Kolkata

This is a small part of the amazing trip that Jonathan and I have experienced over the last two weeks.  It is very fresh in my brain right now and was quite emotionally draining.  I am not quite sure we were both ready to get off the airplane from Nepal to be hit in the face with the overwhelming sights and smells that are big city India.  We arrived at the airport only to be overwhelmed by the many men demanding we get into their taxi.  We soon realized our mistake of not getting a pre-paid taxi.  We marched right back into the airport and got a pre-paid taxi for about a third of the price!  After riding through Kolkata for an hour in a taxi we arrived at our beautiful hotel - it really was a splurge!  Within minutes of Jonathan telling the receptionist his name he tells us that they did not in fact hold a room for us despite the booking and our email contact with them.  It was all a matter of the language barrier.  However, this rather kind man did show us a hole in the wall right down this sketchy alley.  Yup we stayed there.  It was really dirty and the circumstances were all very odd.  We both were near tears initially but after a hot bucket bath, food, and a beer we could truly laugh about our scenario!

The sights of Kolkata are unreal and unlike anything I have seen thus far in India, well, now that I think of it, very similar to Varanasi, but I will talk about that in a later post!  The discrepancy of wealth was more noticeable than where Jonathan and I live.  Many people are living on the streets.  Their whole lives take place on the streets, using the bathroom, bathing, cooking, waking up your parents, playing games, doing the wash, getting ready for work, all aspects of your life are there happening on the streets in the public eye.  We saw families huddled around little paint cans with a small fire in it to keep warm in the cool winter air.   Another pretty interesting thing we saw was these kitchens that are in the streets.  They are full kitchens that produce amazing looking food.  We were tempted but the idea of being laid up in that hotel with stomach and bowel issues was not too enticing so we just looked on in awe at the mass production of beautiful looking food that took place on the street.  The thing that really blew me away was the beautiful looking dough that was in round balls waiting to be thrown onto a well oiled wok to create delicious roti.  Or the oil drums which had been recreated into a tandoori oven.  People are so amazing and so beautiful.  One thing we also noticed which is very sad is the number of children that you see working.  There are children working everywhere.  That is something we definitely do not see in Tamil Nadu.

My last thing that I must write about Kolkata is the human rickshaw pullers.  Having ready City of Joy and learning about it a little in college I was fully interested in seeing this because a part of me could not believe that it was real.  I am not sure how I convinced myself that somehow it would not be true, but it was.  Thankfully I had someone as beautiful, loving, and supportive as Jonathan with me to experience the human rickshaws with.  They made me very emotional.  They were so small and fragile looking sometimes carrying these massive loads of goods, heavy Indian women with shopping bags and the nicest saree you could imagine, a tourist with all their luggage, a couple running errands, etc.  It is hard to imagine living a life where you would engage in such an act.  Where you would not think about how dehumanizing it would be to pay a person very little money to pull you around when you know that they are not eating proper meals, are probably homeless, and have a family to support.  Jonathan and I did buy bells from some of them.  He surprised me by just all of a sudden asking one man on a corner if we could buy a bell.  He over enthusiastically handed over his bell and asked us for 200 rupees.  Jonathan gladly handed over the money and handed me the bell as a gift.  It was the best gift I have ever received.  I had read about the bells; buying bells is a way to support the rickshaw pullers without supporting the system that exploits them.  Many men on the same corner then swarmed us and held out their bells.  I wanted to buy them all.  We then walked around with the intent of buying more.  I bought three more and Jonathan bought one.  We ate lunch at this cool stand called Hot Kati Rolls.  They make delicious wraps made out of chapati with whatever stuffing you want - it was delicious.  I got a potato and veggie mix and Jonathan got chicken with this amazing spice mix on it!  We then got in a taxi and headed to the train station.  But I made the taxi driver stop on a street corner and I got out and bought one more bell.  The man was super excited and happy.  He held his hand out to shake my hand and with a very pleased expression folded his money.  I shook his hand and ran back to the taxi.  I can't wait to someday go back to Kolkata.  It is a city with so much to offer, so much more to see, and so many more bells to buy.

