Periyar National Park

Welcome to Periyar

Our second day took us from the sleepy coastal town of Cochin to well a more touristy spot- Periyar National Reserve in Allepy. Well, we weren’t sure what to expect from the accommodation. I had booked this tour package online and well that in itself was a risk. Well, if you ever go to Allepy, there is no lake by Hotel Lake Mass Queen. Your view is most likely to be a parking lot instead. I couldn’t complain much about the accommodation. As long as i have a comfy bed, I am good to go. But for raj who had just returned from Vegas, it was a bit of a shock. But, i was proud of my big brother for being a trooper. Except for the fact that he kept asking for a hair dryer to fix his hair! (sorry but you know thats just wierd when its 30 degrees outside)u

Two glorius days in Allepy. I only wish we could have stayed longer. Our first night in, we ended up experiencing our first taste of Kerala Culture. Well, this basically meant a Kathakali show. You cannot miss this. Its amazing. This classical Indian dance is only performed by men (which i conveniently forgot) and involves the actor putting on make up in front of the audience. Well, its the most elaborate make up i have seen and is make up mostly of vegetables and ayurvedic products. Kathkali is a tradititonal south Indian dance which basically focuses on great epics such as Ramayana and Mahabaratha. The sole focus of the dance is on the facial gestures to convey the meaning to the audience. I absolutely loved it. Having learned Indian classical dance, this new form was spectacular. The story of how a demon princess falls in love with a god and then ends up trying to kill him when he refuses to marry him was amazing to watch in action.

What was even funnier was when the audience had an opportunity to meet the actors in their costumes. Well, i wanted a photo and raj was nice enough to play photographer. The funny moment occurred when i took 4 steps back when i heard a masculine voice say “You’re welcome” when i said my thank you.

I wasn’t too fond with my second experience of Kerala culture- Ayurvedic massages. Okay, to most people who have never had a woman tell you to get naked (first for me) cover you from head to toe in oil and then proceed to rub it in...awkward! the bizarre fact was that i was asked to sit in a heating unit and sweat all the oils out to improve circulation (i think). Well never doing that again!





Luckily, i was able to forget the memory of the massage soon enough. Raj and I found our spot. Everywhere we go, we manage to find the best spot in all of Allepy which gives you a spectacular view of the Nature Reserve. We enjoyed our cups of cardamom flavoured coffee and were able to sit outside and just enjoy the moment. We talked for hours about silly things growing up and where our future lies. I wish I had more moments like that. Makes me a bit homesick now come to think of it.

Vasco Da Gama was buried here at one point

Well, I think I figured out what the best time of the year is. It’s Vacation! And this time around my big brother Raj was going to fly all the way from LA to spend New Year’s and the winter holidays with me. Well, I am one little spoilt lucky baby sister and did I ever miss hanging out with my big brother. We are making it a tradition. For two years in a row, we’ve managed to do something unique and different. Last year, it was Monster Madness as I like to call with DJ Tiesto and Roger Sanchez and this year, we opted to visit Kerala and enjoy the backwater lagoons and catch up after 6 long months!

Well most of you might know that my big brother is not only just a Big Brother who watches out for me but he’s my best friend and I can actually share almost everything with him. We have a mutual understanding that we lead our own lives but are always there to support each other when we need it the most. Well, me being in India, all alone with no one to spoil me. Yup, Raj needed to come and fast.
Well, all I had to do was get to the airport and fly to Kochi. Not too bad considering it was Raj who would be doing the major travelling...16 hours and counting. Well, as soon as I landing in Cochin, I ended up thinking...I’ve been here. Only here, was on the big island of Hawaii. The temperature was an awesome 32 degrees...warm and toasty. Good times


“The moustaches here are epic”- that was my big brothers first words after our big hug. “Seriously huni (my nickname), LEGENDARY”. Yes, the first thing you will notice when you land in south India is that every man regardless of how young or old they are...wears a moustache. It’s hideous! I wish I had a razor that I could have run around Kerala taking those down!




