Raju the Rickshaw Driver

I want to tell you about an amazing rickshaw driver that I have had the pleasure of getting to know while I’ve been in Pune, India. His name is Raju and he lives in the same neighborhood that I am staying in this month. His profession is driving rickshaws (which may be the equivalent to a taxi in the States) around the city to locals and foreigners. 

Raju has a very good reputation around Sangam, the place I am staying at this month. I heard so many positive things about this “amazing rickshaw man” long before I even had the pleasure of meeting him. My initial thoughts were, ‘what could be so special about him and why is everyone obsessed with him?” After spending 10 minutes with him however, I knew all the answers to the questions that loomed in my head previously.

The thing that makes Raju so special is that he just has this natural kindness and humbleness about him. You just see joy oozing out of him. He isn’t kind or nice because he expects anything in return; rather it just comes from the bottom of his heart. He has a smile that makes you smile and instantly draws you closer to him. His laugh fills the space around him and is very contagious.

The rickshaw stand that he is based out of is right down the street from where I live. He greets me most mornings at the rickshaw stand while I am trying to convince one of the drivers to take me to work. My day is instantly a million times better if he is around and will drive us to work.

One of my favorite times with Raju was on a day off during the middle of my stay at Sangam. My friends and I decided that we would spend our morning going to the post office, paper factory and out to lunch. When we arrived at the rickshaw stand that morning we were greeted by Raju with a huge smile and a sense of eagerness to see where we were going. He agreed to take us to the post office and knew exactly where it was. Once we got there he insisted on waiting for us while we were inside so he could take us wherever we wanted to go next. Sure enough, he was outside waiting for us after I spent about 30 minutes inside the building trying to figure out how the Indian postal system works.

Our next destination was a paper factory in town. We arrived there and got a really cool tour of the whole facility, in addition to buying some handmade goods. After spending about an hour and a half inside we were surprised to find Raju still eagerly waiting for us outside in the courtyard. On our way to lunch we drove through a very busy part of town. While driving we spotted a car next to us with a very cute puppy in it. My friend and I squealed and got very excited. Raju looked over to see the puppy and got just as excited as I was. The traffic flow soon made it so the car with the puppy was a distance in front of us. Without hesitation, Raju sped up and weaved through traffic until we were directly next to the same car again. At the same moment, all three of us started talking in high pitch voices saying, “Puppy! Puppy!” All eyes were on this adorable puppy and not paying attention to the busy Indian roads. After the car drove away we were just left to continue laughing so hard. I haven’t genuinely laughed that hard in a very long time.

Raju is all around just a rock star. He is kind, humble, funny, smart and eager to help. His goal isn’t just to make money off you, but to show you the authentic and genuine India. His India. 

The day I visited the slum.

Let's play a word association game... I say a word and you say the first thing that pops in your head when you think of that word. The word is slum. What other words pop in your head when you think of a slum? What pictures do you see when you close your eyes and think of a slum?

If you would have asked me last week to tell you the images that come to mind when I think of a slum I might have said something along the lines of kids running around, tattered clothes, dirt and a displeasing smell. After the experience I had of touring the Dharavi slum this past weekend, my definition would be different.

I am generally a very curious person. As some of you may know I like to get the real and authentic story on things. There is no need to sugarcoat things or bedazzle them (like the media often does). Since day one of being in India I have seen the stark contrast between the 'haves' and 'have-nots'. So far in my travels I have been to a total of about five cities. In each place you see the drastic difference between the ways people live depending on their economic status. I drove past various slums in the various cities I've visited and wondered a lot of the same things... "What are the people like that live there? Do they have unconditional love for each other? What are their dreams and goals?" 

Here are some fast facts about Dharavi. The slum is located in Mumbai on about 432 acres of land, which is half the size of Central Park. The current population is 1 million people. It is 20 times denser than Mumbai. More than 50% of the population in Mumbai lives in slums. The average household has 4.5 people in it. Dharavi has many factories and other jobs that help make up the annual production of $665 million US dollars. Daily factory wages are between Rs 150-250 (which when you do the conversion $1 USD = Rs 63, so that's between $3-5 USD per day). Other interesting things to know is that 80% of Mumbai's recycling goes to Dharavi. 

