We are in India!!!
by Kathleen Crowley
June 26, 2006

We are in India!!! We had somewhat of a mishap at O’Hare with confusion regarding who had the paper tickets, yet, it all turned out and here we are. We made it safely.

The minute we passed through immigration in the Chennai airport it sank in..it was real…the trip we had mentally, physically and spritually prepared for was now beginning. To see Rachel waiting for us was so powerful! It felt so good to be starting that journey. It is very overwhelming in so many ways.

We were greeted with beautiful flower leis that we realized are made all over the streets in India. They are so gorgeous! The sweet fragrance of the flowers was very comforting.

We were also struck with humidity and heat that seemed unbearable but soon our bodies adjusted. It was awesome to experience it is a group, as the 2005 Fulbright Group.

It has been wonderful already in our first days, and it is only going to get better. This is really the experience of a lifetime.

July 8
by Marcia Egeland

At a group meeting prior to our departure we were each given a copy of the novel The Shadow Lines by Amitov Ghosh, with instructions to read it in preparation for a discussion at the American College (founded in 1881) in Madurai with faculty from SCILET, the Study Centre for Indian Literature in English and Translation.

Well, today was the day to have that discussion. I think that many of us were feeling a little uncertain about the book, but the discussion did provoke a great deal of thought and the faculty provided us with materials that proved to be quite helpful in untangling some of the relationships in the novel.

The Shadow Lines is full of metaphors and symbolism. The story focuses on the experiences of the unnamed narrator’s family during the time of partition. Shadows are used throughout the story as symbols of the secrets that we keep, the sides of ourselves that we keep hidden from view, and perhaps most importantly, the shadow lines symbolize the manmade, and man-defined borders of countries. One of the most memorable portions of the story for me is just prior to the family’s departure by plane from Calcutta to visit Dhaka to rescue a family member. The grandmother asks the narrator if she will be able to see the border between India and East Pakistan from the plane. “Shadow Lines”?

This really oversimplifies the novel, but it gives you an idea of what it is about. We toured the SCILET library and then had a wonderful non-vegetarian luncheon with the faculty.

Marcia

Settling In!
by Amanda Griggs
June 26, 2005

Hmmm… our first full day in India.

After a refreshingly chilly bucket bath and a sweet lassi breakfast at New Woodlands Hotel, we met Ms. VR Devika who was to be our guide but even more so, our source of wisdom, stories and inspiration for our stay in Chennai. We split our group between our two “disco vans” and set out on our first day of sightseeing.

The first thing to strike me – aside from the heat and humidity once again, were the smells! India seems to have more smells – let me rephrase that, more INTENSE smells than I have ever experienced. One moment you are breathing deeply the smell of jasmine from the fresh flowers in a woman’s hair as she passes you on the street, only to have it replaced by the smell of garbage (or worse 🙂 baking in the sun. We have heard repeatedly that as soon as you learn something about India, you quickly learn that the opposite is also true. I have found this to apply to the smells here as well.

Our first stop was to Santhome Cathedral. We arrived to find the courtyard surrounding the cathedral full of people wearing their “Sunday best” – in this case, for the women, gorgeous sarees of every shade and pattern – as it was first commune for many of the children of the area. Many of us were surprised by the popularity of Catholicism, as this isn’t the “image” of India that we are often exposed to, but we quickly learned that it is a prominent religion in much of India. The morning’s service was being amplified to the people unable to fit inside the teeming church and we were able to hear some familiar tunes being sung, though in Tamil they had a completely different sound!

The children in the courtyard were immediately attracted to the array of cameras our group displayed as we were beginning our documentation of our journey. Many camcorders came out and some of us carry more than one camera so we must have been quite the scene!

We discovered right away that the children of India love to have their pictures taken and also, that they have acquired a taste for technology and prefer to see their image on your digital camera, giving a disappointed frown if you turn your camera over to show merely the BACK of a camera and not a digital screen.

We discovered that Santhome Cathedral is one of only two churches built over the tomb of a saint. Of course St. Peter’s in Vatican City being the best known, but Santhome Cathedral is built over the tomb of St. Thomas, so we removed our shoes and ventured down past lotus pools and informative notices to see the tomb where many children were praying having just received their first communion in the cathedral above.

