July 30 to August 5, 2001 |
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Sorry for the delay of this online diary entry ... some unforeseen circumstances (or let's call it simply bad luck) prevented me from writing. It all happened on August 8 ... more about this incident in the next entry. But don't worry, Oli and I are fine.
Now, more about our time in Calcutta (or Kolkata as it is called now) and Darjeeling, both in West Bengal (North-East India).
On Monday, August 30, we arrived in the morning at Howrah Railway Station, Calcutta. I expected it to be very chaotic, but everything was very organized there (for Indian standards, at least *g*). We took a prepaid taxi to Sudder Street (that's the main budget hotel area) - on the way, we had to cross the famous Howrah Bridge (Calcutta's landmark that crosses the Hooghly River) and also got an idea about Cal. Although Cal fulfilled all my expectations, I was still positively surprised about this ceratin kind of atmosphere (the city has somehow a soul) that was omnipresent. As a European (or as a Westerner in general), you have this certain perception, a certain idea/picture of Calcutta in your head - a picture of unbelievable poverty, dirt, lepers, slums, hand-pulled rickshaws (like a cycle rickshaw, just handpulled by a man ("human horse") - in my hobbies-reading section you find the book "The City of Joy". This book tells the story of such a "human horse"...), bad traffic, chaos,... When I told my friends in Austria that I desperately wanna visit Calcutta, they all said I'm crazy - such a city! However, I'm glad that I went. My stay in Calcutta was great - I don't wanna miss a single minute! Although I observed great poverty, saw run-down buildings, etc., I also discovered buildings of stunning beauty (like the Victoria Memorial), great constructions (like the Howrah Bridge - it crosses the Hooghly River in a single 450m span, and it's easily the busiest bridge in the world), and met nice people.
During our stay we did a lot of sightseeing - for example, the Ochterlony Monument, the Maidan, Raj Bhavan, Town Hall, High Court, BBD Bagh, Victoria Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral, etc. - but also met one of my ex-colleagues from outlooktraveller, namely Koeli. We had yummy lunch together and spent an amusing afternoon together - thanks Koeli for the nice time we had together, and also for the gifts! I hope we stay in touch!
Tuesday evening, I had another interview for my thesis. However, you can hardly call it "interview", it was more or less a nice talk while enjoying an excellent Italian dinner at the Oberoi. Reinhard and Lydia were so kind - unbelievable! Reinhard even invited us to his company the next day, so that we got an insight how an Austrian Indian Joint Venture works; his company produces hardmetal and tools mainly for the car industry.
Before we visited his company on the next day, we went to Howrah Bridge. We took the Metro (by the way, the one and only metro in India; it's clean, air-conditioned, reliable, fast and cheap - that's a nice way to escape the traffic chaos on the streets above ;-)) and then walked along M G Road till we reached Howrah Bridge - the grey bulk against the ethereal expanse of the Hooghly River and the bustle of puja-flower sellers below offer a fascinating spectacle. Impressing!
Later Reinhard's driver picked us up and brought us to his company. There we had a small excursion through the plant. Austrian machines and Indian employees - what a combination ;-) Following, we went together to Tollygunge Club - probably the most prestigious club in whole India.
At 5:30 p.m. we said goodbye to our kind hosts and went to Sealdah Railway Station. At 7:30 p.m. our train to New Jalpaiguri departed and arrived there quite punctually. From there we had to take a rickshaw to Siliguri (8 km), and then a jeep up to Darjeeling. The climb up to Darjeeling was quite steep - our driver, nevertheless, rushed like crazy and overtook at every slightest opportunity - I was kind of afraid as next to the street was this really steep slope, I was frightened of falling down. Anyway, I was still able to enjoy the ride a bit as we passed by beautiful nature, tea plantations, rice fields, etc. After 3 hours we safely (thank god!) reached Darjeeling. Darjeeling is renowned throughout the world for its tea but there is much more to do and see. While we were there (till Sunday), we did a lot of walking, enjoying the pleasant climate (in the evening, we even needed a pullover!) and the perfect weather (blue sky and sunshine). We visited a tea plantation, observed a colorful guru-puja, went up to observatory hill and enjoyed the good views on the Himalaya mountain range. Though it was monsoon season when views are generally bad, we saw Mount Kanchenjunga - the third highest mountain in the world (8598m) and India's one and only 8000+ m mountain. Not to forget, we also did a lot of shopping *g* - in Darjeeling you find a lot of Nepalese and Tibetan handicrafts - I love this stuff - wonderful!