I will admit to you all that I was a little apprehensive about taking a slum tour at first. I have read several articles about ‘slum tourism’ where foreigners have the opportunity to tour a slum just like you would tour another monumental attraction. I don’t view a slum as an attraction because it is esentially someone’s home. It would be like if I opened up my home or neighborhood for people to come take a tour. They are people, not animals in a zoo. That’s the most important thing to remember. We found an organization that is very involved in the Dharavi community called “Reality Tours”. They have several programs set up in the slum and also give tours to foreigners that are curious about learning more. The coolest thing is that 80% of the money that is collected to go on the tours is directly invested back into the programs that are being put on in the slum.

Our tour started out at the train station that is located right next to the Dharavi slum. We walked up over the bridge and it was like we were immediately immersed into a whole other world. Dharavi is truly a city within a city. We were guided through the narrow alleyways of the commercial and residential areas. The commercial part is where the factories are located. Each person in that area has a different job. Some include crushing plastic, refurbishing paint cans and making baked goods in the bakery. One common theme that I noticed while walking through this part of Dharavi was the unsafe working conditions. The workers don’t wear gloves, protective headwear or goggles. They are working painfully long hours and very closely to quite dangerous equipment without anything to protect them or guarantee them safety. The men that work in this area (and it is mostly men that work here because of the safety concern for women and children) usually also live in the factories too because it is free/cheap rent and they can’t afford to buy or lease a small living space in the slum. Many of the men are also from different parts of India and not originally from Mumbai. They travel to Dharavi to work for a few months to make enough money to go back to their families on the farms or in other villages. 

The next area we were guided to was the residential area. This was divided up into two different neighborhoods, made up of Muslims and Hindus. The two religions clashed a long time ago and while they usually get along now, they still tend to live separately in Dharavi. In this area I got the chance to see what the living spaces were like. They were for the most part very small and typically had many family members living in once confined space. I was very surprised to learn how expensive the living spaces were in the city of Mumbai and also in Dharavi. There is such a high demand for living space from so many people in Mumbai that they can get away with charging a fortune for it.

As we walked through the narrow alleys and muddy pathways we were greeted with smiles from the children who also enjoyed practicing their English out on us. We passed by an area that made pottery that was taken out into the city of Mumbai to be sold. There was another area that was making some sort of food. Everywhere we went there was a sense of purpose and you could feel the dedication radiating out of the people. The last part we saw was a school/community center that was set up to help educate kids and young adults. This is one of the programs that Reality Tours (the group that gave us our tour) helps to support. It was cool to see where English and computer classes take place. 

A slum is more than the pictures you seen portrayed by the media of kids with big bellies and begging for food. It isn’t just what you see from the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Sure there may be heartbreak or sadness, but there is also joy and happiness that lives deeply rooted in the people. Many of the people that live in slums have jobs in the community of Dharavi or out in the city of Mumbai. They are not the people that you see begging on the street; instead they are proud and hard working.

The words I now would use to describe a slum is a beautiful and hard working community. 

The girl who sold flowers

You are bound to meet some interesting people when you travel, it's just a fact. This past weekend I travelled to Mumbai and met someone who captured my heart instantly. 


While walking to the Gateway of India a young teen girl approached my friend and I with several strings of flowers. These flowers are meant to be strung from your hair. (Side note, they are really great because they make you smell quite lovely even though you probably smell really bad from constantly sweating.) 


Her main goal was to try and sell us flowers. My main goals was to get to know who she really was. She was friendly and kind. She greeted us with a smile. She was very intelligent. I discovered that her English was very good after asking her a series of simple and more complex questions. She insisted that the flowers were a gift and asked us to give her money to feed both her and her sister. She was patient and very persistent. She had a sparkle in her eye that made me even more intrigued.


During this 10 minute interaction with the young girl there were a stream of questions running through my head. I wanted to know if she was educated. Where did she learn her English from? What is her family like? Did they encourage her to go to school? Did she go to school? What will her future look like? Will she have many opportunities for success ahead of her? All I really wanted to do was sit down with her for some chi and dig deep into her soul to reveal her true story.


