Khelo Rugby

Having very quickly acclimatised to the Kolkata way of life, Alibaba pants and what other members of the group have described as Jesus robes, I have been able to assimilate with the locals who, as Skeen puts it, are 'the heart of the city'. As has already been blogged, we have had the pleasure of meeting and having dinner with 2 amazing sets of locals here in Kolkata. The Jungle Crows are a group of boys our age who belong to Kolkata's main rugby club. Being able to spend an afternoon with a few of them was really special, as they showed us some of their favourite spots around the city with my group ending up in an abandoned theme park, turned into a lovers park. Sitting down there and joking at all the couples walking past with the rugby boys really made them feel like one of us, just the lads hanging and having a laugh. This has really tested me when then walking past other young street kids who haven't had the opportunity to play rugby and get out of that slump but yet they could have just as easily been in any of the other jungle crows positions sitting and laughing with us over dinner.

I don't usually wear wristbands but when given one by the Jungle Crows with the simple words on it 'Khelo Rugby' meaning 'play rugby' to me it means so much more than a sport. Talking with the members of the team its offered them a passion in life, a family for those that never knew one, and a way out and off the streets. 'Khelo rugby' is something which to us in NZ is just a pass time, but over here I love how much of an impact it can have!

My 3 favourite people however in all of Kolkata so far have to be Sveta, Pinky and Mohe. Three kids from Future Hope which Mr Jordan and I had the pleasure of being entertained by for just over half an hour. I have now double the number of photos on my camera from Sveta running of with it and insisting on taking photos of every person, tree, wall or whatever took her interest meanwhile Mohe,
still in Junior school, absolutely thrashed me in my Geography knowledge, quizzing me on every capital city in the world, rivers, mountains and even national birds/animals?!?!

But as I've found out with India, with all the highs come the lows and as I'm sure has been touched upon in previous blogs, walking past the boy on the street was far too easy and the guilt still lies in my mind.

William