To put it in a nutshell, Oli and I loved Darjeeling - definitely one of our favorites!
Sunday evening we took a train to Mughal Sarai and Monday morning we proceeded on to Varanasi, where the bad thing happened... anyway, more about it the next time.
Goodbye and take care.
August 6 – 12, 2001 |
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This week was certainly the most horrible week since I'm in India, the week with the biggest troubles. However, now everything is settled and back to normal – so, don't worry.
Monday morning we arrived slightly late at Mughal Sarai Railway Station. During our train ride we got to know Sandra and Dirk from Stuttgart, Germany. As we got along very well, we shared a rickshaw to Varanasi and looked together for rooms. After a long and extensive search, we finally found 2 double rooms directly at Rana Ghat with an awesome view down to the Ganges and its ghats. Varanasi is a magical city where the most intimate rituals of life and death take place in public on the city's famous ghats (steps which lead down to the river).
On Monday evening we observed a puja performance at Daswasmedh Ghat – lots of candles were lit and put into the Ganges, where they floated down the river. Additionally, some drums were played and the priest made the prayers. Unfortunately, heavy rainfalls interrupted the whole ceremony – within a few minutes, the narrow streets of Varanasi were flooded. They quickly converted into rivers – sometimes knee-deep; consequently the power went off… our walk back through the narrow gaze of streets – flooded and dark – was an adventure on its own ;-)
After a short night, we got up at 4:30 a.m. on the next day to do an obligatory morning boat tour along the ghats. What an experience! Really an amazing spectacle!
We started at Rana Ghat and "drove" down to Manikarnika Ghat, one of the oldest and most sacred in Varanasi. Manikarnika is the main burning ghat and one of the most auspicious places that a Hindu can be cremated.
Back from our 1 hour 20 minutes boat ride (instead of 40 minutes – our boat driver totally underestimated the time he needed - therefore he, of course, claimed more money; nothing goes without hassles here in India), we first took a small nap. At 12 noon we checked out and started our small sightseeing tour through Varanasi. We visited Nepali Temple and Golden Temple; and later a silk shop (Varanasi is famous for its silk).
It's nearly impossible to walk around Varanasi without getting lost in the narrow streets of the old city – it's a labyrinth full of interesting things around every corner (that's why I loved Varanasi). Fortunately, there are touts everywhere – they lead you to the place you wanna go and then, in return, you usually have to visit their shop (most of the time a silk shop). It's very interesting to listen to their explanations on silk – however, nobody can force you to buy anything.
