I have now been home for 4 days and am currently enjoying the company of all my family - Mom, Dad, Suzanne, Mary, and Jay. In a lot of ways, my 3 1/2 weeks in India feels like a dream. Luckily I have my weird sleep schedule and a henna-ed hand and foot to remind me it was real! It's interesting to see the things that I do and don't miss. I was thrilled to return to my life as a "regular" person, never looking up to see one or two or twenty people staring at me and snapping pictures on their phones. I laughed when I tried the new spicy chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-A and declaring to my impressed mother, "that is NOT spicy!", even though the server had assured me I was need a drink on hand to try it. I walk around my house flipping lights off in empty rooms, have been driving around with the windows down instead of AC on, and appreciate the little blue light that comes on every time I plug my computer in signalling that power is actually getting to it. I love my home food, but have found myself really missing my Indian food. I could definitely go for a thali right now with extra dal and a hefty supply of butter and/or garlic naan - oooh how I miss the naan! It really amuses me that one of the things I most consciously miss is the ability to turn outlets on and off with the accompanying switch.
I'm so grateful for my time in India. I'm grateful for the wonderful experiences that I had and the hard realities that I saw all around me. I met a world there that is hugely different from the one I grew up in and have always known, but that is no less legitimate and has so much to offer. As I begin to prepare for South Africa and the people and cultures I will meet there, I am excited and somewhat apprehensive. Because I know I will be changed. India changed me and it isn't done yet. My heart is open in a different way, a different perspective, and I'm not sure where it will lead me yet.
I can't wait to find out :)
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Goodbye India :-\
I cannot believe my 3 1/2 weeks here are already over. I have a lot of processing to do and I'm sure that will lend itself to a post when I'm home, but for now, let me just say that I love this place. I don't understand it and sometimes it makes me uncomfortable, but I love that it never sleeps and that I see fresh fruit everywhere I go (even though I can't eat a lot of it) and that people are so communal and that I feel like I can get around function here now without Hemanshu or Sunita leading me. And there is so much that I didn't get to explore. I'd love to see Southern India, I'd love to go to the Himalayas, I'd love to see Mumbai and Bombay and Calcutta. But I am SO grateful for the time that I've spent here, the friends that I've made, the experiences I've had, and the ways that I've been challenged.
And I'm really intrigued to see what happens when I get home - what things will I slip right back into and what things will I have to readjust to? I guess I'll find out soon.
God willing, I will be home in 26ish hours. I'd appreciate prayers for travel mercies!
And I'm really intrigued to see what happens when I get home - what things will I slip right back into and what things will I have to readjust to? I guess I'll find out soon.
God willing, I will be home in 26ish hours. I'd appreciate prayers for travel mercies!
Three Cups of Tea
Okay, now that I have read it, reread parts of it, cried over parts of it, and copied parts of it into my journal - time for a post about Three Cups of Tea.
Three Cups of Tea, subtitle: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time, is written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It is the story of Mortenson's work building schools in rural Pakistan, beginning with his promise to return and build a school for the village that nursed him back to health after a failed attempt to summit K2 and journeying with him more than 10 years to post 9/11 when he is able to reach Afghanistan, too, through the organization now known as the Central Asia Institute.
This book is an amazing testimony to the fact that one person CAN make a difference, especially when they approach their goal with heart and passion. It is inspiring to see the sacrifices that Mortenson and his family make because they are driven with a purpose: educating children. In many ways, this is Mortenson's own "war on terror" (though he began it long before that phrase had a reason to be familiar to us) because he believes that education is the only thing that can stop terrorism. In response to a Congressman who interrupted a presentation to say that this is all fine, but the point is security, so why does this matter, Mortenson said:
"I don't do what I'm doing to fight terror. I do it because I care about kids. Fighting terror is maybe seventh or eigth on my list of priorities. But working over there, I've learned a few things. I've learned that terror doesn't happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren't being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death."
This book has a story to tell, but it also has a lot to say about world understanding. Are we looking at the world as it really is and seeing into the heart of people to know who they really are?
I encourage you to please read this book. And if you have read it, talk about it. Because it is not just the people in rural third-world or developing countries who need education. We need it as well. We need to make sure we are seeing clearly.
If you are interested in learning more about the book, the website is www.threecupsoftea.com and if you're going to buy the book to read it, please buy it from that site so that 7% of the proceeds can go straight to a girls' education scholarship fund in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Also, Pennies for Peace is designed to help educate our children and give them a way to help because children tend to have a heart for other children in a way that is beautiful to see. To learn more about that, the website is www.penniesforpeace.org
I could talk for ages about this, but don't want to take away from the book. But please, if you want to talk about it, I'd love to! :)
Three Cups of Tea, subtitle: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time, is written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It is the story of Mortenson's work building schools in rural Pakistan, beginning with his promise to return and build a school for the village that nursed him back to health after a failed attempt to summit K2 and journeying with him more than 10 years to post 9/11 when he is able to reach Afghanistan, too, through the organization now known as the Central Asia Institute.
