A whirlwind trip to Pune (Poona)

I'm back from staying with Janhavi for a week in Pune. We had a great time eating out and meeting with friends and relatives. I also went to Deep Griha, where Janhavi has been volunteering and where I was supposed to volunteer before the opportunity in Bombay presented itself. It was so refreshing to see so many international volunteers spending their summers in India doing charity work. A group of French volunteers raised loads of money to help build the youth center at Deep Griha. What a success it was! The youth center is an awesome facility that will provide so many kids and teens with much needed counselling and extra-curricular activities. One morning when we went to one of Deep Griha's locations in the slum, we came across the most adorable 2 year olds. There they were, TWENTY of them patiently waiting on a 10x10 bench for their playroom to be cleaned. When Janhavi and I were greeted by the 'Hi Aunty' voices, we both looked at each other with such huge smiles! What a way to start the day! We convinced the little toddlers to call us Didi (sister) instead of Aunty because come on...I'm not an Aunty yet! It was great fun playing with the kids and it was amazing to know that they were all taken care of during the day while their parents may be sick or busy working.

I'm now back in Bombay for one night before I go see my relatives in Kanpur tomorrow. After that, I start my work at CCDT here in Bombay and I'm excited to get going on that! Janhavi and I had way too much fun in Pune...mostly in the form of several sizzling brownie desserts and delicious meals. We also managed to do some trekking one early morning and I actually survived! We climbed to a fort about 800 m high called Sinhagad (meaning Lion Fort). The distance wasn't too much, but the trek was steep! We took a few breaks but eventually made it to the top where we had some long anticipated snacks and walked around the old fort where one of the most famous battles in Maharashtra took place centuries ago. The scenery was breathtaking, especially in the monsoon season as everything was so lush and green.

TOP 10 MOMENTS WITH JANHAVI:
10) Inhaling a delicious slice of chocolate cake in a five star hotel in Bombay only to have a group of middle-aged women stare at us and tell us how 'lucky' we were to be able to eat such junk! We couldn't stop laughing.
9) Seeing Anil Kapoor (a famous Bollywood actor) in a club in Bombay surrounded by his entourage of dancers...he's old enough to be my father!
8) Having lunch by a double-decker bus in Notting Hill...oops, I mean Pune - at the 11th Street restaurant (I think that was the name). It's a new restaurant in Pune that's all about London!
7) Coming home and crashing every night at 9pm from all of our gallavanting and becoming hooked on smutty Indian reality television.
6) Observing all the ninjas in Pune...there are so many of them! Women on scooters tend to wrap up their faces with scarves in a completely ninja-way to avoid inhaling all of the car fumes...but wow, does it crack me up!
5) Eating delicious kulfi on Marine Drive in Bombay....one can NEVER get enough!
4) Hanging outside Shah Rukh Khan's (one of the KINGS of Bollywood) house in Bandra for 40 minutes only to see his two very cute dogs.
3) Dancing to fun Bollywood music with our new friends at a farmhouse under the moonlight because the lights kept going out!
2) Handing out sweets to all of the kids at Deep Griha at the opening of the youth center.
1) Playing with the adorable toddlers at Deep Griha, their smiles have made my trip already!

I'm really going to miss Janhavi but hopefully we'll meet up once more before she leaves for Canada on August 1...she herself can't stay away from Bombay because she loves it just as much as I do! I met two of her close childhood friends in Pune too and the four of us had a great time together, even though it was so short! I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with them as well.

My dad called me yesterday and I could just feel his smile over the phone. A small article I submitted to the Hamilton Spectator newspaper was published over the weekend in the Travel section. It was kind of like a photo essay about India and one of the pictures was of a monument from my dad's hometown so he was so proud! I didn't tell anyone that I submitted an essay so they were all really surprised to see my name and picture in the paper! My parents friends were calling them to say congrats to me and I got so many well wishes from all of my friends as well. It's such a small little story but it felt great to share it with so many people! Here is the link, enjoy!
http://www.thespec.com/article/405579