First Communion – Photos by Amanda Griggs
After gathering together once again, we loaded our vans and headed to Fort St. George and St. Mary’s Church.
The Fort was built in 1640 and marks not only the beginning of British rule in India but also the emergence of Chennai (then Madras) as a modern city. The Fort includes a museum with paintings and written documents as well as a model of what the Fort must have looked like in the 1600s. St. Mary’s Church is also part of the Fort and is often referred to as the Westminster Abbey of the East as it is the oldest surviving British church in all of India. At St. Mary’s many of us chose to support some local women in their craft by buying handmade cards with small paintings on leaves pressed to the cover.

From here we had lunch back at New Woodlands where I learned that there are rules about eating Indian cuisine as I tried to order Naan and found that it “didn’t go” with what I had ordered and that I then needed to order additional food… what came was enough for a small army. So much for losing weight in India!

After lunch we headed to Chennai Government Museum. Thankfully air-conditioned, many of the group seemed to take a liking to the sculptures that were directly near the air conditioning units, as Devika taught us the meanings behind various poses of the gods in the ancient sculptures. The museum held dozens of large sculptures that at one time adorned altars of Hindu temples and each one told an elaborate story of the powers and actions of the gods. While the Government Museum held vastly more than we were able to see, it was a wonderful way to begin our exposure to Hinduism and the Hindu gods.

With our brains full of new sites, information and once again, smells we were on our own being dropped off at Spencer’s Plaza Chennai’s “shopping mall.” With the outward appearance of a typical American shopping mall, the illusion is shattered as you enter an amazing labyrinth of Indian shopping experience. The colors assault you as you pass thousands of carved wooden sculptures, mirrored textiles, saree and salwar shops, and more – so much more! We were there for an hour and half and while getting lost a few times, we simply did not see even a fraction of what Spencer’s had to offer. However, we were off to Fabindia so who could complain!

Whew… that was a loooong day. More adventures to come. See you then!

Amanda

School Visits, Children’s Publishers, Domestic Violence and AIDS
by Cindy Johnson
June 27, 2005

It’s early Wednesday morning and a few of us are up early to get out some email and make some phone calls. It is surprisingly cheap to make calls and use the internet. After today, this will not be the case as we will not have access to email.

Yesterday was a very full day. We started the day by visiting The Children’s Garden School. This school has about 1700 students varying in age from 2-18. This school takes in disadvantaged students as well as students from the surrounding area. Students with learning disabilities or physical handicaps were welcomed and mainstreamed with support in this school. What we saw impressed us.

A daycare facility was available for teachers and their young children. Additionally, preschool was available complete with puzzles, building blocks and a sandbox filled with toys. In the classrooms, each student had his or her own mat and was on-task completing the activity at hand. For the younger grades this included puzzles and building blocks, while at the older grades students were studying English, Tamul (the local language), solved math problems using hands-on props or an abacus. At age sixteen, students must select the art or science track.

Also, in the principal’s office, they had a wall with the top test scores foIf the student chooses the science track, he or she will receive an hour of biology, chemistry and physics each day followed by an hour long lab. There were many other things that impressed; small things to larger things. First of all, in each class the daily attendance was written on the board showing how many students were present and how many were absent.r each school year. Each teacher, prodominantly female (there were three male teachers in the entire school) was especially proud of her students and her school.

The class size varied a lot. Some classes were as small as eight while one 8th grade science class had 62. Perhaps the two most impressive things were the students’ impeccable behavior and the difficulty of the content they were learning. Because this is a school for the “economically backwards” it is predominately female. Most of these women aspire to further their education by going to college. The classrooms were well equipped with resources for their students. Students wore blue and white checkered shirts with blue shorts. Each student was clean and neat. The classrooms were bright and airy, welcoming and filled with visuals.

Our second school enabled us to see the flip side of Indian schools which reminded all of us of our own disparity between schools in the states. The second school was a k-5 school in what seemed to be an economically disadvantaged area. This school was more gender balanced than the other. The students were a bit more off-task, less neat in their appearance; the classrooms were not as well supplied with resources. Two students were being punished by sitting in the hallway. The classrooms were absent of natural light, dark and somewhat dreary.

We headed back to our hotel for a quick lunch and then off to Tiluka.

