Pre Mighty - Day 2 : Mathura - Agra

We had to wake up early, Agra is four hours away from where we were apparently. But we didn't. Left home at 7. Breakfast on the road at a roadside pongal kadai. We had a smaller car today so uk, mum and I had to squeeze in.

Off we went on the Yamuna Expressway. We had to go to UP and get a permit of sorts to go to Mathura. Which only made this trip longer. Agra is in UP. I frankly thought it was in Delhi. But yaay I can add a state to the ones I've seen. (Cheap, I know.) SO now Mathura was the place where Lord Krishna was born, Gokul was where he grew up and Vrindavan was where he playboyfied all the gopikas. These two other places were pretty nearby but meh we're not the best krishna bhaktha family in town. Actually Mathura was the driver's idea. Anyway. After the posh neighborhoods and tall skyscrapers I'd seen in south Delhi, Mathura's narrow roads filled with pot holes reassured me - THIS was real India. The driver told us that the people of Mathura didn't want roads being built there because, it was on these streets that Lord Krishna had set his lotus feet on. (:P) But they seem to have reluctantly let the govt do it anyway. There were SO MANY cows on the road it reminded me of Mylapore maada veethis during my high schooling. The whole place , I kid you not, the whole place smelt of cow poop, which is not too bad if you come from Dindivanam where houses are swabbed with maattu saanam once a month. Grand mothers can list its holiness and purity you'll be glad they don't make you bathe with it. \

The people feed and take care of all the cows and buffalos apparently. Nice huh. This is what India used to be. Well atleast a litle bit. We used to care for animals, especially the cow, we used to care for people.

The temple was pretty good I can't tell you much about it because I was distracted by the Birth of Krishna story mum was telling us. My grandparents had 8 children too. (Kamsa however deserved to be killed. I mean, You know their 8th offspring is going to finish you and yet you put the both of them in the same prison cell giving them time, place and privacy?)

 I learnt to say 'Nahi' (meaning No in Hindi) pretty confidently. Guides throw themselves at you, very forcefully and I mean it in the literal sense. This guy stopped our car and fell on it and forced the door open and was doing his best to become our guide. And there were so many little kids selling you all kinds of things. So if you can't say Nahi you're bound to go home with things shoved into your hands and face and everywhere.

Then it took us almost three hours to go to the Taj mahal. From the entrance to the point where we can't take any vehicles... it took us five minutes. We had to take a battery operated vehicle. looked like a little rickshaw. For ten rupees it was pretty smooth.

The moment I see the Taj peeking from behind a wall I realise I'm going to like this place. EVERYTHING about it was symmetrical, as the guide pointed out. These structures were HUGE and they stood against all tests of time. The Taj sparkles in white and the mosques and structures around it are all red. Rock hard and solid. It seemed like maintenance was going on. While on her deathbed apparently she asked for two promises from Shahjahan before he went to battle. One was to bring all their fourteen children up equally and the other was to build a monument over her grave like none other. And he seems to have done a decent job as far as the second promise goes.

It started raining. Pouring, I mean and it made the marble shine and it made the walk in the sun a little easy for us.

Out of nowhere a professional photographer joined us and took pictures of us and made us to silly poses. Even though they were on the costly side according to mum , dad thought they were good. He printed them and gave them to us in an album by the time we were done with the tour. The pictures did come out well.

BUT we were all SO exhausted by the time we were done... We just wanted to grab lunch and get home to sleeep! The driver though had other plans. He seemed determined to take us to this souvenir shop. We were so tired we couldn't even get out of the car.

Took us three hours almost to reach Delhi. On the way though we were lucky enough to spot a full rainbow and a double rainbow. How often does that happen?

So I saw three cities today. The other side of Delhi. Noida and Greater Noida - They are both growing to be monstrous cities. And Agra of course. Busy and rainy, full of statues and minars and beautiful gardens. Did you know Agra was once the city of gardens?

