Bidada Sarvodaya Trust

The past few weeks have been an incredible experience. We volunteered at a NGO in Kutch, the western region of rural Gujarat, called the Bidada Sarvodaya Trust. You can look them up at www.bidada.org. The organization is over thirty years old and started out providing dental and ophthalmologic care to large numbers of patients. The organization had begun expanding its services and especially after the catastrophic earthquake in Bhuj in 2001. Since then it created a multitude of not only specialty health care camps but also a huge rehabilitation center. It is phenomenal that they can make a prosthetic limb for less than 20 bucks. Well, every January there is a massive medical camp where throughout the month, various physicians and specialists come and set up all kinds of clinics ranging from orthopedic, gynecology, general surgery and of course pediatrics. Then they operate on a certain number of surgical cases and even refer complicated cases to Mumbai, which is supported by donors.
Well, we spent about 3 weeks there with our primary focus on a child health care project which consisted of packing a bus full of volunteers, physicians, optometrists, educators to random villages and setting up day camps at the various schools. Here we would basically see anywhere from about 250 to 400 kids ranging from 1st to 10th grade, and would give them screening physicals. But of course, with the poor access to care, and the socioeconomic conditions of the people, it definitely wasn’t just screening…Man, we had NO idea how some of these kids went to school and played like no big deal with massive malnutrition, raging pneumonias, skin infections, thalassemia/severe anemia and congenital heart disease. Tarak set up a two-day pulmonary clinic where people, mainly adults came out of the woodwork (they read an ad in the paper) for a medical opinion/treatment. We were once again amazed how some of these people were able to work and function with how bad their chest x-rays and lungs were. If that wasn’t overwhelming enough, the 2 day pediatric camp at the actual hospital was nuts!!…so basically it was Tarak, me and Shefali (a new pediatric friend from Raleigh) each set up at small tables with TONS of families that had lined up since the night before in massive numbers to be seen at this well known annual charitable camp. I swear for the first 2 hours, every 10 minutes, one of us would shout “Oh my God!” (Shefali), “Woah!” (Tarak) or “Oh shit” (me), which usually would result in the other two running up to see what god awful congenital abnormality or disease the poor child had. I won’t go into details of the crazy stuff we saw, for the sake of the non-medical people (We showed my parents some of the pictures, and my mom just starting making gushing auntie sounds and just started repeating gods name). Anyway, it was definitely an experience of a lifetime, and we consider it a blessing to have been able to participate and provide some service to these people. And the people there were so appreciative and grateful for everything, even when we were frustrated at the severe disparity and gaping holes in the health care system. Well, we hope this is our first of many years of attending the camp!
In between working, we did have some time to play and see some of the surrounding areas(the above picture is the salt flats near the Pakistani border). So, considering we are Gujarati and we have spent a lot of time in Gujarat in all of our trips to India, we can say that the region of Kutch (it means tortoise in Gujarati since the region in kind of shaped like one) is like none other. It is surrounded by the Gulf of Kutch and the Great and Little Ranns (deserts). The coolest things is that in the midst of what seems like inhabitable lands, there are traditional tribal villages that produce some of coolest textiles, embroidery and mirror work, bustling mud hut communities, camels that are always causing traffic jams, and beautiful palaces and Jain temples. We were in Bhuj during Sakranti, or Kite flying festival where the sky is filled with a sea of vibrant colored kites and the entire day is spent on the terrace, eating and trying to cut other people’s kites. From Bhuj, we took a day trip to visit some traditional villages in Hodka, the salt lakes that is only15km from the border of Pakistan, Bhujodi (known for weaving shawls and blankets) and Vijay Villas Palace (the king’s residence). In our time here, we had a chance to make new friends who had also come to serve. In some of our other pictures on the link, you can see our Kachhi compadres…Vaibhav, Shefali, Mike, Rishi, Bhavesh, Jay, Tushar and Monte who definitely contributed to our awesome experience!!

