Introducing Garima Rathore

There is a new face at our Footsteps shop and cafe in Cheltenham, Garima has just moved to the UK from India and has already got involved as a volunteer with our charity. I caught up with her via Facebook:

15:59

Hi Garima, welcome to Global Footsteps!

Hello

You have been volunteering in our Footsteps shop in Cheltenham for about 2 weeks now is that right?

Yes, now i am more confident about working there.

How are you enjoying life in Cheltenham so far?

It's goin very fine.. I'm enjoying in volunteer centre

You're originally from India, but which part exactly?

Yes.. Delhi region

Are there any similarities between Gloucestershire and Delhi that you have noticed?

By this time i didn't found yet, but this is very nice place, I love it!

What's your favourite place in Cheltenham? (You don't have to say the Footsteps shop!)

Eating places .. I like most is Gianni's and Nandos and Sudeley castle, but I have visited very few places so far.

I'm sure you will discover more and more as time goes by, where else in the UK or Europe would you like to visit?

all over but, priority is UK

I recommend a visit to Wales, but I am from there, so am biased!

okay accepted.....I would like to go there.... we are planning to Cardiff for a weekend in February.

Great!

Tell me a little bit about the things that interest you.... have you been involved in any work to help others or the environment before?

Yes, in India.. I gave tuition to the students... to help them in their studies, it was like evening classes... for 2 hrs

Like a homework club?

yes..

What do students in India enjoy studying?

Lots, but the reason for those classes was that they belonged to very poor families.. and we provided them with help

with their problems in studies.

I see, it sounds similar to the work our link project in Bangladesh is doing.

What other activities would you like to get involved in while you are in Cheltenham?

Nothing much yet... I'm searching a part time job too... to make myself busy.

Well I wish you good luck with that search, I hope you find some enjoyable and meaningful work!

Thank-you very much for volunteering with us, I hope you continue to enjoy it.

Yes... I love that place too!

Thanks for chatting, see you in the shop soon!

Book Club: The White Tiger

Tina McCausland discusses another successful Global Footsteps book club discussion.

We learnt about the character Balsam who grows up in the underbelly of Indian society, which Balsam also refers to as 'the darkness'.

The story is told in Balsam's voice as we experience life in the slums of India, the caste system and the lives of those in servitude.

The group commented on the many animal references throughout the book such as Balsam being also known as The White Tiger and the metaphor of a chicken in a coop to descibe how Balsam feels about his life and the society that he lives in.

We were encouraged to discuss politics, religion and prejudice as we explored Balsam's long desperate journey from the darkness into the light of a higher 'better' society and so Balsam's apparent freedom from servitude. We commented on the the ugly sacrifices that he makes to move into the light (as he eventually believes that the key to the door of his cage was always open).

We admired the author's language such as "Every now and then an egg will crack open - a woman's hand, dazzling with gold bangles, stretches out of an open window, flings an empty mineral water bottle onto the road - and then the window goes up and the egg is resealed" (p. 134).

Everyone had lots of particularly positive things to say about this book and it also generated discussion about personal experiences of India (and the suggestion to read the book Shantaram, also a book about he slums of India).

The White Tiger opens the door on the harsh injustices experienced by the poor in India and could be applied to other countries. We found it inciteful, brutal, tender, witty and poetic.

Book for next book club session

The 5 People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Suggestions of books for future book club sessions

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafis

The Winter Book by Tove Jansson

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy