First impressions of India (after Day 2)
• Reminds me of Uganda. A lot. The streets and buildings look very similar, except for the Hindu temples, the Tamil writing on the signs next to English, and rickshaws (small taxis comparable to go-carts). How much of the similarities result from British colonialism, and how much is just coincidence or otherwise?
• Smell of moth balls in bathrooms. Don’t know yet what that’s about. I was told that India has very distinct, strong smells, but so far it’s been mild.
• The head bobble! I never noticed it until I came here, but Indian people do this side-to-side head bobble sometimes when they’re talking. While I think I can do it in the appropriate context, I can’t yet give it words for what it means. Same genre like a wink?
• Very friendly people in the village where I stay. The kids at the school here call me “auntie”—a term of respect for women. Men they call “Sir” or “uncle.” Everyone is incredulous that my name is April when I introduce myself. I get this response when I go to foreign countries where my name translates to “fourth month” and is meaningless when they don’t have seasons. I mean, what parent would name their child “Fourth month”?
• Quite pleased to have P90X at the house and bikes to ride, but I do miss my leafy greens.
• I love the volunteers I’m working with, the shalwar kamiz local clothes provided for me at the house, and I’m REALLY excited to start working tomorrow!
After about 20 hours on planes plus layover times, I arrived in Chennai, India at 1:45 am on Saturday. I wasn’t tired somehow, and I did major catching up in my journal while I waited in the airport for my driver to pick me up at 7:30 am and take me two hours to Thottanaval village where I will be living the next 2.5 months at Rising Star.
The house here is very comfortable and modest by back-home standards, but luxurious for the local neighborhood. We have electricity with daily brief outages, and running water with a tap of drinking water that’s purified on grounds. We do have bucket showers and hole-in-the-ground latrines and, I am spoiled—we have A/C. The Elephant House, as they call the volunteer quarters, is very clean and I currently share a room with another long-term volunteer. At night we all eat dinner together on the roof, and with the arrival today of a large group of U of U MBA students, our disposable plates for a delicious dinner were…banana leaves. Coolest plate I’ve ever had. Next potluck I host in Cali, I’ve got to find some leaves for my guests.
Day 1: Saturday, March 19. My first day here I settled in, puked from taking my malaria pill without food (I forgot, but lesson learned!), exercised to P90X for the first time (pliometrics; I’m feeling it today), biked to the village center with a couple of volunteers on a heavy bike whose chain kept falling off or getting stuck, picked a new wardrobe of shalwar kamiz clothes, and enjoyed visiting with other volunteers. The program directors are a family of 7 that have lived here for 1.5 years and are leaving soon back to Utah. They have a cool life. But so do I.
Day 2: Drove 2 hours each way to church to worship with people of my faith. I love going to church in other countries! Back at home, we met the new volunteers from the University of Utah who will be here three days, and we celebrated the Hindu festival of Holi with the kids at the school. The celebration consists of throwing dyed powder or colored water on each other, so it was a big paint war. We wore grungy clothes that could be stained, and my hands are still dyed after deep scrubbing. But oh my gosh, it was so much fun! The kids were so excited, saying, “Auntie! Auntie! and thrusting their open hands in front of mine so I would dole out more powder. The colors were intense and we were laughing, chasing each other around the yard and smearing it on each other. One kid threw a handful of red paint in my mouth which certainly tasted badly, but if that was the worst thing that happened to me today, then I’m doing pretty well. Once the powder ran out, we played impromptu games of soccer, tag, a local version of jacks, sharks and minnows, Frisbee, and just sat and chatted. I bobbled my head a few times today while talking but I need to work on my accent.
It's been a full couple of days with much more to come. I am so happy to be here, and I hope you are doing well wherever you are!
Love and sunshine
April-the-Fourth-Month Murdock
For those who are interested, here is some more info and a poem (not mine) about the Hindu festival of Holi:
"The full moon festival of Holika gradually became a festival of merrymaking, announcing the commencement of the spring season. …However, the literal meaning of the word 'Holi' is 'burning'. There are various legends to explain the meaning of this word; most prominent of all is the legend associated with demon king Hiranyakashyap.
Hiranyakashyap wanted everybody in his kingdom to worship only him but to his great disappointment, his son, Prahlad became an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana. Hiaranyakashyap commanded his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika had a boon whereby she could enter fire without any damage on herself. However, she was not aware that the boon worked only when she enters the fire alone. As a result she paid a price for her sinister desires, while Prahlad was saved by the grace of the god for his extreme devotion. The festival, therefore, celebrates the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of devotion."
http://www.holifestival.org/history-of-holi.html
Holika Dahan
Year after year
purity of fire
is challenged by evil,
appeased with offerings
A full moon looks on
as winds stoke embers,
flare flames
to a flickering dance
Right in the center
of crimson blaze
sits Holika,
Prahlad in her lap -
her arms a circle of heat
White sparks fly from her hair,
eyes smolder in fury;
her mouth sucks in air,
engulfs rice and wheat
Wood chars,
coconuts splinter,
flowers singe
smearing earth with ash.
Year after year
faith survives.
Holika burns to death.
http://www.holifestival.org/holi-poems.html
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