Graduation

We had a final-day celebration at the nearby Nissi Church for all the students in Dad's school. Over 200 people came to see 22 men and women cross the podium as graduates. Some scenes seen....

"Out siders"

Remember that sign at Mecca Masjid I mentioned in an earlier post? I returned to Charminar and the masjid today, this time with "A" and "D", and got a photo of it....



I'd seen an "excluding" sign like this (albeit a bit milder in tone) once before at a mosque in Guangzhou, tho' I've never seen one in a mosque in the USA. And I've never seen one on any church, temple, or synagogue in the world.

Thanks to "A" and "D", a lot more attention came our way than in my first visit to Charminar....from child-hawkers, street vendors, beggars, and stares from regular folks. Most were friendly and non-hostile.

But one tense encounter with a random passerby reminded me most of our "outsiderness". Addressing me, this bespectacled, heavily-bearded fellow in his 30's or 40's asked where I was from.

"America", I replied.

Not smiling, he nodded his head toward "A" and "D" (who were unaware of what we were discussing) and asked....

"Are you with them?"

I said yes. He then murmured a question that needed repeating several times, because it sounded really odd and his voice was getting lower....

"Do you trust them?"

I was perplexed. "Do I trust them? Of course!" I said emphatically. He then told me in an exasperated tone that I should "remove the screen from my eyes". He asked if "A" and "D" were "ethnic Americans" (a comment I half-ignored) and then muttered some stuff about the FBI, CIA, etc. It was evident he wasn't fond of Americans, particularly those of Anglo persuasion, like "A" and "D". I made the most of the opportunity to inform him that America was filled with people from all races, colors, and backgrounds, and that there are good/bad in all countries, societies, and races. Tho' unable to argue with that, he didn't seem to soften much. Annoyed, but hoping to disarm him a bit, I had him chat with "A" and "D", which they did smilingly. Our friend seemed a little accepting of "A" and "D" then. Maybe a small breakthrough?

After a while, our friend and I shook hands before parting. I asked him his name. "Zaki", I thought I heard him say. He asked me mine. Upon hearing my name, he huffed disdainfully as he went on his way, "Shouldn't your name be more like 'Ching-Chow' or 'Wing-Foo' or something like that?!?"

I guess Zaki's image of me as a "sell-out" was complete at this point. Oh, well....hopefully, his view of "out siders" is getting a little re-adjustment from our brief encounter. :-)

Welcome, "A" and "D"

"A" and "D" came in today. They're folks from the USA whom "L" knew back in her college days. They're in India as well, long-term, but in a different city. Over email, a visit to Hyderabad was arranged, so they'll be spending the next few days with us.

What's all that noise?

Around mid-day, we heard someone chanting over loudspeakers. It sounded like a bored auctioneer. Curious, I walked over to the source of the noise, only about 100 yards away. It turned out to be a Hindu ceremony at a community gathering place. We looked at the calendar....sure enough, today was Sri Rama Navami (celebration of the birth of the Hindu man-god Rama). Businesses, schools, and offices all had the day off today.

The folks at the ceremony saw me and invited me to join them. I told them I preferred to watch from the outside. They asked if I was a Christian, which I said yes. Even tho' I politely turned down their invitation to enter the celebration floor and to eat with them, they were quite friendly, allowed me to take photos, and, in their limited English, tried to explain to me what was going on. I got bits and pieces, but not a really clear picture. Here's Wikipedia's description of the Sri Rama Navami.



Here's where the celebration took place, just a hundred yards from where we live.



The "pandit" (man without shirt in background) is a scholar in Hindu scriptures. It was his voice we heard blaring over the loudspeakers. He chanted mantras, possibly pieces from the story of Rama's marriage to Sita. I believe the man and woman on the right facing the pandit are playing the part of Rama and Sita, re-enacting their marriage.



Another shot of the celebration. The audience comprised mainly of children. Some of them, as you can see, got distracted by me taking photos. It wasn't long before I was surrounded by them, trying to get a glimpse of the digital photos in my camera or just wanting to check out the "strange-looking Indian".



Later, someone lit a fire on a plate and started carrying it through the group. Wherever it went, people tried to touch the flames. I'm not sure of the significance of this ritual.



The fire made its way to the back for those there to touch. It got a little close, as you can see (whoa). The woman carrying the "plate of fire" around was a 17-year-old girl who recognized me from Sunday's medical camp. She received a pair of reading glasses and had asked me questions about it.

Medical camp

Meanwhile, back at home, the medical camp was taking off! Both "DC" and our doctor-friend saw over 150 people each in about 3 hours time. Almost 1 person a minute....that's a serious clip! A few people from SBF pitched in to translate, run errands, and provide moral support. It was a great success. There is talk about having another one at the same place next week.