Our last hours in Varanasi, we spent with shopping, Internet, strolling around and enjoying the unique atmosphere of the old city. In the early evening we took a cycle rickshaw to Varanasi Junction Railway Station, where it all happened. Somehow the whole time while waiting for the train was absurd – countless crippled (I've never seen such bad body deformations) people approached us; so many people stared at us constantly (more than usual); there was this drunken young guy with a rich father who said Oli has beautiful eyes (aha!!!); and on top of that the train was delayed for 80 minutes. At 1 a.m., our train to Satna finally arrived; unfortunately on another platform as announced – so we had to hurry to the other end of the railway station – like so many other people. Chaos pure! Then we couldn't find our train compartment instantly (the train was very bad labelled)… we were running out of time (the train stopped for just 10 minutes in the station). Finally, we found our 2 upper berths – some people were already lying there, so we had to wake them up and ask them to leave our berths… Furthermore there was hardly any light in the train, and it was awfully crowded. Anyway, we were relieved to be on the train and get some sleep. While I went to the toilet and Oli arranged our backpacks on our berths, it happened: somebody took our small black bag containing the most important things – passports, traveler cheques, some USD in cash, my wallet (with my credit card), photo camera, Swiss army knife, 2 undeveloped film rolls (with pictures from Darjeeling and Varanasi), my diary (which I kept since arriving in India), my travel guide, etc. What followed was a nightmare. We first arranged that the train kept on waiting in the station. While I was waiting with our backpacks, Oli searched our compartment… without any help from the police; they were instead bothering me. In the meanwhile I tried to find out if somebody has seen anything – of course not – what a big surprise! *hahaha* (although they have been staring at us while we boarded the train… typical!) Anyway, Oli kept on searching and running around for an hour; then the train finally departed… without us. We didn't have the nerves to go to Khajuraho anymore. Instead we spent the whole night at the police station – what a struggle to get this police report! First we had to go through this "polite" useless talks, we had to drink chai (tea), we had to tell them a hundred times how the whole thing happened, had to write everything down (then this useless talk about my beautiful (*haha*) handwriting started), then they asked why we are not married (is this of any help for the investigation?!?), the police decided we should marry (to keep them shut we told them that we will marry… what a waste of time – all these useless talks! *grrrrr*) While I kept on talking with them about useless stuff, Oli again went outside to search the rails. There something really weird happened to him: a guy approached him (he knew that our bag was stolen – how come?), telling him that nobody likes the police here and nobody trusts them, he should just pay 100 or 200 Rupees… totally confused Oli asked whom he should pay money… then this guy suddenly said he doesn't know anything and disappeared in the dark… Did this guy knew who has stolen our bag? And where it was? Questions we can't answer… Fact is, we tried to bribe the police (we said something like that we would pay even 500 Rupees just to get our bag back), but nothing worked. Another problem we faced during this night was the great language barrier – what a pain! At 6 a.m. we finally held the police report in our hands. What a night, what a nightmare!
In the morning, our only wish was to get out of the railway station and this city – so we took the first train to Delhi (at 7:20 a.m.), arriving there at 10:20 p.m. During our train ride, we encountered a lot of humanity – after this night a real blessing! We got to know this really nice Sikh guy, and the ticket conductor didn't collect any money from us (we had no tickets for this train to Delhi) when we told him what we've gone through (so we saved 520 Rupees).
Completely exhausted but happy to be back in Delhi, we reached K-97 on Wednesday night. It felt good to be back home again…
Thursday was a pain – we first went to the Austrian Embassy to apply for a new passport, then to American Express to report the theft of our traveller cheques and to get them replaced, then we went to Austrian Airlines, later to my office to say "hello" and finally, we went to Sarojini Railway Station to report the theft of our 6 train tickets that were in my bag (we didn't get any money back or new tickets) – what a day!!! I was quite home when we came home and we were able to relax. Fortunately, we had no problems (neither at the embassy nor at AMEX) as we had copies of everything (passports, sales receipt of traveller cheques, police report, …). However, especially my diary that I've kept since I'm here in India and my 2 film rolls (pics from Darjeeling and Varanasi) can never be brought back – no money in the world can replace my personal things :-(
On Friday, we slept till noon and did nothing special the whole day. I guess after the troubles we had we really deserved a break. I went to the hairdresser, got pictures for my new passport made, slept and watched TV.
In the evening, Henning, Ilaria, Aja, Oli and I went to "Big Chill" to have some yummy ice cream.
During the weekend we were equally lazy – we went to Central Market, did some sightseeing, etc. … Nothing special. I have to admit that I really liked doing nothing – after 6 weeks of travelling, it's quite nice to enjoy some lazy days. Moreover, I really appreciated it to live my "K-97 life" again ;-)
Although this week wasn't too great, it will not ruin my good memories I have of India. I guess a theft can happen everywhere in the world…
By the way, despite this incident we are not able to go to Amritsar and Dharamsala – instead we have to run from one office to the other.
Talk to you later.
Hugs,
August 13 – 19, 2001 |
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My last week in India :-(
What have we done in our last week in India? To cut a long matter short: On Monday and Tuesday we were running again from one office to the other, and we were quite successful: we got a new (temporary) passport, an exit permit (in order to be able to leave India – the Foreigner's Regional Registration Office issued it for free and without any hassles – what a positive surprise!), and the stolen traveler cheques replaced. Furthermore we again did some shopping (Palika Bazar, Janpath, Central Market, Connaught Place, …) and sightseeing.