This book is an amazing testimony to the fact that one person CAN make a difference, especially when they approach their goal with heart and passion. It is inspiring to see the sacrifices that Mortenson and his family make because they are driven with a purpose: educating children. In many ways, this is Mortenson's own "war on terror" (though he began it long before that phrase had a reason to be familiar to us) because he believes that education is the only thing that can stop terrorism. In response to a Congressman who interrupted a presentation to say that this is all fine, but the point is security, so why does this matter, Mortenson said:
"I don't do what I'm doing to fight terror. I do it because I care about kids. Fighting terror is maybe seventh or eigth on my list of priorities. But working over there, I've learned a few things. I've learned that terror doesn't happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren't being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death."
This book has a story to tell, but it also has a lot to say about world understanding. Are we looking at the world as it really is and seeing into the heart of people to know who they really are?
I encourage you to please read this book. And if you have read it, talk about it. Because it is not just the people in rural third-world or developing countries who need education. We need it as well. We need to make sure we are seeing clearly.
If you are interested in learning more about the book, the website is www.threecupsoftea.com and if you're going to buy the book to read it, please buy it from that site so that 7% of the proceeds can go straight to a girls' education scholarship fund in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Also, Pennies for Peace is designed to help educate our children and give them a way to help because children tend to have a heart for other children in a way that is beautiful to see. To learn more about that, the website is www.penniesforpeace.org
I could talk for ages about this, but don't want to take away from the book. But please, if you want to talk about it, I'd love to! :)
Bollywood :)
So, if you're like I was three weeks ago, hearing "Bollywood" makes you think of really cheesy, really colorful movies with random dance numbers thrown in. Now don't get me wrong, I'm no movie snob, so I usually enjoy movies like that to some degree, but I didn't have any expectations for anything else from Bollywood movies here. Thanks to Prof Mason's and Hemanshu's suggestions from the IES movie library, I have learned how wrong I was! So here is the list of the 7 movies I've watched here and a blurb about each of them:
Delhi 6 - We watched this very early on and I have received plenty of teasing for how much I loved it and the soundtrack. They will be purchased and I am excited about it! This is a story of a man who has lived in America his whole life, but his parents immigrated their from India. His grandmother lives with them in the US, but when she learns that she has cancer, she wants to return to India to die at the home of her heart. He agrees to take her back and it is about his interactions with the people, culture, and heart of India, as well as speaking to the conflict between Hindus and Muslims here, very prevalent a couple decades ago.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - This is the type of movie that I would have described when asked about Bollywood movies, haha. And it is Prof Mason's self-proclaimed favorite movie which just makes me laugh :) I did enjoy it, but it took me awhile to get past the ridiculousness. It is the story of a young girl who's mother died after giving birth to her and had written her letters to open on her birthdays. This particular letter tells the story of the girl's father and his best friend Anjali in college and then how he met the girl's mother. I don't want to get into the complicated-ish twists and turns, but it was enjoyable and had a nice happy ending.
Maqbool - We watched this as a whole group the night before we had a guest lecturer, the woman who is the expert in India on the topic of Shakespeare in India. Maqbool is an adaptation of Macbeth that is Macbeth meets the Godfather in Bombay. It was well done. Very intense.
Rang De Basanti - I really enjoyed this movie (although since Hemanshu had forgotten the details and told us that it wasn't a serious movie, I was not very prepared to cry for the last 45 minutes). It is about a British woman who's grandfather was an officer stationed in India and had been in charge of the imprisonment and hanging of some revolutionaries. She has his diary and goes to India to make a movie because she thinks that their stories deserve to be told. It is about the people she meets who will be in the movie and Indians' feelings towards their country: shall we fight and work to improve her or is she a lost cause? Very good.
Chak De India! - I enjoyed this movie, though I wouldn't say it is one of the best movies I've ever seen. But it does have one of the most infuriating theme songs to get out of your head - Catherine, Amy and I have driven each other crazy because as soon as one of us gets it out, someone else will start it and there it goes again! It is the story of the national women's field hockey team (woot!) which is a huge joke to pretty much everyone and the man who comes to coach them and teach them what it means to represent your country and why it matters, etc. Go, inspirational sports movies, go!
Jodhaa Akbar - I quite enjoyed this movie, not because it's the greatest movie in the world, but because I enjoyed the story and it was really incredible to see so many of the places that we have visited as they would have looked in their real age of splendour. It is the story of the Amer princess Jodhaa and her marriage to Jalaluddin Mohammad, dubbed "Akbar" by the people once he has earned their trust and love. It is about all of the obstacles they face approaching marriage as a Muslim Mughal emperor and a Hindi princess, and plots of political sabotage, etc.
Taare Zameen Par - I really enjoyed this movie. Cried through pretty much the whole thing. It is the story of a young boy who is failing everything in school, getting in fights, etc and everyone thinks that he just has a terrible attitude, but he actually has severe dyslexia and some motor development problems. A teacher at his new school sees what is going on and works to help. It is a beautiful picture of how people can reach one another if they take the time to care and a hard look at how Indian culture does not understand much about people with special needs. Aamir Khan (producer, director, and actor in it) does a lot of work to try to bring awareness to the reality of situations that Indian society as a whole is not very open to or knowledgeable of. He also starred in Rang De Basanti.
