So this is India...

Sorry for not posting earlier - everything has been a bit mad! India is an incredible place, it has a culture that is so different to that of the west, EVERYTHING is different here.

The first thing I noticed was the visual differences from that of Europe. I got a Tuktuk ride from the airport after i landed at 4am local time (an amazing, if not slightly scary experience) and saw that the roads are encased by thousands of short squat terraced garages, these little buildings form the shops for the city. In front of those actually on the edges of the roads are carts and stalls which sell everything under the sun - The whole city is a giant marketplace. Even more in contrast to the UK is the amount of colour, the buildings, the lights and even the clothes are awash with seas of yellows, greens & pinks - compared to the greys, blacks and navys of the average European high street. it is like someone cranked up the hue to full on the TV and somehow made it a country!

However once you get into the country and begin to see more you realise that the colours and sights are just the start of the differences. The sounds & the smells of the city are completely indescribable...

The weather is also very different - it is the end of a particularly long monsoon season - it rains everyday 24/7. Heres how it feels in UK weather terms - imagine the worst winter rainstorm continuous for months in July high temperatures with the humidity of a steam room to boot. My air con is on constantly and it feels like I am getting through a can of antiperspirant a day! The worst thing is it is only going to get hotter! The boys are expecting me to play cricket when the playground dries up. I have no idea how I am going to play in this heat (actually that says very little - I've never really played cricket - I have no idea anyway!).

The boys are great. They are so intensely different from school kids in the UK that it really, really shocked me. I was talking to one boy who was quietly studying in a corner and he told me he wanted to be a civic engineer after going to uni and getting his masters - when I asked him how old he was he said he was twelve. They all are really working hard to further their education, to go to a good uni and get a good job. Some people I know in the UK didn't work out what they wanted to study until the week UCAS statements were due. The kids are trying so hard to better themselves and their families. The boys here really are appreciative of what they have.

One example of this is that the boys town recently got a TV for the library (read: large room with three small bookcases of old tatty textbooks). Now when I was boarding in Cranbrook, the Cornwallis TV room usually had about 10 or so people there in the evening and there would always be an argument over who had the remote, what channel was on or what seat people could sit in. Yesterday I walked into the boys library and saw 100 kids quietly sitting on the floor watching TV - no arguments, no fights and no unnecessary throwing of objects (or cushions - a Cornwallis favorite). One of the boys would have the remote & they would scroll through the channels however not one boy would complain - they just enjoyed sitting there watching TV...

I know that is a really small thing but to me it was huge... it highlighted the great cultural divide between the UK and India!