Monday evening we enjoyed the typical trainee life again – party! ;-) It was Jenny's farewell party – Tuesday she flew back to Champaign, Illinois (that's where I made my study abroad term in Spring 99).
On Tuesday evening, Hiten came over to our flat. It was nice talking to him again after such a long time – after all, he was my best friend in India.
Wednesday, August 15, was a special day for India – it was Independence Day. On this sunny holiday, we first went out for a splendid lunch at Flavour's, followed by a yummy ice cream at Nirula's. Later in the afternoon, we went with Hiten to one of his friends to celebrate the Independence Day like Indians do, namely with flying kites. The sky above Delhi was full of colorful kites and fights going on between them :-) The evening we spent with sitting together, chatting, and watching TV.
On Thursday, Oli and I went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. For me, it was already the second time but I promised Oli to go with him to the Taj Mahal again. Furthermore I think if you are in India, you have to visit the Taj. For me, it's one of the most impressive buildings I've seen in India (although some people have another opinion – like the Taj is just a pile of stones).
We arrived in Agra around noon. After having a splendid lunch, we took a cycle rickshaw to the Taj Mahal… we spent 2 and a half hours at the Taj Mahal, and enjoyed the best and most varied weather one can wish for – we had black clouds and rain, cloudy sky, blue sky and bright sunshine. All those different weather conditions dipped the Taj into different lights – fascinating!
At around 4 p.m, we enjoyed a drink at one of the numerous roof top restaurants with a splendid view to the Taj. Later we took a cycle rickshaw back to the railway station… again (like the last time, when I was in Agra with Gosia) the cyclist asked us to visit a silver shop, so that he gets some commission. There was plenty of time left, and the rickshaw driver was kind of nice, so we agreed to this deal. We went into this silver shop and admired the beautiful jewelry there. The shopkeeper was constantly talking with us; he even knew Austria and some facts about Austria. He told us that he is doing business with an Austrian jeweler and that he is flying to Austria in a month… I was sort of surprised – so many coincidences, that can't be true. And I was right. All of a sudden he offered us this dubious business: as he is not allowed to bring unlimited amount of jewelry into Austria, we should take some jewelry for him (worth of USD 500) to Austria and meet with him when he reaches there. He will then pay us USD 1000 back and take the jewelry back – yeah, dude, for sure! He was so serious when offering us this business, I kinda had to laugh… Of course, he couldn't convince us…
We reached home at around 10 p.m. and directly stumbled into the party that was going on in our flat. It was Ilaria's (a girl from Italian speaking Switzerland) farewell party – so many people! Back to my old trainee life ;-))
On Friday, I went to my office in the morning – it was time to say goodbye to them :-( It was strange knowing that I'll most probably see all those people never again – people that were very nice colleagues, I shared with them most of my time here in India, people with whom I spent hours of laughing, … - guys, I'm gonna miss you all! Keep in touch!
At noon, I went with Lindsay and Oli to Dilli Haat to have some fried chicken momos and the obligatory fruit beer (there's no alcohol in the fruit beer; not that you think I already need alcohol for lunch :-))
In the evening, we finally had to say goodbye to Ilaria – Henning, Thomas, Oli and I will all visit her in the beginning of September in Switzerland. I'm really looking forward to :-)
On my last but one day in Delhi, I went with Oli once again to Old Delhi – I love Old Delhi! Jama Masjid, chaotic Chandni Chowk, Red Fort – I'll miss this special atmosphere in Old Delhi! Later we went to Connaught Place to buy Hiten's birthday gift, and after that we went via India Gate to Lotus Temple. Sightseeing total :-)
In the evening, we went to Hiten's birthday and Janne's farewell party – what a great party! I met a lot of people, I haven't seen for ages. We enjoyed some yummy food (my respect, Hiten, for your great biriyani :-)) and great music! Unfortunately, this was also my farewell party – I had to say goodbye to so many people, it nearly broke my heart (I'm too sensitive for goodbyes…). I had such a great time in Delhi and all those people were a big and important part of my life here! Guys, I miss you!!!!
