The day began with a fun shopping trip to get a SIM card for my phone and Indian clothing that would be appropriate for work. Another local volunteer, Chloe, and I went to two fabric shops for the clothes. Each was completely filled with gorgeous silks and cottons in every color imaginable. Rajasthani women love bright colors, but my friend and I seeked as many of the rich, but relatively neutral, colors we could (as we hope to wear this clothing at home as well). After searching through the piles, we each found fabrics we liked and were then measured by the tailor for our kirtas (long, usually cotton, shirts, often worn with pyjamas and a duparta, scarf). Amazingly, despite having them tailored to us, the clothing was extremely cheap. Many of the fabrics cost less than $3 for the amount needed and the stitching of each shirt costs less than a dollar. I'm so excited to pick them up and will try to have pictures up when I receive them.
On our shopping excursion, Chloe and I also searched desperately for, and found, Scrabble! Well, not Scrabble, but "Crossword"--a generic Scrabble with seemingly has the same distribution of letters, but a slightly different point system. Given that there is little to do here in the evenings, we all thought Scrabble, a $3 piece of entertainment, would be a nice way to relax at the end of the day. In our search, we also encountered other board games, including an Indian Trivial Pursuit for Kids, that featured pictures of Gandhi and the Taj Mahal on the cover. It probably would have been a good way to learn more facts about Indian history, but really, I can not imagine that any of us would be any good at it.
After shopping, we celebrated Govind, the guesthouse owner's, 25th birthday for the rest of the day.
In the afternoon, the girls in his NGO's programs planned a party for him in the guesthouse. Complete with streamers, balloons, and confetti, they transformed their classroom into a party room and the girls, Govind's wife, and family performed a number of beautiful dances for him. Most of the dances were to Indian traditional songs, but to my great amusement, they soon began playing none other than Madonna's "Holiday"--over and over and over again (there's a video, but it wouldn't upload). And the girls, knowing all the words (despite not knowing any conversational English), had a lot of fun dancing to it and pulling us up to dance as well. The family also prepared a fantastic lunch of chana masala and poori, which we shared with the girls on the roof.
Govind's wife, Mukhta, doing a beautiful dance
The girls from the NGO, doing a dance
Govind's adorable son, Ayoosh, wearing undies and a birthday hat (He's a big fan of nudity. When it rained heavily today, he stripped down and stood in the rain, giggling and bathing.)
Govind's sister in law, dancing
In the evening, Govind, and his thirty closest friends and family, went to a nearby restaurant for dinner and a party. The restaurant and bar, though generally catering to Western tourists, seems to be a hotspot for Indian special occasions as well. The women and men sat separately and it was quite a treat to see all the women in their fanciest saris. And the food was, as always, absolutely amazing! After dinner, we all went to an area of the restaurant that had a small dance floor and danced with Govind and his friends. It was a really enjoyable night.
A picture of the current guesthouse girls
Govind's family and friends (again, too beautiful and dark to capture on film)
One of the parts of the story that should not be left out is that Govind, the generous person that he is, had recently spent a great deal of money to care for a mentally ill girl that he encountered a few weeks ago. The girl, Doku, was literally tied to a pole by her family. This led to her essentially starving and exacerbated her mental condition. She needed to be hospitalized and Govind has since been paying for two weeks of medical care (including shock therapy) for her at the hospital. She is doing much better and will likely stay in the hospital for one more week, receiving regular checkups and medication once she departs.
So, Govind, spending thousands of rupees to care for Doku, spent all of the money that he would have put towards his 4th wedding anniversary. For his birthday then, all of the guesthouse's guests got together and put in whatever money we could to give to Govind. This money will mean that Doku can stay in the hospital another week, without causing Govind any more financial strain. He hugely appreciated the gift, but it was truly the least we could do, considering the gift that Govind has been giving to Doku and her family.
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