"The Time has Come...

...the Walrus said, to speak of many things..."
Of leaving, for example. In my last hours in the India I have learnt to love. Well, not really, because I am currently in the fashionable part of Bangalore with the bleached Indians and coffee to go which has nothing to do with my village and the life associated with it.
In these past 8 months I have been frustrated, annoyed, angry, pissed off; I have cried more tears than in the last 8 years and I have been on the verge of physical violence. More than once. But I have also laughed until I cried, been stuffed with unbelievably good food and been on the receiving end of indescribable hospitality and kindness.
In general, hearing the soft whup whup whup of a fan is, for me, the sound of adventure and romanticism. At least in my imagination. As so often, imagination and reality don't really match up. Fans there were plenty, but neither was the sound they made soft, nor did they cool me all night, what with power cuts and what have you. And try sleeping with 30 degrees C and 90 % humidity. There's nothing romantic about that, believe you me. But on the other hand, memory and reality don't really math either, so in a few months, India will have fulfilled all my adventurous needs.
So thank you all for being faithful readers. As I shall still not be in Cairo after I back I shall keep this blog. Though I doubt the Swedes have so much story material as the Indians. But you never know. And I still have a few back issues that I haven't managed to post.
Dhanyawada and namaste.

For Girls Only

That India is daunting, especially to new-comers, is only all too apparent in the face of the new volunteer who has come to offer further support, moral or otherwise, to those of us already stranded here in the jungle. But one must not forget that it also gives ample opportunity for a smile, or even a laugh. As the other day, when my undeniably male co-volunteer, hardly believing his good luck, practically stormed a shop where he had spotted the unmistakable “Kellogg’s” trademark.
Please, use your imagination when picturing the look on the poor boy’s face when he was told by the nonplussed sales-girl, in all seriousness and wearing a slight expression of shock, that “Kellogg’s Special K” was for girls only.
How can you not love a country like this, even if it can make you cry sometimes?

A bit of Advertisement

I don't usually advertise for my rivals. I want you undivided attention. But a good cause is a good a reason as any to throw away some principles.
So have a look at www.littleflowerschool.wordpress.com and you can get information, pictures and updates from the school which I called home for the last 8 months. It's bilingual, obviously only to show off our language skills. The kannada version is in the making...

The Practical Implications of Karma...

Hindus believe in rebirth. Your soul returns to earth, either in a higher or lower form than before. Now, I am in a Christian institution, and anyway, even in India, secularism is making its rounds.
But somehow the animal kingdom didn't get the news flash. How else could I explain the (re)appearance of Freddy the spider in my bathroom? Only bigger and hairier...

Social Work: A Definition

What, exactly is it that I’m doing here? The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as “work carried out by trained personnel with the aim of alleviating the conditions of those in need of help or welfare”. Now, I am neither trained nor am I alleviating any conditions, at least not if you ask my students who will more likely call my work an intricate form of torture. The work aspect could also be called into doubt, seeing I’ve so far read close to 40 books, seen numerous films and visited at least five previously unknown cities.
But. And there is a but. Spending the equivalent of a month’s salary in the shop next door is bound to help the local economy (the moral implications shall be considered elsewhere). And (of this one I am especially proud), helping a person who has not seen one before use an escalator can be a very rewarding and satisfying experience.
As always, I do not wish to deride the practice of social work in general. Yet sometimes, a little criticism is not so bad.