I am SO lucky to be living here – Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya, Dharwad. Pt I

This is one of my favourite NGO projects in the world.  If you have any interest in music, a well run NGO and living in rural India then you have to check this place out.

• A very very special place
• The consequences of touching an Indian lady
• What happens when the Yoga teacher breaks Ahimsa (non-violence)……Karma

Me in the local village.......just out for a walk

Arriving back at KSV at the beginning of November is an odd time to arrive.  The c250 kids are on holiday so bar a few families of the skeleton staff the place is empty.  It did, however, give me some quiet time to catch up on office work.  I was also delighted to be there for Diwali as a) I hate having firecrackers thrown in my face in the cities and b) there was ‘festival food’ at the school which beats school dinners.

Now that the kids have come back life is very different.  There’s an amazing energy and despite me not working with the kids as I’ve been here a few times lots of them know my name (here it’s 'Krrish' which they sometimes confuse with an Indian superhero - just for the record I'm not a fan of wearing PVC...so it's not me).    I don’t have kids but love the energy and love I get from just my godson so when there are 250 running around the place it’s really quit special ( and a little noisy).  You feel truly lucky when you are walking around here, the best climate in India (25-30 degrees energy everyday).   

Here's a video I made last year (and this is QUIET as all the kids are in class)...

Now that I’ve been here just over a month, an average day looks something like this:

0530 Wake up with the noise of kids moving (250 kids living on campus in the forest is pretty noisy!).  Shine my torch across the floor to check for creepies, have a quick bucket wash and throw some clothes on.  Quickest ‘wake up’ so far, seeing a big spider run out of my t-shirt under torch light.  I now keep all and my yoga mat off the floor (I once had a snake coiled up under my yoga mat!). 

0545 I head to the mud hut where I teach yoga 6 days/week.  I go via lots of cobwebs and the toilet shining the torch into the water bucket first hoping there are no rats there.  Then I get there early to get the place full of incense smoke and turn on the music so that there is a chilled ambiance when the sleepy punters arrive.  Despite this being Southern India it’s cold early in the morning.  I've even had my yoga students turn up with hats on a few times (but cold here is 13 degrees ;) )

0600 – Yoga class for staff and volunteers and is usually done by torch for the first 45 mins as there is no electricity.  Before the kids came back morning yoga was at 0630 and I once saw a massive spider run across someone’s yoga mat during Savasana (meditation).  Now it’s at 0600 and dark.  We don’t see anything.  

This is the kids doing their yoga....

The only real pest during Yoga is mosquitoes.  As the teacher I should really be practicing Ahimsa and not killing anything but for mosquitoes I ignore that rule. On two occasions I've had immediate Kama when trying to slap a mosquito in a yoga asana by me falling over on my ass.

I've only had one female member of staff come a few times and the first was quite a shock.  I’m conscious not to invade the space of Indian women.  It’s just the rules but I’d already asked this one if it was OK if I gave her a very gentle massage during savasana.  I might as well have slapped her.  She jumped up in horror when I touched her.  Not the best savasana ;)

I've loved teaching the class as this is the first time I've had regulars so I can build up and add new stuff such as music and dance meditation.  And that’s when the children usually poke their heads through the window. They do music practice from 0600-0715 but if they hear music will run up the hill to watch the adults dance like mad loons.

This is what I wake up to every morning - pretty special!

0730 – Class finishes I head to the office to check my email (when there is no-one else there ‘sometimes’ the internet runs quicker so I can sync easily).  Some days there is no internet so getting in quick is important!

