Trivandrum Rajdhani Express

Two hours to kill at Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin station can seem like a long time. For newbies however, there is so much to observe and slowly absorb. Details and persons that each reveal small parts of India and its many-faced culture. Being the porters in matching red shirts carrying carts filled with massive ice blocks, beggars, pilgrims, chain sellers and the many different travellers representing different social layers and religions. All kinds of people, except other western tourists.
Just watching the trains pulling in and out, many over-crowded, was worth the waiting time.
We found our names on the list hanging on the platform. We got a coupé for ourselves, with bunk beds, electricity for the travel-book and food served every second hour (it felt like that anyway).
Indian music played from a loudspeaker, a pretty carpet decorated the floor, matching the dark red curtains and bunk beds nicely (apparently important as we later had to rate the colour combination of the coupé). Besides that, the coupé is, well, a coupé.
The view from the window was limited by a sunshade commercial sticker, which was quite frustrating, - so much to look at, but such small holes to peek through.
The train set of and the adventure begun. A well dressed guy greeted us with a glass of fruit juice, another gave us a newspaper, - in Hindi!

The Trivandrum Rajdhani Express, is the longest train ride in India from Delhi in north, to Kerala in south. A 45-hours journey covering 3189 km. We had opted for the whole distance and looked forward to the ride.
Leaving Delhi we past massive slum areas followed by huge green patches of farmed land. The ride through Rajasthan and Maharashtra showed a dry flat landscape.
So, how do you spend 2 days in a train coupé? We chose to read, blog, peek out the small holes and eat too much food. The friendly staff served us three different kinds of curries for both lunch and dinner! When bedtime arrived we tried to find comfort to the sounds and rocking of the train. Tried. Early morning we passed through Mumbai and after sunset the recognizable and pretty rice fields popped up. Landscape is still very dry, but much warmer than we experienced in Delhi. The locals must be eager to greet the monsoon in few months time.
A short stop at a minor station before lunch revealed that Indians are empowered. Three of the other couples in neighbouring coupés started tearing of the sunshade/commercials. They too got tired of peeking out the small holes.
Passing Goa around lunch and the landscape was changing from being dry to be dominated by palm trees and the calm backwaters.

The plan of mingling with the passengers on the train for an informal chat about health and diabetes kind of slipped through our fingers when we found out food was served in the coupé and not in a dining cart.
Nevertheless, our coupé neighbours were all keen to talk about it. One couple going on holiday had been talking about their health lately and therefore found the dialogue as a natural extension of their own process. They wondered if they got enough exercise, their BMI and how to balance their diet better. We guided them to www.diabetesindia.com which recommends menus based on geographical region and calorie count.
A man on business trip listened carefully, but then shared eagerly with us that by doing some specific yoga asanas (postures) recommended by a Yogi TV star and eating the jammum seeds from a fruit, diabetes can be controlled. However, he had little arguments for why his aunt still suffered from the complications caused by diabetes.
It is a problem that some people believe natural medicine can replace the advice and treatment specified by diabetologists. Some even believe that these natural remedies can cure diabetes disorders.

Tomorrow morning, very early we will arrive in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala. Much more about this place later. Good night.

Pic is showing our train at some random stop we made on the way.

Jama Masjid and the lively Old Delhi

Jama Masjid is the biggest Friday Mosque in India and it is impressive with its breathtaking architecture with its grand white cuples, delicate patterned murals and huge gates .The builder is said to be the son of the builder of Taj Mahal.

In the courtyard in front of the mosque, there is a palladium for an extra muballigh (prayer leader) so it was possible to reach all 25.000 prayers on Fridays, before the loud speakers were invented.

Another view of the Mosque:

The most enjoyable and authentic thing we have experienced so far here was the low-tech cycle-rickshaw ride through Chandni Chowk bazar from the new high-tech underground metro to Jama Masjid. The ride gave us front-row view to a spectacle of people, halal butchers, card sellers, handicraft men, numerous small shops and stalls, tourists, motorcycles and of cause cycle-rickshaws, all in narrow lanes making it impossible to proceed more than a few meters in walking pace without stops.
The number of cycle-rickshaws seemed greater than the number of people in the streets, which was best illustrated in a congested crossing where everything stopped for minutes resulting in arguments between the trimmed and in our case tiny rider. No worry about diabetes for these guys!

