Your Average Adventurer

Dear Friends, Last time I said I had been on a bike, well now I have been on a bike with three people at once. Tinka and I were walking back from the Republic day service, which had been held in a carpark near Cuffe Parade, and Kumar and Fardin came past on their bikes, and offered a lift back. Tinka and I (gracefully) climbed on the back of Fardin's bike, forthwith set off rather more slowly than he had arrived. We all went for chai at Mezeban Cafe, and Kumar said something that was quite touching about how I have grown in confidence a lot since arriving in India and since he met me in the UK which genuinely put a smile on my face. The actual ceremony had been full of joy with lots of dances from the OSCAR children, singing from Ashok and then the release of the flag itself with beautiful flowers bursting out as it dropped, signifying the importance of this day across India. One of my highlights of my time in India so far, was Ruby's 21st which was hosted on a boat from t...

Dear Friends, Tick. I have ridden on the back of a motorbike through the streets of Mumbai. Sorry Mum and Dad (actually Dad you would probably be proud of me - maybe mum too? let me know x). It was so much fun and ended far too quickly - it is definitely the way to go if you want to get around an outrageously overcrowded city quickly especially when there are no rules of the road.. (keeping my sailing terms ticking over for the summer) That same evening we went to a market  in Bhulashwar to look for a Kurta for the boys and a blouse for my Saree. Kumar, Sunita and Fardiin came with us and introduced us to various street foods along the way. I have learnt to trust the local knowledge because I haven't been especially sick off anything they have suggested yet (touch wood)! The boys found some swanky but not too extravagant Kurtas for roughly 600 rupees, similar to the price of my cotton saree I had bought earlier on in the day, not that I have a clue how I am going to put it on.. ...

Dear Friends, On the 14th, the last time I updated you, I was hoping we would go to Bandra in the evening. I only managed to persuade Tom so we took the slow train to the end of the line as it was the last stop. I had seen that a French cafe called Kitchen Garden by Suzette was highly recommended so we wondered down there first. It was lovely and sold organic foods but I could only justify splashing out on a smoothie! We wanted to make the sunset so we briskly walked to the shore and made it just in time! The area seemed very different to Colaba, and when we spoke to Sue yesterday she was saying that the city hub has moved there. We followed the promenade down to Carter road, an area of restaurants, and then got a Rickshaw ride down to the opposite end by the Fort. We wanted to go and visit it but it was closed at night but instead we saw the outside of the Taj Lands End Hotel which looked beautiful with all its lights. We were amused by a stray dog that had been following us but ...

Dear Friends, In the last couple of days we have had our first experience at an Indian Cinema. We went with Sue to the Metro INOX Cinema to see Chhapaak which was entirely in Hindi. It was based around a girl, who had rejected a man, who in return grew jealous and decided that if he couldn't have her, then no one could. She had acid thrown in her face, and was permanently scarred. It was a really powerful story of her journey to come to terms with this upheaval, the court battles, and also her coming together with other victims to form a support group. It all seemed like it was turning into a happy ending when she found love. However, the last scene shocked us all as it showed a bride getting ready on her special day and as she is walking out, she is attacked with acid. We all felt unusually effected by the film. I really enjoyed the experience and it reminded me of the last time I visited an Indian cinema complex with my family and we lost Jake but eventually found him on the C...

Dear Friends, 7 days till the half marathon... I went for a run this morning, surprise surprise, down to marine drive and back. It was equivalent to about a 3rd of the distance I will have to do in the real thing and yet I was red and dripping by the time I got back (sorry if that's tmi). I think it might take a while to acclimatise, but I only have a week so lets hope not too long! In the last 4 days we have visited a new football ground called Cooperage. It is the home stadium for Air India FC and ONGC FC. On Friday we went to watch the seniors in one of their matches. Unfortunately, they lost 3-0 and we were by far the loudest supporters, amongst a fairly empty crowd, perhaps that is what put them off?? Tinka and I went back on Saturday thinking we were going to another OSCAR training session at 4 but it turns out it was cancelled. We still had a great time watching a random match and being shown around by our new pal, the security guard John, Tinka will know. We ran into Kum...

Dear Friends, This is just a short update as yesterday was fairly quiet. However, we did visit the CST station which I believe was initially called Victoria Station and you can see the British style shining through. However, we all still thought it was incredible but we made a swift exit after a train pulled up and what we thought was about a million people suddenly pouring out of it towards us. Today's moments have been some of my favourite so far. We have been doing case studies on OSCAR children and I went with Tom and Tom (convenient for name learning) to visit the homes of both of theirs. Their community was beside the wall of the hospital and was far quieter than Ambedkar Nagar. In every home we have visited they are so generous and never let us go empty handed because they believe a God will visit their house when we enter?! This was no different in the community, where they offered us water, Sprite and Cake (because it was one if the boys birthday), which I tried but nei...