So there are my blurbs and a few thoughts on each. I am excited about this new genre of great movies to explore :)
Delhi 6 - We watched this very early on and I have received plenty of teasing for how much I loved it and the soundtrack. They will be purchased and I am excited about it! This is a story of a man who has lived in America his whole life, but his parents immigrated their from India. His grandmother lives with them in the US, but when she learns that she has cancer, she wants to return to India to die at the home of her heart. He agrees to take her back and it is about his interactions with the people, culture, and heart of India, as well as speaking to the conflict between Hindus and Muslims here, very prevalent a couple decades ago.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - This is the type of movie that I would have described when asked about Bollywood movies, haha. And it is Prof Mason's self-proclaimed favorite movie which just makes me laugh :) I did enjoy it, but it took me awhile to get past the ridiculousness. It is the story of a young girl who's mother died after giving birth to her and had written her letters to open on her birthdays. This particular letter tells the story of the girl's father and his best friend Anjali in college and then how he met the girl's mother. I don't want to get into the complicated-ish twists and turns, but it was enjoyable and had a nice happy ending.
Maqbool - We watched this as a whole group the night before we had a guest lecturer, the woman who is the expert in India on the topic of Shakespeare in India. Maqbool is an adaptation of Macbeth that is Macbeth meets the Godfather in Bombay. It was well done. Very intense.
Rang De Basanti - I really enjoyed this movie (although since Hemanshu had forgotten the details and told us that it wasn't a serious movie, I was not very prepared to cry for the last 45 minutes). It is about a British woman who's grandfather was an officer stationed in India and had been in charge of the imprisonment and hanging of some revolutionaries. She has his diary and goes to India to make a movie because she thinks that their stories deserve to be told. It is about the people she meets who will be in the movie and Indians' feelings towards their country: shall we fight and work to improve her or is she a lost cause? Very good.
Chak De India! - I enjoyed this movie, though I wouldn't say it is one of the best movies I've ever seen. But it does have one of the most infuriating theme songs to get out of your head - Catherine, Amy and I have driven each other crazy because as soon as one of us gets it out, someone else will start it and there it goes again! It is the story of the national women's field hockey team (woot!) which is a huge joke to pretty much everyone and the man who comes to coach them and teach them what it means to represent your country and why it matters, etc. Go, inspirational sports movies, go!
Jodhaa Akbar - I quite enjoyed this movie, not because it's the greatest movie in the world, but because I enjoyed the story and it was really incredible to see so many of the places that we have visited as they would have looked in their real age of splendour. It is the story of the Amer princess Jodhaa and her marriage to Jalaluddin Mohammad, dubbed "Akbar" by the people once he has earned their trust and love. It is about all of the obstacles they face approaching marriage as a Muslim Mughal emperor and a Hindi princess, and plots of political sabotage, etc.
Taare Zameen Par - I really enjoyed this movie. Cried through pretty much the whole thing. It is the story of a young boy who is failing everything in school, getting in fights, etc and everyone thinks that he just has a terrible attitude, but he actually has severe dyslexia and some motor development problems. A teacher at his new school sees what is going on and works to help. It is a beautiful picture of how people can reach one another if they take the time to care and a hard look at how Indian culture does not understand much about people with special needs. Aamir Khan (producer, director, and actor in it) does a lot of work to try to bring awareness to the reality of situations that Indian society as a whole is not very open to or knowledgeable of. He also starred in Rang De Basanti.
So there are my blurbs and a few thoughts on each. I am excited about this new genre of great movies to explore :)
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Amritsar
I am quite behind on posts, but it's been a busy few days as my time in India is winding down. So I'll take a break from packing to try to do justice to our overnight trip to Amritsar the middle of this past week.