This is our rickshaw driver in action. We wondered how he could keep smiling with the two of us to drag around. He was maybe 150 cm tall and his weight must have been less that 45 kg. Pure muscles!

First-hand experience with Sikhism

We began our second day with a morning visit to Delhi's biggest Sikh temple, the gurdwara named Bangla Sahib. Entering the gate revealed a dynamic area by the foot of the temple, bustling with men wearing the characteristic turban and beards and women with shawls, some arriving, some leaving. There were a basin for washing the bare feet. People touched the stairs to the temple before approaching the massive building. We paused amidst it all confused of what to do and where to go, maybe a little intimidated by the strong yet peaceful religious atmosphere.
Soon a kind man on his way out came to our rescue and explained us in which direction to follow. Shortly hereafter, lead by another turban-clad friendly soul we entered the black toned glass door with something maybe in Punjabi written on it. It stays a riddle for us, how any tourist will figure out this is the info center. After a voluntary crash course in Sikhism and the various customs before we could enter the holy site, we were just about to venture of, when one of the men in the office asked about the luggage tag on the day-pack saying ”I am traveling to change diabetes”. That was our key word and soon we found ourselves in a long talk about diabetes. The three men apparently had some basic knowledge, but at the same time had many questions like; ”What kind of exercise is good to prevent diabetes?”, “Is exercise more important than eating healthy or the opposite in order to prevent diabetes?”, “What causes diabetes? Is it genetics or lifestyle?”, “Are Indians more prone to diabetes than others since India has the highest number of diabetics in the World?” A woman in the other end of the office caught interest in the talk and listened silently. This was our first real test in the field, it was nice to confirm that our intense studies helped us to answer their questions and it hopefully made them think and talk about the importance of eating healthy and doing exercise more frequently.
After what must have been 20 minutes we exited the office, barefoot and bandanna-clad towards the gurdwara.
Firstly, the gurdwara left us humble and awestruck with its splendour, materialised in the atmosphere and beautiful architecture of the site. Later, we enjoyed the unique expressions of Sikhism, being the non-stop reading from the Holy Book “Guru Granth Sahib” and the day-long music and singing stemming from the inner of the gurdwara. We also tried the food, that gurdwaras are famous for, - food is free for anyone and are shared by all visitors. In is a fine symbol of equality, which is one of Sikhisms fundamentals. Everybody is equal no matter skin colour, gender or religion.
Behind the temple was a large pool, used by the Sikhs for purification. It was peaceful to walk around it, passing the thin mattresses laid out for drying after last nights pilgrims sleepover. As with the food, everyone is welcome to spend the night at a Sikh temple for free.

Conquering New Delhi... or rather – New Delhi conquering us.

26 degrees Celsius, almost 9 pm. We arrived in the centre of Delhi after a hectic drive from the airport with a taxi driver who spoke English, but preferred discussing – with emotion - with his co-driver in Hindi. We watched silently from the back-seat, trying to grasp the fact that we were actually here – in India.
Checked in at the humble hostel and then, too hungry to be tired, we went food hunting in Delhi. We settled for two yummy dishes with paneer (cottage cheese) – one was grilled cubes marinated in spicy yoghurt, the other was potato cutlets filled with cottage cheese (yes, we were too tired to turn the menu sheet and realise there was so much else to choose from than cottage cheese). The menu was dotted with vegetarian dishes, since cows are holy to the Hindus and Muslims regard pigs to be impure.
Back at the hostel, after a well-needed bucket bath (literary bucket – as the water resources are scarce in India) we had a good night sleep on a rock hard bed that sent our thoughts back to our very first night in Ecuador. Back then we had to use our inflatable sleeping mats, but our training on futons in Japan seems to have done us well.

Walking the streets of Delhi this morning left us with countless impres-sions.
It is heart-breaking to witness the poverty which is visible many places. Beggars, homeless people scattered in the grass, orphans looking malnourished, people with deformations or missing limbs and in one case a female leper missing the right side of her body and face. People in need. This will be imprinted in our minds and hearts for a long time.

