Travels

Whilst I have been eager to dispel misconceptions that my 'Gap Year in India' is a sightseeing excursion with a bit of light volunteering, that does not go to say that we are confined to the limits of Srirajni and Dhrangadhra for the entirety of our year. We are given the opportunity, at various points throughout the year, to embrace the traveller experience and work our way around the subcontinent. During term-time, we work 6 days a week, staying on beyond the final school bell to do lesson prep and marking, but this is rewarded by long holidays which give us plenty of time to travel.

During our break over Diwali (about a month ago), we travelled North to Rajasthan: the desertous land of ancient fortresses, lake palaces and camel treks. The overnight sleeper brought us into Udaipur, a city easily recognisable from the set of 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'. Following this, we headed on to Jodhpur, often referred to as the 'Blue City' due to its abundance of traditional blue buildings which reside within the old city walls. The city has sprung up around the old fort which, situated upon a rocky outcrop, dominates the panorama from every angle. An imposing landmark, wandering around its battlements transported us back to earlier times of the Indian Maharajas and their royal courts, as we gazed at collections of palanquins (litters) and howdahs (traditional elephant seats), amongst an abundance of other riches.

With only 10 days off  before we had to head back to school, we felt robbed of time, so we're hopefully going to return in the summer. For now, all thoughts are turning to our five-week Christmas break and plans to travel South India.

School Trip!

Today was our first real experience of  a Srirajni school outing, with the annual school picnic. When first told about this, I had assumed that this would most probably involve a short walk, out of town and into the surrounding countryside. Instead, with an early morning start of 6:30am, teachers and students piled into the back of a truck (covered by a tarpaulin) and set off on the 3-hour journey  to Than.

Packed in like sardines, sitting on each others laps and clinging on for dear life, everyone was in high spirits. The roads in India leave a little to be desired so, as expected, it was far from a smooth ride, but this was more than made up for by the singing, conversation, clapping games and sharing of snacks. Every opened packet of crisps or snack box was thrust at us, accompanied by a forceful "Ma'am, do you want some?" and the refusal to take no for an answer (one boy told me that if I did not accept the crisp crumbs he had dug out of his pocket then he would not talk to me for the rest of the day; thankfully, he relented). I was even given the opportunity to earn extra 'teacher points' as I was assigned the less-than-glamorous task of cleaning up vomit.

Our final destination was a nature reserve near Than, arriving at a jungle-like microcosm, teeming with peacocks, and various other birds, as well as a multitude of insects.We started our walking tour, casually informed of the possibility of spotting snakes and jungle cats, and chaperoning a winding crocodile-line of students. Venturing out of this leafy cosmos into the more desertous and barren surrounding landscape, we scaled rocky outcrops, scavenged for berries and peacock feathers, and searched for bird's nests.

For many of the children, school trips are the only time that they venture out of town and experience the wider environment; it was wonderful to see them so enthusiastic, engaged and animated. I loved chatting to them on the way round, and messing about, being asked countless questions such as "Ma'am, who will you marry?" and "But Ma'am, WHY?". I really enjoy teaching them, but it was nice to be able to relax a bit, outside of the usual professional setting, and just appreciate their company.

After a packed picnic lunch and a play, we crammed back into the trucks and started the long journey back, stopping off at a temple en route. The children and I discovered that we have a mutual knowledge of Beatles' songs, notably 'Yellow Submarine' and 'Let It Be', which we belted out, arriving back exhausted but elated. Today has definitely been a real highlight of my time so far.