After this long night (we came home at 5:15 a.m.), D-Day was finally here. The day I was longing for when I left Oli in Vienna in February, and the day I was so afraid of during my great time here in India…
My last day in India was really great – thanks to Henning, Lindsay, Franzi and Oli. We had so much fun in Lodi Gardens – doing all these Yoga postures and all these stupid pictures! Later we went together to Sarojini Market – we hardly bought anything but nevertheless we had so much fun with the vendors there – you can't imagine! I had to laugh so hard all the time that my stomach started already hurting ;-)). We really had a great time together! I'll never forget that!
Later in the afternoon, Franzi, Oli and I visited Julia and Oliver as they were sick and to say goodbye. After that, we went to Central Market – for the last time :-( Franzi and I even treated us to a Henna Tattoo… a nice (temporary) reminder of this great last day. When I look at it now, I still feel the atmosphere of Central Market. But with or without Henna Tattoo, I'll never forget all the great moments I had in India (the negative experiences, I try to put back – but I'll remember them forever as well, they are part of my overall experience)!
In the evening, we (K-97 and a whole bunch of other trainees) ordered for the last time "our" Tom ‘n' Garlic pizza and sat together for a last chat. At 10:15 p.m., Hiten dropped Janne (he took the same flight as we did), Oli and me to the airport… but before that I had to say goodbye to all the trainees. It was really awful, but the thought that I'll see most of them some time again comforted me – at least, all the Europeans. However, I still hope that I'll also see the Non-Europeans again… like Jason ;-) He'll visit me here in Vienna in the last week of August – it's going to be strange to meet someone from K-97 here in Austria but I'm sure we're having a great time.
On Monday, 2 a.m., our plane left Indian ground – one important part of my life was over. I cannot exactly describe how I felt – on the one hand I was so sad but on the other hand I was sort of excited coming back to Austria. My feelings were mixed and kind of confusing… however, I guess that's normal.
How I experienced my first days here in Austria, back home; how I felt; how I handled this "new" world; how I adjusted to this completely different life here; how the reunion with my family, relatives and friends was; etc. you'll read in my last India Online Diary entry. Watch out!
But of one thing you can be sure of, I'll never forget the past 6 months – it was such a great and unique time. A time that again changed some of my perceptions, part of my personality, made me stronger, made me more confident, enriched me with new experiences and impressions, … It was certainly a time of great learning and changes!
Love,
August 20, 2001 onwards...or |
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IS THERE A LIFE AFTER INDIA?
I'm already 4 weeks back in good old Austria… actually, I've to admit that's not the exact truth: I spent 2 1/2 weeks at home in Austria, 4 days in Switzerland and 1 week in Santorini, Greece. And now that I'm back from Greece, my "real" life in Austria will start. Finally.
How have I experienced my first days at home?
I returned home on Monday, August 20, at 6 o'clock in the morning - my mother, my brother, my cousin and her 10 months old son Oliver picked Oli and me from the airport up. It was a very warm welcome and as soon as we arrived home, my mother surprised us with a splendid welcome-breakfast. Although I instantly felt comfortable in the circle of my family, everything seemed very strange to me - the organized traffic on Austrian streets, the clean air, no people on the streets, the cleanliness at home (what a relief after dirty K-97 *g*), etc. I could go on and on forever… but I guess you can figure out that there are great differences between India and Austria.
Although I really enjoyed being in a neat and clean environment again, I missed India a lot. Especially the first 1-2 weeks were very hard - although I was physically present, mentally I was somewhere else - in a land far away, in a land called India. I had the feeling that life around me was just a movie in which I was just an actor, and not my real self. Everything seemed kind of unreal - no honking on the streets, not a thousand people walking around, no rickshaw drivers to bargain with, … I somehow felt lonely although there were a lot of caring people around me. My mother spoilt me with all my favorite dishes but those made me sick - my stomach started going round in circles, like a washing machine. I guess it will still need a lot of time to adjust to everything here…
Although friends were curious about my time in India and India in general, I had the feeling they wouldn't understand anyway - so, I usually just said that I had a great time there. How can you describe India in one sentence? That's, for sure, not possible… However, when I had the feeling that somebody was truly interested in India I took the time to talk about this country and my experiences there.
