So Cute

Today’s Greatest Education System on earth… India

Indian culture values education more then what many think. Education is now such an imperative part of a families life that many of even the middle class now send their children to tutor classes after school. Sometimes this is more than 1 tutor a day for up to 2hours each tutor session and that is most week days. WOW now that’s education.

Today I experience one of the best highlights while being in India. We went to a Private catholic school in Kharagpur called St Angus. It was a K-6 Primary school and we walked into the school through large concrete fences that surrounded it straight into the Principals office. Sister Mavis, the Principal, was there to greet us and kindly introduced us to her deputy and a few other staff. We then walked through the hallways towards the gym/hall. Upon arriving at the Gym, we were greeted with loud sounding horn, which was blown by a older student. The horn was made out of a shell.

As we walked up the steps of the gym, other students had made a line either side of us and threw dried flower petals on us while another little gild all dressed in her bright traditional Indian clothing and jewelry danced around us with incents burning. Another little girl also all dressed up in beautiful sari and Indian clothing came up to us and placed a little dot on our foreheads which seemed like wet mud. I later discovered it was an Indian tradition.

After we sat in the auditorium the young students then performed for us. There was dancing singing and some of the students were as young as 3yo and all were very talented. It was just an amazing experience and after I shared a little about my accident they then wanted us to sing the Australian Anthem to them. After asking many many questions about Australia and our culture we then had to leave. The students were in awe of our foreignness and us in general, they just wanted to touch us and stare it was just beautiful.

My parents have been in Kharagpur now for about 6 months and Mum regularly visits this school and teaches then music and singing. The students love it and really love my mum. It is a real honor to have parents that volunteer their time to make a difference in the world after retirement, as many retirees just self indulge.

Did you know…..

The Indian Government DOES NOT support most private schools within India. That’s no financiers or resources from the government. From many conversations only a small minority of Hindu based schools receive support but no Christian based schools. Thus many schools are under funded and under resourced, many need books, better equipment and just basically a make over. Its amazing the conditions that these students study under. No air-conditioning with temperatures regularly reaching 50+degrees humidity. WOW!!!!!

I’m off to experience life in the city 2moz with a number of business engagements…
Photo’ attached from the experience at this school…

Me with some students

It was great to see my family in India. Mum, Dad, my 2 sisters and 4 nephew and nieces who all had travelled from Australia to India. It’s a little crazy when you meet up with close family over the other side of the world.

My entire life I wanted visit my mothers hometown and travel to Kharagpur which is a place 2.5hours SW of Kolkata one of the largest cities in India (maybe the 3^rd largest after Mumbai and Delhi). So here I was, travelling to Kharagpur for the first time in my life to visit Mums relatives that I had never met before, to visit the place where my Mum and Dad met and got married, and to visit the place where my Mum grew up. It was quite and exciting journey. Arriving in Kharagpur, my Dad, who picked me up from the airport, pointed out to me the church where they got married. Wow that was an awesome feeling seeing this church. I got goose bumps.

The next morning we went to a village just a few km from Kharagpur. Now this was an awesome experience, as I had never experienced village life ever in my life, and mate was I challenged! These primitive natives were beautiful and very embracing of our western accents and mannerisms. Yes they had electricity, but the living environment brought ‘Lower Social Economic Living Conditions’ to a whole other level for me.

To get to the village, we took a vehicle, than a rickshaw and finally we had to walk down a narrow path across a bamboo bridge and zigzag through rice fields. Finally we got there in the middle off the day, sweat pouring off my face as the heat is extreme and the humidity is even worse. When I arrived it was hard not to notice the life style and environment of these, forever smiley and fascinated faces. They lived in mud huts, used outside fires for cooking and pumped water out of a well. It was just amazing. We read about this type of living and we sometimes see it on TV but to experience it and see it first hand is just mind blowing!

Eating a meal that they prepared I must admit, I was very hesitant in eating it as their hygiene standards, lets say, are different to ours. After carefully eating the meal on plates made out of banana leaves we then tried to communicate with them through the little language that we all knew.

I was with my parents, my sisters and my older nieces and it was so amazing when they started talking about having one of my sisters or nieces as a wife for their tribal men. They even went to their huts and got all dressed up in their finest garments to try to impress. It was just fascinating. After thanking them for there hospitality we began the walk, bike and car ride back to Kharagpur. WOW what a day.

Did you know….

Mumbai used to be called Bombay; Chennai used to be called Madras; Kolkata used to be called Calcutta… Why? Because the under British rule for many years the British people gave the large metropolitan cities and many other cities new names to suit them as they did not know how to pronounce the original names. But just recently ever since independence in 1947, many cities have changed their names back to Indian names. The latest being in Aug 1996 when Chennai was created just 1 year after Mumbai…

I read recently that in Mumbai, it has over 50% of the population living in the slums…

Click to enlarge photos:

Me and Mum on a Rickshaw (Umbrella instead of hat)

Me using a well pump

My sisters on bridge

Villagers preparing us lunch

Villagers Waiting for lunch

My first trip to India just earlier this year was a true eye opener as I experienced so many things about India. It was a life changing experience for me and I have been forever changed and impacted by this first experience.