Tiluka is a children’s publishing company which began about twelve years ago by Radhika Menon, a local Indian women. This woman has worked with developing writers and illustrators to publish a variety of Indian stories in English and the many other native Indian languages. Only 2% of Indians can read English. For many Indians, book seem like a non-essential item since there are problems with costs for many families, storage problems for teachers and schools and difficulties for libraries to pay library services.

New Delhi
by Susan Loewenstein
July 24, 2005

It was an intense day of touring the great monuments of Delhi. The heat registered higher than any we had ever experienced; compounded by the busy schedule of magnificent architecture. It was an enlightening and challenging experience for all.

Here’s a photo journal of our day.

All photos by Susan Loewenstein

Greetings from Madurai
by Mika Oriendo
July 5th, 2005

Greeting again from Madurai! I know that it is not my scheduled time for my e-journal but I have some surprise e-mail access so I thought I would write about it…)

Today we split up into three groups to travel separately around the area visiting different organizations. I chose to get a tour of a rural school about an hour away from the city and was blown away once again by the friendliness displayed by the staff and students. We visited classrooms from standard 1 (first grade) through 12th. The school serves many square miles of area and was actually two schools within a school area.

One school was taught in the Tamil medium (the language of the state we are in…each state has a different languge, with Hindi being the official country language and english also spoken widely especially for business) and the other in english. If you learn english we are told that you have more opportunities as you grow older. If you speak only Tamil (I have found very few Indians that only speak one language…I continue to wonder why we americans must be so rigid when it comes to languages) you can still find good work, but chances are it will only be within the state (which is huge by the way).

We were walked around by the principal and his assistants who answered any and all questions we had. With the amount of schools and classrooms we have visited, I have dubbed a new term… (the uncle affect): this is when you come into a classroom and all the kids are super excited about strangers being there, much like when your favorite uncle visits you, spoils you, riles you up and then leaves you for your parents. Every room we enter we seem to rile up and then duck out. Fortunately, disicpline here is quite impressive and no matter how many good byes I chant out kids quiet down relatively quickly.

So how did you all spend the fourth? We are staying at a place about 20 kms outside of the city with the acronym of CESCI. It is a non-governmental organization with an agenda of making helpful relationships between the people of India and other countries to help improve lives of the Indian people. It is a rather beautiful complex with nice rooms (mosquito netting included) and reminds me of a communal complex that hippies would live in in the 60’s (we are cooked for but wash our own dishes and sweep up the complex etc…) It is awesome. Anyhoo, last night, our group coordinator Rachel somehow appropriated some fireworks (including sparklers). The climax of the 5 minute show were several really nice looking (albeit low level) fireworks shooting off up into the sky and a huge boom of confetti exploding about 10 meters in the air. Yup it looked pretty cool until we realized that it was everywhere. Several of us spent time before and after lunch cleaning it up and we are not done yet!

Well, the time has come to meet up with the van. The next couple of days will be spent in a classroom of a school near by. And here I thought I was on summer break.

Love,
Mika

Munnar, India
by David Piovanetti
July 14, 2005

My day began at 5:30AM with the beeping sound of my watch alarm and a rare hot shower (we’ve gotten used to taking “bucket baths” by now, so a shower is a real treat). Becky and I went out for an early morning walk. The fog was still sitting on the sea of tea plantations that cover the landscape. I had no idea tea could be so beautiful.

The small village that borders the Sterling Hotel was just starting to wake up. Men gather in small groups outside tea stalls, a woman delivers a can of fresh milk, young children dressed in uniforms make their way toward school. We come upon an obstacle of four large cows firmly planted in the middle of the road. We notice their horns and threatening glares and consider turning back. Just then, two men, observing our dilemma from the distance, encourage us to pass and wave us through. With some trepidation, we tiptoe past the cows and to safety.

“This is the beautiful countryside of Munnar.
These hills are covered with tea.”

“With some trepidation, we tiptoe past
the cows and to safety”
Next, we come upon a man walking towards us. We watch him pick up a guava fruit that had fallen to the ground from the tree above the road. Much to our surprise, the man approaches us, stretches out his arm, and offers us his acquisition with a big smile. We politely said no, exchanged smiles, and continued on our way. It was another example of the kindness of strangers we have encountered on almost every step of our journey.

