu. Abin has mild MR and very severe ADHD. It is very difficult to keep him seated and focused on a task. Chachu has severe autism and is non-verbal. It was nice to show Georgie what I had been doing for the past two months, and she really enjoyed getting to meet all the children. I had sponsored lunch at the school, so we had chicken biriyani. After lunch, we went up to the classroom and the children performed dances and songs for us. I joined in on a couple of the dances with the children, and Georgie and I sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Litte Star" for the kids. As a birthday gift, the principal gave me a saree, flowers and a little decorated jar for kum kum powder (used on women's foreheads). It was an amazing day and I'm so happy that I was able to celebrate with my school.

In the evening, we took the bus back to Bel Air. Franca and Pien had bought a cake so we sat and shared it together. We went to Tandoor for dinner with Jeffy, Diana and Akhil. Another AIESEC member, Ashish, came by after dinner to drive us to the night club at Dreams Hotel. Once there, we met with Douglas and Jasper. We had a couple drinks and danced. Ashish had the DJ announce that it was my birthday.

Later in the night, the waitress brought over a cake. Ashish grabbed a handful of the cake and rubbed it all over my face.... an Indian birthday tradition.

Nightclubs close around 1:00am in Kochi, so afterwards we went to Jasper's flat. Georgie wasn't feeling well so we dropped her off beforehand. We stayed and talked at Jasper's until about 3:00am and then headed back to Bel Air. I had an unforgettable birthday in Kochi and it was all thanks to the amazing people I've met here.

The next morning we went back to the school. I spent the day showing Georgie around the school and playing with the children. I think she enjoyed her time at the school, but she found it difficult because of the children's disabilities and the language barrier. It reminded me of how much I had learnt and dealt with over the past two months. The kids enjoyed having another foreigner around, and told the teachers that Georgie had the eyes of a ghost because they had never seen blue eyes before.

I woke up at 6:00am the next morning to go jogging with the kids. We played until breakfast, then Georgie and I prepared our bags. After Assembly, we left for Ernakulam in order to catch the train to Goa at 2:30pm. Before the train, we decided to have a South Indian thali at a local organic restaurant called Lumiere before heading further north.

Ernakulam/Kochi

We arrived at the intern flat, Bel Air, around 6pm. Two interns are already living there and they welcomed us in: Pien from Holland and Franca from Germany. We're stayed in to watch TV and a film.

The next morning, we took a bus then a ferry to get to Fort Kochi. We visited Santa Cruz Basilica, chinese fishing nets, Jew Street and Dutch Palace. We stopped at a restaurant and had fish and calamari for dinner. That evening, we went to see a Kathakali performance, Kerala's traditional dance. The make-up is very elaborate and takes an hour to apply. The show was interesting, but difficult to follow as any narration was in Malayalam and the characters were difficult to differentiate since the make-up and clothing were similar.

Alleppey

We arrived in Alleppey around noon and found our hotel, Palmy Residences. So many men offering hotels or backwater boat tours stopped us while we were on our way to our hotel. Once we had settled, we walked to Thaff restaurant since we had read in Lonely Planet that it had the coldest milkshakes around. It's tough to find cold drinks in India because you're advised to stay away from ice and the climate is so hot that things melt easily. The milkshakes were not disappointing at all, and they were very cheap. We walked around the city a bit, then went back to the hotel to discuss taking a backwater tour the next day. We took a rickshaw to have dinner at the Alleppey Prince Hotel, then decided to go back to Thaff for another milkshake. On the walk back from Thaff, a young guy on a motorbike stopped to ask us our names and where we were staying. This happens a lot in India so we've learned to ignore these questions. The guy muttered something then drove away, made a U-turn and headed back towards us. While driving on the wrong side of the road, he clipped Georgie on the leg and arm with his motorbike and kept on driving. Luckily Georgie wasn't hurt, but we were both really shocked and decided to head straight back to the hotel since it was already dark.

The next morning, we both hopped on the back of the hotel owner's motorbike and he drove us to our boat for the backwater tour. Our trip lasted about 4 hours, and we saw rice fields, a water pump, beautiful houseboats and a mix of small and large rivers that make up the backwaters. We were travelling in a small canoe, but many tourists will rent a houseboat for a couple nights. This can be one of the most expensive things you do in India, but it can be well worth the money as the scenery is beautiful and living on a houseboat allows you to really take advantage of being on the backwaters.

Of course, for lunch we had to go back to Thaff to get one last milkshake and try some of their food, which was delicious. After lunch, we caught a bus to Ernakulam.

Kanyakumari

We took the train from Varkala to Kanyakumari, the most southern point in India. We took a rickshaw into the centre of town for 10 Rs. The driver was clearly interested in showing us certain hotels where he could collect a commission, but we told him we had already found a hotel. Since it was almost sunset, we decided to head straight to the water to watch it with everyone who had already gathered. Just as we reached the western coast, we heard clapping...the sun had just set. Luckily we were there for one more night so we could catch it the next day. We wandered around the point and saw a small memorial that was built in honour of Mahatma Gandhi. There was also a statue that was built to pay tribute to the victims of the 2004 tsunami. We met a couple from Israel and asked where they were staying, but it was far and a little more expensive than what we were looking for so we visited some places mentioned in our Lonely Planet guide. We checked into the Mannickan Hotel, then walked back to the main street to find something to eat. We came across a hole in the wall called Idly Shop where there was only one other table of tourists. We ordered masala dosa, idly and Fantas for about 40 Rs and it was delicious. It was getting late so we walked back to the hotel and found that Legally Blond was playing so we spent the rest of the night watching it.

We woke up at 5am the next morning in order to see the sun rise. There were much fewer people than at sunset the previous day, so we were able to get a place to sit where the fishermen dock their boats. The view was amazing and definitely worth waking up at such an early hour. After breakfast, we went to visit the local temple. It was a very different experience from the one in Varkala. There were tons of people being pushed through the building very quickly. We were taken to the front of the line, then we were told to stand to the side so we could watch the people receive their blessings. There was so much pushing and shoving, which was strange to see in a place meant for worship.

We took a ferry to a nearby island which held the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and the Thiruvalluvar statue.

Our next destination was Alleppey and the train didn't leave until the next morning. We walked down to see the sunset, but unfortunately it was too cloudy to see the sun pass the horizon.

The next morning we caught the train to Trivandrum at 5:30am and then took a 4 hour bus to Alleppey.