After leaving Delhi and splitting up from the other volunteers who were in different cities Winta, my volunteer partner and i embarked on a 12 hour bus ride from Delhi to the Kullu Valley (north India) where we were to live for the next four months and teach in a school. Little did we know we had hit the jack pot and received a lovely old wealthy couple as our Indian host parents. (Bala and Jimmy Johnson). Our new home as shown above in the pictures is a beautiful 30 acre colonial farm surrounded by fruit orchards and snowy mountains.
The Johnson's are a very prominent family here in the village, after setting up the school (Tara International) 9 years ago. They also own a hotel and restaurant in Manali (big tourist town 25kms away) that their Daughter Piya now runs. Despite Winta and i being the only ones living here currently with Bala and Jimmy the house is never empty. They have many staff whom work on the farm on a daily basis. Sunil the head chef is from Nepal and works in the kitchen with his wife Mamta. Jaiwanti and Tara-Mani also work in the kitchen, yet mainly do the cleaning and house work. There are about 10 other staff working outside, however we have formed a bond with the inside staff and dedicate time at night to teach them english. After being here only two days we already feel a part of this small community, getting waves and smiles from locals on our walks to school which is about 7 minutes down the road.
Yesterday we met our host parents grandson, Dhruv (23) who will become our tour guide. He is very outgoing and speaks english better than most Aussies. He is living at the hotel in Manali with his mother Piya and has promised to take us snow boarding next weekend with his college friends. Every alternate Saturday we have school so today Sunday is our rest day where we will plan our classes for the following week. Yesterday was our first day of school. We took an english class of five year olds who were the most beautiful well behaved children. The discipline in schools here is amazing. Every morning we are greeted with "Good morning Mam", "May i please go to the bathroom Mam" and "Can i re-enter the room please Mam" We were also fortunate enough to watch a Bollywood dance concert at the school which was a very special occasion for the children.
It is definitely hard to get home sick when you are living in a place as picturesque, clean and surreal as this!
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This is really a great post for Manali life style. I am from UP and always love to make Lucknow to Shimla holidays.
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