Below are photos from the camp. The last pic that looks somewhat unrelated are of two boys who came to the camp and, perhaps inspired by the goodwill shared, offered to help carry supplies back home for us (while requesting a photo be taken of them).

Baptisms

After church this morning, Dad and I went to visit another church in the afternoon, way in the outskirts of Hyderabad. The pastor is a student at Dad's school. The church currently meets in the pastor's home, but they eventually plan to move nearby to another place, donated by a member. The church asked Dad to baptize 9 people. The baptism took place at another site in what appeared to be a watering hole. Singing filled the air as the congregants paraded to the baptismal and as each person was baptized. It was a touching, inspiring sight.


The church's non-descript entrance (circled in green)....


....leads inside to a small room tightly packed with worshippers.


A ladder was needed to descend into the makeshift baptismal...


....before baptism was administered.


The future site of the church meeting, a few yards away from the current one.

Welcome, "DC"

A doctor-friend of ours from Seattle, "DC", arrived by plane in Hyderabad a few hours before our train did. He'll be visiting different parts of India to help out and observe ophthalmologic ministries. Meanwhile, he'll be staying with us for a couple of days. "DC" may also help out at the "inaugural" neighborhood medical camp tomorrow (if he feels up to it).

It's been getting hotter of late....almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit daily. Am told it's unusual for Hyderabad to be this hot this early. This morning, however, we did get a short stint of cool rain. Dad said it was the first in many months! Lasted but a few minutes, tho'....still, we made the most of it. Thanks, "DC", for bringing in the much-needed liquid sunshine from the Pac NW, even if just a sprinkle!

Cricket update #3

Well, the unthinkable has happened....India's pretty much out of the Cricket World Cup tournament, losing to Sri Lanka.

India virtually crashed out in the first round of the World Cup after they suffered a shattering 69-run defeat in their crunch Group B match against Sri Lanka on Friday.

A stunning batting collapse on a good Queen's Park Oval pitch condemned India to a total of 185 all out and allowed Sri Lanka to top the group with a maximum six points.

The 1983 champions were skittle in the 44th over as they failed miserably in their attempt to chase Sri Lanka's challenging total of 254 for six.

India's slim hopes of progressing now hinge on an unlikely defeat for Bangladesh in Sunday's final group game against debutants Bermuda.

Once again, disappointed fans react....

• Angry fans bring players down from pedestal


• Police guard cricketers' homes, restaurants


• 'Clones' duck for cover

Fortunately, we know or have seen no one personally who's taking India's loss anywhere THIS hard! It appears to be a minority of fans behaving this way. Besides, one could make the argument that a difference between India and the USA is that the former riots when their teams lose, whereas the latter riots when their teams win.

The multiple Championships won by the Chicago Bulls Championships in the early 1990’s instigated riots each year. The 1991 Championship was followed by 100 arrests. The 1992 Championship (occurring approximately one month after the Rodney King verdict) was followed by 1000 arrests, hundreds of injuries (including 95 injured police officers), and many burned and looted buildings. These were not the first riots of this type, however. In 1990, 7 people were killed in Detroit after the Pistons won the Championship and one person was killed in 1984 after the Tigers won the World Series.

Almost "downed" at Daund

Sunset at a train stop in Daund, India. Thinking we had time, "L" and Dad got off to shop for snacks, while "B" and I got off to stretch.


Seconds after this photo was taken, the train unexpectedly started to pull away. Yikes!!! With "B" in one arm, I grabbed a railing by the door to haul the two of us into our slowly-moving car. Mom was already on board. But where was "L" and Dad?!? Ack! Should we pull the emergency chain to stop the train? The train was picking up speed. An anxious minute later, "L" burst in....out of breath, but thankfully okay. She'd barely made it on herself. But where was Dad? What? Last seen bartering for bananas?!? Ack, ack!!!

A train employee later came by to tell us Dad made it on the next car. Whew! But Dad had to wait until the next stop to join us, since entry into our AC car was restricted to other cars. An half-hour and one stop later, we were together again. Double whew!

Otherwise, it would've been one looooong wait for another train in Nowhere-ville.

Thumb-printed!

Between acquiring propery in India vs. property in the USA, I'm not sure which process is easier. One difference is that thumb prints were required in India.



Behold!


We all got thumb-prints, including Mom and Dad who also acquired some "Solitude". "B" didn't get thumb-printed, but still wanted to get her digit in the picture.

Prayers in Paud

To register our plot of "Solitude", we had to go to the government magistrate in a small town called Paud, about 30 km outside Pune. Compared to the millions in Pune and Hyderabad, Paud boasts a population of about 21,000. Situated in the state of Maharashtra, where the Marathi language is spoken.....different from the Telugu that Mom, Dad, and "L" speak.

