Wow, so much has happened, I’m not totally sure where I left
off. Lets start with the day of
travel to Udaipur. We (some GSErs
and others: Laura, Weyni, Lauren, Pailin, Phu, Parisa, Maria, and I) all left
the apartments around 9:30am, took an auto to the bus station with all of our
stuff, then took a bus to the airport, did some major luggage shuffling, and
then got on our plane to Mumbai.
We had a couple of hours in the Mumbai airport, so we got lunch and visited
a bit, and then we got on our plane to Udaipur. We arrived in the evening, managed to fit 8 people and their
luggage into two small cabs, and went to our hostel: DreamHeaven
Guesthouse. We got checked in, and
I put my stuff into the triple I shared with Parisa and Weyni, and then we
walked just next door to a restaurant called Millets of Mewar that Laura’s
friends founded just less than a year ago. The environment in Millets is wonderful- there are small
platform type tables on the ground that are absolutely beautiful and large comfy cushions on the floor to sit on. We had a wonderful dinner and then
collapsed into bed back at DreamHeaven.
When we got up in the morning, a few of us decided to order
breakfast from Millets and then walk around town for about 45 minutes while the
cooked. We walked over a bridge
and through part of town, and then we looped back to Millets to eat our
delicious breakfast. Then we all
made our way to a park in the city where we met one of Laura’s friends and her
old neighbor from Udaipur, Kishore Saint, who is a Gandhian economist. We talked to him in the beautiful park
for about an hour, and then we all walked down to a sort of outdoor food court
and had lunch. From there, because
it was so god-awful hot, Lauren, Parisa and I decided to go back to DreamHeaven
to rest for a few minutes under the fan.
After a little break, the three of us walked to the Udaipur City Palace
and walked around (on our way there, we passed an auto driver who yelled,
“Madam, rickshaw? Marijuana?”, as you can imagine that sent us into absolute
hysterics). The palace itself is
beautiful, but the view is even better.
After we left, we wandered around for a while, and then met up with the
rest of the group for dinner at Millets (are you sensing a trend in where we
were eating…?). Then we met one of
Laura’s friends who runs a fair trade handicrafts business at his apartment and
talked a bit about his business and how it started. Then, at about 10pm, we all went back to DreamHeaven, I did
some laundry in the bathtub where I made friends with the bathroom’s resident
huge-ass spider, and then it was time for bed.
Tuesday morning we got a bit of a lazy start because it was
raining out, so we all had a nice breakfast at Millets, and then a few people
went to visit organic farms, a few people rented bikes, and Maria and I decided
to sit in Millets for a while on the comfy cushions with a pot of tea and
read. After a while, it stopped
raining, so I went and spent a few hours walking through the city and bought a
scarf along the way. When I came
back to Millets, there was an elephant just outside on the street. Just hanging out. And having a bit of trouble getting
itself turned around in the narrow road.
After I took a few pictures, I went back inside, at which time it
promptly started raining again. I
have good timing. Then Maria and I
spent the rest of the afternoon drinking tea, playing checkers, talking to the
men who own Millets, reading, and watching the rain against the backdrop of the
lake and the City Palace. A lovely
way to spend an afternoon. When
everyone got back from their respective outings, we all ordered dinner and
picked up our bags from DreamHeaven.
We had two cabs sent to pick us up, and then we were off to the train
station. We had about an hour to
kill there, and then we all boarded an overnight train. We all got the same train, but most of
the group got off at Jaipur, except for Weyni and I, who continued on to Agra
to see the Taj Mahal.
The train was extraordinarily uncomfortable, but at 6am,
everyone except Weyni and I got off the train. Everyone was in a hurry to get out of the way, so I had to
say goodbye to everyone through the window. Even Maria, who was my lovely work partner for the last 6
weeks. It was a little
unceremonious, but at least I got to say goodbye. I was surprised that I actually got a little choked up to
say goodbye to the rest of my Wooster friends (Weyni goes to Wooster, but since
I never met her until we were in India, it feels different somehow). I won’t see a couple of them in the foreseeable
future since they graduated (Maria, Lauren, and Laura), so that made it even
weirder. But after I sat and took
a few deep breaths, Weyni and I were Agra bound.
We got off the train at about 11am, and hired a car to drive
us to a couple of the main sites in the city for the day. First up, the Taj Mahal. Our guide walked us through the entry
area where we bought our tickets (750 rupees for a foreigner but only 20 rupees
for an Indian… go figure) and then we walked through the grounds and had our
first look at the Taj Mahal.
