Two Kinds of People

Mark Twain once observed that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who haven't. Today, the members of our Putney Community Service crew have joined the ranks of Rabindranath Tagore, Rudyard Kipling, several heads of state, artists, actors, politicians, and even Yanni.

As we gazed at this magnificent monument, we (Ted and Priyanka) could not help but take in its striking beauty with a hint of sadness. From the moment we were hired as Putney leaders, we knew that our visit to the Taj Mahal would happen on our last full day in India. At the time (which seems like decades ago), we had no idea what to expect. We did not know if our students would like spicy food or Bollywood music. We did not know if the heat of Rajasthan or the hectic pace of Delhi would be too overwhelming for some. And we certainly did not know if this whole experience would be as rewarding as we hoped.

Now, months after we heard from Putney that we got 'the job', we are officially cherishing an experience that most people can only dream about. It has been four weeks full of singing in Hindi for everyone from our jeep drivers to living royalty, shopping in crowded bazaars, acting in "Indian-ified" versions of fairy tales, painting nursery school classrooms, constructing a new building for a growing school, seeing modern wonders of the world, and forming a lifetime's worth of memories and friendships. These four weeks are coming to an end… but our experience in India will certainly live on in emails, videos, Facebook photos, and possibly mini-reunions.

Tonight we all will pack our bags for the last time and tomorrow we will fly back to the United States with bags full of gifts and souvenirs and brains swimming with incredible stories of camel rides, bat attacks, and the wishes we made on the top of a mystic rock structure in rural Rajasthan. Within hours we will enjoy simple comforts like brushing our teeth with tap water and taking warm showers with adequate water pressure. Within a few weeks, the henna designs on our hands and arms will start to fade, and our memories of waking up at 5:15am for school assemblies will follow. Within a few months, we might forget about the monkeys who tried to jump into our jeeps, and the taste of the delicious dhal and chapattis served by the Ghanerao castle staff. In a few years and even decades, names like Hitpal, Khet Singh, Ruchika, and Kailash (Special K) – all of whom have made our time in India so fantastic – may only strike up the vaguest of recollections.

It's an undeniable fact… we will one day forget many of the details that have surrounded our lives in India. But even as time passes from days to weeks to months and years, we know that everyone will remember how amazing this trip has been and how lucky we were to have experienced India and all of its wonders together.

Mark Twain may have been an incredibly gifted man, but in our case he was only half right. The people of the world can definitely be classified into two categories: those who were a part of the Putney Community Service in India program ('08!), and those who wish they were.

Ted and Priyanka

Greetings from Jaisalmer!

It was a very hectic final week in the FabIndia School, but we managed to finish painting two classrooms in the nursery and got much work completed on the bathroom construction. On Monday, we said our byes with a huge party for all the students and teachers. At the farewell assembly, we stunned the crowd with our fantastic singing of Yeh Dosti, a popular Hindi song. We also showed our theatrical skills by Indian-ifying one of the best fairy tales out there - Cinderella. Our students had the crowd laughing and engaged - it was a job well done!!

After heading back to the castle, we didn't have a moment to rest as our evening was packed with many activities. First, we had tea and Indian snacks with the Maharani. The students wanted her to hear our new favorite song, but before we knew it, our audience included the Maharaja and his sister! We were astonished because it was the first time he came out to meet all of us. After that, we threw a little surprise tea party for the castle staff. They have been so wonderful the past three weeks, and it was nice to do something for them in return.

Early Tuesday morning, we headed off to Jodhpur (aka the Blue City) where we visited the Mehrangarh Fort. After an informative and fun tour, we headed off to Jaisalmer - the Golden City. After a good night's rest, we started our morning at the Jaisalmer Fort, which included a very nice tour through historical Rajasthan. We've spent the last couple of hours shopping - it's amazing to see how quickly your kids picked up the art of bargaining in India!

Tonight we have a camel safari scheduled, followed by a folk music and traditional dancing show over dinner. Tomorrow, we are returning to Jodhpur for some more shopping before taking a night train to Delhi. We can't believe we only have a few days left with each other! Stay tuned for news from Delhi, the last leg of this amazing journey.

Bye for now,
Priyanka and Ted

A quick update from Rajasthan

Man, have we been busy! Since our last update, we had an amazing trip out to the Kumbhalgarh Fort and Udaipur. We are talking palaces, lakes, gardens, boat rides, amazing food, and shopping galore!

