Now before coming to India I assumed all clothing items brought would get worn out and ruined, thus for the most part I brought old, unattractive and modest clothing. Little did I know in the village it's all about the dress! Most people would assume beauty and compliments about appearance are generally derived from the standard of one's facial and hair maintenance and of course their figure. Yet here with the villagers it appears to be somewhat the opposite. Beauty and ones attractiveness is mostly defined by their dress. So much so that if you wear something new to school you get pinched, literally. ("New Pinch, New Pinch"). The conservative and sexually inhibiting hindu culture doesn't allow for much bodily contact so perhaps it's their way of getting a cheeky grab.
Today I wore a long skirt for the first time as it's starting to heat up. The skirt wasn't even new I'd had it for a while, but my fellow staff had never seen me wear it so of course the pinching began. Note to self wear old and dilapidated clothing if you want to get through the day without being attacked by people pinching you left, right and centre. The power of clothing really is quite overwhelming, you could be completely wrecked and looking terrible but if you are wearing a new piece of clothing or something nice you will receive a hundred compliments. I must say though I wish I did bring a few more items of clothing as wearing the same couple of outfits everyday is getting rather boring and not to mention the amount of holes all of my clothing has endured. I've even had to borrow some of my host-dads (74) cardigans, which lets just say are a bit matured. The amount of cow dung here also doesn't help the cause. The amount of times I have unwillingly stepped in cow feces is outlandish. You would think the pungent smell and freshly brewed heat rings would be a dead give away but no no not at all. Upon my arrival four months ago it was too cold to pick up such scents and trust me there are higher priorities such as not getting run over by a truck or getting as far afield as possible from seedy Indian men who gawk invasively. My poor converse and new balance sneakers have already been victim to such fecal matter. Only my offensive hiking boots are left, that only a mother would find appealing due to their pragmatic nature.
Today I wore a long skirt for the first time as it's starting to heat up. The skirt wasn't even new I'd had it for a while, but my fellow staff had never seen me wear it so of course the pinching began. Note to self wear old and dilapidated clothing if you want to get through the day without being attacked by people pinching you left, right and centre. The power of clothing really is quite overwhelming, you could be completely wrecked and looking terrible but if you are wearing a new piece of clothing or something nice you will receive a hundred compliments. I must say though I wish I did bring a few more items of clothing as wearing the same couple of outfits everyday is getting rather boring and not to mention the amount of holes all of my clothing has endured. I've even had to borrow some of my host-dads (74) cardigans, which lets just say are a bit matured. The amount of cow dung here also doesn't help the cause. The amount of times I have unwillingly stepped in cow feces is outlandish. You would think the pungent smell and freshly brewed heat rings would be a dead give away but no no not at all. Upon my arrival four months ago it was too cold to pick up such scents and trust me there are higher priorities such as not getting run over by a truck or getting as far afield as possible from seedy Indian men who gawk invasively. My poor converse and new balance sneakers have already been victim to such fecal matter. Only my offensive hiking boots are left, that only a mother would find appealing due to their pragmatic nature.
Now of course there is the traditional Indian clothing that I could exhibit such as the Shalwar Kameez (long top thing/pants/scarf) It really is the most comfortable collaboration. I actually have had a few lazy days where I would just wear one to bed and wake up and go straight to school because it was too cold to change in the morning. However I prefer not to wear traditional clothing when I can avoid it because if you think receiving a small pinch for wearing something new is a pain well lets just say I might as well get rugby tackled to the ground for the attention an outsider gets given when wearing traditional clothing. Now that brings me to the Sari. I really don't know how they manage to look so elegant and graceful when wrapped up in metres of fabric like a tinned sardine. Of course I'm naturally tall and unbalanced but walking in a Sari is no romantic walk on the beach. In fact I would describe it more as a penguin waddling in the desert. Fortunately many Indian women have come up with a little cheat, the 'kitten heel.' Wearing a small heel makes it easier to walk in a Sari. Well great as if I need any more height. So there I am already a metre taller than those surrounding me, wearing flip-flops under my Sari and refusing to greet people if it means having to step forward, in fear of greeting them with a head but.
Now cow dung aside, farm life has many perks! It is currently the start of the Summer fruit season. Living in an orchard is amazing! Fresh fruit galore. The house is filled with a new fruit by the week! This week its been cherries and lychee's and not just a few, buckets and buckets full. Literally had so many cherries we experimented with cherry pie, jam, purée, we just needed to get rid of some. Apples, plums, peaches and pears are also becoming very visible on the trees in the orchards it's epic. Not to mention mangoes! Crates and crates of mangoes flowing in, each mango is 6 rupees here which is 15cents Aussie, illegal! Home-made butter, milk and cream on a daily basis is also another major upside. Today I felt like I should get amongst it as it's often hard to lend a hand when there are so many staff here who know exactly what they're doing. Yet I persevered and drove around on the tractor with Pratabu, which probably wasn't the best idea whilst in white clothes...
I originally was going to finish my volunteering on the 15th of June however I decided to stay here with my host family until the 30th to help with the annual school function on the 29th. Winta my partner left last Thursday, however I am very lucky to have my host mums awesome grand-daughter Dheera, who's moved in to help with the function. Dheera is currently studying Theatre so we have been having a lot of fun together working on each piece for the concert. We are in charge of 3rd class who are performing Rold Dahl's Crocky-Wock The Crocodile poem, 4th Class whom we have taught the famous "You're The One That I Want" musical number from Grease, 5th Class who will perform Thriller dance by Michael Jackson that Winta choreographed before leaving and 6+7 are performing a short play 'Free the Sunbird'. We are also taking the kindergarten kids who are doing The Twist (dance) by Chubby Checkers which is hilarious and pretty much consists of Dheera and I side stage getting way too into leading the cheesy dance moves. I have officially stopped all my original classes as of last week so now everyday starts later at 11pm and consists merely of rehearsals as the concert is Saturday week! Weekends are spent socialising in Manali and organising final costumes/props.
Only two weeks left in India before continuing my travels in Europe and I can honestly say no part of me is ready to leave! Not one for even the slightest bit of emotional or cheesy publications but I have literally had the best 4 and a half months of my life here! Living in the mountains with some new life long friends. My host family, I honestly feel like I have known them for years! Especially the grand-kids of similar ages, Dhruv, Dheera, Raghu and cousin Tara who have been awesome and have become some of my best friends! and of course little Jai and Ryan from Mumbai! Getting to know my host parents lovely daughters Piya and Jaya has also been amazing! Aswell as all the staff on the farm and students/teachers at T.I.S. Another person who made the trip unforgettable is Uncle Bob from Derbyshire, for his wisdom and support throughout my stay! But last but not least the three people who I lived with and made my entire stay extremely memorable were Bala, Jimmy and Winta. I can already picture myself on the bus back to Delhi listening to Fix You by Coldplay, eating blocks of chocolate and sobbing on some random Indians shoulder. Whoever you are I apologise in advance.
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