Day one: Raj was in complete cultural shock...wow it’s so dirty (I on the other hand after living in Delhi, well was happy to be in paradise!) Then, he proceeded to take touristy shots of everyone (including me) as we made our way to the hotel.
After a quick bit to eat, (actually it was an enormous thali- variety of different foods) we ended up heading out the door to visit fort Cochin. Well, I had completely forgotten that the Portuguese first discovered India and Cochin was the first area of contact by vasco da Gama. He was even buried there for a period time. As I walked through the wonderful little lanes, the place reminded me of paratay, Brazil in so many ways. The same Portuguese influence could be seen everywhere from the numerous churches to buildings.


Old Cochin


My big highlight was when we hit the seawall to and saw all the fresh fish and crabs. Yummy! Too bad we had a huge lunch. I would have loved to indulge in some fresh sea food and coconut water too. You could pretty much see all of Cochin within a day. The city is tiny and has its own quaintness to it.

IUD insertion Campaigns in West Delhi

I can’t believe that the entire month of December has passed by so quickly. I don’t think I’ve actually had a chance to breathe since I got back from Thailand. For the first time, I actually feel overwhelmed. Projects keep to seem pouring in and I am loving the experience. I designed a very neat CSR presentation and I was very pleased by the response provided by the corporation. Actually, I could just see it on the execs face when we showed them the presentation and asked for feedback. I guess a little bit of extra attention always seems to go a long way and I was over the top by the response. I felt that a young foreigner like me could make a difference. Secretly, iv e been missing the corporate sector and my meetings with hotshots but the main difference here was that I enjoyed the interaction because for the first time I felt like I had something to say that directly affected the e welfare of an entire community. And they were listening!

Well the biggest highlight of this month was my role in implementing the IUD insertion campaigns in West Delhi. I had written the concept note in early November . This campaign was particularly important since it gave women the right over their bodies by providing them with safe alternatives for family planning. The multi-load IUD is similar to the Copper T however, the side effects are less. There is a lower copper content (main complaint for joint aches and irritation) and the plastic cap in fact sits perfectly within a woman’s uterus, causing very little pain.

After returning from Bangkok, well have become even more interested and strong willed on promoting the rights of women when it comes to sexual and reproductive health and I was very glad to see it being manifested in such a way. I would be able to actively interact with doctors, female candidates and also act a role of the counsellor during the health camps. The best part of it all, I was able to work with Annu and our coordination and timing was superb.

Little did I realize how hard this project would be to achieve.. Over two weeks we worked with hospital staff to motivate and ensure quality of providing women with IUD insertions.

Annu is probably one of the best community mobilizers I have seen to date in action. Within a matter of an hour she was able to set up a meeting with the ASHA’s (government based field workers on healthcare issues) and Aanganwadis (community social workers) and get them to meet with her. She enlisted government gynocologists who were most familiar with IUD services and got them to sign onto our campaign.

Even though most of these clinics and dispensaries were in the slums of Delhi and we had to travel through dirt infested streets on rickshaws dragging the kits everywhere we went, I felt alive. There is something about working in healthcare that I absolutely love. Each of these camps were set up on a daily basis where motivators could bring in their clients and after proper screening by Dr. Harini and Dr. Annu, they would be able to get the IUD’s inserted

The interactions I had were unexpected. Some had come alone without telling their husbands. In India, where women have so few rights over their bodies, secrecy became their biggest weapon. These women wanted to exercise their right on whether to have children or not and IUD’s for 5 years would guarantee that they wouldn’t get pregnant.



Dr. Harini Conducting her counselling sessions

I also saw the contrast in some of the cases. Because these insertions were being provided free of cost, some husbands also came with their wives, so they could too learn about the possible side effects and ensure that quality treatment was provided. This made me happy. Maybe not all Indian men are that backward when it comes women’s reproductive rights.