We are in full force with all of our service projects. Teaching is a big hit among our students. At the beginning of last week, they were a little timid and unsure of themselves, but now they command a classroom with energy and creativity. Construction for the new bathrooms is progressing better than we could have imagined. Finally, your kids threw out some unique and hilarious ideas for our mural paintings in the nursery school. We can't wait to see the finished product.

Even though we have developed a routine here, pleasant surprises are always thrown at us. Yesterday, on a spur of the moment field trip (planned by the Maharani), we had the chance to visit a "tribal" community. We visited an education center which focuses on simple technology that they can apply to their everyday lives. We also got the chance to see their homes, chat with them, and sing/dance with the children. Everyone was reluctant to go at first, but this was probably one of the most memorable experiences that we have had so far.

So now we are getting ready to wrap up our projects-- we are sad to say our goodbyes to all of our new friends in rural Rajasthan. We still can't believe that we have less than a week left before we head off to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. But at least we still have a camel ride and the Taj Mahal to look forward to!

- Ted and Priyanka

New friends, cricket, and the Maharani

Nothing calms nerves when traveling to a foreign country like properly settling in and finding a niche in a new community. We could go on with 50 ways this has taken place in our group, but we'll describe just a couple for now...

All of the Indian students and teachers at the FabIndia School have welcomed us so warmly - the children wait until recess so they can run out on the field and surround our group. Some of the Putney students have made new best friends in the 3rd and 4th grades, others have 8th graders bringing nail polish to share with our girls, and the rest are proving their athletic abilities in the most famous sport out here (others call it a religion), cricket!

Fun aside though, we could not be more impressed with how hard your children are working. We have gotten so many compliments from the staff and the Principal at the school! Our students always want to do more and try their best to go the extra mile.

The other day we had a real treat after a hard day's work; we all came back to the castle, cleaned up nicely, wore clean and presentable Indian clothes and sat down for a chat with the Maharani (Queen). She had some wonderful stories to share, and the students hung onto every word! It was evident how engaged they were in the conversation from the intelligent questions they posed, and we are certain the Maharani was pleased to pass an hour of her busy day with our bright young group. It is safe to say that after hearing some of her life stories and struggles, we all sat back for a while and realized how fortunate we are to have the opportunities that we do.

We are looking forward to our weekend getaway when we go on a hike up to the Kumbhalgarh Fort nearby and then continue on with a road trip to Udaipur, a famous city in Rajasthan. We can't wait to tell you about how it goes in our next blog!

- Priyanka and Ted

Lessons in Language

Can you believe that we have been here for over a week? Sometimes it feels like we just got here and other times it feels like we have been living here for years!

Right now, we are all enjoying our routine. (A couple of hectic days in Delhi and a long chaotic train ride would make anyone enjoy a little consistency!) The castle already feels like home and the wandering peacocks and occasional monkeys that visit seem like old friends. The staff has been extremely helpful and friendly and are beginning to participate in some of our group activities.

We also had our first non-work related excursion yesterday. We saw the beautiful Jain temple at Ranakpur, and all of us were awed by the incredible beauty and ornate architecture of this cultural site. Everyone took several pictures... all of which could be postcards.

And lately, we (Ted and Priyanka) have been providing informal Hindi lessons. Phrases like Aap ka nam kya hai? (What is your name?) and Castle kahaa hai ? (Where is the castle?) are rolling off of our students' tongues. Yesterday we gave them their first "test"... a scavenger hunt! We split everyone up into three teams and, with the one castle staff member watching each group, we had them do the following;

1. Find and photograph several landmarks in the town (including mosques, temples, and public wells)

2. Introduce themselves (in Hindi) to a store owner, tailor, and shoemaker. Ask for their names and if they could take a photograph with them.

3. Ask locals (in Hindi) for the words for cow, dog, peacock, water-buffalo, pig, and vehicle.

Both of us thought that it would take at least two or three hours for them to finish, but we have an extremely competitive group of young men and women. All of the teams came back, completely finished with all of the right answers, within an hour and fifteen minutes. We could tell that they all enjoyed the activity immensely and would do another one again in a heartbeat.

On top of the Hindi lessons, we are also teaching the students a popular Hindi song from the hit movie Sholay. For over a generation, the song Yeh Dosti, has been an anthem friendship that is probably more widely known in this country than the Indian national anthem. And the two of us couldn't be happier with the progress our students are making. They actually know the entire chorus! Hopefully we can continue our series of stellar concerts (including "Lean on Me" and "Under the Sea") with this lively and upbeat tune.

