A Dedication And A Concert

Dad and I scootered to the new training center, where it'll be dedicated. Riding a scooter (moped) through the streets of India is no small thing. Especially when carrying an electronic keyboard, as I was doing. The training center is about 2 miles away. About 35 men and 10 women attended. Dad said many were involved in church planting among the poor and are quite influential. One of the women and one of the men worked for World Vision India. Much time was spent divided up in prayer in separate rooms.

The training center is being donated by a family who lives next door. The elderly couple living there originally built the home to house their daughter and son-in-law. But the daughter and son-in-law moved to the son-in-law's parents to care for them, since they are ill. So the couple (the husband was a colonel in the Indian army) and the son-in-law decided to rent it out to Sram Ashram as a training center instead.

We ate a large lunch with everyone. Most people sat orderly on the floor. "L" and I sat with the colonel, his wife, Mom, and Uncle "V" and his son (who live across the street from us). The colonel asked me questions about why Americans don't know much about India, even tho' Indians dominate fields there such as medicine and technology. I told him that the only people who could inform Americans about India are people from India and that Indians need to share about India via media vehicles in the same way people in India learn about America (e.g. TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, etc). Simply put, Americans don't subscribe to Indian stations the way Indians subscribe to CNN, ESPN, MTV, etc. I don't see that as Americans being disinterested in India as I see it Indians being fascinated by America. Overall, it was a spirited discussion, which I enjoyed. I like the colonel....a pleasant guy to talk with.

Speaking of newspapers, I'm very surprised to see how much is written about the U.S. in the local Indian newspapers, like the Deccan Chronicle. They even print editorials written by American columnists like Maureen Dowd ranting about "Bush's failed policies with Social Security". Now why Indians halfway around the world would concern themselves with things like America's Social Security policies is beyond me (other than the local Indian press eagerly print anything that denigrates Bush, which is quite common here, I'm finding).

Back to the colonel....colonel served in the 3 most recent wars India fought, including one with West Pakistan in 1971. India apparently sided with East Pakistan at the time, winning their independence from West Pakistan and helping them transform into Bangladesh. The colonel said, however, that Bangladesh is now even more hostile to India than Pakistan is. He feels it's mainly because of religion and "jihad", that Muslims in Bangladesh may have felt ashamed to have been liberated by non-Muslims and express their humiliation as animosity against their liberators.

We went to the Hillsong concert. We went with a few families, piling into two cars. The Hillsong concert was at Nazim College in Hyderabad, about a 25-minute drive. The concert was outdoors, attended by perhaps 10,000 or more. Someone said 30,000 attended yesterday. We sat in the VIP section, since Uncle "A" is a leader of Gospel Mission India (GMI). We drove backstage and walked to the section. A talented Telugu band played first, singing Telugu praise songs. The music was quite loud. Cotton balls in ears helped. The stage was filled with technical gadgets. A video on AIDS and abstinence, featuring Indian actors, interviewees, and narrators, was shown. "L" was quite surprised by its overtness (using words like "sex" and "condom" freely). The Hillsong group consisted of 8 British and 8 Australian members. They jumped and danced about a lot. Most of the audience up front did likewise, jumping up and down in a "mosh" style. Mostly teen boys did, but some girls in saris and chittidars did as well, which was curious to watch. A woman named Christine Caine gave a forceful message and altar call. Several hundred people raised hands making a profession of faith in Christ. I asked if this was against the law, since I thought foreigners weren't allowed to share the Gospel. Uncle "A" and Dad told me that having Hillsong deliver an anti-AIDS message may have helped their cause a bit, along with the possibility that the Indian gov't may not have cared to enforce it anyway.

Someone in our group opined that the messages delivered by Hillsong may have gotten lost on the crowd because the main speaker was a woman, white, and a Westerner with a checkered past (born illegitimately and abandoned by her biological parents), who dared to lecture "holier-than-thou" Indians on moral and purity issues. They thought this may have been seen as hypocritical within the larger Indian society.

Sankranti? Um, I'll have coffee instead...

Am told that today is the beginning of a 3-day Hindu festival called
"Sankranti". What it is, I'm not sure, but maybe this might shed some light....

8:23 pm, 14 Jan 2005

Okay, finished reading it....still not clear. So far, I haven't noticed any festive changes in the air. Then again, I haven't been in town long enough to know what's different about it.