Good Times for Everyone: Sexuality Questions, Feminist Answers

If you are ever bored and in need of a good laugh or just pure entertainment, I recommend this book! I came across Good times, when my friend Priya started reading excerpts from Radhika Chandramani (a clinical psychologist who works on reproductive and sexual rights in Delhi). At point, I actually fell on the floor laughing

“Testicles: I am 19 years old. I don’t know the name of the part of my penis that is troubling me, so I am drawing it in my letter. Is this part, one part is big and the other ball is smaller. What should I do to make them equal? My friends tell me that this is not healthy for my married life and also for my job opportunities”
I was actually quite amused and shocked when I started reading the book on the lack of awareness kids in India have over their own bodies and common misconceptions. Not having access to the right knowledge is one thing but seriously as Radhika points out in her book

“ As for job opportunities, I have yet to hear a job criterion for selection is being testicles equal in size. Fortunately, not too many employers are interested in what your testicles look like”.

All jokes aside(which were many), the book itself addresses common questions that youth in India have concerning their own bodies ranging from a wide topic including menstruation, sex, masturbation to gay and lesbian relationships, HIV and AIDS , STI’s and pregnancies. Radhika aims to demystify sexuality and bring it to the public realm where open discussions can happen in a conservative Indian society. The fact is, sex occurs within every range group and talking about these questions should be done in a common forum where knowledge is available to those who seek it. Questions about sex aren’t just confined to the married life and that realization (no matter how many parents disapprove) is slowly sinking into Indian society and people of all ages from 16-75 and above have a forum to ask questions and share their thoughts. Go Radhika!

One last anecdote from the book:

“I am a 25 year old man, and my wife recently complained she was losing her sexual power. She says that she is not having proper ejaculation....”
Radika’s response: not exactly sure how a woman ejaculates but people don’t have “sexual power” that they lose. It’s not as if there is some defined resvoir of sexuality that people have for a period of time”.

Good, Good times and a complete feminist perspective. Happy Readings.

December: A month of Healthcare Programs

Having worked in the corporate sector and visiting more hospitals than I would care to visit in a lifetime, I was absolutely shocked as to how dirty the Indian public hospitals and clinics are. I didn’t really realize that I was going to enter a hospital. We went to meet one of our colleagues who had recently had a baby boy. So as a courtesy visit, we decided to stop by one of the hospitals close to where I live. To give you a brief background of the area, I live in the low income parts of Delhi where most of the workers are migrants from nearby states, in search of better lives and opportunities. However, the abysmal state of the hospitals, especially in the country’s capital is no excuse. Healthcare is free according to the Indian government. However, the universally free healthcare has its constraints and this means dirt covered floors, paan stains on wall and garbage littered across various hallways throughout the emergency and delivery area. I was shocked to see that outside the delivery rooms, tons of people were waiting to see their loved ones, but they were all sitting in the filth! This is not what I expected from a hospital facility. Later, I was told that there is a hierarchy within the healthcare provisions as well. If you want the five star quality experiences that most foreigners go for, you should try the Apollo Health system in South Delhi or AIIMS but of course this comes with a price of more than 2000 rupees per night, which for the average Indian is quite costly. Most Indians make between 10-15 thousand rupees per month. You got to wonder, with India’s expanding population, why health and hygiene given more importance isn’t. No matter where I have been in Delhi, I am always saddened to see the dirty roads, filled with litter and the smog infested air. Delhi is currently preparing to host the 2010 common wealth games and construction is at an all time high. I only wish the Delhi State government would pay more attention to health campaigns aimed at reducing the risks of pollution and ensuring proper healthcare to all and keeping Delhi green. It’s sad to see that the difference between the rich and poor is also shown in terms of quality healthcare for all.

"Mama Mia, Here I Go Again"

With our luggage pieces

December 4th! We are leaving Bangkok! In a way, I had been frustrated. All my plans to write a gender research paper on the effects of landmines on women has fallen apart. I had hoped to meet with the Thai delegates and create a comparative framework. Instead, they were stuck in the border regions and I was stuck with an extended vacation. Don't get me wrong. I am not complaining. This internship means the world to me and having missed the World AIDS day celebrations and not knowing exactly when the airports would re-open put a damper on my mood.