This bright young girl opened up my eyes on that rainy Sunday afternoon. She reminded me why I am so interested in and passionate about the empowerment of women. The women and girls here in India fascinate me. They are so similar to me, yet so completely different. Each girl has her own story. Some are being told while others are being kept secret.

Love is patient and ever so kind.

Weddings, no matter what kind, are precious. It's the bond of two people to make a new family. Love is patient and love is kind. Weddings are the best and love is amazing.

While in India I was fortunate enough to attend an Indian wedding. Now the thing to know about Indian weddings is that they are so extravagant, detailed and beautiful. The wedding was for the nephew of my friend from the USA. Before the wedding we spent about a week or so in Chennai, which is where all of his family is from. I had the pleasure of meeting the entire family and becoming an ‘adopted’ cousin.

Before the wedding even happened there were so many things to do and prepare. The first event that I attended in preparation for the wedding was a ceremony that served as a blessing to the marriage. It started at 5 o’clock in the morning and members from the groom’s family attended at his parent’s house.

The mehndi on one of my hands

Another thing we did was have a gathering for mehndi. This is where intricate designs are applied onto your hands and lower arms. It is said that the darker the mehndi, the deeper the love is from your husband. For this gathering, all the aunties and women from the groom’s side came over to one house. Two women from the local community came and did all of the designs. When I had mine done, I sat on the floor and one woman did one hand and the other woman did the other. Both women did separate and remarkable designs. They started out with the designs on my palms and the underside of my arm. After that dried for a bit they did the top sides of my arm and hands. The mehndi comes in a little tube and is usually a paste from the leaves of a Henna plant. The whole process is truly incredible and the women are true artisans. After my design was completely done, I had the task of trying not to mess it up or touch anything until it was completely dry.

The morning of the first day of the wedding, the whole family traveled from Chennai to Mumbai. All 20 of us took the same airplane and it was a blast. People gave us funny looks because there were so many of us, but that’s quite alright. We arrived in Mumbai in the morning and was greeted with some rainy weather (which wasn’t very surprising because they are in monsoon season here and it had been raining all week before we arrived). We then loaded up a big bus and traveled to the apartments we would be staying at. It was a giant sleepover because we all shared rooms.

The first day of the wedding there are two things that happen, an engagement ceremony and a sangeet. From what I understand, the engagement ceremony was meant for the bride and groom’s parents to exchange gifts and for the festivities to start. The priest did some special things with both the bride’s parents and the groom’s parents. All of the dialogue between the priest and the families were done in a different language, so I didn’t always understand what was going on. After this was done, all of the cousins and aunties went to change for the sangeet. The sangeet is basically an evening of music and dance. The groom and bride’s side of the family prepared a dance for the sangeet. The dance that the cousin’s prepared was the story of how the bride and groom met. Various bits of songs were strung together to create the ultimate dance performance. We rocked the stage and I had a blast. We even had a giant cardboard cut out of the groom for one of the songs. After both sides presented their feature performance, the bride and groom did a little dance for everyone. Then it was time to kick off your shoes and dance the night away! Songs were blasted in the reception hall and everyone was dancing. If I were to describe the dance party, I would say it would be pretty close to a synchronized dance from a Bollywood film. During most songs everyone was dancing with the same moves, and if there were not specific dance moves, then someone made them up and the rest followed along.

The second day started early with the festivities beginning at five o’clock in the morning. Throughout the morning there were various ceremonies that both the bride and groom went through together and separately. The big and main event of the day was when the thread was tied. This signified the official marriage between the man and wife. Prior to this event, people were moving about through the wedding hall, sitting to watch the events, going down to get breakfast, taking pictures, and having side conversations. When the thread was to be tied at about 9:30am, everyone stopped what he or she was doing to witness this event. Then after it was tied, people went back to what they were doing before. Later that morning there were more and different little rituals that took place. Some were to bless the newlywed couple and others were to educate the couple on what it means to be husband and wife.

All of the meals were served on a banana leaf

During most of the day I was a fly on the wall, just taking everything in and observing all that was going on around me. I enjoyed just sitting back and silently viewing the festivities. I did not understand everything that was going on, because like I mentioned before none of the ceremony was in English, but you could just sense the joy and love radiating out of everyone in attendance.