This trip I’m learning more about the Indian way and the culture that it currently lives by. I think India is a split culture. On one hand you have the religious traditional culture that has been ingrained into the Indian way for hundreds and thousands of years. But there is NOW another side of India, which is currently predominantly within Metropolitan regions at the moment but spreading fast around the entire country of India. It’s the entertainment and media industry that is beginning to take over from the traditional religious culture.

GET THIS…. To buy the most read newspaper in India it costs less then 10cents (4 Rupee). To buy a movie ticket in India is less than $2(50-80 Rupee). They have made it accessible to everyone and this influence is shaping the NEW India.

Just in the last couple of days in Delhi (the capital of India) there has been a Leadership Summit of all the most influential and powerful people in all of India, the true leaders within India that has dominant influence. The ex President of the United States, George W Bush, was one of the keynote speakers. But one thing which I noticed made all the media and attention was the Bollywood actors and singers. It was a select few of the most dominant and recognizable faces of the entertainment industry as part of the Leadership Summit…

I have been watching a little TV while here to understand more about the Indian way, and I noticed that most of the channels were music videos and movies where the same celebrities starred. After doing some more research I found that there are about 10 celebrity entertainers that are so popular and dominant that they are alone shaping the NEW Indian culture and pop culture. It is NOW huge! the way Indians idolize these celebrities is more then anywhere in the world, I’ve found. If you can influence these people you can influence India!!!! (My Goal in the next year is to meet some of these people!)

Today I’m flying to Kolkata, which I’ve been told is the true heart of India. I’m going to see my parents and a lot of my family who flew in earlier. The last few days have been a little blurry as when you travel here you most certainly get diarrhea and I’ve been busy with some speaking engagements and media attention here. My guides and party that organized my trip here have been exceptional. They have organized drivers everywhere we go and would just do anything for you. I have hardly carried a suitcase as they insist to do everything for you. I trust them as I have a good and strong relationship with them all.

Did you know?

Delhi, the capital of India has the same population in the one city as the entire population of Australia.
It is hard to find a western toilet in country and rural India as many of the are squat toilets or no toilet at all. I remember when I was on a train the other day. I saw 20 or 30 people all spread out over this paddock all squatting. I thought what the heck are these people doing… then I saw the pants around their ankles or the dresses lifted up. It was a very interesting site to ay the least!

Attached a photo: Look at the back ground of this photo… You have to wonder how the heck did that cow get on top of that!!!! (This picture is quite a standard site in many areas around India)

How did that cow get up there?

My new golden arm!!!

My flight was delayed out of Perth WA after an amazing weekend wedding retreat with the wifie. So instead of flying out of Perth at 4pm we left at 7pm, thus arriving in KL Malaysia quite a bit late at about 12am.

As a walked towards the taxi stand and handed my taxi slip to one guy, he gave it to another who then gave it to another. Then within 10 seconds there was 6 guys crowded around my ticket talking and it even seemed like arguing over it, meanwhile I was just standing right there not understanding a single word of their language.After a little while one of the guys took me over towards a car and a driver got out and then began to drive me about 85km or so from KL Int airport to the city centre in KL. You really must wonder why the heck an airport says KL when really it takes aver an hour in a cab to get the actual city itself!?

After waking up the next morning I went for a walk after a wonderful continental breakkie, and trust me… Continental breakkie here is a little different to the breakkie’s you may be used to… including: curry, pickle, Chicken porridge, wedges, curried noodles etc… nice! My walk was great as it addressed my perceptions I had had of Malaysia and KL. I had thought that this country would have been similar to India, a third world country. (is KL a Third World Country???) Anyways, KL is beautiful, I loved coming here and the people are beautiful yet they stare, especially at me with my NEW ‘golden’ arm…

Upon asking at my hotel if they knew where I could get a massage. They said just down stairs from the main lobby. I thought OK. After saying I needed an hour massage, they took me to a room and said that the masseur would be here soon. A very professionally well dressed lady came in and I got undressed and got on the massage table/bed. Every week I get a professional massage for my muscles every since my accident 3 years ago. This massage therapist was great, standing on my back and massaging with her feet, cracking my neck. It was great. The she asked me if I wanted her to massage this (pointing to my p#*#*s) I said “no no no no”. She said “yes yes I could do it for a tip”. I said “no no” and I went to get up and get out of there. She said “OK OK sorry”, and she went on to finish my massage.

It was a horrible feeling to be put in that position, I hated it and felt very uncomfortable. I thought that the massage parlor, being part of my 5Star hotel and the masseur dressed professionally, would be OK. I never thought anything else. WOW was I wrong!!!! It was an experience that Id rather forget…

Sometimes we forget how naive we can be and let down our guards. This experience just took me by surprise and I felt completely sucked in, it was a horrible feeling. After talking to my wifie about my adventure with my massage she said that I needed to be more careful and be wiser in the future. Wisdom comes from experience and checking all bases, also making sure we get advice and learn from our own experiences and other people’s mistakes. I have since learnt from this experience and now know what to ask and how to be clear when asking for a massage.

I’m off to India now for 3 weeks…
Moral of this story: Don’t go to Kuala Lumpur and get a massage at the Grand Continental Hotel!

My hotel room and the amazing view