So in honor of our newly found Hindi knowledge, we offer you this... Phir Melenge! (We will meet again!)

-Ted and Priyanka

Rajasthan, Are You Ready For Us?

Namaste! After a very busy couple of days in Delhi, the group experienced a unique journey on the Indian rail system to Rajasthan. Train rides are definitely times for great group bonding, and we certainly made use of it! When we reached Falna, representatives from the Fabindia school were waiting to greet us and take us back to our palace. Yes, we said palace. We all knew from the beginning that this was our destination, but actually standing in front of this architectural wonder from another time was breathtaking.

Our group settled in quickly and had a couple of hours to relax in the countryside. Next, a local guide came to take us on a tour of our village- Ghanarao. Our students were all smiles and laughs when they came back, showing us pictures of their new local friends and fans. After a fantastic dinner by the palace kitchen staff, it was an early lights out for everyone - including the leaders! You would be surprised, but everyone has managed to get up by 5:30 AM to get ready for school. We didn't even sleep on the hour long journey, because everyone was busy spotting the cows, donkeys, piglets, hogs, dogs, roosters, and goats along the way! We were welcomed by the teachers and students warmly, and we displayed our amazing singing ability by performing two awesome hits: 'Lean on Me' and 'Under the Sea'. The giggles from the students were absolutely precious! We worked on the school grounds most of the day, planting trees, talking to the children, and even teaching them the lyrics to our songs. The boys were pleased that the students could teach them the words to some Hindi songs they heard from "MTV India" back in Delhi.

The principal of the school arranged for us to go to a fancy resort to celebrate the Fourth, where all the students quickly jumped into the pool. We had a very relaxing evening and a delicious dinner. Today the projects officially started - our16 students are split into four groups. Two groups worked on building the bathroom facility on school grounds, one group taught English to students, and one group painted a couple of classrooms in the nursery (where adorable little kids ages 3-6 waved at us the whole time!). We will move groups around each day to allow for variety.

Tonight we plan to hang out on the terrace of the palace to watch the sunset together, and hopefully we can see the palace peacocks do a little dance, too! We will surely write to you soon to let you know how that goes.

-Priyanka and Ted

Delhi Days

Namaste from Delhi! The flight was long, but our crew reached India with a lot of excitement and energy. It was pretty late when we got to the guest house in South Delhi - an up and coming "trendy" part of town.

After a slightly jet lagged sleep and a flavorful breakfast, we got right to business with the first of a series of orientation meetings. We covered several topics including culture, health, safety, and the expectations of the program.

Soon after, we exchanged money with a banking professional who came to the guest house--very convenient!-- and headed out into the city. All of the students were thrilled with their first auto rickshaw ride and they thoroughly enjoyed the amazing sights that Delhi traffic has to offer. The cows on the median of major roads were a big hit!

We spent a couple of hours in FabIndia, a great store for vibrant and colorful Indian clothing. (The FabIndia Company started the school in which we will work in Rajasthan.) Afterwards, we took a low key driving tour of the city in a fleet of air conditioned taxi cabs. We stopped off at the India Gate and enjoyed the surrounding park. We even watched a friendly cricket match on an open grassy field. It was HOT, but enjoyable. And, of course, we made sure to drive by Embassy Row and the President's Palace. Later, we unexpectedly took a tour of a posh mall where we saw a demonstration of hand woven rugs. Of course the demonstration was followed by a skilled sales pitch. It was interesting to say the least... We capped off our day out with a nice South Indian dinner. We ate dosa, sambar, uthappam... it was delicious!

Exhausted as we were by the time we got back to the Guest House, the students decided to put on a fashion show for us in their new Indian attire. We have a creative, vivacious, and hilarious bunch with a blossoming interest for Bollywood. We couldn't ask for more! As the rest of our students went to sleep, the final member of our team arrived at the airport. We are really excited to get to know her and share a great month together.

Today, day two in Delhi, we plan on seeing some architectural wonders including the Mughal emperor Humayun's tomb, the lotus shaped Baha'i temple, and the famous Qutub Minar. And tonight we embark on our first night train to Rajasthan. Our work is about to begin!!! Stay tuned for our next update from Falna.

-Ted and Priyanka