When most people think of 'HOLIDAY' people say, relaxing, catch up on some sleep, sight seeing, and females always say 'SHOPPING'. I knew that there would be a lot of that...but everyday??
Here in India, there's just sooo many places to check out! So many different markets, all people selling different things. What I LOVE about India...is well...EVERYTHING! Being allowed to haggle is a big deal! All things are do-able, affordable...if you look in the right places, and nothing is too far from your imagination. You may want to have something made for you, clothing, mattresses, furniture, I mean ANYTHING.
People are working here all day, and most of the night. We are in Soami Nagar, and we can still hear right at this minute, past midnight - people just finishing up from the Friday night market! Motorbikes, and scooters are zooming by. People are still chattering as if it's the afternoon.
When you think of 'India' do you think of pollution? 3rd world country? poverty? Perhaps so - maybe that's all you think because that's what you see/think/know about India. Life here in India can be as simple as you want it to be, or as complicated. You may have nothing, or everything. For someone from the slums to make it, and by 'make it' I mean, to have an education, to have a house instead of a hut, to have a mobile phone, to have a job. To succeed in India is only determined by your own personal determination and persistence.
It is so easy to give up here...as well as anywhere in this world. In India, yes there are beggars! Yes it's dusty, yes people urinate on the side of the road. But you have to think...WHY? How can billions of people co-exist in this country, and how does it all work?
Beggars, mostly are lazy people - who rely sole on the money they beg for. Who have babies and introduce them to that world of begging, condemning them to that mentality. This is just my 2nd time here in India, and I see everything with my eyes wide open.
There are those who have next to nothing, who hustle - EVERYDAY! They cart their work around to a spot where they will sell what they can...and honestly most sales will happen in the night. Workers finish late here and so the markets etc are bustling in the evening. Traffic is hectic -BUT products are sold, money is exchanged and you have worked well for that one day.
My sister in laws who live downstairs has a servant who is about 10years old. Now you all may think that's twisted, I must admit I did too at first. He lives there with them, I'm not sure exactly where he sleeps but I know it's in a bed. The servants for this house (top floors) live behind the house in a smaller place and the other lady lives down the road. So this child servant, works very hard all day. Not as a slave, but as a helper to the Matriarch of the home.
I asked one of my sister in laws "how often does he see his family"? She replied "once a year". So the families live in villages, far away. They send their children out to work - They go out, they work from a young age, and visit once a year with all their wages. Out in the village things like a bag of carrots would cost something like $1RUPEE which is nothing. $1NZD is equal to $39RUPEE. Servants here are paid a flat rate per day.
We have 2 cleaning ladies that come in everyday. They clean everything, bathroom, windows, sweep the floor, mop every room and every floor. There is a lady who comes in to do the laundry, she brings her son along...he's about 2years old, she also assists with dinner and lunch. We have the servant for the house who is up early to make breakfasts and tea in the morning. He is usually done by about midnight. We have the driver who starts about 10am and doesn't finish until about 8pm most nights. He used to have a sleep in on Sundays, but because we go to church he is here at 9am to take us and stays the rest of the day til about 8pm - depending if he's not needed to drive that night.
Most shops have people that do free deliveries. The milk is brought to your door, fresh and most of the time still warm from the cow. You pick up the phone to make an order for your shopping. They drop it off within the hour. Receipt and all. People here work. Even the Matriarch of this house has a job...when really she wouldn't need to do a thing if she didn't want to. She is forever asking if anyone is hungry. She makes sure everyone is fed. She is upset if you choose to skip a meal. She gets worried! There is no time or room for laziness! They Hustle! I LOVE INDIA!
It is intriguing, it's always interesting. It's always busy! In NZ we don't really have a lot of beggars...most of these people are with WINZ. There are some who actually need WINZ but the other 90% are able bodied and can make an effort if they cared to try! If the Indian government paid the beggars, India would surely die! It's about how hungry you are to make a different in YOUR life.
