Time to reflect

Last weekend I went to Delhi. I'd been looking forward to the trip every since Jen and Nikki had invited me to their backpackers fancy dress party a few weeks before. They are both VSO UK volunteers but arrived in November 2009 so had just celebrated their 6 month anniversary, a landmark I was keen to pass.

The long weekend gave me a chance to reflect on my new life in Laporiya village and how it differed to life in Delhi. One thing that constantly comes up in conversations with other VSO volunteers is that every placement has positive and negative factors, there is no perfect placement, and different lifestyles suit different people.

Delhi, frantic markets, 2 minute access to mangos, meaty take aways, american style cafes, air conditioned bedrooms, pepe jeans, wonderful anoki, turtle cafe, pedicures, dentists, hairdressers, olympic sized swimming pools, real coffees, beer, expats, bars, dancing, karaoke, cinemas, western style toilets, showers, dust free flats and english conversations with sympathisers.

Laporiya, my home, quiet, kind to wallets, dusty, filled with family, slow, time for reading and writing, simple fresh food.

I didn't come to India to live an expat lifestyle, i came to be Indian for a year, to live how I never would again. To have time to reflect, rest, recharge and learn to value my own company, to prove to myself I could be truly independant. But the thing I've come to realise is that you are never really alone, there are always people to support you. Yes I'm here in India by myself but in under three months I have a group of new VSO volunteer friends who I'm taking trips around the country to see, 30 new family members, rewarding work to get stuck into with accomodating colleagues and of course my original family and friends on the end of my reliance net connect broadband stick.

Now I can have the best of both worlds. I can live a simple life in the country learning how to appreciate running water, electricity, rain, baths, being able to choose who you marry and where you live, lush English countryside and the cool British air. Then when I've had enough I can pop to Delhi or Kolkata and overdose on filter coffee, air conditioning and conversation.

And I can feel myself changing already. I do feel more independant, somehow stronger, more sure of my gut instinct, trusting that my own decisions are the best for me. Certain that I want to build my own eco-home back in England, that I can't spend my career doing anything apart from trying to make positive changes to people's lives. There are huge problems and I know when I'm back home I won't be able to ignore them. Forced child labour, child marriages, droughts, poor sanitation ruining lives, mothers dying from traditional birthing practices, industries exploiting precious natural resources, a lack of respect for the environment. I knew this year wouldn't be easy. It's a challenge but if you don't keep challenging yourself you won't get anywhere. Yes, I count down the days and seek landmark dates for anniversaries of how long I've done or how long until I see Rob, but I know this year will be seminal for me, a defining period in my personal development. You can't ask for more than that.

Photos: A meaty brunch over the weekend with VSO volunteers in an airconditioned american style cafe in Delhi vs. proudly displaying the butter and buttermilk I churned last week in Laporiya with my kakisa (aunty).