I have to admit, I wasn’t prepared for
India at all. A day before I left, I had a birthday party and I was asked
several questions like ‘what will you do?’, ‘where will you stay?’, ‘will you
work?’, ‘will you be paid?’ etc... And all I could say is ‘I don’t know!’
It was the same on the aeroplane to Mombai.
The guy who was sitting next to me asked the same questions plus ‘who will wait
you in Ahmedabad?’ and still all my answers were ‘I don’t know’. He found it a
little scary but seeing that I was laughing he was laughing too.
I landed quite early morning in Ahmedabad,
and guess what, nobody was waiting me. It was my fault, I didn’t write message
to HB Patel before I left England to confirm my coming. He knew about it, he
saw my flight ticket but without confirmation he was not sure if he needs to
come to collect me or not...
After contacting HB Patel he told me to
wait about 15 minutes and I will be collected by somebody. At this point I
stopped watching the time so I don’t know how many 15 minutes I was waiting... But I enjoyed it very much. I was watching the people around me, cows and vehicles, I
was slowly embracing India...
I was taken to the hotel Landmark where my
room had been booked for the first 3 nights. I had a short rest, refreshed myself and
soon I was taken to Grow More, the school where HB Patel is the general
director. Actually I came because they welcomed me earlier in December, but
they didn’t sent me any document to prove it... So I came with a tourist visa,
valid for 12 months, not knowing what I would do here. Very risky indeed but the
feeling of ‘I want to go’ was much more stronger than all the risks.
When I entered the gates of Grow More, a
whole group of people were waiting me on the steps of the entrance door, with
flowers and applause, and a really very warm welcome. I couldn’t stop myself to give a big hug to HB Patel, though I knew very well it wasn't polite nor common in
India.
In the evening the welcome celebrations
continued. Several families gathered together for a welcome party at Grow More.
We were standing in the fresh air after
dinner when somebody announced that my indian name was Usha. I don’t know who
she was, I don’t know why she choose this name, but at that very moment I was given
a new name.
The meaning of Usha is very special. It is everything that you can see right after sunset and before sunrise. The colourful clouds, the fresh air, the whole beauty of the nature is Usha. Thank you for my beautiful new name!
Ladies were sitting separately, waiting for the dinner
Dinner was served in the school's coffeteria
('menza' in Hungarian...)
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