Taniele Gofers on Park Street. (Pradip Sanyal)

Sitting in Flurys in a cotton kurta and jeans, her hair pulled back by a beaded headband and a stone stud on her nose, she seems like just another firang on Park Street looking for the exotic Orient and spiritual solace. But 24-year-old Taniele Gofers is no ordinary backpacker. She is an Olympic medallist who has spent five months at Udayan, a rehabilitation home for children from leprosy colonies.

Steve Waugh, the Barrackpore home’s most famous patron, paved the way for the water polo player’s visit. The two had met at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where Taniele won a bronze medal.

“I had the honour of spending time with Waugh at the Beijing Olympics, where he was an athlete liaison. I told him that I had always wanted to travel to India. He encouraged me and told me about Udayan,” says Taniele.

She reached India in August last year and travelled across the country for a month. “I started in Delhi and went to Rajasthan, Manali, Rishikesh, Mumbai and Goa. I loved the Himalayas and Rajasthan. The colours are beautiful and the food is very nice,” says the Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) student in Australia.

In Calcutta, she did the “touristy thing” for a week. “I went to Victoria Memorial, Marble Palace, New Market… New Market is intense. On Christmas, I went to St Paul’s Cathedral…. The people in Calcutta are the warmest. And I love Bengali food. I have had chingri and lots of fish. I love rosogolla, gulab jamun and gaja. I like muri too.”

And she has got four saris, which she wears “only on special occasions”, and wants to buy a lehenga choli before she goes back. “I don’t know where I will wear it in Australia, but I will find some occasion,” she says.

At Udayan, she spends time with the kids, teaches them and does administrative work. The Olympian also transformed the home’s annual sports day on January 26. “We planned it like a mini-Olympics. There was an opening ceremony and a torch relay. The children were divided into four countries — India, England (the country of founder/chairman Father Stevens), Australia (the country of patron Steve Waugh) and France (the country of patron Dominique Lapierre).”

Water polo, however, was not one of the games. “I would have liked to teach them, but it’s too cold now and the pond in Barrackpore isn’t exactly clean,” says Taniele.

Not that she misses the sport too much. “I miss being part of the team and miss being more physically active, but not the game. It is very draining. I wanted to participate in the Olympics. I am not going to play professionally any more.”

Taniele is set to leave for Australia soon but would “try to be back between semesters”. “I will miss this place. People say that you have to give yourself some time to adapt to India, but I think I will need adapting when I go back. And I will miss being part of the Udayan family,” she says.