Wednesday morning was an early one as we got up and left the residence at 6:15 so that we could make our 7:05 train to Amritsar. I love train rides and don't hate the mornings, so I was very excited :) After half of us getting a little lost when we got separated from the lead half of the group and Hemanshu because of the mass of people, we all made it to platform 2 and found our seats. I was a little sad that the train didn't have compartments like the Hogwarts Express, but alas, you can't have everything in life. Catherine, Amy, and I settled into our seats that were very much like airplane seats, except plastic instead of cloth, and prepared for our 6hr journey north. We filled the 6hrs with lots of conversation, investigating and enjoying the breakfast we were given, drinking black tea (with varying levels of sugar and creamer depending on which one of us you looked at), and making a number of trips (thanks to the tea) to the squat toilet which was one of the cleanest we'd seen and had the fun factor of one being able to see the ground beneath the train right below it! At last the train pulled into its last stop and we disembarked into the frenzy of taxi/rickshaw drivers spotting the white people and descending upon us. Luckily, our blue-turbaned guide found us immediately and led the way to our bus. And I was delighted to find that it as smaller than our other monstrosity, not bright blue and yellow, and did not have TOURIST written boldly across the front :)
After settling our things into the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (which we did not find to be too ritzy), we headed out to a delicious long afternoon lunch and then made our way outside of town to the Waga border crossing where we were going to watch the closing of the border between Pakistan and India which happens every night. I didn't really know what to expect, but I would never have guessed what we were in for! The border area consists of two decorated gates, flags, and grandstands on both sides (in different syles) so that people can watch the show every night. We got to our seats and there was music playing while people lined up for the opportunity to run the length of the street carrying an Indian flag. Eventually the music changed from random to more popular music from Bollywood movies and a dance party started in the street with a bunch of young (and some older) women. I really wanted to dance with them, but was cowed by not knowing what they would think of me and, much more of a factor in my decision, the female soldier who was doing crowd control in our area terrified me! So I just enjoyed their enthusiasm from afar. Most of the soldiers wandering around were either in camo or plain officer uniforms. A few, though, were wearing tan uniforms that stopped mid-thigh where they met these big white shoe covers and headdresses (for lack of a better word) of bright red feathers - and they were definitely chosen for their height already, so they towered above everyone else. At 6:15pm, right on the dot, the official show began. A man who clearly was the emcee of the situation pulled out a microphone and started cheers and went around pointing to the different sections to encourage the crowd to cheer louder. It absolutely had the feel of a giant pep rally or sporting event. Now, I had heard that the soldiers would be "preening" for one another and there really is no other way to describe it! The Indian feathered guards went through an elaborate series of lines, marching, gun-handling and one-by-one made their way to the gate that met Pakistan where they would literally strike a pose of showing off their muscles to the Pakistani guards on the other side. It sounded like similar things were going on on the Pakistan side, but I can't say for sure because everytime our side was quiet enough to hear anything from Pakistan, Indian trumpets blared and the crowd erupted again, determined to out-shout the Pakistanis. [Aside: we could see from our seats that people eventually arrived on the Pakistan side, but that there was maybe a tenth of the people over there than on the India side. Hemanshu said that it is always like that and it is probably 1) because of the outcome of the conflict, the Indians feel like they have a lot to prove and want to clearly demonstrate their national pride, and 2) Amritsar is only 30 kilometers from the border while the closest Pakistani city is 60 kilometers.] This whole display went on for at least 30 minutes before the flags even were involved. The ceremony then finished up with a looong process of opening the two gates, preparing to lower the flags (both right next to the gate and the ones that were on top of the respective gate buildings), and then lowering them all very slowly, precisely and with much trumpet-blasting, all synchronized so that no one flag was lowered before others. I have never seen anything like this display of national pride, especially not with something that happens every night! It was pretty awesome to witness.
On our way back to the hotel we decided that we would meet at 6am to get to the Golden Temple early the next morning, so we had nothing planned for the night. Hemanshu said that he was going to go to the Golden Temple around 9:30pm because he likes seeing it during different times of the day. Prof Mason, Catherine, Amy, and I went with him (involving two interesting rickshaw rides that I rode backwards on and my eternal gratitude to Amy for holding me tightly the whole way to keep me from falling). Some of us wanted to explore individually so we agreed to meet back at the entrance side of the temple pool an hour later. It was a breath-taking place at night. The brilliant gold of the temple shone beautifully in the dark water of the large pool that it sits on and there are thousands of people who visit it every day. The temple complex never closes (though the holy book gets "put to sleep" around 10:30 or 11 each night), so many people come and sleep in the alcoves, and there is a kitchen that serves about 40,000 people a day for free. I wandered very slowly just drinking everything in and trying to ignore the fact that I was drawing as many stares as ever. Less than a quarter of the way around, a group of 4 girls (ages 7-14) said hello to me and then proceeded to adopt me into their group. I sat down with them and we stumbled through introducing ourselves, them teaching me that "hanji" means "yes", and establishing that 3 of them were sisters and the other was a schoolmate. They then took me back to the alcove to introduce me to their mother, two older sisters, and older brother (I think I startled him because he was sleeping, but they woke him up to introduce him to me, and he looked rather surprised to find a white girl sitting at his head when he woke up, haha). I sat with them for a few minutes, took their picture, and then said that I was going to keep walking to meet my friends and enjoy the temple. We parted with smiles and "namiste"s all around and I continued on. The girls caught up with me not 20 yards away and said they'd walk with me. Though communication was a major barrier, we laughed through our language blunders and I was happy for their company as it made the guys (and one awkward middle-aged man) who had been following me disperse. We talked some about family (I successfully told them that I have two older sisters and a brother-in-law) and the youngest, Trinka, told me that I looked like Hannah Montana, haha. At one point, two families with small children were walking with us and took pictures with me, too. We got back to the appointed meeting place and the girls decided to wait with me so they could meet my friends. While we waited, I met a very nice young woman named Rosie who approached them to ask something about her phone service (I think) and then realized that we couldn't understand one another so she translated because she is a student at the University of Delhi and speaks good English. I also had a brief but nice conversation with an older Sikh man who asked me where I was from and then told me about a school in Amritsar for Christians who are converting to Sikhism. Hemanshu, Prof Mason, and the girls arrived shortly and after introducing Catherine and Amy to my new friends, I had to tell them goodbye and we headed out. It was such a lovely experience and I was so grateful that I had decided to come to the temple that night or I would have missed it! Prof Mason said that young women who are alone seem to have experiences like that much more often than any young men he's ever taken to India. I guess people are more prone to adopting the lost looking girls, haha.
