Rock Your World SAGE Tours - India
Experience India like you have never dreamed before on the most unique, inspiring and soul fulfilling travel adventure. Rock Your World - India is no glossy travel itinerary. It is where you will experience India at the grass roots level. The experience you will have will be one of the most profound of your life and stay with
you forever. Simply by being on this tour you will save lives and give people hope for perhaps the first time ever. This tour combines social responsibility with the adventure of the real India, not the India seen fromluxury coach.
Day 1 - Mumbai (D)
Mumbai the thriving hub and gateway to India. Gifted by Portugal to Charles II of England as a dowry when he married Catherine of Braganza, Mumbai is a cultural melting pot and bustling urban metropolis combined with incredible poverty. A city of over 10 million people and without the infrastructure to support its growth its surprising anything can be achieved here, but it is and its absolutely thriving.
Today you will arrive at your hotel in the morning. At 1pm you will meet the rest of the group in the foyer for a brief orientation of the whole tour before experiencing Mumbai.
The tour will start with a walk from the hotel, viewing a temple on the way and onwards to a typical Indian home in Colaba, where the charming hostess will serve an amazing Indian lunch (a Thali) with a traditional fresh jasmine garland welcome of the guests, tikka on the forehead……a traditional Indian sit- on- the- floor- and -eat lunch. After the sumptuous meal you will lie down on bandhini matresses and bolsters, and watch some Indian Dances, learn about festivals of India like, Diwali, Holi, or Rakhsha Bandhan (where sisters tie a special band on the wrist of their brother). A brief history explaining each dance and festival will be given. You will be served a steaming hot cup of “Chai” (tea) and walk out with a typical Indian gift to
treasure.
You will then be driven down Marine Drive and Chowpatty Beach with beautiful views over the bay.
Marine Drive is also known as the Queen’s Necklace because if viewed at night from an elevated point anywhere along the drive, the street lights resemble a string of pearls. It is also the world’s largest viewing gallery and hence has been a host to a number of events that take place along the promenade. Famous for its art deco buildings built by wealthy Parsis, Miami in the United States is the only city in the world that has more art deco buildings along the sea front than Mumbai. Real estate prices are amongst the highest in India and fourth in the world.
The next halt is a treat as you will get to see the Midday meals program in full swing. This program feeds hundreds of thousands of children who would otherwise not receive food. It is a process well worth viewing. You will be touched by the commitment and dedication of the workers and be simply amazed at how it can all be pulled together.
Over six million children in India develop mild mental retardation due to malnutrition, which could be prevented. The Mid-Day meals programme, implemented by the ISKCON Food Relief Foundation aims to liberate the underprivileged children from this calamity. Dressed in blue work uniforms with caps and gloves, the cooks, every morning at 5am, start preparing for the meals by cutting the vegetables and cleaning rice and lentils. Meals are cooked in steam jacketed couldrons which have an individual capacity of 300 Kgs. The cooked food is stacked in stainless steel sealed containers and transported in vans to schools. During the lunch break, piping hot nutritious and delicious sanctified food in sumptuous quantities is served to the children, who go to school just because of this meal.
On the way back to the hotel, you will see the Gateway of India on the waterfront, built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay, a place where over hundreds of years a variety of ceremonies are performed. The last British troops to leave India, passed through the Gateway in a
ceremony on February 28, 1948.
A beautiful barbeque dinner awaits you by the poolside overlooking the sea at the Radio Club, one of India’s grand and charming old clubs situated right on the water. You can relax on the majestic balcony and share experiences from the day. We will talk about the village programmes that will commence the next day, before retiring to your clean but humble room.
Day 2 - Villages (B, L, D)
An early start at 7am to beat Mumbai’s famous traffic jams, you will head north. We will leave by cab for the station to be taken on a train ride to the Panvel villages.
Once out of Mumbai you will notice the scenery change to spectacular countryside more reminiscent of Australia or New Zealand, depending on the season. In some months you may see spectacular waterfalls as the monsoon rains dissipate into the rivers. After around two hours you will arrive at Panvel station where we will hire 7 seater scooters which will take us around as they are more convenient than buses which will not go through narrow passages in the village.
