Finding Enlightenment

I got to my next destination by train from Kolkata which was great fun as it was a fascinating journey in which I spent the entire time staring out of the window watching people going about their daily business in their small towns and villages. I was heading to a town called Bodhgaya, best known as a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from around the world. Why? Because in Bodhgaya stands the tree under which Siddartha Gautama, otherwise know as Buddha, reached enlightenment in 6th century BC, hence it is known for its spirituality.Spiritual my arse.......! I had dream like images of a centre of tranquility and calm to relax after the hustle and bustle of the city. That was my first mistake, if there is one thing I have learnt in India is that you absoloutely cannot expect anything, as everything turns out slightly or hugely different to what you had in your head. So its best not to think about it too much, or care, as then you won't be disappointed.

Anyway, my point is that you have to be a pretty good Buddhist to come out of Bodhgaya with a sense of calm. As we arrived in our rickshaw there was the noise of beeping horns all around, the road gave out clouds of dust and as we stepped out of the auto rickshaw our driver tried to get more money out of us than we'd agreed. Our room was dingy and miserable and the shit food took about an hour to arrive. We were tired and fed up after the long journey. But luckily the next day we found a gem of a guesthouse, tucked outside the craziness along the side of some farmer's fields where goats roamed in the fields and kids played. (pic above was the view from the balcony - calm!). I got to hold a baby goat and now I realy want one as a pet. The guesthouse was clean, amazingly cheap and had a gorgeous breeze to cool you down.
We visited the Mahabodhi temple and Bodhi tree where the monks gather to meditate and do their monk thing! One morning I got up at 5am to go see the sunrise at the temple and sit for some quiet reflection by myself. It was really interesting to sit and watch the monks, as for the sunrise, I couldnt tell from what direction it was coming over the walls, so I more watched it get light, which was still very atmospheric and it was lovely to sit there and write my diary.We also (attempted) to buy postcards, which we had not yet been able to find, so if you get a werid temple picture coming through your door, that will be from me. Aside from the cool, intricate temple and gardens, there isn't alot to see in Bodhgaya, but I did discover an amazing yoga teacher who gave lessons on the roof of a building in one of the small surrounding villages. So it was really fun to do yoga over the amazing views. He was dutch and very friendly, he would always ask the class what they wanted to do so we got to do some weird and wonderfull positions (like headstand!). I also met a girl that was by herself from Austria and looked my age (which is actually really rare, hence I know how lucky I am to be here). She was travelling by herself and loved it. I saw this a sign that everything would work out okay by myself and it was nice to know that I was not the only 21 year old female that has travelled around India by herself, altough I still think that I must be one of the few. So that was that, Kaz booked her flight home for a weeks time.
In the end I did manage to chill out for a few days which was really nice, and as always befriended a local restaurant owner that served great 'Hari Om' specials - Fried potatoes, eggs, cheese, tomato, garlic and onion! Good for fattening me up post gastroenteritis. But did I find enlightenment ? The short answer... no it didn't happen! However I have found a strange sense of inner calm that has been with me throughout the holiday which could have a lot to do with the reading I did about Buddhism whilst teaching. All of the principles of Buddhism are thoughts that I had already formed in my head, therefore I do actually believe in it's principles and have taken alot from it and will use it as a point of reflection if it all gets to much! My inner calm may also be a reaction to all the craziness that I have been through, there was no choice in the matter. If I hadn't been calm and had allowed things to stress me out, I would have had to fly home by now..... and Im still here!

The 'hole of India'

To some Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) is known as the hole of India. It is very dirty, grimey, littered, polluted, everything is covered in a layer of think grey dust and the buildings look like they are about to collapse. It is not pretty, lets put it that way. But I still found a great deal of beauty in Kolkata. Maybe it helped that I hadn't had high expectations as I'd only heard horrible things. But I loved the backpacker area, centred around a road called Sudder St. It is very small but you had everything that you needed - food, internet, hostels - all in one little space, cleverly disguised in little doorways and tiny shops. The best thing was the cups of chai that you could buy on the street for 4R that came in small terrecota cups that they would throw on the floor after use. Oo and it was a great place to meet other backpackers. It is also the last city in India to have carts designed to transport people, pulled along by a single person, rather than say horse, or bike. Some people say its cruel, yet for these people it is their way of earning money and gives them the income they need. But you feel pretty bad them lugging you about and then giving them like 20p.It was a nice place to recover after coming out of hospital and I got to do some well deserved retail therapy. Behind Sudder St is the hugest, most amazing market that sells anything and everything. I brought lots of spices to send home and made friends with some Indian guys who own a shop that sells the best Alli Baba pants as we call them. We went to their shop almost everyday to get something new so they brought us lots of chai and gave us a good deal as we were their 1st official customers. The fabrics and shawls here are beautiful. If Im not careful I won't be able to bring everything I buy home with me.