My first small K-97 reunion… (pics will soon be found on my homepage!)
On Tuesday, August 28, something really nice happened - Jason visited me! It felt so good seeing someone from K-97 again, talking with him, sharing the same memories … it was great. He stayed at my house till Saturday - I had great fun showing him around Vienna and I guess, he enjoyed it, too.
On Thursday, we even met with two Indian friends of him from Delhi - Mallika and Radhika, who happened to be in Vienna for a few days. We went out together twice - enjoying the nightlife in Vienna (and Jason trying Austrian beer, which is much stronger than American beer) ;-) It felt so good hanging out with them, and it was so nice seeing Indians again - observing all the typical gestures and listening to Indian English.
I guess this time with Jason helped me a lot to adjust to Austria - he made me realize and appreciate the beauty of Vienna and my hometown. Furthermore it helped me a lot to talk with him about our time in Delhi, and India in general.
Jason left Vienna Saturday evening to Switzerland… and I stayed back. This was the time when I finally started organizing things - for example, going to the insurance company to claim my money back, going to the institute for tropical diseases (they said that I might have had malaria when I had this high fever when I was in Goa… shit… now I have to do a special blood check), "visiting" my university and checking out what's going on there, meeting with friends, etc.
My second K-97 reunion… (pics will soon be found on my homepage)
Anyway, I was glad when Oli and I packed again our things and left Thursday, September 6 to Switzerland. On the way, we first stopped in Innsbruck and visited this beautiful Austrian city, drove the next day to Zurich, and met on Saturday and Sunday with Ilaria, Henning and Thomas (and his girlfriend Mary) at Ilaria's place - that's in Rovio, next to Lugano. I really enjoyed their company. It reminded me a bit of my time in India ;-)
Ilaria showed us around in Rovio and Lugano and spoilt us with splendid pasta. Unfortunately, great times always pass by very quickly, so the time we had to say goodbye came very fast… but this time I'm sure, it was not a goodbye forever…
In the heat again…
As soon as I got back from Switzerland, I packed my things together for my next trip - this time with my mom - to Santorini, Greece. We flew off the following day…
In Santorini, I enjoyed again hot weather (yeah!!! Austria is definitely too cold for me…) and the laid-back atmosphere of a southern country. I really liked my time in Greece, although I knew this would be the final end of my holidays.
"Real" life starts again…
As soon as I got back (the weather was even worse than before) I started preparing for my university.
My "real" life has started and a tough time is lying before me… I wanna finish my studies. However, this shouldn't be too much of a problem: I'm filled up with so much energy, I experienced so much… this strength will push me through all difficult and hard times. In India, I learned not to fret and worry about all the small things in life - what's an exam at university compared to the poverty I experienced in India? Nothing… Moreover, I guess I'm calmer now and more patient.
Right now, I feel a lot of strength in me - I have the feeling I can achieve everything what I wanna achieve in life. India made me definitely even more self-confident.
What else it made to me, I don't know… I can't tell… but maybe you can tell.
Is there a life after India?
Now I wanna answer the question I asked in the beginning: Is there a life after India? Yes, there is. Although I miss India a lot and especially all my new-won friends, I think it's good to be back home again. I can't continue my life I had in India - a life without responsibilities, a life where you don't have to worry about anything (maybe whether there's water and power or not)… I guess it's good to lead a responsible life again. However, I'm glad I spent those 6 months in India - although not everything was perfect, I have the feeling I learned a lot about me and life in general. I don't wanna miss a single second (either good or bad) - my time there was unique and it cannot be repeated… but it will stay in my memory forever!
Look at the picture below - there's certainly a lot of truth in it.
That's the official end of my India Online Diary - I hope you enjoyed reading it and I hope you got an insight of my life I had there… Thanks for your loyalty.
All the best and stay in touch!
Love,
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