Checkin' out the local textile fair

Dad, Mom, "L", and I attended an exhibition (similar to a county fair) in Hyderabad. It's called the "65th All-India Industrial Exhibition". Textiles from all over India and Kashmir abounded. We bought a bunch of scarves and a couple of lungis (pronounced "LOON-ghee") wraparounds for men to be worn at home. "L" said the vendors noticed my "foreign" presence and hence were being sticklers while bartering, so Mom asked me to keep my distance. Most things were listed at fixed rate anyway. A lot of Muslim women dressed in abayas were there. Dad said there seemed to be more people dressed that way than ever before. He thinks it's because Muslims are feeling the need to be more bold in the faith. A number of boys ran around selling everything from balloon animals to mothballs to toys. Quite the fair.

Rangolis

"L" and I took a walk though the neighborhood. The sun shines brightly with nary a cloud. It's quite warm, but not sweltering. Chickens, roosters, goats, cows, and buffaloes share the area along with homes, cars, motorbikes, and people.

Curious, intricate drawings covered the driveways of many homes. They're called "rangolis" (they may be called different things in other states). "L" says they're there to ward off snakes. The powder used for the drawings irritate the snakes. "L" said there aren't many snakes in the area and that it's mainly a custom more than anything, not related to any religion per se. Dad and Mom don't do this.

We visited "L's" god-family. We met "Dy" and her mom. They have a feisty, 10-month-old golden lab named Cushy (Hindi for "happy"). Along the way home, we stopped by "L's" friends, "A.N." and "A.C.". Their mom was home. Their dad, who's a pastor, came home later. Their 2 dogs scurried mischievously about. "A.N." has a master's degree and teaches in a school. She teaches full-time and makes about Rs. 1000 /month (USD $22). "L" encouraged both "A.N." and "A.C." to consider teaching English in China, which pays much more working less hours.

Baths/showers are taken by filling large buckets with warm water heated over a gas burner. The water is then scooped by a small pail onto one's body. Mom and Dad get their drinking and bathing water from a tanker truck that comes by every 4-5 days, which they have to fetch using buckets and carrying it into the house.

India at a glance

"S" here, reporting from India for the first time. I've never been here before. It's been quite a feast for the senses, to say the least....the smell of exotic spices/flowers and some not-so-exotic roadside items.....the sound of incessant traffic, car horns, and bellowing street vendors.....the sight of cows, pigs, packs of stray dogs, chickens, beggars, pedestrians, and vehicles sharing bustling streets together in chaotic harmony.....the feel of accepting hugs from family and friends I'd never met before.....the taste of curry, puri, rassam, daal, gulaab jamun, mysore pak, Indian donuts, masala popcorn, chicken tikka, samosa, bhel puri....

Just the tip of the ol' proverbial iceberg....

India...

We arrived in India last night...it was pretty late by the time we got to our parents, but we did have a fitful sleep. There is so much to say between these last couple entries.

[Detour: some of these entries are backdated due to limited access to the internet. We have been keeping track of things that have been going on to update you, but since we won't be online frequently, for clarification purposes, we'll be making loads of entries on one day, with their original date. Hope that makes sense]

It's hard to believe we were in Seattle less than a week ago - feels like centuries. S. will probably be more helpful and descriptive in his entries, since this is all very new to him. I'm home!

Tsunami Relief Supplies Delivered In Nick Of Time

The water in the shower was scalding hot! Yeoowwww! We learned later that the cold water is under repair. Strange....in the 3rd-world countries I've been to, it's usually the hot water that doesn't work, not the cold.

"L" and I took a walk outside. Chipmunks played in the sand near the courtyard....a curious creature to be seen on a Sri Lankan seashore. We strolled along the beach. We picked up many seashells along the way. The beach and water, albeit nice and warm, for the most part was barren of people.

We met Clarissa, a frail, old woman selling colorful wraps. Other beach vendors accosted us as well. We were a bit overwhelmed. We decided to forgo buying to continue our walk on the beach. We did promise Clarissa we'd buy something from her later.

We met five Sri Lankan kids who appeared to be siblings. We talked a little bit and took a picture with them. They didn't speak much English, but one of them asked for money, saying something about the tsunami. Negombo, which is where we were, was pretty much untouched by the tsunami, since it's on the western coast of Sri Lanka.

Clarissa waited patiently by the beachside for us while we played in the ocean. We eventually bought two wraps from her for Rs.1000 SL (US$11).