Beautiful and delicate, it is even more impressive than it is in
photos. We stood and looked for a
few minutes, and then took our obligatory photos in front of the building. Then we walked around the side and went
inside, seeing the tombs of the builder and the inspiration for the Taj. We walked back outside, and in the
sweltering heat decided to sit and enjoy the view for a few minutes- its not
every day that one gets to sit in front of the Taj Mahal. At about 1:15, we decided to go, and
the driver took us to a restaurant called Indiana for lunch. After we ate a good meal and cooled off
a bit, we went to Agra Fort, which is also a very impressive structure, only
about 25% of which we could see, because the other 75% is still used by the
Indian military. Then, after
getting in a bit of a bickering match with our driver and guide, we went to
what is known as the “Baby Taj”, another very neat structure and beautiful area
in Agra. Finally, after walking
through a market/bazaar area for a few minutes, Weyni and I got dropped back
off at the train station. We were
a little early, but eventually Weyni got on her train back to Jaipur, and about
an hour and a half after we said goodbye, I got on my overnight train to
Varanasi. After reading and
journaling for a few minutes on the train, the other people in my area decided
it was time to get to bed, and because of the bunk set-up, when one person goes
to bed, it basically means that everyone else has to, too. So I went to sleep, excited to wake up
in Varanasi.
When I woke up is when everything went wrong. I opened my eyes, and the first thing I
saw was that my purse was open and my wallet was gone. Inside my wallet were both my credit
cards, my debit card, my drivers license, all my cash, and most importantly, my
passport. All gone. In a slight panic (ok, major panic) I
climbed down from my bunk hoping that it had fallen somewhere. Nope. I also noticed that one of my two water bottles was
missing. When I went and looked in
the cubbies surrounding mine, I noticed my missing water bottle was on the bunk
of a guy who was sleeping on the other side of a little divider from me. But the divider had a gap by where my
head (and purse) was, and even though I had been using my purse as a pillow, it
seems as though this guy had to move my water bottle to reach into my purse,
steal my wallet, and get off the train; he was nowhere in sight. While this is, of course, all my
guesses, it seems pretty logical to me, and the other guys who I talked to on
the train.
I was obviously worried about something pretty big, and so
all of the guys who were sharing my bunk area asked what was wrong, and I told
them. While I suppose it is
possible that it is one of them that took it, I really don’t think it was. They were all very helpful and made
several suggestions of what I should do.
First, they helped me check the area. Then, when they saw me searching through my purse for any
loose change (I managed to find 61 rupees, or just more than $1), several of
them offered to give me money, all of which I declined. Then they suggested that I go to the
first class car and talk to the police officers who stay there. So I grabbed my purse and backpack and
walked toward the first class car.
When I got there, the door was locked and no one would open it, so I
walked back to my car, nice and sweaty.
At that point, I knew there wasn’t a whole lot else I could do except
wait until the train reached Varanasi, which was supposed to be in about
another hour. But I did still have
my phone, and the first person I called was Laura, our GSE program assistant
who had lived in India for a year.
If anyone knew how to handle an emergency like this, I trusted
Laura. I quickly explained what
happened, and without missing a beat, Laura told me to get off the train in
Varanasi, find someplace safe to sit, and not to move; she would find a friend
to come meet me there. Then I
called my parents and told them not to panic, but that they needed to cancel
the credit and debit cards. Then,
I waited. When we reached
Varanasi, I gathered my belongings, and the 61 rupees I had left, and got off
the train.
Since I hadn’t been able to find any police on the train,
the men on the train suggested that I first go to the police station in the
train station and file a report.
When I found the police office, none of them spoke English, so they
directed me to the tourist office.
When I got there and explained to the man behind the desk that I needed
an English speaking police officer or translator because I needed to file a
report, he told me to sit down, and that he would call one to come meet
me. That was a blessing, because
the tourist office was air-conditioned.
Thank goodness. As soon as
I sat down, I started getting texts.