Fairness cream

I have been thinking about this blog entry for quite some time.  It is a heavy topic but something that surely is a problem in India and all around the world.  Skin color.  I have never looked at a human being and judged them based on the color of their skin.  I think that the beauty of a person lies much deeper than the body they were given.  I do know that this is not the case for everyone.  I know this to be true because even today we face discrimination based on skin color.  Not just in America but all around the world.  In Tamil Nadu beauty is defined by how light your skin is.  Children with whiter skin get more attention at school and are more popular among their peers.  It is sickening.
I guess this idea that I will present should not be much of a surprise but it still shocks me, despite the fact that we provide similar products in America.  There are several companies who sell fairness creams.  Creams with bleaching agents to make your skin more fair.  There are face washes, body washes, day creams, night creams, long term treatments, etc.  These companies are maintaining the idea that lighter is better and they are making a profit off of people.  Jonathan and I have noted a few companies that make fairness creams and we have stopped purchasing products from them but it is nearly impossible as most all large competitors carry a fairness product.
I wish we lived in a society where all were just happy with their skin color.  I wish that people would see how beautiful each person's skin is and how it is unlike anyone else's skin.  For example, my skin has this slight yellowish tint to it.  Jonathan's skin is very white with rosy patches on his cheeks and freckles all over his arms.  Durqa's skin is this dark shade of brown.  Her forearms and back are even deeper shades of dark chocolate color from hard work in the sun.  Ravanan's skin is this creamy brown color with deep lines of dark brown on his palms.  All four of us beautiful.  We should all just embrace our skin color and love each other for the beautiful shade we provide to the wide spectrum of color of human skin tones.  So whether you are thinking of going tanning, applying tanning cream, bleaching your skin, applying fairness cream, or any other skin altering product, remember, I think that your skin color is beautiful and it looks good on you!

Photo Project

I am doing a photo project with my students and it is amazing.  I took all their portraits a few weeks ago and then got the pictures printed.  I then had them practice talking about themselves and then got them to write it all down.  Kind of as a record of the progress they have made.  I then pasted all the pictures onto paper and had them write in their best penmanship about themselves.  I then let them color on the paper too!  They all loved every minute of it.  I have fully completed the project with my fifth standard class.  I took their pictures while they were holding their projects.  I then explained that they got to keep the project.  They could not believe it.  I then had a classroom fully of over excited children who were all trying to read their project aloud to me at the same time.  It was nice to see how proud of their work they were and how excited they were to take it home and share it with their family.  Today I will start working on the project with my fourth standard class!  I will post the pictures when they are completed!

  All the photos!

Naveen Kumar, a ten year old, and some beautiful updates!

Two weekends ago I went to go and visit Jonathan.  As usual I was greeted by all the children with hugs and English greetings.  I always feel like a celebrity when I come to the Gurukulum.  Right when I got there a few of the older children asked how my father was and told me that they have prayed for him.  One student, Naveen Kumar, told me he has prayed for my father many times.  He even knew his name.  He is most certainly a very beautiful young man.  He is very intelligent, inquisitive, empathetic, and dedicated.  He goes on daily runs with Jonathan.  I was lucky enough to be able to join them on one of their runs.  It was beautiful.  Naveen told me what each and every tree was and what its medicinal value was.  He even made us chomp on leaves as we ran as it was good for our health!  He got to talking about his future, family, and native place.  It is apparent that he is very proud of his culture and his country.  On the topic of his family, he shared with Jonathan and I that his mother died and it was just his dad and his brother.  His dad is at home and his brother is in another hostel somewhere else.  I nearly started crying with that but then he just blurted out, "I want my mother".  I see these children all the time and I see the children everyday at my site.  I see them playing with their peers, doing school work, doing chore, and living their daily lives - and through this I think I have just been over taken by their daily joy and beauty to remember that their lives have been altered by a death in the family or extreme poverty.  When you realize all of this it makes you see and feel the greatness and beautifulness of these children even more.