Clarissa asked if we had any spare T-shirts she could have to wear. I went back into the hotel and pulled out a red, blank T-shirt. I didn't give it to her right away, as I was cleaning myself up, but during that time, Clarissa waited patiently outside our balcony for her T-shirt.

The breakfast and lunch were free. We did end up paying Rs.800 extra for the 4 fruit drinks we didn't know they were charging us for. Still a bargain all around. Anyway, it felt good to spend some money there. Most folks tell us business has dropped off since the Dec. 26 tsunami.

I spent Rs. 80 to call Godfrey from http://www.nceaslanka.com, whom I contacted via email before we left for Asia about donating medicines and supplies for tsunami victims. We'd gotten a few things donated by friends and family back home (if you're one of them and are reading this, NCEASL sends you their gratitude). Godfrey said he would send someone to pick them up. They were in Colombo, which is 30 km (1.5 hours) from Negembo, where we were. I think Godfrey thought we'd be closer to Colombo. Fortunately, they were able to send someone out, altho' it was to take a while. I worried whether they would make it in time before we had to leave the hotel for the airport. Jagath from NCEASL eventually walked through the hotel doors a couple of hours later just as we were checking out. Great timing!

I tried tipping the driver on the way to the airport, but the driver politely refused.

We saw quite a few Muslims at the terminal dressed in white thobes and head scarves. They were all heading to the Middle East. Evidently, the hajj is just around the corner. We stood from a mezzanine to watch many of them going through security checks. Military personnel, possibly American, stood in line with them, only to be taken to another line. We couldn't help but enjoy the irony of seeing American military alongside Muslim pilgrims, given the world-renown tension between what the two groups represent. Later, we were shooed away by an airport staff to stop watching.

We flew from Colombo to Hyderabad. Dad and Mom met us a half hour later. We took a taxi to their home in Kalyan Gardens, while Dad rode a scooter home. We learned later that Dad and Mom almost got into an accident on the way to the airport. I shudder to think if they did.

Sri Lanka

We landed in Colombo today around 12 midnight, traveling from Hong Kong via Bangkok. The flight was smooth. Service on Sri Lankan Airlines was good. The flight attendants all seem to be dressed more scantily than most airline personnel I've seen, but maybe that's because midriffs are standard in South Asia women's wear.

We waited an hour for the bus that would take us to the Blue Oceanic Hotel. Many folks were waiting as well. A group of Marines walked through the terminal with equipment. Two guys sat at a table outside customs registering for http://www.volunteersrilanka.org. It was set up partly by Microsoft, evident by their logo on the banner. Signs directing aid workers for the tsunami disaster were posted everywhere.

Blue Oceanic Hotel is next to the beach. Though we couldn't see it, we could hear it. The hotel staff were quite helpful, as well as the driver, but I was unsure whether to tip. We ended up not tipping.

It is about 1:30 am now. I'm in a pensive mood. I can't help but ponder about being in a country where only two weeks ago, such horrific tragedy befell and from which they still reel from. I can't help but think of the ocean waters just outside my window and the carnage those very waters wrought on the people of Sri Lanka. It is sobering to say the least. I say a prayer for the dead, dying, and living before going to bed.

Bon Voyage

Well, we leave today...next stop Tokyo :) No, it's just a layover, we're landing in Hong Kong...and then it's off to India, via Bangkok and Sri Lanka. (This wasn't planned recently...we'd already bought our tickets weeks ago.) Can't believe next week this time we'll be with my parents and I will be S's tour guide for a change.

We've spent the last week packing like mad, especially the last couple days. S and I took turns sleeping for an hour last night...i'm pretty bushed right now and i'm pretty sure S is too. If we can make it through the next few hours, we hope to sleep well on the plane...but even that is a pretty thin hope.

S's mom and sister and our neices came down to see us off and with the help of a few friends we've been doing pretty well on the "getting things done" bit. A HUGE blessing has been giving to us by a friend who is willing to stay in our apartment...D, you have blessed us, man! Thank you!

Well, that was a fun break...better go get the last minute stuff done...so it doesn't wait until the last minute...

See you on the other side...

...and a Happy New Year

Well, it's 2005...

Seems like Y2K was much farther than just 5 years ago...

We brought in the New Year with friends and watched fireworks at the Space Needle from a distance. It was lovely and very nice with the small mist falling over the city. (It got much colder soon after).

This next week is going to be all about packing...we have less than one week now and we're in the midst of a chaotic flat...

See you all soon...