If you have seen Slum Dog Millionaire, the acid thing is very true. Last Sunday on the way to church we had a beggar come to our window with only knuckles...no fingers. That kind of stuff is scary, but they do use it to their advantage. A lot of foreigners give straight away. There was also another incident in the beginning of the week, my Husband, sister in law and I were coming home with the driver after shopping at a market. At the intersection a man in drag was walking around to the cars. I was amazed at how everyone was giving her money. I saw my sister in law reach for her bag. I thought..."why is she doing that" - no one has given money to a beggar, well not that I've seen from the family. In India, if the fa'a fafine come to your window, you give something. Otherwise she will stand their saying rude things about you...and not rated M, like R18 stuff humiliating you. Weird...but it works for them :P
In any case...hut or home. Air conditioning or use a fan. Education or uneducated...at every point...we have a choice. Our parents have a choice. Do I keep begging and teach my kids to do the same? So when people stop at an intersection, I sit there while my children run out to beg? Or do we move to a village, become a farmer? Send my kids out to work for the family. Until such a time that we have established a home, we have livestock. We are growing vegetables and we are self sufficient?
How do you see India now?
xox
My sister in laws who live downstairs has a servant who is about 10years old. Now you all may think that's twisted, I must admit I did too at first. He lives there with them, I'm not sure exactly where he sleeps but I know it's in a bed. The servants for this house (top floors) live behind the house in a smaller place and the other lady lives down the road. So this child servant, works very hard all day. Not as a slave, but as a helper to the Matriarch of the home.
I asked one of my sister in laws "how often does he see his family"? She replied "once a year". So the families live in villages, far away. They send their children out to work - They go out, they work from a young age, and visit once a year with all their wages. Out in the village things like a bag of carrots would cost something like $1RUPEE which is nothing. $1NZD is equal to $39RUPEE. Servants here are paid a flat rate per day.
We have 2 cleaning ladies that come in everyday. They clean everything, bathroom, windows, sweep the floor, mop every room and every floor. There is a lady who comes in to do the laundry, she brings her son along...he's about 2years old, she also assists with dinner and lunch. We have the servant for the house who is up early to make breakfasts and tea in the morning. He is usually done by about midnight. We have the driver who starts about 10am and doesn't finish until about 8pm most nights. He used to have a sleep in on Sundays, but because we go to church he is here at 9am to take us and stays the rest of the day til about 8pm - depending if he's not needed to drive that night.
Most shops have people that do free deliveries. The milk is brought to your door, fresh and most of the time still warm from the cow. You pick up the phone to make an order for your shopping. They drop it off within the hour. Receipt and all. People here work. Even the Matriarch of this house has a job...when really she wouldn't need to do a thing if she didn't want to. She is forever asking if anyone is hungry. She makes sure everyone is fed. She is upset if you choose to skip a meal. She gets worried! There is no time or room for laziness! They Hustle! I LOVE INDIA!
It is intriguing, it's always interesting. It's always busy! In NZ we don't really have a lot of beggars...most of these people are with WINZ. There are some who actually need WINZ but the other 90% are able bodied and can make an effort if they cared to try! If the Indian government paid the beggars, India would surely die! It's about how hungry you are to make a different in YOUR life.
If you have seen Slum Dog Millionaire, the acid thing is very true. Last Sunday on the way to church we had a beggar come to our window with only knuckles...no fingers. That kind of stuff is scary, but they do use it to their advantage. A lot of foreigners give straight away. There was also another incident in the beginning of the week, my Husband, sister in law and I were coming home with the driver after shopping at a market. At the intersection a man in drag was walking around to the cars. I was amazed at how everyone was giving her money. I saw my sister in law reach for her bag. I thought..."why is she doing that" - no one has given money to a beggar, well not that I've seen from the family. In India, if the fa'a fafine come to your window, you give something. Otherwise she will stand their saying rude things about you...and not rated M, like R18 stuff humiliating you. Weird...but it works for them :P
In any case...hut or home. Air conditioning or use a fan. Education or uneducated...at every point...we have a choice. Our parents have a choice. Do I keep begging and teach my kids to do the same? So when people stop at an intersection, I sit there while my children run out to beg? Or do we move to a village, become a farmer? Send my kids out to work for the family. Until such a time that we have established a home, we have livestock. We are growing vegetables and we are self sufficient?
How do you see India now?
xox
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