The other day Durqa and her sister showed up in my room.  This is not all that unusual.  Shortly after arriving Durqa told me that her sister is very sad.  I asked why and she told me that her sister's son, who is ten years old, left this passed weekend to go and work in a egg laying chicken factory.  He will no longer attend school.  I do not know all the details but Durqa has told us that her sister's husband left the family, leaving Durqa's sister with four young children to care for, three girls and one boy.  They live with Durqa's mother and father.  Durqa helps to care for them as well.  Now, I don't mean to bring the reader down with sad things from India but its important to understand that for a family with a low socio-economic status this is not all that unusual.  Not all children are lucky enough to end up in an environment like the Gurukulum where they are cared for, fed, clothed, and most importantly - educated.  I wish there were more non-profits and more social services in India to help all the children.

The coffee/tea man knows my name!!!  I realized the other day how integrated into my little neighborhood I feel.  It's funny, its one of those things you don't really realize right away until suddenly one day it just hits you!  The men who work at the local restaurant know my name because I frequently buy coffee, tea, or naan there.  The man at the coffee/tea stall knows my name because I go there each morning for coffee.  And he actually really likes me because I am friends with Durqa!  I see the man who recharges my internet somewhere else in town and he smiles at me and waves.  It feels good to be integrated into the community and feel comfortable.  Have I mentioned lately that I love India!?!?!

"I am Jesus!"  So the other day I was sitting on the floor in one of the classrooms with a few of my children.  Christmas is all the talk lately because Laura and Jenna are going home for the month of December.  They asked me if I was Christian and if I celebrated Christmas.  This turned into all my children proclaiming to me what religion they practice but the best response was from one of my two Christian students who eagerly pointed at herself and said, "I am Jesus!"  I couldn't help bursting out laughing.  As you can tell my students struggle with the 'to be' verb still.

In the evenings I have started drawing with the hostel students from my school.  There are only seven of them but it is so much fun.  We just sit and color pictures.  It is a simple activity but I have so much fun just being with them.

The pictures I included at the top of my blog:
The first is of me arranging drawings from Jonathan's children to hang them on the wall.  Jonathan caught me off guard in my saree hard at work.
The second is of Jonathan and Naveen at the entrance to the Gurukulum before their run.
The third is of Jonathan with two of his students and their parents on the day that they came to visit.

Hail to Aquafina

This is just a real short entry to tell you all that Jonathan and I are truly obsessed with Aquafina.  Why?  Well, for one thing it is the greatest tasting water you can find in India.  And the other reason:  It is safe and clean!  Jonathan's drinking water is not always clean.  He often struggles with stomach problems largely due to his drinking water.  When I visit him I look forward to purchasing a large bottle of Aquafina and drinking it all in one go.  We have discussed this issue many times and think that it is funny since we are strongly opposed to bottled drinking water and here we are in India and we have spent literally hundreds of rupees on bottled water - and we enjoyed every minute of it!

We also were discussing how crazy it is that back home we never question the quality of water we are given.  We go to a restaurant and receive water - no big deal.  In India we go to a restaurant and receive water and we both stumble over who will be first to ask for the Aquafina as we kindly just look into the glass wondering if that water is really that bad!  We also talked about how crazy it is that all water at home is drinkable.  You could stand in your shower and just gulp down as much water as you wanted.  If you were to drink the yellowish/brownish water that we bathe in you most surely would be laid up for at least a month with some terrible GI illness.  So next time you are at your facet pouring yourself a glass of beautiful water do us a favor:  Be grateful and most definitely enjoy it!

A few beautiful things

Last night as I was walking in my neighborhood, running some errands, I got to experience a truly beautiful celebration.  The power had just gone out and it was getting dark.  Houses and shops had very beautiful rangoli made with colorful powder and not just white powder.  Around the rangoli and all around the outside of their houses and shops were little pottery vessels with oil in them and a burning flame.  The sight was quite beautiful.  I asked a few people what was going on and they told me it was a time to pray to their family God.  The moon was also full and every once in a while a big beautiful firework would go off overhead.