A look above us left us with relieving smiles: Monkey colonies here and there. Capuchin Monkeys, maybe? Also little striped squirrels kept popping up, racing up and down the trees in Delhi's many green areas, not bothered by the many locals that seem to take good advantage of the green areas around them for pausing their everyday life. The colourful saris in many styles and fabrics swung elegantly around the women too left us light hearted.
Then there is the bustling energy on the streets. Fruits and nuts are sold from worn out blankets on the ground, Sweet lime juice carts fill up the streets too as do the guys fixing broken zippers and shoes. Services like ear cleaning, having you put on a scale and a haircut are also possible on the streets in Delhi. Our favourite places to browse though are the many book stalls. India has a long tradition as a literary country and the abundance of book stalls manifests this. For 3-10 USD you'll find award-winning books, from Indian writers as well as western. For book addicts like us, this was an offer too good to refuse, so within the first day we had bought six books. Still 84 days left for shopping. Poor backpacks...poor backs.
Filling the streets as well, are the obvious appearance of different religions living side by side. Inspiring. We pass Sikhs with turbans, Muslims in burkas, Hindus with the red vermilion mark indicating the third eye and Buddhists in their characteristic orange/red cloth. They make co-existence look so simple despite the many differences.

The streets of Delhi can be a challenge to navigate. Auto rickshaws and motor bikes slalom their way between pedestrians, bicycles, cars and worn out buses that hardly stop to let people on or off.
The traffic lights are vaguely respected – despite big posters pledging to respect the red light and thus avoid embarrassment (and heavy penalty).
Being able to cross the road seems to be the key to success here,- and being very good at reading the traffic.

A tour on the National Museum gave us a needed break from the traffic spectacle outside. We let us draw into ancient India and the Hindu culture, the tribal clothing filled with colour and heavy jewels, the musical instruments such as citars, veenas and tablas. We laughed at the very playful Krishna and his abundance of women pictured on the miniature paintings.

We decided that Ganesha out of the numerous Hindu Gods, is to become our household God, as he is the remover of obstacles, a useful ability when travelling. His characteristic appearance with the head of an elephant, the Buddha-like body, the blue-coloured skin and yellow cloth makes him quite attractive to the eye, maybe this is another reason for his wide-spread popularity.
Each of the many God images were perfectly painted or shaped as hundreds of figurines made in stone, bronze or terracotta.

Afterwards we hooked up for lunch with a Japanese couple (a Buddhist monk from Kyoto and his girlfriend who study Buddhist history). They seemed to follow us, so when we discovered that we had made a wrong turn we thought we had better tell them and thus we ended up joining forces. We chatted over dosas for lunch. Their English were as good as our Japanese, which kind of limited the fluency of our conversation.

Returning home we realised our street was filled with hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, just in front of the hostel. The police was there as well, but not needed – the atmosphere was calm. Someone told us it was people from Jaimur. When we asked why they were demonstrating, our hotel manager said that it was nothing, - that they were just passing time. Then he laughed.
We still have a lot to figure out here.

Some say Delhi is a bit too much. Too crowded, too dirty, too pushy and too smelly.
We guess its Old Delhi these people talk about,- we'll tell about that in another blog.

P.S.: Today we succeeded in finding the last thing on our inventory list for the project: A glucometer. We now have t-shirts, pamphlets & posters explaining about diabetes and the glycometer to test people who are in the high-risk group of having diabetes, thus we are getting eager to get the project initiated as planned, in South India next week.
P.P.S. B's four soar fingers are an evidence of the glycometer is tested and working. And the blood glucose level was perfectly normal!

Creating Awareness about Diabetes in India

On board the plane, half way to India, literally and emotionally in the skies.
The classic Indian music video filled with flirtatious dance, colors and energy is playing on the in-flight monitor ...no wait, it changed, now we are watching an Indian cooking program and still we can't help smiling. We have been like this the whole morning, - silly smiling and positively overreacting to simple things that lead our thoughts to where we are heading. First we got amused watching the Indian boy playing at the check-in counter at the airport, and from there it just continued. Thrilled by the flight hostess that greeted us at the plane by respectfully pressing her hands together in front of her chest. “Namaste!”. Realizing our flight attendants wore saris. Colorful and pretty. The acquainted taste of the cardamom rice pudding we were served after lunch. Sweet and spicy. These small indicators of the travel we are about to begin leaves us with tickling expectations and bubbling smiles. We use all senses to absorb everything, - and we haven't even arrived yet.