From Professor Moledina giving me the number of the US Embassies in
Delhi and Kolkata. From Laura
saying she was still trying to find someone to come meet me, but that she
thought she had found someone who could come. From Professor Moledina again asking if he could wire me
money. Then, after about 20
minutes, two police officers came and recorded what happened. They looked through my train tickets,
which luckily I was able to find, and wrote down exactly what had been
stolen. Then they walked me back
to their actual office so they could write the report on official letterhead
and have me sign it. After this
was done and they stamped the report, they walked me back to the tourist
office. The police men were
surprisingly friendly and helpful, and I am grateful that they were able to
handle the issue so quickly. Back
in the tourist office, Laura called me saying that she had a friend of a friend
that was on his way to meet me at the train station. Professor Moledina called to say it was great that I had
gotten the police report because I would need that eventually at the US
embassy. Apparently Professor
Moledina had also recruited the help of Jairaj, a Wooster alum who lives in
Bangalore whom I met a couple of times while I was there, because they were
sitting in the same room together when Professor Moledina handed Jairaj the
phone. Jairaj told me that he had
contacts in the Varanasi police and the Calcutta US Consulate, and that he was
talking to both people to see what they could do to help me. He was also very good at saying a few
things to lighten the mood. About
the time I hung up the phone with Professor Moledina and Jairaj, I got a call
from Laura’s friend of a friend, wanting to know exactly where in the train
station I was, because he was there.
About two minutes later, Rajesh came in to the tourist
office, and with a happy handshake, I had met my first real-life ally in
Varanasi. We talked for a couple
of minutes and then got Professor Moledina back on the phone. My original plan had been to spend two
days in Varanasi, and then I had an overnight train ticket to Calcutta. The three of us decided that it would
be best for me to get to Calcutta as soon as possible because that is where the
nearest US Consulate is. Rajesh
helped me change my train ticket to leaving Varanasi that night, and he gave me
about 3000 rupees- about $60- so I would have something to work with. Professor Moledina got Rajesh’s contact
information and immediately wired him back the money. Since it was only noon and my train wasn’t until 6pm and I
had already paid for a hotel in Varanasi, we all agreed that I should go to my
hotel, shower (which I hadn’t done in almost 3 days since I’d been on multiple
overnight trains), and eat (which I hadn’t done in about 24 hours), and then be
back at the train station plenty early so I wouldn’t miss the train. With that, Rajesh and I got in an auto,
and he dropped me off at my hotel with the instructions to call him if I needed
anything else. I can’t express how
helpful Rajesh was in all of this- a complete stranger (or a friend 3 times
removed…) leaving work to come help me when I was completely stuck. I am so grateful for all of his help.
At the hotel, I charged all of my electronics, called my
parents, Professor Moledina, and Laura and gave them all updates, and then, was
finally able to shower. Hallelujah.
I had lunch in the hotel, which was expensive, but I would have rather
used a little more of the money Rajesh gave me than leave the hotel and risk
getting lost and not making my train in time. After I ate, I went and got smaller bills from the hotel
desk than what Rajesh had given me- not many people in India will accept 1000
rupee notes- and I made more copies of all of my important documents-
especially my newly acquired police report- so I could stash them in multiple
places throughout my bag. Back in
the room, I repacked my bag, and in an oh-so-ladylike fashion, stuffed a wad of
cash in one side of my bra and 6 or 7 of my most important papers in the other
side; needless to say, I wasn’t going to take the risk of anything else going
missing. With that, I went and
checked out of my room, and took an auto back to the train station.
Once I was there, I checked with several people to find out
what platform my train was supposed to come to, and after deciding that it was
definitely platform 4, I went and found a place to sit. I was a bit early, so I went and bought
a packet of biscuits since you don’t get dinner or breakfast on the train. The train was supposed to leave around
6, and at 6 when it still hadn’t arrived, they finally announced that it was
running late. And then at 6:15
there was another delay announcement.
These announcements kept coming until the train finally arrived at 9:30,
and we left shortly thereafter. Once
on the train, I sent the texts to Laura, Professor Moledina, and my parents
that I had promised to send once I was safely on the train to Calcutta.
I settled into my bunk very quietly, (but not comfortably,
with what felt like a ream of paper in each side of my bra), placed my purse
under my stomach, and laid on top of it all night. Inside my purse was the one thing that had proven the most
useful and that I most needed to keep my hands on- my phone. I didn’t sleep much at all, but,
luckily, when I got out of my bunk around 8:30am, nothing was missing.