0800 – Nashta/Breakfast.  The volunteers usually eat together for this on the steps outside of the kitchen.  My favourite quote over Nasta “Did you wake with the cock this morning?” from a Belgian volunteer who it seems was referring to this:

0830 – Before work I hang out all my bed linen to kill off any bed bugs (I've had bed bugs and fleas this just helps in the war against infestation!).  I also sweep my floor to discourage unwanted visitors (regular visitors include frogs, lizards and spiders (none of which I mind as they eat flies :) ), ants one snake and luckily no scorpions so far).  This is usually the time when the monkies also arrive in their gang and cause havoc by breaking into our huts in search of food.  I had my room destroyed a few times on my last stay here but since then I've stopped eating bananas (odd one I know) and no longer shout or throw stuff at monkies I just ignore them.  And this time, not a single visit from the little buggers.  Ahimsa does pay……happy days :)

Morning time in the office:  Quite a treat as there is usually power which means I’m not watching my battery icon or frustrated as I cannot work on the internet.  If there is no power at all then I jump on the bus at 0915 and head to the nearest town (1 hour) away to work there. I work in the only café with wifi.  Opened only in October, Cafelicious is where all the local cool kids go to have their pictures taken with their shades on.  It’s firkin hilarious.  It’s also made me realize I no longer like coffee (don’t quote me on this when I’m back in Euroland).  I hadn't had coffee in about 3 months then on seeing the fancy expresso machines at Cafelicious indulged in two days of caffeine.  I felt so rough and decided that I am 100% a tea chap, and a herbal one at that.  I surprise the staff at Cafelicious on every visit by asking to have the AC and ‘One Direction’ on loop switched off.   Despite a few young lads coming in to take their photo drinking coffee (see it IS cool) I’m usually the only customer so can ask kindly that I my office on the corner table is non AC sin musica– sorry lads this is not bollywood.

If there is power I stay in the school.  I usually spend the first 30 minutes locked into my emails with my headphones on as the office gets noisy with all the staff arriving.  This is not the wisest move.  My music choice is often soft Indian classical music, however, sometimes the shuffle arrives on a random song like the nice hip hop jingle from Meek Mill “Face Down Ass Up”.  So as I’m greeting the staff with a smile, a nod and sometimes a prayer motion my ears are listening to “Face Down Ass Up……That’s the way we like to f@ck”.  Luckily what comes out of my mouth is “Namaste, Auntie”.

When there is power at the office the internet is a slow churn but it works. The bigger issue for me is network coverage.  There is no coverage in the office so I constantly get SMSs when walking out saying please call me.  Then when the network gives me a tease and I get a call I have to bolt it out f the office and run down a mud path or better still all the way to the office where I get three bars!

Lunch is around 1300, there are two sessions so that the 250 kids don’t all have to squeeze into the yogashala together.  A bell rings and the first half rush out to wash their hands (there only ticket to a plate) then queue up for their school dinners.  

Proof of clean hands in exchange for a plate

Noodles (a fav at breakfast)

Food serving

The food is basic but has improved massively since last time, with a new nutrition review so despite a really tight budget (about 10 cents per student/meal)  with a lot more veggies and even sprout dishes.  Meals are often a power struggle from the kids to get your attention and time to sit with them.  

Although we probably shouldn't have a preference, mine is with the small girls (I sponsor Sujata who is in first standard - sitting with her and her mates are hilarious).  And with the college boys as they provide the most stimulating conversations. 

Sujata and her mates....

I guess there is a danger having someone who’s favored social topic of the year has been tantra talk to the college boys but apart from swearing my conversations are squeaky clean here.  We do have frank chats about alcohol (one of them was told it gives them more muscles!), girls and drugs.   The boys are bright, seriously bright.  Great examples of how children in extreme poverty with no hope of education can be rescued by an NGO and end up having really bright futures. :)

I also spend time with the college boys on the bus when I’m going to the local town and I let them listen to my iPod.  The shuffle is switched off so they never get to hear Meek Mill with his timeless “Face Down Ass Up”.  The last dose they got included Vanessa Mae (a few are violin players), Tchaikovsky , Broken Bullets, Tuba Skinny and DJ Schomolli.  Sharing music with musicians is always a pleasure especially when they've had little exposure to western stuff.  

Best they never hear this.....The lyrical Meek Mill at 1.51 on this video

Here's just some of the 100s of photos of the students here.......too many happy faces to snap :)