Wet in mumbai

Hi guys,
First and foremost do apologies for the late update...for the time has passed so fast this trip down that I could not find time to make a run to the dhanu cybercafe to give you guys and update.
Anyway im back i mumbai after spending 11 days in Nareshwadi. I've got one night here before I fly of the next day and guess how the beautiful mumbai morning greets me on my last day, with loads of...RAIN
yup I shouldnt be surprised tho, it is the start on the monsoon...so a wet start it will be then, luckly I dont have much to do except get to Lee's place in Juhu to chill with Rory n gang whilst watching a game or two of football ;) and yes I did catch a game in Nareshwadi.  Thanks to Vivek, who was kind enough to active the ESPN channel in the guest house, Rory, Vesanti and me had a chance to catch Italy vs Paragua.
An ok match that ended in a 1 all draw, ahem ahem I do believe I am should have got a free breakfast from a certain individuals....Tho I guess the more interesting part of the game was seeing Rory & Vesanti get hooked on an old game called Thai Thee (Two of Spades).
So a bit about Nareshwadi and my visit this year,
1. The kids have grown!!! yup all the young kids have actually shoot up...Do believe this has much to do with upgrade of the diet program in Nareshwadi
2. There new young faces in the teaching crew, lots more house parents and teaches have joined the small litle Nareshwadi teaching community that hopefully will bring fresh idea and new teaching methodology to the school.
3. The farm has grown...Thanks to the endless efforts by the farm crew the mangoes this year have sold out!!! And what is great is that the kids have been give a free hand in picking/plucking as many mangoes as the like this year...and hopefully the few mangoes i got survive the trip back to kl ;)
To conclude, I have seen Nareshwadi change over the last three visits and this has really given me hope that individuals with determination CAN make changes to the most old way of things...You can teach and old dog new tricks I guess ;-)
catch you later guys
-dave-

Sunset on day 1 in Mumbai

hi guys,
I know its been sometime since I've updated this website.  Well its just because I've not traveled la ;)
For the non-Malaysian readers, the word "la" is a common replacement for the "." in Malaysia, do try it, say anything n just end it with "la" and walah..you talk like a Malaysian ;)
Well enough of 101 on being Malaysian...now 101 on being an Indian
first make sure you get conned at least once, the sooner the better, as for me it was the taxi guy that instead of charging me the standard 150 odd rupees, charged me 200 odd for a trip.(tick)
then grab yourself an "allo walla pranta with cha" at the local hotel aka restaurant (tick), another 101, restaurants r commonly referred to as hotels, bonus points if you can guess what hotels are commonly referred to as...
third go shopping!!! latest fashions n latest movie cds n books n everything nice (tick)
fourth get on the mumbai local train during off peak hrs n stand at the doors whilst the train travels thru mumbai...(tick)
fifth n final take a rick aka auto all by yourself and try to start a conversation in hindi with the driver (tick) ;)
now you can call yourself a local indian...well not really but you can pass for one la....
ok a bit about the picture above, its from the juru beach, that is close to Lee's place in Mumbai
alright gang, thats it for now, will catch you guys from Nareshwadi
till then
dave signing out...

saying goodbye

sometimes just saying it is not enough...its believing it...and believing it takes time, takes family, takes friends and most importantly takes yourself...

and finally i believe i can say goodbye

thanks...you know who you are and you know what you did for me

and for that i hope someday i can return the favour somehow, sometime, somewhere

-dave-

Cybering in good ol Dahanu cafe

hey all,

its Saturday, nearly a week since i landing in the heat of a coax called mumbai (read previous articles to learn more about that) since then, ive been based in Nareshwadi, surounded by 20 so eager students to enjoy a short break period they fondly call Summer Camp. What is Summer camp, i tried to define last night as i lay in my room apartment without (light) electricity coming in, just my cool music from the doors n 1 rupee candle burning the darkness away. Summer camp is a time of liberation, liberation from the monotones life or a boarding school to the daily 9 to 5 routine of work of others. Its a time when u get to express yourself and find the inner child coming out to play in the mad heat of the Summer. Its a time to learn new things about yourself and push yourself further when possible just to recall that you can do this and this is possible. Its a time to have fun...that is the summer camp in Nareshwadi. Tho this time around, im only here for 2 weeks, everyday is a new day and a new begining...tho something at the small corner of my head (close to my bold spot im sure ;)) keeps reminding me me that it is slowly coming to an end...and the door lyrics come along..."is this the end?"