Today I arrived at school all excited for my lesson plan.  Luckily my lesson plan involved my camera because upon arriving at school I encountered a beautiful scene.  The fourth standard boys came running to meet me as I arrived at school.  The kept saying things in Tamil, all excitedly forgetting that I only speak English.  I followed them to the lot behind the school to the empty field.  There they showed me that they had just finished burying a crow.  The older girls told me it was found dead in the school this morning so the boys buried it.  They made a cross out of sticks, the girls went and got  some flowers, they dug a hole and then placed rocks on top of the mound.  It was a rather beautiful thing to witness.  I am not sure if birds or crows in particular have some special meaning but they did make it apparent that even a crow deserves a proper burial.

My lesson plan was fun.  I took a picture of each student which I will print very soon.  Then each student will make a poster with their picture and some information about themselves written in English.  I did an example one of myself on the blackboard and they all became super excited.  It seems like a good culminating activity since break will be beginning very soon.  They all appreciated standing by themselves in front of the camera. One thing to note is that Indians do not smile in front of a camera.  In fact the exact opposite seems to happen - their faces just automatically go to a serious face - you have to make them smile!
http://s1150.beta.photobucket.com/user/kyliejedwards/library/Children%20portraits

Diwali and more

On Friday I left for Jonathan’s place.  On the way I met Durqa at the bus stand.  She gave me some chocolate to share with Jonathan and some sweet coconut bread to share as well.  She also gave me a beautiful saree as a Diwali gift.  It is black, red, and white and so beautiful.  I will definitely cherish it forever.  She had rushed to the bus stand so she was all sweaty and winded.  I gave her some water and she sat down and let out a massive amount of air.  She seemed stressed.  I have gathered that Diwali provides much stress on households.  It seems like the pressure to provide gifts and prepare food for any guests that you may have is equal to the pressures of Christmas.  I talked with her for a little while until my bus pulled up.  She told me I had to call her every day when I was gone and that she needed to talk to Jonathan Sir.  I assured her that we would talk and that Jonathan would speak with her too.  She then came and sat on the bus with me until I assured her that I was safe and would not let any men sit in my seat!  She stood by the door of the bus until the bus took off and waved me goodbye.  I felt such love for her at that moment.  She is just such a beautiful person.

After that bus ride I then caught a bus to Keeranur which is where Jonathan stays.  Right when I got on the bus this young woman in a saree came pushing through the crowd to stand right next to me.  There was no room whatsoever on that bus.  Suddenly, she pointed at me and said, “Jonathan Sir, Miss?”  I instantly started to laugh and told her yes I was the Miss associated with Jonathan Sir.  She then told me that she is the sister to the driver of the Gurukulum.  Both Jonathan and I know the driver quite well so I nodded and told her that I knew him.  We kept up small talk the whole way to Keeranur.  Once there she waited until we spotted Jonathan at the bus stand because the power was out so there were no lights and it was dark out, and Keeranur is not the safest place.  She was so sweet and it made me think about how many people there are in India yet how I had just happened to run into someone in one of the larger cities who knew me! 

The next day Jonathan and I traveled to Coimbatore and watched a movie.  We also bought some Christmas gifts and a few warm items for our adventures into the Himalayan region!  Because of the holiday the bus stand was a mad house.  We waited at the bus stand for over an hour and a half trying to catch a bus back home.  Finally, we got on a bus but once we got to Dharaparum we had already missed the last bus to Keeranur so we stayed the night in Jonathan’s old lodge. 

The next day we went to Chandra’s house and ate a ton of food.  We had sweets, chicken biriyani, white rice with rasam, and more sweets.  It was such a good meal.  And I always love being around Chandra because she is such a lovely human being.  She is so kind and genuine in her interactions.  We also met this couple who speaks English perfectly.  They were nice to visit with us for so long.  We even stopped by their house on our way home to have tea.  We then headed back home and played with the children for quite some time.  They were excited to see we had come back!  Right when we got back we were each gifted a new Indian outfit by a very rich donor to the Gurukulum.  I was given the uniform saree that all the wardens were given which was quite an honor.  And Jonathan was given a beautiful white dress shirt and a new dhoti.

