Not goodbye, but see you soon!

When it comes to saying goodbye, Matt, Anna and Ingrid should be experts.
Let us give you a little rundown on our final week in Pali, which consisted of little more than would-be-goodbyes, loads of food and a barrage of bangles and bindis.

On Thursday evening we travelled to the other end of Pali City (100 rupees away, brought down to a much more modest 70 rupees thanks to our perfected and perhaps somewhat aggressive bargaining skills) to celebrate an Educate Girls staff member, Kalpna’s birthday with her family, friends and our beloved Tejas. I don’t think we have ever seen Anna in such high spirits as we did when the first course was brought out – a large and ornate chocolate birthday cake. It soon became clear to us that the cake fight at Anna’s own birthday a few weeks prior was not a one-off, but a typical India birthday tradition, hence the next hour was spent capturing all involved stuffing one-another’s faces with cake on camera.
Mains were followed by much dancing (if you can call Matt’s Pulp Fiction/Sexy Eyes move dancing), having our names inscribed in henna on our hands (just so that we don’t forget), and more cake.

On Friday morning we farewelled the Educate Girls office staff with samosas and soft drink, a real treat in Pali and then made our full-bellied way to Kesars restaurant to have our farewell lunch with Manju and her boys. Just when we thought we had filled every inch of every nook and cranny of every bodily cavity with food, we were whisked off on motor cycles by Sunil and Navneet to Waves Restaurant for another delicious dinner to farewell our favourite blokes from the office.

On Sunday night the motor cycles arrived again, to take us, and Tejas, to Sunil’s house for dinner and a game of dressups, in which Ingrid and Anna became the jewelled and sari-ed mannequins to Sunil’s female family members, friends and neighbours. This was followed by a lengthy Indian style ‘star shots’ photo shoot in which the girls assumed poses that were supposedly sultry, yet tasteful and modest, perhaps due to the addition of props including vases and faux flowers. Such photos are the centre-piece and pride of most Indian mantle pieces and our own can be viewed on Facebook, for those interested.

On Sunday we farewelled Kesars restaurant for the final time, with Manohar and Tejas in tow and again, a huge amount of food. Saying goodbye to Tejas and watching him ride off on the bicycle he acquired from Matt and promises to ride everyday to achieve that Bollywood 6-pack was perhaps one of the hardest and most emotional moments of the trip so far. No sugar coating required, Tejas really is one of the greatest guys we have had the pleasure of knowing!

And just when we thought we had out-farewelled ourselves, we made two trips to the office on Monday to drop off some bits and pieces (and say goodbye) and a trip to the local police station to sign out of Pali (and to say goodbye). Hugs and tears (mainly from Manju) were followed by a two hour wait for our delayed train, where we were so grateful to have some of the staff there to wave us off to Mumbai. Our 14 hour train trip was taken in a rather sombre silence, very unusual, for the three of us.

So, when it comes to saying goodbye, Matt, Anna and Ingrid should be experts. But we most certainly are not. In fact, it was a word we flat-out refused to use. The phrase on repeat in that final week in Pali was “Not goodbye, but see you soon”, and we truly hope that this is the case.