Blog 4 – The Next Two Weeks Lately, things appear to have settled into a slower rhythm – I’ve grown far more familiar with the city and, surprisingly, even the language. I’m now used to taking the ‘share’ autos to save money, drinking morning and afternoon chai, and even using the bathroom! Having wrapped up most of my responsibilities in the health division internship, I often find myself helping with random tasks and accompanying my colleagues on field trips (they…
Blog 3 – Festivities This blog post will be a touch shorter, yet I couldn’t resist dedicating an entire entry to the Wooden Chariot Festival—it’s unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed. To give you some background, Kanchipuram is renowned for three primary attractions: its sarees, its temples, and its idlis. And today, it was the temples’ moment in the spotlight. In Kanchipuram, the two most celebrated temples are the Perumal (Vishnu) temple and the Shiva temple. The exact nature of the…
Blog 2 – My First Two Weeks in India The past two weeks have been surreal, with so many ups and downs. Honestly, though, on the surface, nothing has truly surprised me. Through my trip and work in India, I aim to immerse myself in Indian culture, refine my mother tongue, enhance my global awareness, and most importantly, embrace a more adventurous and risk-taking spirit – I’m confident I will! However, my parents have done everything they can to shield…
Blog 1 – Pre-departure (but not really) Currently sitting in a hotel in Chennai, I am writing this post, preparing myself to experience a country I haven’t visited in eight years. Tomorrow, I will travel to Kanchipuram, a city renowned for its temples and sarees, just a 2-hour drive from the larger city of Chennai. I’ll be beginning my work with Hand in Hand’s health sector, an NGO that utilizes funding, mostly from CSR, to improve public health infrastructure and…
