Namaste - India!

October 27, 2007

Before you read about India, I would like to say that many view this country as poverty stricken. People felt sad and helpless at the level of poverty and inhumane conditions they saw people live in. So many were depraved of clean potable water, shelter, food, medicine. There is an India that is not much discussed in the face of this heart-wrenching poverty. There is an India which impacts the price of gold worldwide because of the heavy demand for it during their wedding season. There is the India that lives in the bollywood of their (and our) fantasies – upper and upper middle class living in luxury, with new imported cars, mansions, and beautiful clothes. There are the rich in India who thank their gods for their wealth and give money and jewelry to their Brahmins but not to give funds that will enable the creation of a better social welfare system that will truly break down class and caste barriers. There are those who think and write about poverty and how to end it as they sit in their offices not having to worry about hunger pains and lack of medical care for themselves. I wonder if perhaps countries should be discussed not in whether one is third or first world but rather the division between the worlds within one nation and how that great divide looks like. I don’t know how the problem of poverty can be solved but I hope that those who are not impoverished work on solving this issue rather than just wish it away.

We loved India! I think that I say that about every country we visited by the way J. Using a John Denver phrase (and by the way, the voyage is making me into a John Denver fan so watch out) India filled up my senses. I was told that best way to experience India is to take it in slowly and then it becomes something wonderful (thanks Sally!). I decided to do just that by not going to the whirlwind India tour in 4 1/2 days. This meant that I did not go to the Taj, Varanassi, etc. – places that you would more likely associated India with and see on tv and movies. We stayed within 2 hours of the ship most of the time (I was also duty dean for 3 days so actually 1 hour of the ship) in the province of Tamil Nadu where the city of Chennai is located.

For the first two days, we went to Mamallapuram or Mahabalapuram as many people kept telling us (t was two places next to each other by the way). We hired a driver who August and I hope to keep in touch with – Mr. Tulasiram. He was a nice guy and we actually ended up hiring him for 4 days. He did not attempt to take us to any shops, etc. He knew what we wanted and gave us a great tour. The four of us (Paul, Eric, August, and myself) rented 2 rooms at the Ideal Beach Resort. It was so great. We had our own entrance to the beach, the resort was nice and clean, and the food at breakfast so good. Our room was the deluxe and it had its own veranda and very large bathroom. On the first night, we had dinner by the beach at a restaurant called Luna Magica. Funny story – we went out to the town and they had a blackout. Mr. Tulasiram said that this was normal – it could last an hour or half a day depending. It was pitch black in many areas save for the candles you saw lit up from time to time. Our way to the restaurant was scary, funny, and quite an adventure – seriously I am ready for Amazing Race! Mr. T. dropped us off near the beach and said just walk down the narrow street (the car can’t go in) and you will find the restaurant at the end. We got out of the car and started walking. Thank goodness August had the flashlight he bought from REI (I initially gave him a hard time for getting this saying, we can get that in China – thank goodness because all we got in Qingdao is buckets of rain on our heads) and he kept telling this story as he led the way. I decided not to argue for fear that he may just turn off the light. Anyway, we all kept saying this is crazy, I think I hear dogs nearby, don’t stop over this or that, and we would discover people laying out and hanging out on the street saying hello hello or just observing our crew walk tentatively through their neighborhood. We dd find the restaurant at the end of the street and walked up 3 flights of steps. With our deet on, listening to the waves, drinking our Kingfisher beer, and laughing about our misadventures thus far, we ate some of the best seafood ever. Large freshly caught prawns, tuna, curry, rice, garlic naan with butter! We sat there for hours! The lights in the town did get turned on so we found Mr. Tulasiram and headed off to the hotel. At the hotel, we all walked along the beach and watched the moon.

The next day at 5:30 am, all four of us went to the beach and watched the sunrise. The scene was my perfect India – herds of cows strolling amongst us, vendors coming up to try to sell us something, Europeans in linen and cotton blends meditating and doing yoga on the sand, dogs eyeing us, little rafts and boats coming in with fresh seafood and goods, and us listening to the waves as we watched the sun rise. The water was warm although we did not really swim as the currents were pretty wild. After hours in this atmosphere, we had breakfast and went off to explore the temples in the two cities. The temples were GREAT! Many of them were carved out of one big stone and the designs were beautiful. For august and myself, this completed (well, going to Bagan would have also been really important but we did not go there due to the Human Rights abuse going on) our goal to see first hand the religious, cultural, and architectural relationship between Cambodia, Thailand, and India. I can’t even describe to you all that we saw but what amazed me is the reverence and faith people have to build these shrines, temples, monuments to express their feelings for and about their gods. Our final temple (this one was an active temple where the Brahmin priests feed the eagle like birds midday and pray for us) made us walk over 500 steps each way in the hot sun, barefoot! No shoes allowed in temples. We loved it even though I was upset at the way people were “charging’ us falsely at the bottom. Our lunch that day was also yummy – Eric liked that the best. We had grilled fish, more curry, rice with chicken, cooked veggies, and piles of garlic butter naan. We made our way back to Chennai tired, exhausted, but feeling so great to be in India.

Over the next three days, we went out and toured Chennai. We walked on the beach and found out that Chennai’s beach is the second longest coastline in the world, second only to Miami’s. We went to the museum, saw the various parts of the city including Mylapore which is one of the city’s oldest area. We went inside the temple (no shoes again, barefoot, oh so hot) and we were welcomed into various areas. There was a festival going on when we were there so we saw Hindu priests give blessing to the faithful. Some were eating on banana leaves with rice and curried vegetables on top. We saw the Baliwood / Bollywood? Studios / Sets, various universities (Madras was my favorite), the high court (it looked like the Kremlin), St. Thomas Cathedral and found out that only black and dark brown cows get turned into leather goods / materials. The white ones survive and are never bothered. Racism even with the cows – go figure.

Thinking of India overwhelms me and re-reading this entry make me realize that I can’t put into words all that I saw. India was sad, joyful, brilliant colors, laughter, friends, tears, hunger, unlimited food, giving, taking,. I don’t know which story I can say is my favorite about our journey through India. It could be the Semester at Sea student who saved the life of a child she cared for in one of Mother Theresa’s orphanages (She went there everyday on her own to spend entire days with the children). It could be the student who went to do a spiritual pilgrimage and visit specific temples that represent enlightenment (he went to 3 of the 4 because he got tired and they “all looked the same.”) Or it could be the students who finally allowed themselves to let go of their Western values and embrace a culture different from theirs. Or maybe it was the memory of students hugging their new friends from India, their tuk tuk (ok, they call them motor taxis) drivers, or their homes stay families tearfully saying goodbyes and saying that they wished they could stay longer. So I leave India overwhelmed and yet at peace. Surrounded by the Hindu religion with sprinkling of Islam at different moments, this was the country that brought out the Catholic in me. We walked into St. Thomas’ Cathedral which we found out was only one of three cathedrals that an apostle was buried under. In the small chapel where his body / relic was kept, there was a service in Hindu or Tamil. August and I knew exactly what to do and the response, even though we could not really “understand” the language. We were foreign and yet felt at home. Maybe it was that memory that I will take back with me from India. In a land of mostly Hindus, the Catholic in me stepped out and grabbed hold, and I felt strangely at home.