Do I wish someone built a Tajmahal for me? Nope. Not if it meant dying after giving birth to fourteen malnourished kids. Do I wish I'd studied my History better? Yes. I miss Mrs. Tessy. I loved her classes. She made them interesting.  And NOW I'm angry with the English for taking our Peacock Throne away. The Kohinoor is ours too. *Grunt*

Pre Mighty - Day 1 - Delhi

Around this time last night, mum, dad, uk and I were on a Delhi bound Spicejet flight. The plane left Chennai at 7 pm and reached Delhi at around 10 pm. It was our first time to the shiny new Chennai Airport and we were all really impressed with well how shiny it was. We were there at 3.30 pm (hours early) ; after checking our luggages in we pretty much had nothing to do but sit down and wallow in the oomph of the airport. ( I thought it was going to take us at least an hour to get our baggage through but we were done earlier. My check in alone weighs 25kgs but I'm allowed only 23kgs! God help me.)  The plane finally left chennai, I let uk take the window seat.

The views were amazing... no really. The roads looked like tiny veins of lava running in straight lines, there were webs of yellow lamps scattered all over, cars moving like bugs. I thought of an idea to propose to. Someone. You spell the words "Marry me" with lights on, say, a cricket ground and get him to see it. (Um.)

 Well you get the picture. It was just that beautiful. 

I decided to tweet throughout this trip so I remember these things later.

In the morning we went to a family friends' place and she was to show us around Delhi. We did visit some places. I liked the idea of one unified faith... I am speaking of course of the Lotus Temple or the Bahai' place of worship. It is a comman place of quiet and meditation; people of all religions and castes are encouraged to pray to or meditate their God in silence inside a huge hall. The hall looks like a giant lotus... giant but not monstrous. And around the Lotus you'd see a clear blue pool of water beckoning you to come take a dip. The inside of the hall evidently looks like the inside of a Lotus and I'd like to think that they chose the Lotus as their symbol because it beautifully conveys the idea of many religions merging towards a path that leads to one God. No, seriously, you'll think of it too when you're inside. Frankly its the one idea of reaching God that I like. Yet.

After brief lunch at Tamilnadu Bhavan, we went shopping in Sarojini Nagar. And then we made quick stops at Rashtrapathi Bhavan, India Gate and The Parliament. I wish we'd went inside to take a good look and I wished to find a tour guide who could tell me interesting titbits about these monuments. Oh and also I must say no picture of these monuments do justice to how majestic and beautiful they all look in real life. 

Two more days to roam around Delhi. Whew. Ta!    

Final Preparations!

The school told me that they've set a room aside for me in a newly built apartment in a town nearby and that I will be sharing the apartment with two other language assistants! I'm beginning to think I don't deserve these people. Sara and the school are being so polite, thoughtful and extremely sweet with me. What could I possibly do in return? I mean she is practically taking care of EVERYTHING I'm going to need, she's even going to be helping me out with transport! She has invited me to stay the weekend at her place and I was more than happy to accept. I'm taking a lamp and a gem stone jewel box to give her. She sent me a description of the apartment and here it is :

Your room is one of four bedrooms in a brand new, large and spacious apartment situated in the grounds of the Collège Maurice Vlamink in the town of Verneuil sur Avre. You will have your own separate bedroom with a bed, table and chairs, and space for your clothes in built-in wardrobes. There is a kitchen with a fridge, washing-machine for clothes, and an electric oven and hob (soon to arrive!). The telephone and Internet lines are due to be installed in the next couple of weeks.

There is a large shared lounge/dining area with a TV and sofas in as well as a table and chairs. There is one bathroom and one shower-room and a toilet. The building was completed in the summer. The headmaster of the Collège Vlaminck lives upstairs he is new to the school and is still unpacking his things.

I can now tell you that you will be sharing the flat with two other language assistants: one who will be working in the Spanish department in the nearby Lycée de Verneuil and one who will be working in the English deparments of both the Collège and the Lycée in Verneuil. So there will be three of you to keep each other company.

For the moment I am working on finding all the basic equipment necessary to make your stay in the new flat as comfortable as possible: bedclothes, bathtowels, kitchen equipment and utensils, pots and pans for cooking etc. This will all be ready for when you arrive. Obviously, as the flat is brand new, you'll need some time all together to decide how you want to organise things, decorate the place and make it more homey. I think we'll be looking at putting some shelving up for you as soon as possible, as well as curtain rails at the windows to give you all some privacy. Luckily, my husband is great with power tools!!! It's all very new but absolutely ten times better than what I had all those years ago when I arrived in France!

See that last paragraph! :) I'm thanking my stars for entrusting me to this sweet person. OOOOOH and I can't wait to have roommates!! I bet its going to be like FRIENDS. More than anything I can't wait to have my own room. No more  fighting for the sheets with UK. Phew.

I found a translator in Bourges who accepted to translate my birth certificate to French for 40 euros. (30 - Translation, 10 - Bank transfer charges). She asked me if she had to send it to India (envoi recommandé) or  to an address within France (envoi ordinaire) The envoi recommandé would have cost  me an additional 5 euros but Sara saved me that money by saying I could have it posted to her home address.

Finally shopped for clothes and mock packed my suitcases and got them weighed. I really have to filter more. :(

Bought some Amar Chitra Katha books for the kids.

Thanks to UK I have a pair of shiny shoes, a shiny pair of shoes I never would have bought on my own and I'm taking it to France. Found some clothes I can't wear here in India... taking them as well. All my documents scanned and printed out, tickets printed out... This is getting real. Leaving Chennai tomorrow at 6:50. Delhi... keep your chaat shops safe... here I come.

Mighty Flight - Visa

I finally have my Visa! It says Travailleur temporaire. And as of now I have permission to be in the French territory as of now; I am told that once I reach Paris my visa will be converted to a Schengen Visa (after the submission of OFII forms etc)

Documents required for application of Visa:

1. Arrêté de nomination
2. Passport
3. Internation Air Tickets
4. Travel Insurance
5. Attestation de logement
6.Letter from the Embassy confirming your appointment as language assistant
7. Letter from employer (if currently employed)
8.OFII form


Some of the other assistants had received their arretes and they had all started applying for their visas. Mine took some time to reach me. Once it did, JS sent me a mail asking me to try and get an attestation de logement stating that a room has been reserved for me in  Nonancourt. Mr. Valentin the principal was very helpful; he sent one at a very short notice despite the fact that he was in vacation. And if I am to believe what I have heard about how sacred their vacations are to the French....

So once I had all the required documents I visited the VFS website and fixed an appointment with them. I didn't have to go all the way to the Pondicherry Consulate because there was a center here in Gopalapuram. The office was easy to locate and the staff were helpful. You are checked several times before you are let in so remember to not carry electronics. Once you're in you already feel like you're at some posh airport. It felt nice. I wanted to sit down and quietly read a french book and be all fancy except that I'd forgotten it at home. There were a lot of agents and each agent had many applications so the wait was pretty long.

I was secretly hoping they would send me to Pondicherry because mine was a special case but no. The guy at the french counter happened to be atudent of AFM and he was happy to sort things out for me. I had to redo my photos and they had a photocopy / passport photo place right inside the same building so it was convenient. I didnt have to pay visa fees as I was a language assistant but I had to pay 750 Rs at the bank counter on the same floor. Once I submitted the challan the guy took my passport and my OFII form, put them along with the documents I had submitted in a folder and told me to come by after a few days to pick the visa up. I could have had it door delivered but I wanted to get out of home. A couple of days later I received a mail saying my visa was ready to be collected from the centre. When I did go there The visa was printed to a sheet on my passport and my OFII form was pinned to it. I have untill 25th of May in France. Nice.