Kihim Beach

This week went by fast, which was nice, and my Public Health class started this week as well. We were given an assignment to interview people and ask them what they think makes a healthy person and an unhealthy person. I have been getting the usual answers like eating poorly etc. but my host mom gave me a really interesting answer. She said that a person is unhealthy if their mind is unhealthy, and if they have something weighing down on them that they do not resolve. I asked her if a certain diet or daily exercise would also be considered healthy, and she said no, if ones mind is healthy everything else would fall into place. I thought this was really interesting and I have never really considered the mind to be the determining factor for the health of a person, but it makes sense.

We went to the beach this weekend, which was sooo nice! It was about three and a half hours from Pune, and it was the perfect weekend trip. We stayed at a place called Mauli Village, and we were all expecting the worst. Instead we got great rooms, great food, and all for really cheap. The people that worked there were so nice and were really accommodating. The beach was about 2KM from the place we were staying and it was nice to see some water! Granted the beach wasn’t the cleanest, it was just nice to relax out in the sun. The Arabian Sea is surprisingly not that cold at all. We met some people from Mumbai who worked for Barclay’s bank, and it’s funny because every time I introduce myself people sort of do a double take, and are like wait you’re Indian? I normally chime in before they ask. People are also able to pinpoint exactly which state my dad is from because of my last name, which I find fascinating, because our last names aren’t like this. I was talking to a girl in my hostel about this and she said that there are certain names that only appear in certain areas of India. She said you could also tell what caste people are from by their last name, which is also something very odd. The caste system in India is still very prevalent. Now there are some people that have risen above the certain jobs of their caste, but there are also people that have not. It is a complicated and foreign situation to me. Once we learn more about it in class I might come back and address that issue… but back to the beach!

We met a lot of nice people there, and of course we got more of the staring. It is something that we are all getting used to and it does not bother us so much anymore, but sometimes it does irk us.

This village we stayed in is actually a farm. It is about 200 acres, and they grow squash, peanuts, different fruits, and have about 250 chickens somewhere on the property. The food was amazing and I think most of it came from the farm. There are about three families living on the property, and they also have people come from around the town to work on the farm. They also have a solar panel on the building that we stayed in. My friends who went on the hiking trip last weekend said that the village they stayed in also had a solar panel. It is interesting because the amount of pollution in India is amazing, but also these small villages and farms have solar panels. I am curious to know whether these solar panels are government subsidized or these people took it upon themselves to lower their carbon footprint while also lowering their costs?

Here are some pictures of Kihim Beach! Enjoy!







Peace