On Friday morning we went on a tour in Old Delhi with a focus on street children in Delhi and the the work of the Salaam Baalak Trust, a Charity which aims to improve street children’s lives in India. Our guide, a young man called Tariq who used to be a street child in this part of Delhi himself, guided us through the streets and bazaars of Old Delhi and showed us two of the centres that the Salaam Baalak Trust runs. The first was a contact centre near the Railway Station. It is a centre where the trust invites street children to come and spend the day, have counselling and medical attention if needed. They also offer activities, celebrate festivals, offer some learning programs. On Fridays, like the day we visited, they allow the children to watch television. Our guide explained, that as many of the children are crazy about Bollywood movies, they love the opportunity to watch TV and have a break from their life in the streets. If children then show an interest in staying more permanently with the Salaam Baalak Trust and to receive a more formal education, then they can move into one of the trust’s shelter homes. We visited such a shelter home and got to spend some time with the young children in this home. Tariq explained that many of the children are run-aways, who have left their families because of abuse or poverty or parents who for various reasons had been unable to provide a happy home environment for them. These children often believe that if they come to Delhi, they will be  better off on their own, or they dream of a life as Bollywood Stars and they believe they will find this in Delhi. In the reality of life in the streets, they find, that life on their own is much tougher than they expected and they are abused, exploited, and suffer many forms hardship. The Salaam Baalak trust encourages children and parents to be reunited if the children wish to do so. If not, it offers them protection, car, and an education. The Trust also works closely with Childline, a helpline for children in trouble.

Tariq, now 20 years old, told us his story as well. He had run away from home in the far north of India at the age of 9, because his father had beaten him. He believed that he could make a life in Delhi and travelled there by train, a journey which took 18 hours. He had stolen some money from his fathers wallet the night he ran away and thought he could maybe start a business in Delhi selling watches. He used all the money to buy watches and then tried to sell them in the streets. However as he had nowhere to go at night, he had to sleep outside and one morning, soon after, he woke up to find that all his watches had been stolen. He began to cry which attracted the attention of a policeman. When he told the police man what had happened, he was beaten by him, because the police man did not believe him. So he learned to distrust the police. He then found unpaid employment as a dishwasher in a small restaurant. The owner of the restaurant gave him food and a mat to sleep on, but refused to pay him. When he asked for payment, the owner threatened him that he would go to the police and report him. He then found that many of the other street children earn a little bit of money by sorting through rubbish and taking recyclable materials to recycle shops. They can earn about 100 to 200 rupees a day (1 to 2 Euro) by doing this. They often use the money to buy alcohol or drugs, which they take to stop feeling their pain. He was in this situation when he found out about the Salaam Baalak Trust’s contact centre. He loved to go there to watch television. He also received counselling and and eventually he declared that he really wanted to receive a proper education and so he was moved into a shelter home. He finished his Highschool and is currently studying for a tourism and business management degree via distance leaning. He and 2 of his peers at the Trust have applied for a scholarship offered by the Trust to spend one year studying in the US and his greatest hope is, that they will all be granted this.  He is also getting on well with his parents and siblings now and hopes to be able to support his family in the future.

I found Tariq’s story very inspiring and how the work of the Salaam Baalak Trust has made a big difference in his life.

Maria

[Thursday 21st Nov] After flying from Cochin to Delhi yesterday and seeing the Lotus Temple during sunset, today was a day of mass-sightseeing. We had arranged a driver to take us to several sights around Delhi today, tomorrow and then to Agra, the next stop the following day. First we drove to Jama Masjid, the largest and best known mosque in India. Inside the dress code was: no shoes, women cover legs, body and arms and Rs.300 for a camera. Papa and Milan went up one of the towers for the view above while and Mama & I stayed down and watched the busy streets and wildlife. After, we drove to The Red Fort and spent two hours with an audio guide inside. We entered through the gate and learned that the Red Fort is made of red sandstone. The Red fort was a palace constructed by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan for himself and his court. The Red Fort also had many riches including the priceless peacock throne, which was looted of its jewels by the persians when they decided to settle in Delhi. After the Red Fort, we drove to Raj Ghat a park dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, a man who fought the rights of people and led India to independence, but in a non-violent way, with various protests, marches and such. After we drove to our final stop for the day, the Akshardham Temple the biggest Hindu temple in the world. We walked in and had a look in the huge gardens, where there was memorials of people who had done good things in their lives for the country. Then we took our shoes off, and went into the main temple which has golden statues of Hindu gods which you can receive blessings from. After we went out and looked at the Elephant Plinth at the base of the temple which are elephants carved into the stone and made into stories about them which were very interesting. After the elephants, we walked more around the temple and through the lotus garden which is a big garden shaped as a lotus flower. It was after dark by then so we decided to go back to the hotel, tired after our day of mass-sightseeing.

Nilay

For some photos click here:

https://www.icloud.com/iphoto/projects/#3;CAEQARoQkm3q2wuk9Px8MDzdW_flOw;833C60D3-2285-4C48-8A00-79559056AE77

Our delayed visit to Fort Cochin is probably best described as a “masala” of sights and experiences our learning in India has been that each day contains a varied mix of sights, sounds, & smells and that the most memorable experiences are usually ones which we have not planned. We decided that at first to get over to the peninsula we would go for the “local” ferry experience, which meant separate lines for “ladies” & “gents” for buying tickets albeit very cheap. Of course we didn’t really know if we had arrived at the right dock at first, as there was no obvious sign but the locals were helpful and after passing through another docked ferry as there was not enough space for 2 at the dock, we set off to explore. Our first stop was a cafe for breakfast and the “Solar Cafe” across the road from the ferry jetty was a great find. A nice setting with great food including some familiar favourites. Not knowing exactly where the sights were we decided that we would allow ourselves to be convinced that a whistle stop rickshaw tour of the key sights would be the right approach. This included many landmarks arising from the various foreign occupiers of this key trading port including St Francis Church (believed to be India’s oldest European built church), The Dutch Cemetery, Indo-Portugese Museum (where Maria provided an impromptu German lesson to Josef at the ticket counter), Spice Market, and the Chinese Fishing nets* where the earnings of the fisherman from our ‘donation’ for being able to take photos and go on one of the large structures will surely have been his best “catch’ of the day! The highlight of the day will of course have to be the open air laundry where Maria seized the opportunity to get in a bit of ironing with the “cordless” heavy coal iron. On the Lonely Planet’s recommendation, we decided to have a look at the Kashi Art Cafe which had some contemporary Indian artwork in a contemporary setting (we could have easily been in an art gallery cafe in a large European city). For dinner, we took the recommendation of a local shop owner and went to Ocaneos Seafood Restaurant. The food was excellent and whilst the seafood dishes were great, a diplomatic consensus landed on Dhal Kerela Curry (Kerela style dhal with turmeric & crushed chilli simmered in coconut milk) as dish of the day. Our last bit of excitement for the day was an eruption of a bit of road rage during the rickshaw ride back to the ferry jetty initiated from a mini bus blocking the road. Whilst our perhaps often naive view is a lack of any compliance to road rules, this showed us that there is a clear code of conduct on the roads!

* Enormous cantilevered spider-like contraptions a legacy of traders from the 1400s seen as as the unofficial emblems of the Kerala Backwaters.

JR