After a very short night's sleep, we loaded up into the bus for the whole group to the Temple. It was storming when we woke up, but the rain stopped as we gathered in the lobby. The overcast feel of the sky, however, stayed which meant we had the lucky experience of seeing the Golden Temple in the daytime without being scorched by the sun as we walked along the white marble. On my way to gather in a corner with our guide, I saw my friends from the night before and we exchanged happy waves and then a sweet voice next to me said "Do you remember me?" And it was Rosie :) We chatted just for a few minutes and then had to separate as I went to hear the guide. It was nice to feel like the night before was real. There was a miscommunication on my end somehow and after initial talk from our guide, I thought that we were wandering on our own again and would meet in an hour at the front. I had a lovely hour of taking pictures, having pictures taken of me (sometimes just me standing there, sometimes with people being in them with me), and appreciating the beauty of the inside of the temple because I hadn't gone in the night before. I wandered to the meeting spot on time and didn't see anyone, but wasn't worried. I turned my phone on just in case and then pleasantly continued to take in the people bathing in the pool, the small children playing, and the general colorful mix of people all around me. When 5 minutes had passed with no sign of any others from the group, I began to wonder if I had somehow been left, but wasn't concerned and just decided I would stay there because that would be the easy place for them to find me when they came back to look for me. My phone rang then and it was Hemanshu telling me that they were all in the inner sanctum of the temple and would be at the front in 15 minutes or so. I was surprised that they had all managed to end up there at the same time, but happily sat down by the pool to wait and have some quiet time of prayer. When they got there, someone asked me how I had gotten lost. "What do you mean 'lost'? Were we supposed to all be together?" Apparently the guide was going to lead us all around the temple! Though they got to see the kitchens which was interesting, many people had wished they could have wandered on their own, not finding our guide to be their favorite. Prof Mason asked me how I had escaped and I said I didn't realize that I had. He said he kept trying to, but the guide would corral him back in, haha. Most of the group was hungry for breakfast by this point, but Prof Mason and Hemanshu wanted some alone time (sans guide), so the two of them, and Catherine, Amy, and I stayed for another hour or so. After a lovely morning there we went to a street restaurant and had a delicious Indian breakfast since the hotel breakfast was already closed, went back to the hotel and took a 45 minute nap, and then reconvened at noon to check out of the hotel.
Our train back to Delhi didn't leave until 5 so we visited the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial, the site where British troops opened fire on hundred of unarmed Indians without warning, many of whom jumped in a well to try to escape. It was a beautiful but heart-breaking place to be. Hemanshu said that this event was a turning point in Indians' understanding and unification towards separating from the British. I was reminded of the scene in The Patriot when Colonel Tavington has the church full of villagers burned down, unable to see that nothing could and would strengthen the resistance more than actions like that.
After an ice cream stop and a delicious lunch (the ice cream was while we were figuring out where to go to lunch, haha), it was back to the train station and another 6hr drive of conversation, tea, reading "Three Cups of Tea", and attempting to doze. Then an exhausted return to Neeti Bagh and finally some sweet sleep :)
Wednesday morning was an early one as we got up and left the residence at 6:15 so that we could make our 7:05 train to Amritsar. I love train rides and don't hate the mornings, so I was very excited :) After half of us getting a little lost when we got separated from the lead half of the group and Hemanshu because of the mass of people, we all made it to platform 2 and found our seats. I was a little sad that the train didn't have compartments like the Hogwarts Express, but alas, you can't have everything in life. Catherine, Amy, and I settled into our seats that were very much like airplane seats, except plastic instead of cloth, and prepared for our 6hr journey north. We filled the 6hrs with lots of conversation, investigating and enjoying the breakfast we were given, drinking black tea (with varying levels of sugar and creamer depending on which one of us you looked at), and making a number of trips (thanks to the tea) to the squat toilet which was one of the cleanest we'd seen and had the fun factor of one being able to see the ground beneath the train right below it! At last the train pulled into its last stop and we disembarked into the frenzy of taxi/rickshaw drivers spotting the white people and descending upon us. Luckily, our blue-turbaned guide found us immediately and led the way to our bus. And I was delighted to find that it as smaller than our other monstrosity, not bright blue and yellow, and did not have TOURIST written boldly across the front :)