At 10.00am you will arrive at the Garden Hotel situated fifteen minutes away from the first village
After freshening up at the Hotel, you will be taken to a beautiful Temple site overlooking a pond where village women come to wash their clothes. A puja will be performed at the temple, which is next to this pond and hygienic vada pav and jalebi snacks will be served under an old Banyan tree outside the Temple. These are staple snacks eaten by the villagers.
This morning will be an orientation where you will meet a variety of people, visiting schools, medical centres, crafts centres and generally get a feel for what is happening in the area. You will be greeted by local heads and given insights into the daily lives of the people here.
Around 1pm you will enjoy a leisurely lunch in pleasant surroundings, Lunch will be cooked by the villagers … a typical village meal with barley rotis and fresh vegetables. You can watch how the food is being cooked or even learn to roll out chapattis and cook the Indian way.
After lunch relax in a comfortable spot under the trees on charpoys (typical Indian beds made with woven rope). Chat with the villagers and learn about their customs, their views on life and what their hopes and aspirations are. A mutual enrichment session.
Early evening see the cows being milked in a traditional cow shed. We will cover an Adivasi Village with rudimentary or no amenities and interact with the villagers before reaching the hotel by 6.00 pm
Unwind at the Bar in the Hotel for a drink or two before a well planned dinner. Here we will discuss what aspect of village life touched us and what or where each one would like to see and participate more deeply before retiring to bed.
Choices of how you can help in the villages are:
1 General labour and/or maintenance
2 Trade (ie Building, electrical, carpentry etc)
3 Nursing or medical
4 Teaching
5 Specialist Skills: (ie) Dancing, Crafts, Music,
6 Health and Fitness
7 Cooking and hygiene
8 Other
Day 3 - 5 Villages (B, L, D)
On each of days 3, 4 & 5 your routine will be similar. You will breakfast at the Garden Hotel. At 8am each morning you will leave for the villages. On arrival at the villages you will be assigned your tasks for the day or few days dependent on what you have selected that you can contribute while you are there. You will meet up with local people with whom you will work and learn with during your time there. Some of them may not speak English and the interpreter may not always be around but you will enjoy this experience as everyone is friendly and you are teaching and helping with everything you do.
Each day lunch will be with the villagers. Clean water is available and you will be eating a variety of yummy local foods. In the afternoon you will continue with the assistance you are giving, whether it be helping with construction or maintenance, medical treatment, teaching and assisting in the schools, teaching crafts or health or physical education or sports, or working doing some manual labour. You could get involved in making papads, farming, milking the cows, or fetching water on your head in an earthen ware pot from the village well.
It’s not all work as every villager realises life is a balance. You can relax under a tree, swim in a river, or simply snooze through the hot part of the day like many do. In addition there are some special events for the group, a bon fire at night with the villagers, perhaps a wedding or birth ceremony. We could even have a medical camp for cancer patients or cataract surgeries. It is dependent on what Village life is
occurring during your particular tour.
Day 4 In the afternoon you will be treated to a local Yoga Class especially for you. This will give you an idea of the ancient technique of Yoga and its roots in India. You will also be involved in any one of a number of other interesting locally flavoured activities, such as a cooking class, ayurvedic medicine class, and creating local crafts or similar. Each day you will return to the Garden Hotel around 6.00 pm where you can rest up before a sumptuous dinner of healthy local foods.
Day 5 In the late afternoon you will be given a special thank you meal by the villagers. You will be free to socialise with the friends you have made and with the rest of the group. This last day in the village would be a day of introspection, time to take stock of the achievements and learning of the last three days. Time to plan a future course of action because of the strong bonds that will be created.
Day 6 Mumbai (B, L, D)
Today we will leave for Mumbai immediately after an early breakfast at around 7am. You will arrive in Mumbai around 10am.
Our first halt will be Geeta Nagar slums where over 40,000 people survive in absolute poverty.