After Becky left to make a phone call, I met up with a 16 year old boy, who stopped me with the usual, “where do you come from?” After a few minutes of conversation, I learned that he was living in Munnar with a friend. His father died a year ago after losing his leg in a tea factory accident. His mother lives with his younger sister in another state,where she works stringing flowers onto garlands. The boy earns 20 rupees (less than 50 cents) a day working in a local shop that sells mostly cigarettes. He wasn’t looking for pity or a handout, but his story was one of the many heartbreaking stories we’ve heard about the struggle to find work and earn a decent living.
After some shopping in downtown Munnar, we headed to the family home of one of our van drivers, named Geva. Geva is about 28 years old and has been driving vehicles for work since he was 16. He speaks little English, but is kind and friendly and always has a smile on his face. He grew up in Munnar and his family invited all 13 of us over for lunch. The family lives in housing that is provided for families that work on the Tata tea plantation, which is where Geva’s stepmother works (his own mother died when he was a young boy.)

The home was a small cement structure at the end of a row of about 10 small attached structures. The house was about the size of two large walk in closets. We would eat lunch in the tiny Christian church which sits just a few feet from the house and where his dad works as a minister.

The entire family and neighboring families, greeted us and made us all feel very welcome. The children huddled around us and asked to have their pictures taken. The women had taken the day off of work to cook for us.

Eventually we sat down to one of the best home cooked meals we’ve had in India. We were treated to fried fish, chicken, rice, vegetables, homemade bread, and fresh fruit. Words could not express how thankful we were that this modest family opened up their home and hearts to a group of strangers. You could see by the expression on Geva’s face, that he was so happy and proud to have us in his home.

It was a perfect day for all of us, and another reminder of the values that seem so important here—friends, family, and community.

July 4th…another amazing day in India!
By Judith Torres
July 4, 2005

After morning yoga and breakfast we headed for downtown Madurai and a tour of the Meenakshi temple given by Dr. Venkataraman. He presented us with a lively and informative tour and a most interesting version of the story of Shiva and Meenakshi.

This temple is a special place where Meenakshi and Shiva were said to have been married. Many couples who are planning to be married come to this temple to celebrate their marriage rituals. We saw many couples sitting in the halls of the temple for close family members to view prior to marriage. This is a traditional custom in the process leading up to a wedding.

During lunch today hand tailored and made-to-order clothing were brought to our restaurant for a few people who had only been fitted only an hour before the delivery!
Today was the first day we saw rain. It was just a few brief sprinkles. The land is very dry and in need of rain.

This day also brought the long awaited cooking class. The making of chapatis was interesting. Our cooks were able to roll out the flour and water dough in perfect circles.

The bread was lightly browned in a bit of oil and then lifted and placed directly on the burner where it quickly puffed up like a balloon and was removed from the flame to settle and cool.

We watched them make delicious lime rice, sauces and chutneys. Dinner was excellent.

In the evening we watched a Bharatanatyam performance of classical Indian dancing by Ms. Bala Nanda Kumar and her students. The dance was accompanied by classical Indian instruments, singing and a violin.

July 4th was topped off with the best do-it-yourself fireworks provided by our Cesci hosts. The grand finale lit the sky up with so many fireworks that it was almost like watching one our very own municipal fireworks shows.

Judi

TVS Lakshmi Higher Secondary School
by Don Vincent
July 6, 2005

Another great yoga session with Divyananda to start the day. After breakfast, we rode in the vans as they made their way to Madurai. Our destination was the TVS Lakshmi Higher Secondary School, a private K-12 school of 4,222 children.

The principal introduced us at a school assembly. He spoke to the children about values and it was obvious that the children were very respectful and focused on his every word. He spoke about the importance of enjoying your work and having pride in
the final product.

To reward students for good behavior, the school had purchased books for the students. We were asked to pass these out as the students names were announced.

Sarah is passing out a rewards book

We got a tour of the school by the assistant principal who told me she volunteered to show us around because she enjoys showing her school. They had prepared a nice lunch for us as we spoke to the principal and other staff members.

In the afternoon many of the us were introduced to a class and was asked to answer questions and teach a lesson or two. It was fun to teach again!

I am teaching a 10th standard Physics class

The students were so enthusiastic and had 100’s of questions.

Being in this school and teaching the 10th standard Physics class was a highlight of the trip for me so far. We returned to CESCI for dinner and a special check in.

Peace,

Don