Back From Travels To India

I haven't posted anything for a while because I have been away in India, visiting the Gilly Mundy memorial Community School in Haryana and spending a few days in Delhi: there was fairly limited internet access in the village and we were rushing around in the city.

The event that marked the fifth anniversary of Gilly's death in 2007 was huge, very emotional and it was great to see the school again after my first visit last October. It was also good to spend some time talking with the children, without the teachers present, to find out what they like about their school, what changes they would like to see and what hopes they have for the future - there are many aspiring teachers and engineers in this particular rural corner of India.

Delhi is a city that I have found it hard to warm to on previous visits, unlike Mumbai, which I love returning to. Having seen much of the vast number of incredible historical monuments in the city before, this time we were based in the more affluent south Delhi, staying in the Safdarjung Enclave and spending a lot of time in Haus Khas Village. I'll try and write more about this later, but the highlights were definitely weaving through the alleys leading up to the Nizamuddin Dargah to see the qawwali singers and being the only non-Punjabi male at a concert by the extremely popular singer Satinder Sataaj (although I missed some of it because I had to dash out with a dodgy stomach - inevitable in Delhi).

Meanwhile, here are some photos of the anniversary event: