Udaipur 31 January

First 24 hours in India now passed. Wow. People said I would love it and I am knocked flat. We arrived in Udaipur to a gorgeous sunny day with just a little breeze. I shall skip over the ‘straight through’ transfer in Delhi. Suffice it to say that straight through is an oxymoron and I had an early opportunity to practice the ‘sense of humour and no whinge’ rule mentioned in the previous post.

I find it hard to describe the vibrancy and the beauty of Udaipur – and the difference of the culture. “Just sit and absorb” I was told during the bus journey in and absorb I did. There is an incredible sense of pace and purpose, groups of people everywhere in deep discussion, lots of retail activity and many women move around with heavy loads on their heads, children driving donkey packs forward. I should have expected to see cows everywhere but somehow it came as a surprise, just as I was taken aback at seeing an elephant and watching a camel tow a buggy down the street. Udaipur is set on a lake and is dominated by a beautiful palace. To walk the streets requires quantities of courage because the driving is absolutely terrifying. The biggest road users are motor bikes and whole families including babies tear around the roads on the one bike, the women sitting side saddle and looking completely relaxed. There is constant tooting because most people don’t look before they pull out and judge it by auditory cues. The traffic seems the constant backdrop to everything. Because we had a morning off, we went shopping and that was a good. It was heaps more fun than anything I have experienced at home – a kind of non-hostile rent an argument. Generally there is lots of friendly conversation with people.

In the afternoon down to the more serious business. We began our Pani Yatri. In India, a Pani Yatri is a ‘water walk’, which is a bit like a retreat. Because Wells for India is primarily aboput water harvesting, our trip to see the wells is our own Pani Yatri. We spent the aftrnoon in the India office hearing about the projects and partner organisations. I realised how complex this all is. It is not just a matter of plugging in to a water source and there you are. Attention needs to be paid to the social, scientific and political influences. Someone spoke about the problem of ensuring that land in early stages of growth is not used for pasture. This needs the agreement of the whole village and can take a lot of time:for people at the outer reaches of poverty, it is hard to trust the promise of a future more abundant harvest.

Tomorrow I head off to the villages for two days and will see theprojects and meet the people. I am really looking forward to finding out more.

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~ by imacnaughtan on February 1, 2009.