After settling our things into the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (which we did not find to be too ritzy), we headed out to a delicious long afternoon lunch and then made our way outside of town to the Waga border crossing where we were going to watch the closing of the border between Pakistan and India which happens every night. I didn't really know what to expect, but I would never have guessed what we were in for! The border area consists of two decorated gates, flags, and grandstands on both sides (in different syles) so that people can watch the show every night. We got to our seats and there was music playing while people lined up for the opportunity to run the length of the street carrying an Indian flag. Eventually the music changed from random to more popular music from Bollywood movies and a dance party started in the street with a bunch of young (and some older) women. I really wanted to dance with them, but was cowed by not knowing what they would think of me and, much more of a factor in my decision, the female soldier who was doing crowd control in our area terrified me! So I just enjoyed their enthusiasm from afar. Most of the soldiers wandering around were either in camo or plain officer uniforms. A few, though, were wearing tan uniforms that stopped mid-thigh where they met these big white shoe covers and headdresses (for lack of a better word) of bright red feathers - and they were definitely chosen for their height already, so they towered above everyone else. At 6:15pm, right on the dot, the official show began. A man who clearly was the emcee of the situation pulled out a microphone and started cheers and went around pointing to the different sections to encourage the crowd to cheer louder. It absolutely had the feel of a giant pep rally or sporting event. Now, I had heard that the soldiers would be "preening" for one another and there really is no other way to describe it! The Indian feathered guards went through an elaborate series of lines, marching, gun-handling and one-by-one made their way to the gate that met Pakistan where they would literally strike a pose of showing off their muscles to the Pakistani guards on the other side. It sounded like similar things were going on on the Pakistan side, but I can't say for sure because everytime our side was quiet enough to hear anything from Pakistan, Indian trumpets blared and the crowd erupted again, determined to out-shout the Pakistanis. [Aside: we could see from our seats that people eventually arrived on the Pakistan side, but that there was maybe a tenth of the people over there than on the India side. Hemanshu said that it is always like that and it is probably 1) because of the outcome of the conflict, the Indians feel like they have a lot to prove and want to clearly demonstrate their national pride, and 2) Amritsar is only 30 kilometers from the border while the closest Pakistani city is 60 kilometers.] This whole display went on for at least 30 minutes before the flags even were involved. The ceremony then finished up with a looong process of opening the two gates, preparing to lower the flags (both right next to the gate and the ones that were on top of the respective gate buildings), and then lowering them all very slowly, precisely and with much trumpet-blasting, all synchronized so that no one flag was lowered before others. I have never seen anything like this display of national pride, especially not with something that happens every night! It was pretty awesome to witness.
On our way back to the hotel we decided that we would meet at 6am to get to the Golden Temple early the next morning, so we had nothing planned for the night. Hemanshu said that he was going to go to the Golden Temple around 9:30pm because he likes seeing it during different times of the day. Prof Mason, Catherine, Amy, and I went with him (involving two interesting rickshaw rides that I rode backwards on and my eternal gratitude to Amy for holding me tightly the whole way to keep me from falling). Some of us wanted to explore individually so we agreed to meet back at the entrance side of the temple pool an hour later. It was a breath-taking place at night. The brilliant gold of the temple shone beautifully in the dark water of the large pool that it sits on and there are thousands of people who visit it every day. The temple complex never closes (though the holy book gets "put to sleep" around 10:30 or 11 each night), so many people come and sleep in the alcoves, and there is a kitchen that serves about 40,000 people a day for free. I wandered very slowly just drinking everything in and trying to ignore the fact that I was drawing as many stares as ever. Less than a quarter of the way around, a group of 4 girls (ages 7-14) said hello to me and then proceeded to adopt me into their group. I sat down with them and we stumbled through introducing ourselves, them teaching me that "hanji" means "yes", and establishing that 3 of them were sisters and the other was a schoolmate. They then took me back to the alcove to introduce me to their mother, two older sisters, and older brother (I think I startled him because he was sleeping, but they woke him up to introduce him to me, and he looked rather surprised to find a white girl sitting at his head when he woke up, haha). I sat with them for a few minutes, took their picture, and then said that I was going to keep walking to meet my friends and enjoy the temple. We parted with smiles and "namiste"s all around and I continued on. The girls caught up with me not 20 yards away and said they'd walk with me. Though communication was a major barrier, we laughed through our language blunders and I was happy for their company as it made the guys (and one awkward middle-aged man) who had been following me disperse. We talked some about family (I successfully told them that I have two older sisters and a brother-in-law) and the youngest, Trinka, told me that I looked like Hannah Montana, haha. At one point, two families with small children were walking with us and took pictures with me, too. We got back to the appointed meeting place and the girls decided to wait with me so they could meet my friends. While we waited, I met a very nice young woman named Rosie who approached them to ask something about her phone service (I think) and then realized that we couldn't understand one another so she translated because she is a student at the University of Delhi and speaks good English. I also had a brief but nice conversation with an older Sikh man who asked me where I was from and then told me about a school in Amritsar for Christians who are converting to Sikhism. Hemanshu, Prof Mason, and the girls arrived shortly and after introducing Catherine and Amy to my new friends, I had to tell them goodbye and we headed out. It was such a lovely experience and I was so grateful that I had decided to come to the temple that night or I would have missed it! Prof Mason said that young women who are alone seem to have experiences like that much more often than any young men he's ever taken to India. I guess people are more prone to adopting the lost looking girls, haha.
