Leaving Delhi

After only a few short weeks, my time in Delhi came to an end. It seemed like I was only just getting into the swing of things and everything was working out brilliantly. Some time ago I had booked an overland trip to Kathmandu, so my departure date was fixed at 13th November. By this time, by sheer coincidence (or the Grace of God, depending on your perspective) Sam had appeared in Delhi to take over the teaching at Mayapuri. I was the last of the English Teaching Volunteers for 2010, and it had looked like the English program at Mayapuri would end when I left.

But it didn’t work out that way. I introduced Sam to my beloved boys and they took to him straight away. My last day in Mayapuri was Thursday 11th November and we had several parties.

First of all there was the final unit test for the little boys and I’m delighted to say that they all did very well. Then I gave them all little gifts of tennis balls and matchbox cars, while I received a snow globe of the Taj Mahal that lights up when a button is pressed – something I will always treasure. :-) We ate a stack of party food that I had brought with me. I was worried that I would have too much, but it was all gone in seconds. We then danced to Bollywood tracks and generally had a great time. Then they all had to go to regular school – full of sugar and fizzy drinks! :-)


My university students, Mananjay, Ranjan and Vinod, then came and I gave them all kurtas – traditional shirts that Indian men wear. Most of the time they seemed to have only two T-shirts and I presumed that they didn’t have ‘good’ clothes for celebrations. They seemed to like the kurtas and they looked great in them.


I went and visited their families and drank chai, then we played cricket in the concrete yard of the Asha centre. I can tell you that it’s jolly difficult playing cricket in a salwaar kameez and dupatta! We shared a meal together, along with the staff of the Asha centre at Mayapuri. Then it was off in my auto-rickshaw to the next phase of my life.