From the get-go, we had difficulties. The "Solitude" sellers communicated poorly with us, not letting us know what we needed until the day of (e.g. photos), so we had to get those taken at a nearby shop. Then our sales rep failed to show up as promised, sending one of his underlings. Once at the magistrate's building, we submitted our signatures on some paperwork, then waited for our number to be called to get fingerprinted on more documents. We waited....10 am...11 am....12 pm....1 am. We were #33 and they were only at #17. We were getting frantic, since we were scheduled to catch the train back to Hyderabad at 4:30 pm later that afternoon, and we needed at least a hour and half to get back to our friend's apartment, pick up our luggage, and race to the train station. To boot, we didn't have seat confirmations for the return train tickets we'd bought. Dad gathered us to pray. To make a long story short, after praying, the train tickets not only got confirmed, but after our friend pleaded directly to the magistrate on our behalf, we got our paperwork processed and our fingerprints in! The magistrate was a gruff, abrupt person who wielded a lot of power. Our friend was quite nervous confronting her, but somehow we found favor in her eyes. The magistrate even chewed out her meeker associates for not expediting our paperwork, given our time-crunch. Miraculously, we made it to the train station on time, marveling and thanking God for His goodness all the way.



Main road going through Paud


Veggie/fruit stand along the main road going through Paud


Stray goats outside the magistrate building that ate the peels from the bananas we bought from the veggie/fruit stand along the main road going through Paud

"Solitude"

The plot of land we're acquiring is in an area dubbed "Solitude". I found a bit of info on it here and and here.

The theme behind "Solitude" is eco-friendliness. No more than 10% of the land can be built upon...the rest can only be used for planting. We'd started the process of acquiring this plot, on the recommendation of a close family friend, more than a year ago while we were still in the States. Progress is slow when you're worlds away....



Here's what "Solitude" currently looks like (kinda desolate)....


Here's what the sellers plan to have our plot look like in 3-5 years (I think).


The road to "Solitude" was a steep, windy, dirty, difficult one, as it's still under construction (I joked that they probably called it "Solitude", because no vehicle could possibly make it there intact). With chagrin, I noticed a lot of low-wage laborers working on it. To be honest, mixed feelings welled up in me to see poor people toiling on something only folks with means could afford. Not surprisingly, I found myself asking "what would Jesus do" with the land we were planning to buy. Still asking myself that....and really hoping to find out what....

Auto-rickshaws

Once we arrived in Pune, we had to take auto-rickshaws to our family friend's apartment. Auto-rickshaws (also known as "autos") are commonly-used vehicles in India. They are small, 3-wheeled taxis, costing 8 rupees (about 20 cents) to start. They're all over the place!



Here's what an "auto" looks like from the outside....


Here's what an "auto" looks like from the inside....


Here's what an "auto" looks like when you're inside one looking at another one on the outside that's racing alongside yours....

Seen on a train to Pune...

Passengers sleeping....


....and waking up....


....and meeting other passengers....

Heading to Pune

We're heading to Pune tonight for a couple of days...going by train. We're acquiring some land near a green-city-under-construction called Lavasa, about a hour's drive from Pune. The property was recommended by a close family friend. We need to register it with the government while we're here. We leave Hyderabad around 9 pm tonight, arriving in Pune 12 hours later. Not sure if I'll have Internet access during this time, so I might not be able to get back to work until this weekend.

"Gully cricket"

Weary of working for the day and needing a break, I took a walk around the neighborhood. I happened upon a bunch of youths playing cricket in an abandoned lot. I thought I could watch inconspicuously, but a few of them saw me and shouted, "Which country?!?"

"America", I replied, somewhat embarassed at being seen.

They invited me to join them. I didn't really want to play, just watch. They peppered me with all sorts of questions....what I did, where I lived, how much money I make, how much did it cost to fly to India, etc. I, in turn, asked them about their school, home, and of course, how cricket is played, which they were more than eager to share. One thing I learned is that they were playing "gully cricket", a variation of the game meant for smaller lots. Mom warns me about some of the shady characters that wander around their neighborhood, but this group seem to be a nice bunch of kids.

When they finished and started for home, they said, "Come back again....we play 4:30 pm here".

Maybe...maybe next time, I'll try my hand at the bat.

Hosting a neighborhood clinic

Our doctor-friend whom I mentioned earlier plans to partner with Dad to set up weekly health clinics at a facility near our home. This clinic plans to deliver basic medical services to poor families (which there are plenty) around our neighborhood. Our friend will provide the services, while Dad's organization will provide $$$ for medicines and supplies.

The first clinic was planned for last Sunday, but our doctor-friend had a family emergency and couldn't make it. The word didn't get out, however, of the cancellation. We learned that several families came together anyway to await the opening of the clinic. Dad rescheduled the clinic for this coming Sunday....hopefully, things will go as planned this time. We have another doctor-friend (ophthalmologist) coming in to visit from Seattle this Saturday who, if he's not too tired, may offer help as well.

