Majestic Mysore

Mysore is about a 3 hour drive (200 km) southwest of Bangalore. We left Bangalore early in the morning for a daytrip to Mysore. During the trip we were able to see Mysore Palace, Chamundi Hill, and a silk factory.

A brief background on Mysore: The name comes from a place called Mahisasura where a demon (Mahisuara) was slain by a goddess (Chamundi). Mysore was founded by the Wodeyar dynasty in 1399, but remained in the power of the Vijayanagar empire until mid 1500s.

Mysore Palace was where the Wodeyar maharajas lived. In 1897, during the eldest daughter’s wedding, there was a devastating fire and the entire palace needed to be rebuilt. English architect Edward Irvin rebuilt the palace by 1912. The most interested things we learned was that the last day of Navratri, Dussehra, is a huge event in Mysore. [The 9 day long festival of Navratri represents the triumph of good (Hindu deity Ram) over evil (Hindu deity Ravan).] The king would sit on a howdah made from 300 lbs of gold during the festival to thank all the good fortune in his life. 

Chamundi Hill was also a beautiful view and the Sri Chamundeswari Temple was interesting to see. Most noteable, though, are the monkeys. A hilarious memory: being attacked by monkeys and throwing our cold drink at them while tripping on a light pole behind us and falling to the ground. Plenty of people around to view and laugh at our experience.

The Government Silk Factory was an amazing experience! Definitely a go-to if you go to Mysore. The factory is not very traveled, but the entire silk making process (omitting the cocoon to thread step) is done there and viewable to the public. To top it off, it was entirely free. The silk making process as I remember it being explained:

1. Winding thread to a bigger roll
2. Doubling two pieces of thread
3. Twisting the two pieces of thread together
4. Rewinding thread 
5. Warping: 85 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes
6. Threading onto 900 meter roll
7. Weaving 14,800 strings (width) into a 6.3 meter long sari. This step takes 4 hours.
8. Bleaching fabric- gold thread isn’t affected
9. Dying fabric
10. Ironing fabric
11. Final analysis to ensure quality is up to standard. 

Things I Miss...

During the NRI (non-resident Indian) season there are lots of families from abroad that come to India and visit family and friends, as well as travel. It’s evident from all the stores (specifically jewelry and clothing) posting large “NRI SALES!!” signs. In any case, I digress.

The point of my post is to shed light on the things I miss, apart from people. I am blessed to have people traveling from the states and asking me what I want from there because I may miss it here. Luckily though, I've adjusted well to the products available here: beauty, hygiene, clothes, etc. In reality the things I miss have more to do with lifestyle.

I miss independence the most. The single woman traveling creates a lot of angst for family members and moving around is cushioned by messages ensuring my safety and comfort. I knew in my heart it comes from love, but I struggled with this when I went to Delhi. I understood the worry since the terrible Delhi rape incident had happened only a few days prior, but in all honesty, I missed the freedom to roam about and discover things for myself. I am slowly understanding the different way of life for a girl versus boy in India, but it still seems foreign and I find it hard to not question.

I miss clarity. The ever-present “Indian standard time” (a term used to describe the regular tardiness of Indians) is on steroids here. This has been crazy hard for me to deal with professionally, as well as personally. I have always been fond of planning and having a schedule (sometimes even in the form of Excel spreadsheets) and the ability to create a schedule in India and stick to it is dreadful. Even for classroom settings it is hard- festivals and celebrations constantly trample through plans and dance around them until they’re fully disheveled.

I miss luxuries. I’ve gotten quite used to bucket baths, but I miss standing showers and dry spaces to change into clothes. Indian bathrooms are all one level- for the most part. The shower head is generally not working (hard water creates calcium blockages) so you shower from two buckets, a bucket of water and a small bucket to pour on yourself. In either case, I enjoy the reduction of water consumption, but I still get soap in my eyes when I wash my hair.

So those are some of the things I miss. I’ve acclimated to life in India fairly well, but there are definitely things I’m looking forward to when I come back to the states.

PS - I also miss Mexican food, Thai food, In-n-out, a sturdy internet connection and driving my car with the windows down.

Summing Up Seva

I closed the Seva chapter of my trip a week ago. It was similar to when I quit work- lots of emotions and feeling a little threadbare after having left everyone. My relationship with India has formed through the lens of service, and my time was spent with Indians who live without the luxury of things I took for granted. I am excited to see family but to some degree I feel like it’s a persona changing experience. The luxuries we claim, as NRIs, are so harshly different from the lives of the people I have interacted with for the past 5 months. I’m not ashamed of the experiences I've been privileged to have in my 25 years of life, rather, I’m struggling with how to let my heart feel comfortable having see the other side of things. Some may say ignorance would have been bliss.

On a positive note (I do still dub myself a realistic optimist), I have loved the experiences of the last five months. I have met so many amazing children and inspiring people. My time has really planted a seed in my heart to return in some capacity and be part of India again.

A few of my most special experiences were eating pani puri roadside with some of the kids and talking to one of the girls about resolving a quarrel with her friends. The friendships built through the Dosti Project have been so incredibly amazing to see and hearing the children scream “Ami-didi” when they saw me are memories that will remain close to my heart. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have spent these five months here. It sounds so cliché but I am pretty sure I gained more from this experience than I was able to give.