Kolkata is the place where Mother Theresa set up her 1st mission to help the poor and neediest of people. We went to 'the motherhouse' a museum about her life and its where she used to live. It was so interesting to read about how she dedicated her whole life to helping others, in particular those that society outcast the most like the dying and people with leporacy. When I came to India I expected to learn about Hinduism, the main religion, but I have also learnt about Buddhism (see next entry) and Catholicism because of mother theresa. Strange how in the space of such a tiny geographic area there are so many religons with strong followings.
We also went to see Slumdog Millionaire in the cinema. I know there is alot of hype about it, but seeing it in India was amazing as it has some really good imagery to describe India so I loved it. Then you come out of the cinema and you're in the middle of the craziness. Everyone in India is very excited about the success of the film, they seem really proud of their country and feel like it has put India under the world's radar. Good for them I say.

In the shit....

The next episode of my trip was not quite as serene and pleasant as the first. But I can still count it as a good experience as I got through it. Besides Ive never been in a hospital before, let alone an Indian hospital so it was a good learning curve and I was suprisingly unfreaked out by it. I feel my companion had more issues about it than I did.

So what happened? The full story........ (not for the faint hearted be warned)

2 days before I was due to leave the teaching project there was a festival called 'Saraswait Poojah' which is dedicated to the goddess of learning. There were celebrations at the school and awards were given to the best students that Kaz and I had donated to the project ( first prize was pencils, copy book and uniform). The children then prepared food for us, only chopped up fruits, but I think there may have been a lack of handwashing that gave me some bad germs!

This didnt actually effect me straight away but I stupidly didn't realise how hot the sun was getting and got a touch of sunstroke that made me puke in the evening after dinner and gave me a thumping headache. The next day I couldn't really eat as I thought I'd throw up and when I went to say bye to the kids, I almost fainted as we were standing in the sun. Its a shame as I literally almost fainted just as they were giving a speech thanking us for our help but I had to run off!
I knew I was due to leave that day and that if I could just get to Kolkata and rest it would be okay as there is no medical attention available at the project. So actually I am really lucky with the timing. I had to face an hour taxi ride to the nearest town (Godda) where there is a so called 'bus station', wait there for 4 hours in the taxi drivers house (who was so lovely) and then get a 10 hours bus at 7pm. This is when i got 'in the shit'....

Got really bad stomach cramps, fever, pain, wasn't drinking water as no one on the bus spoke english and we didnt have a clue when the bus would stop for the toilet. Eventually it did at 1.30pm and i had pretty bad diahorreah (however its spelt) which I had to try and hold, uncomfortably for the rest of the journey. It was pretty horrific, managed just about not too poo my pants. We went straight to a hostel where I pooed liquid about 6 times in an hour and felt so weak so we decided I had to get some medical advice. The project's organiser had recommended a good hospital where we could go see a doctor.I thought they'd give me some advice and some drugs but nooo... they said I should be admitted! I was hooked on to an IV, given injections in my bum, fed medicines! But the nurses were so lovely. What I thought would be 24hrs turned into 3 days which turned into a week. My final diagnosis was 'Acute Gastroenteritis leading to severe dehydration'. 'Patient has frequent episodes of loose motions, severe abdominal cramps, vomiting, feverish and extreme weakness'. Basically i think my immune system was weakened by sunstroke and dehydration so I couldn't handle the Delhi belly.