a day in the life of charlie brown

Greetings from Nareshwadi gang,

yup there is internet connections in Nareshwadi, one of the guys is using the local mobile providers to surf the net and it works! Well its day 3 now in Nareshwadi and how it feels like i never left at all, even the grocery shop guy who i only must met just once during my stay here last year remembers me! Tho I lieing when i say nothing has changed much, in actuallity much has changed, a couple of new teachers here and there, a computer room with 40 odd computers, tho dont get me started on those pc, I mean uncle jeff if u r reading this, i may need to bring u along the next time i come and hopefully we can sort this computer mess out ;) There is also a new library abt 80% completed. The classrooms look well maintained and after my conversation with Patricia there is also a couple of new management procedures set in. So overall there are visible improvements to Nareshwadi in the last yr or so. The kids loved the watches Ravi and now happy wishing me good morning/afternoon/evening ;)

Ive also started a morning routine with them with the help of Rita (ah that poor thing, going true some sort of midlife crisis rite now) anyway...we start the morning as early as 7am (malaysian 9.30am) whereby i take the kids for a jog a couple of rounds round the field. then while the rest its morning story time nwhereby i read to them till abt 8am..then its maths for an hr and a half. the kids have a break at 9.30 till 10am. Then its art classes as such till abt 1pm whereby the have lunch and chill till at 5pm. Then there is quick class till 6pm whereby after that its hockey or football till 7pm. After dinner abt 8pm we will have a couple of activities before lights off at 9.30pm...n the day is done.

well ive not uploaded any pictures just yet, maybe later in the day i will comeby to upload some.

till then regards from a small town named Nareshwadi...

Dave Sir is back

hey morning man,
day one in mumbai n what the hell ride it was to get here!
i mean dont get me wrong, the flights were swell, the transits were good, the customs were kind but
darn i should have knew it something worse was on the corner...
well here i am finally arriving to mumbai, india with the loads of bags n such n being pretty impressed with myself for surviving the trip
THEN i enter the airport from HELL
yup the indian airport authrities decided on that evening by the looks of it to step up their procedures for the swine flu pendemic.
hence some great champ decided to just put up loads of barriers n abt 4 counters to interview every poor chap who gets down of the plane that day. so imagine this, my flight from singapore was a full load aka abt 150-200 pax getting down n being ushed to this massive cluster of people that look to be themselves shocked to be see the big cluster n everyone has no idea who what or where to go inc of elderly, pregnant, parents n such all carring their hand luggage thru this massive cluster of lines leading to good knows where, n the scary thing as u approach there 4 tables its just caox...anyway after like standing in line for an hr or so any most likely getting the swine flu in the process, i managed to divert out of this mass n make my way outside just to see the madness that is mumbai!
due to the mad lines inside the airport everyone waiting outside had doubles n so had their cars, rickshows, taxis, n whatever not they felt they had to park there n join in the fun....tho i did manage to find lee n marie quite easyly, the only 2 white ladies there ;)
n managed to get on a cab..who turned to had a couple to drink that nite n just survived the trip to lee's place.
had beer n called it a nite
now im up at 6 their time, 8ish my time sipping my kopitiam coffee n awaiting my driver to drive me n all this stuff to nareshwadi ;)
well joe will keep all of u guys posted on more stuff as n when they happen or when i have the joys of using the net.
till then stay tuned n God bless ;)
dave sir is back!
ps my local number is +919769236743 i will text u guys from this number hence forth

Current status

A bit more older, not sure abt the wiser bit ;)

Ok all here is the status of collections since my last entry

Cash donations

Jeremy Eu

Jas

Bob

Ravinder

Terf

Other donations

Loads of cloths for the girls from mum ;)

Kids toys and such from manju masi

Thanks all.

Sincerely

Dave