Summer/Winter Camps

Frehindi Village Trip -2014 to Kundan ka Maison

This time around we were in for a surprise and a new 2 day old boy along with a 3 day old lamb greeted us at Kundan’s house at Frehindi Village Sejour 2014.

Apart from this good news our journey towards the village started soon after our breakfast. We started at around 10 am downhill towards the village and on our way we were greeted by Fresh snow on the fields and on the route which made walking difficult but fun. Children and old all picked up snow balls to play with each other till the time we reached at natural water resources coming out of the mountain from where the villagers get their water. The water was so fresh that it can easily be called the natural mineral water of earth.

Our downhill journey continued with observing the village life, speaking to village women and finally reaching a house where we saw fresh, yellow & big “citron” on trees and bought many of them from the person whose field was having those citron. The owner explained us on how to eat it and where can we use it for cooking etc.

Now it was time for reaching Kundan’s place and as mentioned earlier we were greeted by a “mignon” little 2 day old angle. As tradition have it in this part of the world many elder people gave some money to the child’s grandmother who was so active even in her 70’s. The grandmother was wearing the traditional dress with a necklace called “Galobund” made from several square shape gold.

We were also greeted by other several other small children whom we offered toffees and biscuits before taking a group picture with all of them.

Small children in our group especially liked playing with a little lamb born 3 days ago and kept in a round basket.

Now was the time to go back and say good bye to all sweet village people.

The climb way back was not easy for few especially for those with very young children, however we managed to reach well in time for our lunch at 1.30 pm.

We truly enjoyed our short trek to the village and had a 1st had experience of village life.

Author: Haru MEHRA

Namasté / Bonjour / Hello, I am Harbinder Singh MEHRA ( Haru ), the President, author & principal blogger & trainer for the LAF's project Inde-Contemporaine under the patronage of the Indian Embassy in Paris. Apart from that, I am also the CEO of Paris & Lyon based Le Frehindi which is an Indo-French organisation licensed by ATOUT-France with associate offices in New Delhi, Mumbai & Dubai in the Middle East. Something about LAF ( L'Association Frehindi ) : The objective of the L'Association Frehindi ( English ) To promote global understanding with special focus on youth of France & Francophone countries with the youth from Indian subcontinent by showcasing a contemporary aspect of both regions in areas of cultural & linguistic integration, appreciating of heritage & getting to know the importance of natural wellbeing via online & offline activities such as workshops, fairs, events, meet-ups, counselling sessions, intercultural workshops in partnerships/collaborations with local institutions, cultural organisations, embassies & companies in both the regions. The association seeks to work in the following areas : I. Events/fairs/conferences/workshops under the patronage of the Indian Embassy in France. 1)To celebrate & promote contemporary India & France with today's youth. 2)To let discover the traditional historic Indo-French strengths, economic opportunities & partnership possibilities. 3)To promote arts & artists from either region. 4) To jointly host events & fairs every year in France, Francophone countries & the Indian subcontinent to promote friendship/partnerships between different regions linking the general population with a special focus on youth. II. Alps-Himalayas Project 1) To increase cultural & economic affinity of youth & businesses between Rhone-Alps & Himalayas regions of India, Bhutan & Nepal. 2) To conduct & promote joint Indo-French expeditions & excursions. 3) To help the tribals & locals in Himalayan regions to preserve the environment by sustainable means. III. Intercultural Activités 1) To conduct linguistic-based inter cultural activités with the help of virtual tours & offline sessions between youth & teachers for both French, Hindi & various other regional languages. 2) To conduct sessions / classes on inter-cultural understanding, ways of doing business, dances & letting discover the rich heritage. 3) To conduct fundraising activities for all such cultural & heritage discovery exchanges. IV. Indo-French youth club : 1) To help the Indian students coming to France to integrate culturally, logistically & linguistically by providing pre & post landing counselling workshops & vice-versa for French students going to the Indian subcontinent. 2) To help the youth discover skill development programs, internships & recruitment opportunities available in all the regions. 3) To work in partnership with local SME'S for supporting & training of the youth of India & France. 4) To enable students & teachers in France to help online & offline the underprivileged children in the Indian subcontinent by imparting training based on languages & soft skill development. 5) To conduct Indo-french youth camps in all Francophone regions with a special focus on Rhone-Alps regions, Himalayas & Auroville in Pondicherry. V. Promoting Natural Wellbeing & boosting immunity naturally : 1) The association will seek to promote the benefits of Yoga & Ayurveda in France among youth & conduct awareness sessions with experts from India & Srilanka. 2) The association will celebrate World Yoga Day & World Ayurveda day by conducting events & workshops for the youth. 3) The association will produce both online & offline content like blogs, books, broachers etc to Promote yoga & Ayurveda. 4) The association will work closely with Bio-shops to promote vegan & vegetarian food among the youth. Come be a part of the LAF growing team & become ambassadors for the Indian subcontinent & its ability to take modernity with traditional values and ethos. Write to us at haru@frehindi.com. All the best. Harbinder Singh MEHRA, President, L'Association Frehindi Lyon VILLETTE GARE IMMEUBLE LE BONNEL 20 rue de la Villette 69003 Lyon Tel : +330601360996