Geeta Nagar, a hub of sprawling hutments is situated on a prime land in the heart of South Mumbai but does not have even basic facilities like water and toilets. Help is needed to impart formal and non formal education, health care and vocational skills training for under privileged children, youth and young women. These innocent children become victims of child abuse, and women are beaten up by their drunk husbands if not given the right kind of nurturing through education and social empowerment.
Lunch would be at Leopold Café Founded in 1871 and immortalized by Gregory David in his book “Shantaram” this is one of the city’s oldest Irani run restaurant and a favourite tourist haunt.
Leopold is a place that is synonymous with Colaba. It is a must visit bar which has a relaxed pace & a very airy atmosphere. The bar literally is open from all sides so that you can soak in the sights, sounds & smells
of the surroundings.
If you’re keen to get the inside scoop on how Bollywood films are made, hang out here; casting agents looking for foreigners to work on current productions frequently scan the clientele at this favoured travellers’ hangout.
You will then visit the Prince of Wales Museum where you will get a glimpse into India’s great past.
Barely a stone’s throw from the Gateway of India, the Prince of Wales Museum, is a magnificent, structure, built in a confluence of Gothic and Moorish styles, and crowned by a sparkling white dome. Constructed to commemorate the visit of the Prince of Wales, it boasts a good collection of ancient Indus Valley artifacts dating back to 2000 BC, plus some priceless Tibetan and Nepali Art. There is an entire gallery devoted to Buddhist tankha scrolls and another to Tibetan bronzes, but the chief attraction here is the collection of over 2000 miniature paintings from the various art schools of India.
We will now go towards Mani Bhavan, the old Mumbai residence of Mahatma Gandhi which served as his headquarters for seventeen long years. Located on leafy Laburnum Road, a quiet lane named after its shady trees, Mani Bhavan is a pretty, two-storied structure that now houses a photo exhibition of the Mahatma’s life, and well preserved memorabilia, including his spectacles and an old charkha or spinning wheel that Gandhiji used to use.
It was from Mani Bhavan that Gandhi initiated Civil Disobedience, Satyagraha, Swadeshi, Khadi and Khilafat movements. Visitors from all over the world come to Mani Bhavan to see the Room that Gandhiji occupied, its picture gallery, the library hall with over 50,000 books, and the terrace where he was arrested on January 4, 1932. In the second floor auditorium recordings of his speeches are made available on request, and a sales counter sells Gandhi postage stamps, photographs, literature, statues and medallions.
Our next halt August Kranti Maidan is a landmark where Mahatma Gandhi held a gathering on August 8, 1942 and made a clarion call to fight for freedom from the British through a non violent approach.
In sharp contrast to this sanctuary of peace and history, you will next view the grime and squalor of Mumbai, the underbelly of the city, the famous Red Light Area. Again in sharp contrast, see the Richard Branson of the East, Vijay Mallya rubbing shoulders with the slum dwellers living next to his palatial bungalow by the sea. India takes your breath away with its multiple hues of rich history, cultures, cuisines, and contrasting life styles.
In the evening, after freshening up at the hotel, you will be treated to a ride in a horse drawn carriage (the famous Victoria of Mumbai), and taken for the Grand Finale, a farewell dinner in typical Parsi style with
steaming hot fish rolled inside banana leaves. Tap your feet and dance to music for it is time to relax and unwind.
Day 7 Mumbai (B)
Today people will make their individual plans and go their separate ways.
For last minute shopping and souvenir hunting, suggested haunts are Cottage Industries, and Bombay Stores. The bargain hunters would love Colaba Causeway and Fashion Street where designer garments and export rejects are sold at throw away prices.
Before casting a last glance and bidding farewell, each participant will know that simply by coming on Rock Your World - India they have not only completed some assistance in a project in India that would have not been possible without their help, but that by simply coming on the trip a good percentage of their trip fee will go to the SAGE Foundation in India which helps feed and educate the underprivileged and gives them skills training to find jobs for them so that they release themselves from absolute poverty. By coming to India you will have left an incredible legacy and saved and given hope to many lives.
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To Book for Rock Your World - India please contact:
hayley@rockyourlife.net
2009 Price, not including flights is $1,950 USD