Cricket update #2

Looks like India's back on track in World Cup Cricket. Fans are smiling and hopeful again, effigies have been put back in the closet.

India thrash the shorts off Bermuda

Chandresh Narayanan/Times News Network

India's best chance at making the Super Eight stage, rested on them making the most of the inexperience of the Bermuda side and making them pay heavily for the same.

The Indian batsmen did just that as they rattled up a World Cup record score of 413 for 5 and then the bowlers did a reasonable job to restrict Bermuda to 156 to register a whopping 257-run win on Monday.

The win has boosted India's run-rate and has also put additional pressure on their next rivals Sri Lanka as the two teams square on March 23 for a place in the next stage.

Cricket update #1

India bows to Bangladesh in surprise opening-round loss!

Some folks here aren't taking it too well...

Dejected fans burn effigies of Men in Blue

VADODARA/AHMEDABAD: Unable to digest the humiliating defeat that India was subjected to by minnows Bangladesh in their World Cup match on Saturday, angry fans burnt effigies of Virender Sehwag and some other member of Team India in Vadodara and Ahmedabad on Sunday.

India'll get another chance tonight against Bermuda in the round-robin tourney. Hopefully, we'll be able to catch this one on TV. We didn't get it on our TV for some strange reason, even tho' we had the channel and time right. We'll probably head over to Uncle's house tonight to watch.

Once...twice...three times communion

We attended Mom and Dad's home church, SBF, today. Like last Sunday, we took communion (SBF take communion every 1st and 3rd Sunday). Later in the evening, Dad took me to a couple of homes where elderly parents are being cared for by their families. Because of their physical limitations, they're unable to make it to church, so Dad and other church members visit their homes to conduct once-a-month mini-services for them, complete with communion. So that makes three communions today, four communions in one week. But I guess one can never too often "do in remembrance" of what Christ did for us on the cross, especially as we head into Easter. It's also nice to share with and encourage family in Christ here in this manner.

Bumps and fever

The mosquitoes are making a meal out of us, but especially out of "B". She's collecting a lot of bumps all over her body. A Christian doctor-friend of Dad's who happened to be a dermatologist examined "B". He said she was allergic to bug bites and prescribed some medicine for her. At least it wasn't measles or something more serious.

However, last night, "B" came down with a temperature of 102.2, which got us all worried again. It was 12:30 am and we didn't know who to call to ask whether it was safe to combine Tylenol with the prescription meds "B" was taking. Thanks again to technology, we used Skype to contact a pharmacist friend of ours in Seattle who assured us it was okay to give the Tylenol. This morning, "B's" temp returned to normal.

Now if the mosquitoes could only leave her alone....

Haircut

I finally went and got my haircut today. Closing on our home and moving afforded me no time to get one in Seattle before coming to India. We went to a hair saloon (yes, they're called "saloons" here) just a mile from home. "L" was able to translate for me to make sure I didn't get butched or something. But we needn't have worried. The young barber had an impressive way with scissors. Totally "unplugged"....no electric razors. "L" and I were quite pleased when it was all cut and done. And even with a high-percent tip, the total still came out to less than $1 US....a fifth of what I'd pay the cheapest barber in the US. I learned later that because of the fast-growing economy here, haircuts had doubled in price over the past year....from 10 rupees to 20 rupees (that's about 23 cents going to 47 cents, USD). Still a bargain, no matter how you cut it, if you're coming from the West.

Charminar

We visited Charminar yesterday. Charminar (which means "four spires" in Urdu/Hindi) can be considered Hyderabad's equivalent of Seattle's Space Needle or NYC's Statue of Liberty. "L's" uncle, aunt, and cousin drove us there in their mini-van. The women split off to shop in the endless bazaars, while Uncle and I toured the nearby Mecca Masjid (mosque) and Charminar itself.

There's nothing I could write about these places that could be said better than the links provided above. They're both large, impressive, albeit detriorating structures. Uncle and I went to Mecca Masjid just as noon prayers were ending. We walked around the massive courtyard. Off to the side were tombs of revered Muslim rulers. A sign near the mosque entrance read "OUT SIDER NOT ALLOWED". Assuming this meant us, we stayed outside, taking pics of the inside from the entrance.

Admission into Charminar --- 5 rupees for locals, 100 rupees for foreigners. India's not the first country I've encountered such an opportunistic entrance-fee structure.

Speaking of foreigners, there aren't that many around Hyderabad. Uncle said Hyderabad is more homogenous and less multi-cultural compared to Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi. That may change in years to come, as Hyderabad attracts more foreign tech companies.

A old, narrow, steep, stone spiral staircase led us to the first level of Charminar. That was as high as we were allowed to go. At the first level, the wall along the edge stood only a couple feet high, creating a nervously precarious feeling as we walked around. The best view was seeing the busy marketplace below with the Mecca Masjid in the background.