The good Samaritian
So the work lunch was great, there was lots of food and of course my favorite Gellebi! After lunch I did a quick change and took my stuff to the post office, only to find it needed repacking into lots of smaller boxes, typical. SO we went back and I repacked it for the guys to sort after I left. After that it was another quick change before heading off to east street. At first there were five of us, and Praveen gave me the most amazing leaving present. Then more came and eventually we were about 17 people. After a lot of beer and some food I had my leaving present from the east street gang, yet another cake, but it was an amazing night that summed up the time I had in Pune, and I felt very lucky to have known everyone and have them come to say bye (I didn’t cry though!!). I did donate my cricket t shirt to the east street staff as I always watched the cricket there! So Sunday morning I had breakfast with Charu, Rahul and Dr Sanjay. Then they took me to the bus and said goodbye, it was hardest to say bye to Charu. On the bus I managed not to get emotional, and in the end didn’t get to see Shalija one last time as I ended up in the wrong part of Mumbai with a big bag. So I went to the train station to kill 5 hours. I had intended to go to a film next door but as it was Sunday it was packed, so I slept instead, which I defiantly needed. So then it was on the train and defiantly the end of working! 18 hours later I was in Jaipur, my first stop. I went straight to the hotel I had booked into then to the tourist info. I wanted to book on their day tour the next day so I could fit everything in. While there I met two guys traveling together who had hired an auto for the day so I joined them. We went to a few shops to look at stuff, and I let rip on them with my haggling skills saving Tristan and Sebastian a lot of money and annoying the shop owners. After this we went for dinner in an ‘Italian’ restaurant that serves beer in mugs and tea pots as it dosent have a license. After dinner we went to drink at my place, but having seen theirs for the same price a night I decided to move. I lost a bit of money doing it but the room was amazing, with a double bed, tv, comfy chairs and massive bathroom. Not to mention room service. So we chilled there and were up till 3am chatting and drinking. Eventually I slept as I have do be up at 8.30 for the tour. At 8.30 I was just about awake. After 4 pieces of toast and a cup of tea I was ready to go! It was a packed tour, and unfortunately it is a bit of a blur. It started with a temple followed by the pink city where we saw the palace which has lots of stuff in, and some amazing architecture. After that we went out of town to a fort and then another fort for lunch. Then we went to the amber palace which is vast. I got lost form the group there, had a bit of hassle from some school kids, but eventually escaped. After the fort we got taken to the tourist shop then some gardens before we got back. I was exhausted after all that. I had moved room from the night before due to availability and this room and no tv. I asked for one as I wanted to see what was happening in China and Burmer. Within 10 mins of it being in my room they announced 4 bomb blasts in central Jaipur. So what do I do? I head off to find a police man to take me there! I found a police man who misunderstood me and thought that disaster management meant bomb disposal! SO they initially took me to the scene. I got there within 30 mins of the bomb blasts and the sight was clear, so they took me to the hospital, SMS, once I lied and said I was a doctor. So I got to the hospital and walked through the ER doors to chaos. There were people with gloves on lining both sides of the corridor. I asked to speak to a doctor, apparently they were all doctors, and all wanted a casualty to treat. I suddenly realized I done the wrong thing and would get in the way. However I turned to a guy to ask for gloves just incase. He introduced himself, I explained I was closest to a triage nurse, bandaging assessing, cleaning etc, nothing intrusive. He understood. Rajkumar turned out to be an OT nurse. So we went upstairs to where the majority of the casualties were. We walked around trying to see if we could do anything. For each casualty there were about 4 people trying to treat. After being dragged over to a casualty with a chest injury needing a tube and explaining I was a nurse not a doctor. We decided to bandage the smaller shrapnel wounds. We grabbed cotton and bandages and started waling around. There were a lot of casualties but once we looked closer the majority were shrapnel wounds. So between us we applied pressure bandaged, found the wounds checking backs, cutting clothes and generally making people comfortable and stopping bleeding. After about 3 hours of this there were no more casualties and those there were, were stable or in surgery. SO Rajkumar offered me a much needed cold drink and a lift back to the hotel. My phone batter6y had died and while many people knew I was ok I had to inform the rest. So I went back to the hotel and ordered VERY sugary tea and some sandwiches. I sat in my room taking everything in. After I felt a bit calmer I went to find the guys as I needed a drink. Which they supplied. They were chilling with some girls they had met so we all chatted and I got wat I needed out my system. I arranged to meet one of the girls in 2 days in Varanasi. Eventually I slept, I had about 4 hours. The next morning the guys who run the hotel showed me my photo in the local paper under the caption looking for loved ones, which I wasn’t! So a curfew was imposed over the city and no tourist sights were open. A lot of people were hanging around the hotel just chatting and chilling. Rajkumar had asked me to go back to the hospital to see it in normal circumstances. SO he picked me up. I met all the OT staff and chilled. It was weird as I didn’t recognize any of the staff or the casualties the whole thing was one big blur. The majority of staff though hadn’t noticed me in the bedlam of things so it was the first they heard of my presence the night before. However the press did hear. SO I spent 3 hours doing tv and paper interviews for local channels, one of which asked me to bandage one of the casualties, I felt such a fraud as it was so posed. When I finally got away I crashed out as I was exhausted. I had agreed to talk to Tristan who is a freelance journalist so he could do a profile to try to get published so that took about an hour. After which we just chilled at the hotel as nothing was open. After a relatively early night I packed up as I was moving on. However I went to the hospital one last time as Sonia Gandhi was visiting and the guys were going to try to get me to meet her. However we missed her. Instead I ended up doing yet more interviews. One of which for the times of India, who may help me meet the IPL teams! Anyway after that and seeing the news story on me I left. I was glad to be leaving Jaipur as I was becoming a celebrity, which I didn’t want to be. I just did what I though was right, and even then im not sure I did the right thing, I probably just got in the way. All they glory was coming to me not to the hospitals teams. So I finally boarded my train and 15 hours later was in Varanasi. (I still got calls from the press). In varanasi I went to this hostel in the old city that you have to walk to, a bit of a pain. But its awesome. The view over the Ganges is amazing. I really like it here. I arrived yesterday and did a boat trip along the river at sunset to see the evening Puja. We also saw the bits of people that wash up as they cant have cremation if they are pregnant, a priest, under 18 or another one. Sometimes the bits get washed up, so you can see skulls and stuff, not to mention the brain we saw floating around! SO after the boat trip we chilled in the very sociable hotel restaurant. I eventually crashed out no longer able to talk due to exhaustion. So this morning I was up relatively early and so with anna and Karen we went ot the sight of the first sermon form Buddha after his enlightenment. It is also where the 4 headed lion statue that is the symbol on India was found. After a siesta we got an auto the the fort. It was the craziest auto ride ever, we went over this pontoon bridge! The fort itself is very run down and a symbol of the dying raj system. But it was fun. Then after the most amazing lassi ever we came back. And so now I am getting ready to leave for Agra tomorrow afternoon. I have just read on the net that people think im a terrorist for helping at the hospital, so need a beer to calm down. I hope all is well in the UK!