All in all my first Indian wedding experience was amazing. I am so appreciative of all who included me in this special occasion. I loved having the chance to dress up in traditional Indian wear. I got so many compliments on my beautiful pink sari. I am thankful for friends who took the time to explain the meaning behind each part of the ceremony. The bride and groom were absolutely adorable. The way that the bride looked at her groom throughout all of the ceremonies was enough to melt anyone’s heart. Love is so sweet and so kind. 

So this is India...

This summer I committed myself to an adventure of a lifetime. Traveling to four countries, taking seven flights, and having one heck of a time. I have never been to this side of the world before, but have always been fascinated by it's people and culture. I have spent months planning this trip and making sure all the details were sorted out. It didn't really sink in with me that I was actually going to India until my parents hugged me when they dropped me off at the airport.

Many people have been asking me, "What is it like in India? Are you having a good time? Can you post more pictures? Is it really as hot as they say it is?" So I wanted to answer all these questions and share some stories about my time so far in India.

Our first stop in India was Delhi, which is the capitol. We took a very long (like very super long) fourteen hour flight from Chicago directly to Delhi. The moment we stepped out of the airport we were both greeted by open arms of family and a raining downpour. We stayed in an apartment flat in Delhi with a few family members. While in Delhi we took the Metro (a train) into another part of the city, walked around some markets in the community, bought fruit from street vendors and explore HUGE malls. We went to a few of the local markets and even stopped at a fruit stand on the side of the road. I tried a new fruit on the side of the road that day. It's called Lichi. It's hard to explain what it tastes like (trust me, it's amazing), but the closest thing I could associate it with would be grapes.

During our stay in Delhi we had the chance to take a day trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The drive was about 3 and a half hours from Delhi, but it was completely worth it. You always hear about the Taj and how amazing it is. He built it for the love of his life. Now that's dedication and hard work right there. {{I'll post another blog post about my experience at the Taj Mahal. You will (eventually) be able to find it here}}

On our way back home we stopped at a really famous, historical and holy temple. I've had many chances to learn more about the Hindu religion and culture while I've been here in India. It is a beautiful way of life and does in fact share many similarities with Christianity. I am slowly learning about the traditions and stories found in this religion. They are fascinating and so interesting to learn about.

India is very similar to the States in many ways, but in so many other ways it is completely different. The hospitality that is given to guests here is so genuine and pure. I am very much a foreigner to the culture and way of life here, but I have felt nothing but kindness from my hosts and the other people that I have met.

Traffic here is quite literally insane. As you may or may not know, they drive on the other side of the road and the steering wheel is also on the opposite side. It's not the side of the road that they drive on that makes it crazy... Rather it's the way that traffic flows from street to street and the means of transportation that you find on that one road. On any given road you will likely find the following... Big and small cars. Busses. Scooters and motorcycles. Auto-rickshaws. Bikes. People walking. Cows wandering about. Street dogs just chillin'. So all of these people (and animals) use the same road to get from place to place. Here in the States I am used to having designated lanes that you stay in, unless you want to pass someone or change lanes. Here in India, it's not really like that. There are kind of lanes to stay in, but it's not always followed... Everyone kind of fluidly moves throughout. If you drive a smaller car or bike you can weave through traffic. If you drive a bigger car or are a bus, you just honk at people to get out of the way. Surprisingly everything just works. People get to their destinations safely and the controlled chaos continues on. Upon arriving to India I was very shocked (and a little scared) about how this traffic was, but now I am getting used to it. I am now mastering the art of crossing the street... But that is another story for another day... :)

So what is India like? Beautiful. Am I having fun here? YES! Is it really as hot as they say it is? Oh, definitely. Will I post more pictures? I'm working on that... Sometimes I'm having so much fun that I forget to actually stop and take pictures.... Eeek.

Paging Jenny... It's me, God.

So I hate to go all Jesus loving on everyone, but I'm going there. Get ready. Buckle your seat belts kids. Let's go. It's going to be a great ride, I promise. 

The Lord and I are typically on one accord. He's a pretty cool dude, with an amazingly, overwhelmingly great job. Not only does He have children all over the world, but all of his precious children are living their life to glorify Him. Woah. I feel honored that He loves me unconditionally with no questions asked. He is always proud of me. He's the one to encourage me when no one else is around. He is one of my personal cheerleaders when I feel that I cannot finish the race that is set before me. How cool is that? I'd say it's pretty rad. 

