Indian People

Rachel took a series of photos on Independence Day of Indian people enjoying themselves and having a good time in the national park.

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park

August 15th is a public holiday in India, it's the day of Indian independence from Great Britain.  A group of us decided we'd spend the day at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park which is located in north Mumbai and is one of the few national parks in the world totally enclosed by a metropolis.  Inside the park there are forests, hills, valleys and lakes and there are caves full of carvings.

The Kanheri Caves area of the park date from the 1st century BC and have been chiseled out of the rock. The caves were used for study and meditation and some are carved with Buddhist sculptures.

Look carefully at the photo below and you will see the road - we hiked up from this road to the caves.  There were over 40 caves.  In the background you will also just see the buildings of the city of Mumbai.

Some of the caves were large and had obviously been used as places of worship.  In one cave there were stone pillars all along it, carved out of the rock.

Turning a building into a school

Back in February when I visited the school this is what it looked like.  Some people thought I was made to move to a school that had not yet even been built, but I was convinced that the leadership team of the school had the right vision - I was onboard.

The photos above shows the first day in my new school.  Floors were still being laid, electric points were being put in, walls and pillars were being painted, furniture was starting to arrive.

The day before the first day of school - it's still a building.  We have got the partitions in place and we have got the displays up, but something is missing:  the students.  That evening, as one of the new teachers, I received this message from our Superintendent:

You will never have another “first day at ASB.” So, please take some time, as tomorrow progresses, to sit back for a few minutes every hour or so to just soak it in, capture the images and the feelings—the voices the faces the situations---and allow yourself to reflect. Many years from now, I want you to took back on tomorrow and remember it as the first day of a phenomenal year. I know I will.

What can I say. Chalk and cheese? Night and day? I am humbled and honoured to be here.

Now everything is in place and the students are here - and here is another message from Craig:

Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity ... to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment ... would you capture it or just let it slip away ...

I captured it!

Parks in South Mumbai

I went into work on Sunday.  It was the day before school opened for new students and I wanted to put up displays in the iCommons areas.  Nancy, another new teacher, was also there in her learning pod and we decided it would be nice to go out afterwards.

We drove down to South Mumbai.  The first park we walked round was the Kamala Nehru park, which is located at the top of Mumbai's Malabar Hill.  It's named after the wife of India's first Prime Minister.  Nancy, Tim and I walked around the park.  It was a nice, open, green space and was surrounded by interesting buildings such as the Ambani building and something on the top of an apartment block that looked like a Greek temple.

We crossed the road and went to the Hanging Gardens, on the other side. These are terraced gardens providing a great view over the Arabian Sea, Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive, which at night is called the Queen's Necklace as the lights resemble a string of pearls.

After this Nancy, Tim and myself went out for a meal at the Salt Water Cafe in Bandra.  It's possible to become a member of this cafe which give you points towards goodies and a 2 for 1 offer on drinks in the early evenings.  We joined.

Escobar on Lord Krishna's Birthday

We went to the Escobar for our first TGIF yesterday.  Dubbed as one of the "hippest" bars in Mumbai, it is claimed to have the longest bar in India and it's a regular hangout of the Bollywood crowd.  The bar doesn't open until 7.30 pm, but the school reserved it from 4pm for us, and we were treated to free drinks and food all evening.

After that I went out with Karen to watch the festivities for Lord Krishna's birthday.  We walked until we found an intersection with an unbroken pot suspended above it and hung around while several groups set up a human pyramid to try to smash it.  Eventually our patience was rewarded as we saw one group smash the pot and claim the prize.

I got a taxi back to Kohinoor.  This was a first for me because I don't know the way home yet and don't recognize landmarks.  However I was able to direct the taxi driver once he reached the LBS road, so I feel a little more confident now that I can actually get home after a night out!

Human Pyramids

Tomorrow is the Hindu festival of Krishna Janmashtami - Lord Krishna's birthday.  In Maharashtra, the state where Mumbai is, this is a huge celebration.  Here is a description taken from Wikipedia about this festival.  I'll be going along tomorrow to join in with the fun.

Janmaashtami, popularly known in Mumbai and Pune as Dahi Handi, is celebrated with enormous zeal and enthusiasm. The handi is a clay pot filled with buttermilk that is positioned at a convenient height prior to the event. The topmost person on the human pyramid tries to break the handi by hitting it with a blunt object. Mostly nariyal (coconut) is preferred being a sign of purity, truth etc. in Hinduism. When that happens the buttermilk is spilled over the entire group, symbolizing their achievement through unity. Handis are set up around the city, and groups of youngsters, called Govinda Pathaks, travel around in trucks trying to break as many handis as possible during the day.

Many such Govinda Pathaks compete with each other, especially for the handis that dole out hefty rewards. The event, in recent times, has gathered a political flavor, and it is common for political parties and rich community groups to offer prizes amounting to lakhs of rupees.

Opening Day Minus 4

Looking down to the bottom of the atrium as the last of the scaffolding
is taken down

What a lot has been accomplished in the past 3 days.  Today all the internal scaffolding was being removed and the last of the floors, the ground floor, was being laid.  We now have learning spaces being set up, electricity being put in, painting and cleaning being done.  Only a few days left until the opening.

The iCommons area on the 4th Floor

One of the learning spaces on the 3rd Floor