After a very short night's sleep, we loaded up into the bus for the whole group to the Temple. It was storming when we woke up, but the rain stopped as we gathered in the lobby. The overcast feel of the sky, however, stayed which meant we had the lucky experience of seeing the Golden Temple in the daytime without being scorched by the sun as we walked along the white marble. On my way to gather in a corner with our guide, I saw my friends from the night before and we exchanged happy waves and then a sweet voice next to me said "Do you remember me?" And it was Rosie :) We chatted just for a few minutes and then had to separate as I went to hear the guide. It was nice to feel like the night before was real. There was a miscommunication on my end somehow and after initial talk from our guide, I thought that we were wandering on our own again and would meet in an hour at the front. I had a lovely hour of taking pictures, having pictures taken of me (sometimes just me standing there, sometimes with people being in them with me), and appreciating the beauty of the inside of the temple because I hadn't gone in the night before. I wandered to the meeting spot on time and didn't see anyone, but wasn't worried. I turned my phone on just in case and then pleasantly continued to take in the people bathing in the pool, the small children playing, and the general colorful mix of people all around me. When 5 minutes had passed with no sign of any others from the group, I began to wonder if I had somehow been left, but wasn't concerned and just decided I would stay there because that would be the easy place for them to find me when they came back to look for me. My phone rang then and it was Hemanshu telling me that they were all in the inner sanctum of the temple and would be at the front in 15 minutes or so. I was surprised that they had all managed to end up there at the same time, but happily sat down by the pool to wait and have some quiet time of prayer. When they got there, someone asked me how I had gotten lost. "What do you mean 'lost'? Were we supposed to all be together?" Apparently the guide was going to lead us all around the temple! Though they got to see the kitchens which was interesting, many people had wished they could have wandered on their own, not finding our guide to be their favorite. Prof Mason asked me how I had escaped and I said I didn't realize that I had. He said he kept trying to, but the guide would corral him back in, haha. Most of the group was hungry for breakfast by this point, but Prof Mason and Hemanshu wanted some alone time (sans guide), so the two of them, and Catherine, Amy, and I stayed for another hour or so. After a lovely morning there we went to a street restaurant and had a delicious Indian breakfast since the hotel breakfast was already closed, went back to the hotel and took a 45 minute nap, and then reconvened at noon to check out of the hotel.
Our train back to Delhi didn't leave until 5 so we visited the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial, the site where British troops opened fire on hundred of unarmed Indians without warning, many of whom jumped in a well to try to escape. It was a beautiful but heart-breaking place to be. Hemanshu said that this event was a turning point in Indians' understanding and unification towards separating from the British. I was reminded of the scene in The Patriot when Colonel Tavington has the church full of villagers burned down, unable to see that nothing could and would strengthen the resistance more than actions like that.
After an ice cream stop and a delicious lunch (the ice cream was while we were figuring out where to go to lunch, haha), it was back to the train station and another 6hr drive of conversation, tea, reading "Three Cups of Tea", and attempting to doze. Then an exhausted return to Neeti Bagh and finally some sweet sleep :)
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
A walk in the park
This afternoon was rare in that we finished class early and there were not plans to go to a market, historic palace or fort, or some other sightseeing around Delhi. Since we have to leave the residence at 6:15am tomorrow to catch our train to Amritsar, I didn't particularly feel the need to go looking for something to do in the city. I decided, instead, that I was going to go read while walking in the neighborhood park.
One of the things that I love about Neeti Bagh (and communities in India in general) is that they are still designed on the premise that not everyone has a car and, even if they have one, they shouldn't have to hop in it whenever they need the smallest thing. Within a few minutes walk down the street from my door I can reach Neeti Bagh's small market that has two 24hr ATMs, a chemist (aka pharmacist), a stand that sells soft drinks and chips, a pet hospital, a tailor, and two salons (one for women and one for men - although the men's is called the "Beauty Saloon"...don't ask me). Walking down the street a few minutes the other direction and about 30 seconds outside the gates of Neeti Bagh is another small market that has a few take-out restaurants (both delicious!), a few small "grocery stores", a tailor, and a number of other small businesses. Along the street and within the neighborhood there are always numerous fruit and vegetable carts and usually a wandering ice cream stand. There are a number of small fields in the neighborhood, so there is always at least one game of cricket going on. And in the center of Neeti Bagh is the park.
The park is lovely - I am enchanted with it. Though there are gates on all sides of the fence, only the one that leads the path in is kept unlocked, so that is where the guard sits (guards are everywhere in India - stores, ATMs, parks, residences). I am horrible with judging sizes/numbers/distances of things, so I don't know how big it is, but it is quite large enough for all that I'm about to describe to you. There is a brick path that runs all the way around the park, with a dirt path running alongside it - as a runner, I appreciate the option of surfaces, especially as the dirt is easier on the knees - not that I've been running here, though, haha! There are trees around the paths and inside the paths there is a huge green space that has trees, benches, open spaces, wire animals (elephants, kangaroos, tigers...), sprinklers, and many friendly dogs.
When I got there at 5:30, there were only a few other people there. It was still a little early for Indians to be voluntarily spending time out-of-doors. Since the sun was on its way down and I was not directly in it, it felt quite pleasant and I was greatly enjoying walking along the path with my book (I have since checked to see what the temperature was then - never in my life did I think I would reach a place where 106 degrees felt pleasant!). As time passed, the park came alive. By the time Catherine joined me at 6:30, it was full of children chasing each other or playing cricket or playing soccer with their parents, adults in 2s and 3s walking briskly together, people relaxing on the benches, and a few adults helping their elderly parents walk along the dirt path with their walkers. I couldn't get enough of it!
