"We will meet at 8:30 in the hut" That was one of the running jokes during our stay at the Himalaya Hindi House. We actually did meet in hut every day for Hindi lessons.
Our Hindi course is finished and we are now in the city of Dehradun. Next we go to Himachal Pradesh (to visit Dharamsala) and then on to Rajasthan to find some friends of a friend in Jodhpur. We may also go to Jaisalmer. Our teacher Yogendra-ji gave us a name "Pankaj Joshi". He runs an STD operation (STD is a sort of pay phone you can use to make local or international calls) in Jaisalmer. Yogendra-ji just told us to ask around and we will find him.
"Chand Chandni Se Hota Hai
Sitaron Se Nahin
Pyaar Ek Se Hota Hai
Hazaron Se Nahin."
We learned so much Hindi at the Himalaya Hindi House... going on trips with our friends who do not speak English and visiting their villages... While visiting our friend Anil's village, Sainj, we had lunch at his house and later we were in his parent's bedroom and his father (who is the chief of the village) offered us each a cigarette and then a nap on his bed. Later we watched an auction for a huge cedar tree that had fallen near the village temple. Yogendra-ji won the tree for Rs. 6,000. Garrett went on a trip to a remote village and stayed in a hotel with a mud stove, slept in a smokey room with a rat running around in it, drank sweet, boiled milk from the cows of Divinder's family, and almost burst into tears when as we were leaving Nolunna Anil gave him his copy of the Ramayan that had belonged to his grandfather.
Take a peek at the post below for pictures.
Sincerely,
Grant
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1 comment:
Hi, it was nice to read your blog about Nolunna as it brought back many memories. I studied there in the summer 06 and returned again in 07 leaving just before you arrived. Was nice to see your photos of everyone there - thanks for posting them. Hope to visit again this year.
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