I would say that I have a very open and casual way of communicating with the Lord. I'm not one for big and long formal words in prayers. That's confusing sometimes and not really who I am... So I follow the philosophy of 'You do you'. That philosophy is one on a list of life mottos of mine (which includes, "Haters are my motivators", but we will get to that another day). I'm more of the type of person who starts a prayer off with something like this... "Hey God..."

I will admit, sometimes life snatches me up and gets busy. Sometimes I get snatched up in a random memory and other times it's by a tidal wave that knocks me over. I won't lie, life can get overwhelming sometimes, more often than I would like in fact. It is in these times that I start to feel alone and lost. 

I can't help but smile because whenever I find life starting to get overwhelming, the Lord sends me small blessings to remind me that everything's gonna be a-okay. One of his latest blessings that He has been sending my way is sunrises and sunsets. You might be thinking, "Well Jenny, those happen every day. If it's light outside than the sun probably rose. And when it gets dark, that is likely due to the sun setting." YES. This is all true. 

But it is in these times of stress and me being overwhelmed that the Lord is saying, "Paging, Jenny. Going once... Twice... It's me, God. The big man upstairs" But the way that He is paging me or contacting me is through the sun. It's on the roughest days or the days that I don't think that things are going to go right, that I see the most beautiful sky. I can't help but pause my day and the thoughts consuming my brain to look up at the sky in awe. All words escape me and I feel fresh air filling my lungs. Sometimes the sky stays pretty for a long period of time and other times it is just for a few minutes. It fills that void that I am feeling and reassures me that with the Lord by my side I can do anything. 

So what is it that makes you stop and count your blessings? Or calms you down in the times of doubt and struggle? Whether you are a religious person or not, life gets hard sometimes. It's important to have some way to calm down and stop to admire the beauty that we call life. 

Hakuna Masquata - It means nice booty.

I've never really been the very physically active type or the one to run 5Ks. Let alone even the thought of going to the gym made my skin crawl. If I am being honest, gyms totally scare me. My stereotypical view of the gym is that they are made up of two types of people. 1. The big, buff (and scary) bros. 2. The pretty girls/women that are already physically fit. So that basically means, those are the two types of people that I had no desire to hang out with while I look like a fool trying to be 'physically active'.

I've learned in life that in order to be honest with others, I have to be honest with myself first. I was not in a good spot with my health for a long time. I knew deep down that there needed to be a change, but I honestly had no idea where to begin. How does one who has never really stepped foot into a gym go from none to fun? The 'fun' being the idea that you're supposed to enjoy going to the gym... Well maybe it's a stretch, but eventually that would be my view.

I recently moved back to my hometown and found out that there was a new gym that opened up a few miles away. I initially rolled my eyes at the thought of becoming a part of one of those huge gyms where 'gymtimidation' is the real deal. To my surprise, this gym was totally the opposite. It is nice, clean, friendly (where people actually smile at you, what a concept) and not intimidating at all.

I had no idea that my life would be changed that day that I walked into the gym to check it out. It's been several months and I can confidently say that I am a different person. I have learned so much about myself during this "journey to fitness", as cliche as it sounds... I have learned about my mental and physical capabilities. Working out is about 75% physical and 25% mental. I learned that I am able to do much more than I thought I was able to do and that my body allows me to do this. I've learned that in order to survive a 60 minute Zumba class you need to throw your cares to the wind so you can have the ability to laugh at how ridiculous you might look. I've learned that having a personal trainer is a such a blessing. He is the one to push me, encourage me and make sure that I am holding myself accountable. He also is able to handle the sassiness and sarcastic comments that I say when I'm in the zone working out.

But most of all I have learned that it is okay to sweat. I used to think that sweating was a sign of weakness. In reality though, it is a sign of strength and hard work. You sweat when you work hard and working hard allows you to have the capability of being successful and meeting your goals. I'm not as self conscious while I'm spending time working out at the gym. I'm not as worried about other people looking at me or wondering if they are judging me. I'm more focused on doing what I gotta do and achieving becoming a master bro.

And with that, I say: Hakuna Masquata... It means nice booty.