Well our tickets were finally confirmed. Ishita and I had decided to first head to the Jet Airways office and figure our flight status via Calcutta to Delhi. Well, leaving Thailand also became quite the experience. First, our driver had no idea where he was taking us. We had asked one of the guards to instruct him in Thai. He had nodded that he knew where to go. After we go in, he took us on a “scenic drive” around bangkok. Luckily, I now know the city well enough to navigate around with some ease. So, after about 45 minutes, we got out of the car and decided to walk to the building.

Well, with a humidity factor of almost 100 percent, it was hot! We were drenched! Arriving at the jet airways office, we found out that we were NOT on the flight to Calcutta. Instead, they had accidently put us on the flight connecting in Mumbai to Delhi and they weren't sure when the connection would occur.

Secretly, I think the both of us were happy to be going via Mumbai. Yes, I do realize that there had been bombings and the airport was under a high level surveillance. But honestly, when I looked around and realized that the entire flight to Calcutta. was with sleazy men who had come to Thailand for the sex industry, I was overjoyed in relief. I would not be on the same flight..hurray!

As fate would have it, we couldn't catch a break that day. We had called up the rest of the girls to come to the office. We had to catch the 1:30 bus to U-Tapao Airport outside of Pattaya. Well, we had packed all of our stuff, me with my one backpack and the girls with their crazy bags filled with all kinds of clothing and handbags they had picked up.

We had waited patiently for bus number three. At 2 PM we found out that the airlines had “forgotten” to put us on the correct bus and now we would be catching the 3:30 Calcutta. bus and we were assured we would be the first ones on and off the bus.

Well, lets just say waiting in the humid weather surrounded by sleazy men was not fun. The bus ride itself was quite eventful. I thought I had returned to India The entire interior of the bus was covered in red wedding curtains and we also had shiny disco lights to keep us entertained! Well the real fun part was when we finally made it to U-Tapao Military Airport.



U-Tapao Military Airport


For a country that had been literally shut down for more than a week, the Thai military really had its act together. They had set up first aid tents, free food and beverages for stranded travellers and even went to the effort of creating a carnival like atmosphere. On the Thai people would ever go through so much effort.

We had exactly 45 minutes to check in and board our plane. We thought we would end up sleeping at the military airport at this point. No bus ride would be complete without one last attempt by a sleazy Indian to pass off his number and blow kisses at us. Laughing hysterically, we made our way to the check in lines. Well, since we were the last to check in, it meant that we didn't have to stand in the long line ups or deal withe all the frustration. Instead, in a matter of 10 minutes we were ready to board.

Arriving in Shivaji Airport, Mumbai ( the old Sahara airport), we were tired and exhausted. A flight that would typically take 4 hours had ended up becoming a 24 hour journey. Transferring out of the terminals, we were glad to find out that we would be catching the 7 am flight to Delhi. It meant spending the night at the Mumbai airport in the Jet Airways lounge.

The airport itself had an eerie feeling. You could see the stranded travellers from various flights back from Thailand all discussing the political environment in India. There was talk of war with Pakistan and there had been reports of a possible attacks on the airports. Even sitting in the lounge, enjoying cups of coffee and cookies, I wasn't a bit comforted. We tried to get as comfortable as possible. Sleeping on chairs, we passed in and out of sleep.

At 3 am, a couple approached me and told me there had been a shooting at the IGI Delhi arrivals terminal. It wasn't on the news yet but by 5 am the reports had come through. I kept thinking to myself, why hadn't I just stayed in Thailand and waited for the airport to re-open. At least then the political situation would have died down. Fortunately, the IGI airport remained open and we able to land in Delhi. Heading back to my comfortable little hole (my “furnished” apartment), I found myself repeating to myself how “surreal” the entire trip had been. I had found happiness, laughter, joy and sadness too. I wouldn't trade the experiences of the last two weeks for anything.