Amusingly I was treated like a goddess in hospital, I felt so bad everyone doing everything for me. I had my own room, Tv, bathroom with normal toilet and shower (hot water). I got constant attention and a was given a drip for 4 days, meals (bit gross as you'd expect - i never want soup again in my life) and cups of tea were brought to me. It could have been a hostel (almost!). My doctor looks after the England cricket team when they are in Kolkata so I know he must be good and I'm gonna meet with his daughter when I get back to England as she is studying in Liverpool and is really homesick.
I finally got released 1 week after I came in. They gave me enough medicine to start a small pharmacy and I am no longer on antibiotics and feel good again, apart from having a cold - typical! I cant post pics where I am but when I can Il'l put some up, I look pretty scary but I was in good spirits! I lost a bit of weight but Im trying to make up for it now, don't you worry.....

Teaching in Jharkand

Why I waited to start a blog after being here for over 6 weeks I do not know! Now I have way too much to write, so ill summarise some of the highlights:

Teaching at Dakshinayan

I wanted to start the 1st month of my trip with some volunteering for loads of reasons . It meant that I could be based in a really remote place that Id otherwise never have access to. The number of visitors in this state of India (Jharkand, near the Bangladeshi border) is restricted as its seen as dangerous area with tribes and 'bandits' plus it's the poorest area of India so not many travellers want to go there. We had to complete some weird registration to be allowed in. Luckily the police man loves England and wants to go there but our Australian friends, who were at the project as the same time as us got asked strange stuff - ' Why are you eyes blue? Why is your hair brown?'. Guess they don't like Aussies quite as much.

Being the poorest place in India means nothing. It just means that they live a very simple life in their villages, no electricity, growing enough food just to eat. But its not a bad thing, they are in such beautiful surroundings and I think that seeing the slums in a city is probably a lot worse. They share what they have and they seem happy. As for tribes, it sound scary and foreign, but its just a name for a group of people living with their own unique culture, they are still very friendly and their not aliens!

I also really wanted to see what teaching in another country was like and it couldn't have been nicer compared to what I have experienced in England. The kids want to learn so much. They want to answer every question and giving them a simple tick in their book makes them sooo proud. They go to school 6days per week and complain about having holidays! It was so refreshing and fun to teach kids that yearn to learn and genuinely respect you. I could literally write a book on the crazily different attitude, discipline and structure of this Indian school and about the problems with our education system. Plus how fun is using chalk and a blackboard ?


There were 80 kids in the school, ranging from the ages of 4 - 14. They are split into nursery, class1, 2, 3,4. In nursery when they start they cannot speak a word of english, some speak a little hindi, some only speak their tribal langauge. By the time they reach class 4 they can read, write, speak and understand English amazingly well. So we have to speak English all the time, with a few word of Hindi to help out. But being there really does help.


I taught class 2 and 4 with a lovely Aussie, who is slightly nuts but so enthusiastic and very similar to me in attitude and thought process so we worked really well together. We taught English, Maths, Science and Social Studies, again sooo much fun. There were a few festivals on during the month of Jan so we got to taste some of the weird and wonderful snacks that the kids brought in (which prob led to my illness!). Plus for 5 days straight we heard constant drumming as the tribes were partying! It woke me up many a time but the i just thought ' how cool is that!'. We even got to see the festivities one day when we went on a trek from our school to its sister school 6km away. On the way there we walked through jungle but the way back we walked through the villages and saw lots of people looking very! Im not suprised after 4days of no sleep and taking lots of strange tribal substances!

I am so glad I chose this project, its really good, not in it for the money and it gives you such a good pic of rural Indian life. it was so nice to live such a basic lifestyle for a month and I felt so incredibly healthy (but then got admitted into hospital!Thats the next entry!). Plus I got to see what it is like not to wash your hair for a month, self cleansing does not work!! But seriously the natural beauty and doing chores (like carrying heavy buckets of water) and being a vegetarian and remaining tee total for a month meant i felt so good. I really didnt miss stuff..... now im like wooooow electricity is weird!

It was also so good to just chill out in the afternoons, watch the sun rise and set, drink chai, read, be warm! See pretty views and get to know as much about the Indian culture as possible. Im even used to eating rice for every meal (with hand of course) and have learnt a bit of Hindi from the Aussies and kids which is turning out to be so useful! (until I go to a diff state where they speak a different language!) Any q's just ask xxxxx