Soon after I got up, I had messages from Laura, Professor
Moledina, and my parents asking how everything was going. Telling them everything was just fine,
but that we were running quite late, Professor Moledina told me he had arranged
for Varun, my classmate at Wooster and fellow GSE participant who just happens
to live in Calcutta, to pick me up from the train station. Wonderful. I texted Varun to tell him we were running late, and then there
wasn’t much to do except wait until the train finally reached Calcutta at 1pm
(it was scheduled for a 7:30am arrival, but I’ll let that one go) after
spending 16 hours on that train, and the past 3 consecutive nights in bunks on
one train or another. When I got
off the train, Varun was waiting for me right outside my car, Sleeper 6, and he
led me to his car. We drove and
picked up his grandfather, and then went back to Varun’s family’s flat in
Calcutta. We had a quick lunch
where I talked a bit to Varun’s grandfather and grandmother, and then we got
back in the car to go to the US Consulate.
I brought all of my papers with me and what cash I had left
over from what Rajesh had given me in Varanasi, and Varun and I went into the
consulate. After going through
security, I began filling out my paperwork for a lost passport and applying for
a new one, only to find out that the passport photos I had weren’t adequate-
they had to have a perfectly white background and the background I had was
light grey. Yes, this is truly
problematic. Oh well- it turns out
I also needed 8000 rupees to finish the procedure, which I also didn’t have. I talked to the lady behind the desk a
bit, and we agreed that I would need to get the money and photos in order and
come back first thing Monday morning, at which time I should be able to receive
my temporary passport which would allow me to get home- at least in
theory. Once I have the passport,
I will also need to back to the FRRO: Foreigners Regional Registration Office,
which is who is concerned with my visa.
She said I might have to go to the office in New Delhi since that is my
port of exit from India, but that hopefully they can take care of everything
here in Calcutta. I called and
enquired, and while it sounds promising that I can do everything from Calcutta,
I won’t be sure until I go to the FRRO next week; for now, we’re just hoping
for the best.
After we left the consulate, Varun and I came back to his
flat where I was able to use internet for the first time in 5 days and see all
of the lovely strings of emails that had been being sent about me. It seems that in a matter of minutes
from the first call I made to Laura from the train on the way to Varanasi, she
and Professor Moledina, Jairaj, and staff back at Wooster had mobilized the
troops, so to speak, to make sure that I was being taken care of. It hit me at the Varanasi train station
when I was with Rajesh and on the phone with everyone who was trying to help
me, but it hit me again tonight: how lucky I am to have so many people willing
to drop everything to make sure that I am safe, and doing what needs to be done
in order to go home as planned. I
am sure without their help, I would still be sitting, confused and with 61
rupees, in the Varanasi train station.
The string of people who responded to the emails regarding me and my
predicament was astounding- Wooster alum’s in India offering to let me stay
with them, offering to put more minutes on my phone so I could stay in touch
with everyone, offering to do just about anything to help me- someone they’ve
never met. I’m not sure I can
convey just how humbling it is to have an inbox full of 30 emails, some from
friends and some from strangers, all offering to do whatever I need them to do
so I can fix what went wrong.
It makes me so thankful and so proud to be apart of the
Wooster network, because that is absolutely what it came down to: the
connections of all the amazing and big-hearted people of Wooster, past and
present. I am so very grateful for
each and every person who offered their help.
After sorting through a mountain of email, I started working
on some logistics. Professor
Moledina, Varun and I figured out how my parents can wire me some money to
handle the passport and other expenses, I spoke to my boss from Bangalore
explaining what happened in case I needed her help with the FRRO (I am in India
on an employment visa, so it will be important that she can verify that I was
working for HLC), I caught up on facebook, and sent many more emails regarding
the events of the last day and a half.
When all that was sorted through, I had dinner with Varun,
his grandparents, and his father.
This is my opportunity to thank them for everything they have already
done: picked me up at the train station, run me all over Calcutta to different
offices, welcomed me into their home for the next week, and been so very kind
and friendly to me. It is so much
appreciated, and this would all be much more difficult were it not for having
individuals here in Calcutta who are so helpful. To Varun and his family- thank you so, so much.
And now, after having skyped my parents with updates, it is
time to sleep in a bed for the first time since Monday. Once again, all my thanks go out to my
parents, Professor Moledina, Laura, Blaise (Laura’s friend who helped make a
connection in Varanasi), Rajesh, Jairaj, Varun and family, and all the alum and
others in Calcutta who have offered their help and support should I need
it. I can’t express how amazing it
has been to see so many people jump up to help, as I said, it has been
incredible and humbling, and I am so grateful to the wonderful people of
Wooster.
Hopefully next time I post something, it will be with a new
passport and exit permit safely tucked away- clearly not in a wallet. :)
