New Beginnings in India

Hello Dear Friends,
I have just completed my 1st week in India.  What an interesting, diverse, wild and exotic place.  It is true what I was told about the hospitality of these beautiful people.  Here in Bhavnagar, life is very basic, old world, chaotic, hard, but yet magical all in one.  I was picked up at the small airport by Parul from Shaishav in a local Rickshaw.  Me and all my 3 bags, camera bag & carry-on bag.  There are very few autos here (which are expensive and rarely used), just foot traffic, bicycles, scooters, and rickshaws---all trying to dodge the numerous and many large cows, goats, pigs, & dogs in the roads--with what seems to be very little road rules.  Appears to be somewhat dangerous and chaotic--even to cross the street.  So much for my 1st thought of maybe getting my own scooter.  Not that brave yet!!  Most of my travel is on the back of a scooter, which I am now bravely enjoying.  It allows me to feel that I am exposed, part-of and in the pulse of life here.

The main streets are paved here, because it is so dry and there is no grass, the dirt and dust pretty much covers everything.  There is always an interesting haze of dust and fumes in the air, as well as the mixed smells of decay, exotic spices, and the occasional incenses from the sidewalk temples.  It would be easy for some to only see strife, hardship, dirt, oppression and scarcity here, and that would be very easy to do.  But if one opens their eyes and really looks, you can also see all of the incredible beauty here.  There is an interesting pulse and vibrancy to the life here.  The people and their hearts are beautiful, the food is amazing, the warmth & friendliness & sharing is lovely, the sense of community& simpleness of life is inviting, the colors of the woman's saris are magical, the markets are fascinating, and the smell of the night jasmine as you walk the streets at night  are hypnotic!  And the real magic starts at night.  The energy changes, yet I cannot explain the difference.  The markets at night are alive, active and magical--what I think captures the real pulse of India.    It feels like something out of a movie--dark, mysterious and forbidden--yet exotic, inviting and compelling all at once.  It is one of my favorite experiences to just fill up all of the senses.

The food here is amazing, and everyone is eager to constantly feed me and take me home to meet their families. The Shaishav staff now calls me Kathrynben.  Ben means lovingly "my sister".  I just love that!!     I have also become addicted to the Marsala/Ginger Chai.  How could anyone live a day without it??  There are stands everywhere, so I can enjoy it throughout the day wherever I go.  Managing to not gain weight will be a challenge here, and fortunately I LOVE spicy fresh homemade foods.  Meals here are definitely a social experience, sometimes spreading out on the floor "picnic" style and sharing all the lovingly prepared delights.    Finding resources is a challenge however.  No supermarkets here!!  So, you have to travel far and wide (if you know where to go) to get what you need, then figure out how to bring it home if it is too much to carry.  I have not learned how to carry everything on my head like the woman here.  And there is very little capacity to store things at home--IF you are lucky enough to have a small refrigerator.   I finally got a small one after 5 days.  Funny how little I really needed it.  And how strange that I keep looking for my paper towels and plastic wrap!!  

 I have blown out several of my electrical items already, so there are many things I need to figure out--or just let go of!!!  Forget blow drying my hair.   There is NO Wifi in town, so it took me a whole week to finally get to a technical computer store, get an external modem, and then it took 14 technical guys 1 1/2 hr to figure out how to install it in my Mac computer so it would work.  They had never seen a Mac, so they were all fascinated with it, and everyone stopped to participate on being part of the learning.  SO now I have my beloved computer--just VERY slow speed.  Patience, which I was needing to work on, will be one of my greatest new assets and learnings.  Also I am learning that it is impossible to plan or schedule my days--something I need to get a better handle on.  As soon as I "think" I have my next day scheduled, it gets totally changed and turned upside down.  And forget scheduling an "exact time" for a meeting.  I thought "Island Time" was challenging,  but this is at a new level.  Just breathe, Kathrynben!

It is amazing how quickly one can adapt to things, and how little we really need to survive quite well.  I am already enjoying this sparse, simple life.  It frees one up to be in community.  The Indians are rarely alone and work very long hours into the night.  I have a hard time convincing them I need "down time" or "alone time", a concept they do not understand. "You want to be alone and just read--how interesting"??!!   In this remote part  of the world, very few Westerners visit, so a white skinned, single American woman living among them is a great curiosity and fascination to them.  I visited some of the children in the slums yesterday and spent some time playing with them, and singing an American song for them. They are excited that I will be among them for at least a year.   They all wanted to feel my white skin.  Some had never seen a white skinned person before.  I really look forward to working in this community with teaching and empowering these children.  Children here are very undervalued and expendable, and many have not been afforded much, if any, education. This is especially true for girl children.  Their only perceived value, by many, is for them to get married, have children and work at home.  Why would they need education for that??  And because of that perception, many girl children do not survive childhood because they are also not valued enough to receive medical help.   Instead many have only known hard work in the factories since a very early age.   There are children's rights, but few people are enforcing them.  Shaishav was an organization created to teach these very poor children what their rights are and how to stand up for them.  It is an amazing and loving grass roots effort that I am glad to be part of.  Just looking into the bright smiles and eyes of these beautiful faces and hearing their laughter, how could anyone not see value in these young lives?  However, when families are in crisis to just find food and basic survival needs, it is a challenge for them to understand how to participate in helping to break that cycle--or at least break it for their children.  I thought I had seen the worst of things when I visited the slums.  Now I know different.  At least in the slums, there is a roof over their heads, and usually 1 mattress on the floor for the whole family to sleep on.  I have now witnessed families living on the sidewalks at night with dirt encrusted children that have never had a bath.  They have no protection from the elements, have to continually move, forage for sticks or coal from the rubbish to burn at night on the sidewalks for warmth or to cook whatever food remnants they can find from the trash in the streets. It is hard to believe with so much abundance in the world that anyone lives in those conditions.   I wondered--what if I had been a child born to those circumstances??? And child trafficking is still rampant here.  Over 40,000 children are kidnapped every year for slave labor, sex, etc and never found.  Is this really 2011???  There is so much work to be done here!  

On a happier note, tomorrow is the big annual Kite Flying Festival.  This is a ritual that has been famous for a long time.  If you have read the book The Kite Runner, you will know about this ritual.  For weeks the skies have been filled with colorful kites as children practiced their kite flying skills.  Strings are infused with broken glass so that kite fights can be battled.  An accomplished flyer can navigate their kites and strings to cut their opponents string and "down" their kite.  This goes on through the night with some kites being flown with lanterns in the sky.  The last kite flying is the well respected winner!!  A much coveted title!!  I am looking forward to experiencing this and taking lots of pictures.  Maybe next year I will be ready to join the battle.

This completes my post for my 1st magical week in India.  I hope you will enjoy sharing in my experiences and pictures.  It is going to be an amazing year indeed!!
Namaste,
Kathrynben