The book that I am reading is "Three Cups of Tea." My sister Suzanne has been telling me to read it for ages and now that I am almost halfway through, please allow me to say: if you haven't read it - PLEASE go get it now! It's amazing. But that's a whole separate blog that I will get to once I'm done, haha. As I was reading and walking today, I was reading a part of the book where Greg (the man the book follows) is thinking about life in America versus life in the Pakistani village where he is trying to build a school for the children. At one point he quotes a Bhutan king who says that the true measure of a nation's success is not its gross national product, but rather its "gross national happiness." When I read that, I couldn't help but look up and see the happiness in the community around me.
I love that community. I love that people find joy in coming to the park in the early evening in whatever state they choose to come in -some men in business slacks and shirts; some women who had donned sneakers with their sarees or salwar camiz- and interact with one another. To me it seems like this is their transition from day to night, from job to home, from business world to family world. How lovely to make that transition out in the park with one another, with family, with friends, with children, rather than the sad-but-often-true American transition of coming home, turning the TV on and maybe having the family all in one room watching the same thing. There is a joy found in community (and it is palpable here) that simply cannot be found alone. Are we keeping that joy confined in our own individual houses or have we lost it all together? If the former, why do we not recognize that that joy could be so much greater when shared with others? And if, sadly, the latter, are we even aware that we're missing something so vital?
Community is essential. That is a lesson that I have been learning constantly for the past year and a half. I pray that I will remember that and that others will too. We are relational beings and we can't love others well if we're never with them!
***
When I reached the park to begin my reading and walking today, I realized that I hadn't brought anything with me except my book - no wallet, no camera. I decided that I would step back from the tourist and just be a Neeti Bagh resident, just walking and reading in my Indian clothes and Indian shoes in my Indian park with my Indian neighbors. I would just soak it in. And I did :)
One of the things that I love about Neeti Bagh (and communities in India in general) is that they are still designed on the premise that not everyone has a car and, even if they have one, they shouldn't have to hop in it whenever they need the smallest thing. Within a few minutes walk down the street from my door I can reach Neeti Bagh's small market that has two 24hr ATMs, a chemist (aka pharmacist), a stand that sells soft drinks and chips, a pet hospital, a tailor, and two salons (one for women and one for men - although the men's is called the "Beauty Saloon"...don't ask me). Walking down the street a few minutes the other direction and about 30 seconds outside the gates of Neeti Bagh is another small market that has a few take-out restaurants (both delicious!), a few small "grocery stores", a tailor, and a number of other small businesses. Along the street and within the neighborhood there are always numerous fruit and vegetable carts and usually a wandering ice cream stand. There are a number of small fields in the neighborhood, so there is always at least one game of cricket going on. And in the center of Neeti Bagh is the park.
The park is lovely - I am enchanted with it. Though there are gates on all sides of the fence, only the one that leads the path in is kept unlocked, so that is where the guard sits (guards are everywhere in India - stores, ATMs, parks, residences
When I got there at 5:30, there were only a few other people there. It was still a little early for Indians to be voluntarily spending time out-of-doors. Since the sun was on its way down and I was not directly in it, it felt quite pleasant and I was greatly enjoying walking along the path with my book (I have since checked to see what the temperature was then - never in my life did I think I would reach a place where 106 degrees felt pleasant!). As time passed, the park came alive. By the time Catherine joined me at 6:30, it was full of children chasing each other or playing cricket or playing soccer with their parents, adults in 2s and 3s walking briskly together, people relaxing on the benches, and a few adults helping their elderly parents walk along the dirt path with their walkers. I couldn't get enough of it!
The book that I am reading is "Three Cups of Tea." My sister Suzanne has been telling me to read it for ages and now that I am almost halfway through, please allow me to say: if you haven't read it - PLEASE go get it now! It's amazing. But that's a whole separate blog that I will get to once I'm done, haha. As I was reading and walking today, I was reading a part of the book where Greg (the man the book follows) is thinking about life in America versus life in the Pakistani village where he is trying to build a school for the children. At one point he quotes a Bhutan king who says that the true measure of a nation's success is not its gross national product, but rather its "gross national happiness." When I read that, I couldn't help but look up and see the happiness in the community around me.
I love that community. I love that people find joy in coming to the park in the early evening in whatever state they choose to come in -some men in business slacks and shirts; some women who had donned sneakers with their sarees or salwar camiz- and interact with one another. To me it seems like this is their transition from day to night, from job to home, from business world to family world. How lovely to make that transition out in the park with one another, with family, with friends, with children, rather than the sad-but-often-true American transition of coming home, turning the TV on and maybe having the family all in one room watching the same thing. There is a joy found in community (and it is palpable here) that simply cannot be found alone. Are we keeping that joy confined in our own individual houses or have we lost it all together? If the former, why do we not recognize that that joy could be so much greater when shared with others? And if, sadly, the latter, are we even aware that we're missing something so vital?
Community is essential. That is a lesson that I have been learning constantly for the past year and a half. I pray that I will remember that and that others will too. We are relational beings and we can't love others well if we're never with them!
***
When I reached the park to begin my reading and walking today, I realized that I hadn't brought anything with me except my book - no wallet, no camera. I decided that I would step back from the tourist and just be a Neeti Bagh resident, just walking and reading in my Indian clothes and Indian shoes in my Indian park with my Indian neighbors. I would just soak it in. And I did :)
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