Takdah

We were going to catch the bus today to experience the real local travel, but there was apparently a bus stirke, so we negotiated to get a Jeep taxi - approximately $25 for the five of us to travel the 90 bumpy minutes in more relative comfort than either of the others would have been. We arrived in Takdah mid afternoon and got the taxi to drop us at the Guest House, which is just below the school. The maintenance man said that we couldn't stay there because it was booked by someone else. We told him that we were going up to the Green-Shield Academy so he opened the back gate and we walked through some scrub, a few houses and up to the building that Bridget and Steph had been living in for the past 4 months. We had to go througha classroom to get to their room, which had a washroom and a squat toilet out the back. After meeting Stephanie, Rohini, and two of the other volunteers who lived in Takdah - about a 15 minute walk down the hill, we walked up to the school. The students would look at you shyly, some would come up and say "Hello", but if you greeted them first they would reply. They were very friendly. We had a look around the school and met Mr Subba, who is the Principal of the school. He made a couple of calls and told us that we could go down and stay at the guest house for the two nights. We walked back down and were met at the door by the same guy as before. He introduced himself as Rama, and showed us two rooms. We left our bags, while he made up the rooms and we headed down into Takdah before it got dark. While there we stopped at a small side of the road food shop which Bridget recommended and had some vegetable momos and some soup, which was very nice. We have been careful with drinking water because of the chance of getting Delhi Belly, so I have been treating all our drinking water with a Steri-pen which gives the water a zap of UV light to kill bacteria. At the "restaurant" they had placed a jug of water on the table, but I got out the bottle of treated water that I had been carrying. An older gent sitting beside me called for the young girl who had been serving us , and she came and grabbed the bottle and bgan to fill it with water from the jug. I thanked her and we drank the water that they provided. At dinner time we went up to the school and saw all the students in various spots around the school studying from workbooks for their exams the next day.

Day 2 in Takdah

Bridget said that breakfast would be at the school at about 9:30 am.  We arrived a bit before that and chatted to some of te students. Then Mr Subba went over to the hanging bell and began to ring it. The students all began to line up in their grades for assembly, with student monitors making sure there were no gaps, the lines were straight, and there was no talking. The teachers stood around the back of the students, and they all sang the national anthem. Then one of the prefects spoke about his time as a student at the school, and how much the teachers, Director, Principal, and student friends meant to him, and how much he was going to miss them and this part of his life. A few more words and the students were sent in their various directions for their final exams. We were then invited to eat breakfast, after which Bridget went to finish packing and write a speech she would have to give, Paula stayed to help her, and the rest of us went for a walk in to Takdah. There was rubbish along the side of the road, and piles just dropped off the side of the road in various places for the animals to go through, burn, or just left. There are very few rubbish bins anywhere, and even if there were, there is no collection service. After we got back the exams were over and the students were hanging around for the end of year ceremony and speeches. The sudents were called to line up and one of the students came running up to me. She said that Mr Lama, the Director, wished for me to address the assembly. He knew that I was a teacher and wanted me to "speak for 5 to 10 minutes on the benefits of education". Well, I thought he was joking the night before when he said that I should speak. I was introduced first and spoke for about 5 minutes, then Bridget and Steph said their "Thankyou and Goodbye" piece, were given gifts and  small scraves by several staff and the assembly was over and the students dismissed. We stayed around for a while and then went and spent some quiet time at the guest house.

We were told that the bonfire would be at about 5:30 pm.  so we headed up to the school. All the boarders were there sitting around listening to music.

Some of the younger ones then started to dance. Bridget and Steph started to dance and pull some of the other kids inas well. There was a pile of pine tree branches about 4 meters high to which they were adding cardboard and anything that would burn. This kept on with all of us joining in as well. We found out that we were waiting for another Mr Lama to arrive. When he finally arrived at about 7:00 pm, he made a short speech and then they lit the bonfire. I thought that the kids sitting on benches were a little bit too close, sitting on bench seats only about 2 meters from the fire, but it seemed OK. Then Mr Subba got everyone to make a line and dance around the fire. Bridget had bought some fireworks for Daniel, and this was the perfect time to let them off. The school had bought a few as well. The older boys got a piece of bamboo about a meter long and filled one end with sand. They then stuck the skyrockets into the sand and launched them from there. There were also crackers going off all around the schoolyard. I saw one kid light his cracker, and realising that it was alight, he just threw it, and it landed right at the feet of a small group of kids who were talking. Boy, did they scatter quickly. There wasn't much monitoring of what was going on, but everyone was havong fun. There were also some firworks that spun on the ground giving out bright sparks, and the kids enjoyed kicking these while they were spinning, and others like cones that sprayed colourful sparks. When the fire started to die down a bit we were invited to go into the Library/Computer Room where there was a table set up with bowls for snacks, glasses, and a few bottles of beer, a bottle of wine, and a bottle of brandy. We enjoyed a few drinks and social discussions about a variety of topics including education. They also toasted Bridget and Steph, and we had dinner in the dining room. 

The next day Bridget had some final goodbyes and we headed down to the corner to wait for the bus that Mr Lama booked in the morning. Rohini, Steph and a small group of students accompanied us to the corner. The bus was supposed to leave Takdah at 1:00 pm so we got there a bit before then. We waited for quite a while, until finally it came around the bend below us at about 1:30. We waved him down, but he didn't stop, saying that he was full. We weren't sure what to do because Bridget's neighbour, who was also down at the corner, rang and said that there wer no taxis in Takdah. I suggested that we could call and get one in from Darjeeling, but Rohini rang Mr Lama, who in turn arranged for another Jeep, which arrived about an hour and a half after we were originall supposed to leave. After packing our gear in, and a few tears, we were headed back to Darjeeling, and Bridget was saying farewell to her home for the last 4 months. With all our gear and there being 5 of us someone had to sit in the back with the bags. Daniel has a tendency to feel unwell on these windy, bumpy roads, so I travelled with the bags - it wasn't too uncomfortable, but I was glad to finally get out. We were supposed to meet at the suit place to pick up the first of our suits at 3 pm, but we didn't get there until about 5 pm. The manager said that he would have to wait now until the tailor was available. He said that the best tailors were Muslim, and that they were at prayer at the moment. When he finally arrived, he wanted us to try them on to see how they fitted. He had done a great job. He hadn't finished the vests, but we took the pants and jackets. The manager wanted us to stay until the 11th to pick up the rest of the suits, but I said that we had a booking on the train for the 10th. We would investigate the possibility of changing tickets and let him know. He wanted the number of our hotel so that he could contact us. I gave him our hotel room key so that he could get the name and address. Then we left. Paula and I walked up the winding roads and called in at a shop where I bought some shoes to replace the ones that I was wearing, which had lost most of the tread. When we got back to the hotel, the manager of the place we had ordered the suits from was there - we had left the key and he had walked up to deliver it.