"Fight and Stand up for your Rights"

It's December 1st and our fab five ladies have dwindled down to the crazy three: Priya, myself and Ishita. Honestly, its funny how you end up making friends so randomly and quickly. I went to Thailand really have no expectations...to look at it as a learning experience and I ended up learning a lot more about myself, my reaction to situations and people. Well, because the situation in Thailand so so safe for tourists, us fab five (priya, ishita, joanna, sulo and I ) ended up every night causing some trouble or another on Ko-san road. We made random friends, hung out with cute boys and ate one too many banana pancakes to remember.

We had finally found out that the airport would be re-opened at the earliest date of December 6th. So, that meant that we were confirmed to leave via the military airport. So, us three decided to make the best of it. We met up at Ko- San road and sat down on the sidewalk, enjoying our favorite meal (banana pancakes smothered in carnation milk and chocolate) people watching. What we didn't expect to encounter was the so called “over friendly” Nepalese and Burmese guys intent on causing trouble.

We knew these boys were up to no good. I mean for the past week, every time we walked by they had tried to unsuccessfully sell us something. When that didnt work, they started teasing us and calling us “sexy”...we want to spend the night with you etc. We had tried to avoid it and ignore the comments as much as possible but to no avail.

Today was not the day to mess with me. I was on a roll. I had spent the morning trying to confirm our seats back to India and was utterly embarrassed by the pushy behavior of Indians at the jet airways office. With the men screaming and the women budging the line ups, I found myself making fun of the situation and apologizing on behalf of “my kind” to a bunch of friendly tourists behind me. You have got to understand that these people were acting very foolish and really had no etiquette. You should have seen the number of dirty looks I got for stating that “even though the British conquered India for 200 years, they still couldn't manage to teach us Indians to form a line”. Yes, I know it's racist...but hey I can be racist against my own people!

Well what we had hoped to be a quiet evening enjoying good food took a turn for the worse. Noticing that we three were just alone by ourselves...these boys decided to have a go at it. They started passing lewd comments and finger gestures. At one point we even warned them that if they continued with this behavior we would have to report them.

Infuriated by their responses, we decided to walk to the Ko-san police station and report them. Well, speaking to the Thai officials itself was an interesting experience. They were really sweet but I don't think they quite understood why we were so angry. We tried to describe using hand gestures what exactly the men had indicated. The officer politely asked us to sit and wait until the street officer came to see us. Ishita was so tired from the entire day that she actually ended up falling asleep in the officer's room. I think that embarrassed them to no end and we were asked to politely wait outside until someone came to see us.

Well, an hour later ( yup the Thai officials sure took their own sweet time) the road officer ended up meeting with us. We tried our best in broken Thai, English and hand gestures to indicate what had happened. He asked us to go down the street and he would follow on his bike.

So, we went back towards the pack and they were all ready to taunt us again. But, what they didnt expect was for us to actually bring an officer with us. Ever seen three men disappear in less than a second? Well I did. They ran!
The one guy that we ended up cornering blatantly began to lie to the officer. Fed up, I decided it was time to create a scene. The men had assumed that since I was from Canada, I would not understand or speak Hindi. Surprise! I ended talking to all the shop keepers asking them if they would treat all their visitors and make sexual comments to them. I think it really hit home for them when I told them I could have been their sisters too.

Well, the poor officer, that's who I felt really bad for. He tried to follow along on our conversation. I switched to English when I realized that everyone had gathered around me. I know it may seem like I had blown this small incident out of proportion but honestly, it was pretty bad. When you have multiple men propositioning you for sex, the line has been crossed.

Well, the guy ended up apologizing and we thanked the officer for his assistance. From that day forward, everytime we walked passed their stalls, they would look away or just stand in silence.

We had reacted in this manner to make a point. There are so many women who bear all kinds of abuse in silence- mental, emotional, verbal, sexual and physical. I am never to back down. We were empowered from our week long training and we decided to stand up for our rights.

Now you can see why everyone kind of recognized us when we returned to Ko-San Road. Never a dull moment :)