The next day we took a short trip into Dharaparum to walk around and buy snacks for the kids for Diwali.  We walked around and then purchased our snacks at the bus stand.  We went back to the Gurukulum and handed out the snacks.  The kids were so grateful and appreciated the snacks.  And if you have read Jonathan’s blog about high fives and handshakes you will get the humor in this.  Jonathan is handing out snacks and I am the official handshaker next to him.  He refused handshakes because he was handing out.  I am sure that I shook each hand at least twice and maybe more, which would explain my sickness right now!

The rest of the day we just hung out with the kids and watched them get excited for Diwali.  They even set off a few fire crackers early in the evening to bring in the holiday!  Jonathan and I also did a swing dance number for the kids, which they thought was awesome.  It was a very fun evening.  During prayer Jonathan had somehow disappeared and I was left to give all the students a speech.  I told them all that I love seeing them and miss them when I am in Trichy and that they are all beautiful children.  You would have thought I gave them each a million dollars by the expressions on their faces.  It was a lovely moment.

The next morning all the children were extremely joyous and beautiful of course!  They were all in brand new uniforms and running about blowing things up.  Some of the girls were doing each other’s hair, trying to make it perfect!  We were then rushed to eat.  After eating I changed in my new saree from the donor.  We were then rushed into the classroom area where there was a stage set up and all the children were quietly sitting on the floor.  The guru from Kerala and the Gurukulum guru who is 98 years old were sitting in front as well.  We listened to the 98 year old guru give a speech and then three men played carnatic music.  It was beautiful to listen to.  I sat on the floor with the girls, which was fun. 

After that we took many photos with the wardens, the driver, and the three older Sir’s who take care of the children.  Jonathan escaped.  He has definitely mastered his escaping skills because it took me several minutes to figure out that he had left.  I told them all I was going for a face wash and then found Jonathan happily sitting in his room at his computer, relieved to be out of the spotlight and have some alone time.  We then took a nap which lasted for quite some time.  It is draining entertaining all the children and my body attempting to fight of at least 30 different viruses at the same time!  We then ate a beautiful big meal of biriyani, chilli cauliflower, and a sweet!  It was so delicious.  After that we walked to town to buy jasmine for my hair and as a gift to the wardens.  Jonathan and I appreciated the quiet time and the time together.  The wardens were so happy to receive the jasmine and roses which we gave them.  They never get to leave the Gurukulum so they were happy to have the gift which is essential to any dressy event.  They then redid my saree wrapping, put jewelry on me, and made me look like an Indian princess.  The jasmine and rose was secured in my hair so beautifully.  The wardens and all the children kept telling me I looked like a doll because of my white skin.  If only they all knew just how beautiful their many shades of brown skin is! 

The evening festivities were set to start right after prayer.  We were asked again to give a speech after prayer.  I told said that I was so happy to experience their culture and thanked them for showing me their culture and allowing me to participate in this holiday.  And of course that each and every one of them is beautiful!!!  Jonathan gave such a great speech that it made me get all teary eyed.  He does have a way with words, my boyfriend the writer!

The kids were then set free to blow everything up that could possibly ever be blown up in India!  We all sat down to watch fireworks.  Jonathan and I were given front row seats next to Chandra.  These seats were not all they that great.  Ash and paper on fire kept falling on us and I am pretty sure had any exploded in the case, as does occasionally happen, we would have received many of the flaming shards.  Chandra told me that most of the firecrackers and other things that the children were lighting on fire were all made in factories that are known to have child labor.  She told me that many children wasted their lives in those factories and died very young due to the conditions and exposure to chemicals.  That fact and my fear of being blown up were enough to keep me from partaking.  I just ran around and took pictures of all the joyous children.  (I posted most of these photos on facebook)  After about three hours of crackers and flames the children were exhausted.  They filled their bellies with delicious food and fell fast asleep.  The whole compound was dead quiet by around 9:00 PM!  Children are so beautiful!  I was fast asleep with a fever not much later.

The next morning I left before breakfast.  But before I let I said good-bye to all the children I could find and the wardens that I could find.  I did notice that many children had large burn marks and holes in their brand new uniforms which made me laugh!  I caught a bus filled with some Gurukulum alumni girls who stay at a girl’s home in Dindigual.  They squeezed me in between them and offered me oodles of sweets until they all fell asleep.  What a beautiful weekend it was.  Did I mention that I love India?