Being less inexperienced travelers we are relaxed compared to when we went to Ecuador in 2006, yet we have no idea of what we can expect from the trip to India. Going there with a wish and purpose of entering the Indian community through our diabetes awareness activities will have a yet unimaginable impact on our trip. Eagerly we are looking forward to watch the trip slowly reveal it self to us during the next 85 days. In Hindi they say “sab kuch milega” (Everything is possible) which is exactly how we feel about India.

Why volunteer work?
Well, we owe that to some of our very best friends in Denmark. Last year, during a business trip to Denmark, Henrik met up with some good friends who told him about a dream of theirs, - to do voluntary work for a longer period someday. This initiated tons of thoughts in Henrik and when he came back to Japan, the first thing he did was to share his new ideas. Within the next hour we had taken the decision. The thought of volunteer work is not new to us, but we have only been involved in shorter local organized projects. This time we wanted to combine it with traveling. After a brief talk, we ended up with three basic demands for the project; We wanted to make a difference without spending lots of money, but by devoting our time and hearts, we wanted to re-experience the flexibility and freedom we felt and loved while backpacking in South America 2006 and we wanted the project to take place in Asia as this is our 'home continent' these days. Combined with the wish of being able to communicate in English (no language barrier), finding a suitable country left only few alternatives. That same evening we had defined our project. We wanted to create awareness about diabetes in India.

So why Diabetes in India?
With our growing interest in healthy living and the very visible consequences of the diabetes pandemic, which is being communicated through the World Diabetes Foundation, the topic diabetes awareness in India was easily identified.
With more than 40 million diabetics according to WHO, India is the World Capital of Diabetes. This is really serious. What is worse, - WHO expects the number of diabetics in India will increase to 80 million people by 2025.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that will be fatal if not treated properly. In India 30% of the diabetics in urban areas and 60% in rural areas are undiagnosed. This means millions of diabetics are not receiving any treatment today and thus are in very high risk of obtaining one or more of the severe and in some cases fatal complications diabetes can lead to. Complications related to diabetes include blindness, kidney disorder, heart diseases and amputation of leg/foot. With these severe complications, having diabetes also has a huge negative financial impact in families with one or more diabetics. Health care in India is not free and when more than one-fifth of all Indians still live below the official poverty line subsisting on roughly a dollar a day. Many diabetics and their relatives use most of their salary on the diabetes related complications and treatment.

Creating awareness about diabetes in India was thus not a difficult topic to choose, since just being aware about diabetes, its causes, symptoms, complications and ways to prevent it can make a change.

We should also mention that India has been on our top places-to-visit for a while. One of H's old childhood friend has roots in India, thus H's interest in India was initiated long ago. For B the interest in India has been woken recently, through friends’ and acquaintances’ stories from this magnificent place with its abundance of both cultural and spiritual stimulation.

So here we go, with the message that its time to CARE, about your HEALTH, about DIABETES.

Safe travel

The picture shows our travel buddies.
As we are reminded again and again, Japanese people are very considerate. It's inspiring. Just before we left, our best Japanese friends gave us some items to bring on our trip.
Mika gave us each a toy frog. A frog is called “kaeru” in Japanese, “kaeru” has two meanings; besides frog it can also mean “to return”. Mika asked us to bring the frogs with us on the trip so that they could make sure we return safely to Japan.
Keiko gave us each an amulet from a local Shinto shrine. The amulets are decorative with embroidered golden kanji characters saying we will have a safe journey.
Last but not least, Henrik's good friend and colleague gave us some packages of Chinese herb medicine to bring with us in case we run into the infamous “Delhi Belly”.
We carry all three items with us in or attached to our day packs, so we believe we will have a very safe trip :o)