Camel Trekking

So, right after the wedding, Kaushal, Priti and the two of us headed on an action packed Rajasthan tour. We spent the next day in Jaipur, which is incidentally referred to as the “pink city” as the maharaja (king) of Jaipur painted the entire city pink to honor King Edward, who was visiting at the time. We saw the Hawa Mahal (in the picture above), Amber Fort, City Palace and hung out with our friends, Sonia and Rishi, who were our Jaipur localites and served as great tour guides. That night, we took a night train to Jaiselmer..little did we know that it would be a train ride from HELL!!....Tarak and I, you know by this point, think we’re pretty rough and experienced backpackers..so we thought we’d buy the 2nd class sleeper tickets (as 1st class is usually for AC, which in the cold desert winters, we knew didn’t need) for you know, the lovely 12 hour journey…WRONG!! First of all, the train was late 2 hours..we waited at the FREEZING cold station and we looked around at all of the other 2nd class passengers with thick thick blankets and warm clothing…after the train finally arrived, we thought..good, some warmth…WRONG AGAIN! So, the difference between AC sleeper and second class, for anyone that needs to know, is NOT only the AC option, but HEAT and almost more importantly, sealed compartments, windows and insulation. So, there we were, lying on these ghetto seats, without sheets, blankets…as blasting “bone crushing” wind rushed through every freakin’ open crack in the windows, doors and ceilings. Of course, the stench of the nearby latrine, and no door to block the fumes..was yet another plus. And finally to top it off, the train midway had some type of brake failure or fire hazard (we weren’t exactly sure what was going on besides that smoke was coming in our compartment and that we were too damn cold to care). The city of Jaiselmer was a sight for sore eyes, and then things took a turn for the MUCH better. The city is the oldest inhabited medieval fort in the world, and we were lucky enough to stay at an amazing 500 year old haveli inside the actual fort. There were shops and bazaars galore right outside our residence, along with an incredible Jain temple, and an awesome maharaja and rani palace. It was crazy..the king and queen had separate residences..I actually was a little irritated, that the kings pad was WAY better than the queens…hmm..typical…
Anyway, day 2, we had a chance to take a much talked about, camel desert safari…we left for the sand dunes in the afternoon by jeep, and arrived to experience the incredible desert sunset on camels. Soon after the sunset, we sat by the campfire mesmerized by the sky of stars and the calm of the desert night. We headed back and ate an awesome dinner at a typical Rajasthani dhabi (it was actually called Desert Boy Dhani). The next day, we did some sightseeing, shopping and headed on another overnight train (but this time, we had switched our tickets for AC sleeper..a WORLD of difference) to Udaipur, which is the yellow city. Here we visited the famous City Palace, and then hung out at a rooftop restaurant, listening to live music, eating great food and of course a fabulous view of the Lake Palace. The next morning, our friends took off for Surat and we headed back to A’bad, only to take another (this is our 3rd now) night train to western Gujarat, in the Kuch area, near Bhuj (the area devastated by the earthquake 4 years ago) for our health camp.

Shaadi Rajastani Style

Greetings after yet another beautiful region of India we've visited!! Well, after chilling out in Ahemdabad, we had an action packed 10 days or so...we went to Mumbai for a few days and rung in the New Year with my best friend Shilpa. And then we were busy with our friends Nehal and Ritu's wedding...it started with a mehindi party in Mumbai that included an entertaining live Qawali (music group that sing urdu ghazals/songs) and then as in the traditional Hindu wedding style, we left with the "jaan" (the entire grooms side) on a train from Mumbai to Jaipur. Try to imagine, over a 100 people, on a 18 hour train ride, taking up almost 2-3 compartments of the train, eating, singing and dancing as we make our way to the brides home city. We were greeted at the Jaipur train station, with garlands (I felt like a celebrity, until I realized all 100 people of our party had garlands on) and we were fed a humungous lunch. Afterwards, there was a Sangeet party, with dances, music and of course a ton more food. There are a bunch of open stalls, and you can go and eat buffet style, whatever you feel like. The next day, we had a precious 2 hours of shopping before the wedding..so, we had some amazing homemade thick lassi (kind of sweet thick yogurt drink) in disposable clay cups and set off to shop. You know, it's funny because I've basically just been shopping with Tarak..and even so, we always get more than we anticipitated. BUT, when there are 2 or 3 more Indian girls with me..that's a definite force that can't be stopped...for instance, we hit this jewelry store (don't worry it wasn't real, but it was fun costume and Rajasthani jewelry), and I swear in about 30 minutes, we basically depleted this man of most of his merchandise. Anyway, Jaipur is known for beautiful handicrafts, jewelry and "bandini" (which is tye-die..not to be confused with the cheezy tie-die shirts back home) saris-so, we had to take advantage of that.
After a few hours of action packed shopping, we headed off with the jaan, to start the wedding. The "baarath" (grooms side) basically dances their way to meet the brides family...our friend Nehal, was actually on a massive, decorated elephant and was all decked out in traditional Rajput gear (Rajasthani warrior including a sword..look closely in the pictures) and was even carrying his little 4 month nephew, Ayush (absolutely adorable, and was dressed in an identical outfit to that of the groom. Nehal's close friends, accompanied him on camels and horses as the rest of us danced beside them (of course closely avoiding the land mines of the animals made in the process) to where finally the brides side, where we all entered the wedding hall and the ceremony took place. It was a blast! The whole wedding took place at Chawki Dhani which was a secluded place that was made in the form of a traditional village that had stalls of food, elephant/camel rides, traditional Rajasthani dancing and much more. And then of course, we ate a Rajasthani thali and stayed until it was time to bid the bride farewell from her family and to be welcomed by her new home. The only thing that was bad...was that it was FREAKIN' cold..now, I know after living in Houston we don't really have real cold..but damn, all of the aunties weren't kidding when they said, the cold of Rajasthan goes straight to your bones. Of course, being in exceedingly thin chiffon saris, with exposed midriffs and cute open toed shoes doesn't do jack for warmth. The night ended with a ton of fireworks lighting the sky (isn't that nuts?? You would think it was some big show in the states). If there is only one thing I can imprint on your minds about an Indian wedding, let it be the food...we ate it seemed like, CONSTANTLY...when you were hungry, when you're not so hungry, and of course, all of the aggressive pushy food auntie's favorite, when you are EXCEEDINGLY full and feel like you might burst.
Anyway, overall it was awesome seeing a bunch of our friends that we hadn't seen in like 7 months, making some new friends, and getting to be a part of a true rajasthani shaadi!!
Oh ya, we wanted to put more pictures on the site but our internet connection was soooo slow. However, we did manage to get some pics uploaded to the Our Trip Photos link.