All and all one of my biggest lessons learned has been the importance of clarity of heart. My heart and mind were focused on service when I left the states in August. Unfortunately, my first go wasn't as smooth as I would've hoped. The fallout left me in a week-long haze of confusion, but then I found a new organization and miraculously was able to focus back on my original intent. Opportunities presented themselves organically and I was able to persevere through daily obstacles because I had clarity of heart.

Another Dose of Dosti

Tuesday January 8th was our third round of the Dosti program. As a review, 32 children were paired together: one coming from a very humble backgound and living in a hostel in Gandhi Ashram and one from a much more affluent background going to a private school in Ahemdabad. The days together have been quite positive and children have gone from barely talking to giggling together.

While planning the last day with the children living in the ashram shala in Gandhi Ashram, the children suggested a wide array of activities. With the 5 hours they would spend together, the children wanted to play sports, make cards, dance, sing, and water trees. Yes, that's right- one of their ideas to spend their fun time together was water the trees in the ashram. It was very beautiful to hear their idea to do seva. Needless to say, we included that in the program.

Other activities for the day included football (soccer), badminton, rangoli (an artistic creation made from colored powder), a three-legged race, and an introduction to the importance of service. The heartwarming end to the day was hearing some of the girls ask me for a pen so they could write their buddy's phone number in their notebook.

Strength of the Human Spirit

Grieving with a shocking death in the family, the last few days have been quiet and somber. Indian traditions for post-death ceremonies vary vastly depending upon religion, region, and caste. Basically we held a two hour ‘besna’ (bes means sit) for everyone that knew Akash (younger cousin, 20 years old) to come spend time together and pay respects to the family. During the ceremony, there was traditional music performed as well as prayers lead. Other than that, we have been staying in the home and spending time with family/friends who visit.

Akash was a very lively guy who was passionate about cars, food, and music. This was my first time building a relationship with him and after a few weeks I had begun to treat him as a little brother. He was constantly out with friends after dinner and created many schemes to get out of classwork- reminded me of my high school days. I was consistently amused and secretly a fan of the hip-hop he’d have playing in the car and will always remember his carefree attitude and loving personality.

This morning was the first time we ventured out of the house. We chose to drive to a lake (Thol Lake) about 40 km away from the city. The lake is also a bird sanctuary and we came to watch the sunrise. Waking up before dawn was difficult, but the views were peaceful and getting out of the house was a good break. There is no quick solution to a tragedy like this but starting to understand the strength of the human spirit and spending time writing, reading, and connecting with family. 

Miracle of a Minute

After finishing chopping veggies for lunch, I was sitting and responding to emails while the aunties completed the actual cooking (volunteers help with prep, but we are rarely allowed to actually cook- most likely because we are too slow lol). Anyways, I was sitting in the large room before the kitchen. One side of the room opens to a computer lab, with floor-to-ceiling clear plastic walls, another door opens to the store of traditional clothing created by women in the community (another blog entry in itself).

Then, through the front door, a man in a bright orange pagri (similar to a turban) walks into the room holding a musical instrument I’ve never seen before. I was quickly told it was called a ‘ravanahatha’ and that it was a traditional instrument from Rajasthan with a sound similar to a violin. 

Within a minute of the man walking into the room a staff member grabbed a dhol and a jam session of sorts began. Various other instruments were introduced and before we knew it there was an amazing energy in the room and an ordinary minute was transformed into something unforgettable.

I’ve included a video and picture below. The video is of the last song he shared with us- during the song before a volunteer graciously placed a plate for appreciative notes. I want to point that out since he selflessly shared music without every mentioning the desire of payment. Maybe this is another example of gift-economy?

It’s hard to capture this experience in words, but it was amazing and random and SO India.

Dosti

Preface: Dosti means friendship in Hindi.

The disparity in quality regarding Indian education is drastic. Municipal schools (only free until 8^th standard) are over-capacity and under-served. There have been moves recently to improve the situation (Right to Education Act), but sheer volume makes this a difficult situation. On the other hand, private schools (which are attended by all that can afford it) are generally creative environments with a range of skills taught, including sports, drama, art, music, etc.

India, as a country, is a vast and diverse community. However, it is left divided due the social pressures related to wealth. For example, it is quite likely that a child attending private-school is not aware of the hardships another child his age perseveres through on a daily basis; hardships like malnutrition, inadequate education, and unhygienic housing. Likewise, less-fortunate children are unlikely to understand that importance of discipline and education as a foundation for their lives.

Tuesday, November 6^th, was the first session of a program called Dosti. I spoke about this program in an earlier post- the idea is to create relationships between groups of children that would normally not interact. The event was facilitated through buddy groups between one student attending municipal school and one attending a local private-school. The pairs completed various activities to help them get-to-know each other.  They created nametags and a group painting, as well as completed a trust obstacle course and learned about Gandhiji together.

We debriefed with both groups of children afterwards and asked them what they learned through the day. The children attending private schools said they felt the other students were nicer to each other (specially, “treat each other as family”) and didn’t have cliques like they had in their school. The municipal school children mentioned the high level of discipline and respect the other students have and how well-spoken they are.

All in all, the day was a success in that the seed of friendship was planted. I am excited to plan another installment and to assist in the creation of new friendships built on the foundation of understanding and love.

Please enjoy the collage I created below of the days events.