Early Morning Adventures

I can't believe it, today is my last Saturday in Kenchanahalli.  Where has the time gone?  This time next week, I will be travelling to Bangalore, where I will fly out early the next morning.  I am full of mixed emotions - I am definitely ready to be home, but at the same time, Kenchanahalli (the people and the place) have such a special place in my heart that I will be sad to leave.  Never did I think this experience would be so transformative, so deep - and that it was possible to fall in love with a culture that is not my own.  There's just something about the gratefulness expressed in daily life, the genuine sense of family and community and the deep sense of spirituality here that are truly incredible.  This really is a beautiful place. 

For multiple reasons, Sudha and I weren't able to go out for our routine morning walks for the past week.  But this morning, things were back to normal when we struck out for Kenchanahalli at 6:30 this morning.  It's remarkable how many small details about the environment I forgot in just one short week of not seeing it by foot.  I forgot how sweet the air smells in the morning, the sound of women pumping water from the bore-wells, and how incredibly beautiful the sky is in the morning.

Sudha, my little Indian mother (nanna chica Indian amma), and I.

She has taken such good care of me throughout my stay in Kenchanahalli and has helped me to feel truly comfortable here.  Sudha does incredible hand-embroidery on sari material, and on Monday she's going to dress me like an Indian woman in one of her hand-decorated saris.  I am so excited!

The early morning sky is always breathtaking.  The clouds here are just so huge, they look surreal.  Sudha always smiles and says, "just like painting" - which is so true.

Sunrises - and sunsets - here are so much less colourful than those at home.  But instead of washing the sky in bright reds and oranges, it washes the landscape in a soft, white-ish glow.  The world always appears to be in a slight, shimmering fog at daybreak.

This bull is so funny.  Yes, this is a bull with his face shoved into a general store.  Every morning, this bull roams the streets of Kenchanahalli, walking from shop to shop lowing for bananas.  He sticks his head into a shop and, sure enough, someone will come out and feed him a banana.  Satisfied, he plods off to the next shop.  I just missed the woman feeding him the banana by about 15 seconds when I took this picture this morning.

Indian Wedding 2.0

Today my friend and coworker Ranjith invited us to attend his wedding in his home village, a couple of hours away from Kenchanahalli.  He married his fiance, Srividya, who he met 10 years ago in college - it was so exciting to be at a friend's love-come-arranged marriage!

Sudha was so proud that she was taller than me in this picture (she's standing 2 steps above me).  She was a huge help for the UCSF girls and I, she came to our house at 5:00am to help us put our saris on!  Really, I don't know how women can do it by themselves so easily.  

We travelled to the wedding, in Coorg district, in true Indian fashion - a huge rented Jeep with no doors.  Believe it or not, this Jeep comfortably fit all 12 of us.  The ride was awesome - the weather was warm, and the countryside was stunning.

When we arrived at the wedding, we went to the front to bless the newly married couple - Ranjith and Srividya are both seated, dressed in white.  We grabbed a small handful of rice and shook some on the heads of both the bride and groom before wishing them congratulations.  They both looked so happy.

Dr. Arundhati, and her daughter, Mansi, and I as we waited for the reception to begin.  A reception at an Indian wedding isn't a party, but rather the time for the couple to receive their guests - everyone files up to the stage to congratulate the couple, give them their gift and then have their photo taken.

Ranjith's sister, Ranjitha, was such a good hostess!  She introduced us to the family of both the bride and groom, ensured that we were fed and explained to us how the wedding ceremony functioned.  Karnataka is such a diverse state that traditions - including wedding traditions - vary within a 20km radius.  This wedding was a lot larger, but simpler than the previous wedding I attended.

Ranjith and Srividya.  She was stunning in her formal wedding sari - and was completely covered in traditional golden jewelry.

We were served a non-veg lunch!  This was one of the few times that I have eaten meat since my arrival in India... it's remarkable how little I miss it.  Here, it is much more common to be vegetarian than non-vegetarian, so people always assume you're "veg" unless you specifically ask for "non-veg" food. 

On our way back from the wedding, we stopped at The Golden Temple - a remarkable buddhist temple in a monastery.  The figures behind me are huge golden statues made entirely of gold.  At the time, the hall was full of monks praying... the sound of hundreds of their throaty voices mixed with a gong and conch shell horns was so beautiful.

Surya Namaskara

As mentioned in my most recent, and final, "Good For You!" column in The Citizen (my local newspaper), a major component of my work at SVYM has been creating a calendar promoting the use of Surya Namaskara, a series of yoga postures that we would call "the Sun Salutation."

Surya Namaskara is a series of 12 postures that are to be practiced seamlessly, with each posture being held for roughly 30 seconds.  Ideally, the complete series should be performed 5-12 times, early in the morning (yes, before the sun rises).  It is believed that the best results are achieved if performed on an empty stomach and after using the washroom.  Ease yourself into the postures.  If there is one that you are unable to complete initially, just go as deeply into the posture as possible.  Build up your strength, flexibility and stamina gradually so as to avoid muscle strain or injury.  To ensure that you learn the postures correctly, I would recommend using a yoga class, or yoga video (even youtube would work).

Credit: http://psyfraggle.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/suryanamaskar.jpg

  

Surya Namaskara is beneficial for helping healthy people to stay healthy and to increase strength and fitness, but also helps to alleviate and prevent illness and disease.  It improves overall health and sense of wellbeing.  Specifically, regular practice of Surya Namaskara is beneficial for people afflicted with:

• Mental health problems (ex. anxiety disorders, depression)
• Cardiovascular disease
• Obesity
• Insomnia and sleep-related disorders
• Digestive problems (ex. constipation, dyspepsia)
• Reproductive health problems (especially women)
• Diabetes
• Arthritis and joint-pain
• Lung problems (ex. asthma)
• Skin disorders   

However, if you have hypertension, severe back pain/injury or are pregnant, you should avoid Surya Namaskara.

Iidu Chanda.

Referring to her earrings, "iidu chanda" was my first self-constructed Kannada phrase used in a small conversation with Sudha yesterday.  Iidu chanda.  It is beautiful.  This little phrase is such an appropriate description for my time here in Karnataka (the state where I am living in Southern India).  Just about everything here is chanda in its own way.

I write about her all the time, but I feel like my unlikely friendship with Sudha is chanda.  I don't think she realizes it, but she teaches me so much every day.  Talking and observing her has been one of the greatest learning experiences - and she's definitely the best Kannada teacher I could ever have hoped for.  Some days, she'll bring in the Kannada newspaper and try and translate it for me, so I can see the characters and associate them with the spoken word.  It's really challenging, but written Kannada is really pretty looking... I can recognize the word for "rupees" (the currency of India), but that's about it.

This is an example of a local Kannada newspaper.  And yes, that white girl on the far right is me.  I went to a press conference with Dr. Dennis (the man sitting beside me), where he spoke about the Ayurvedic medicine at the Kenchanahalli hospital where we work.  The caption at the bottom says that my name is "Dr. Jessica." hahahaha

Sudha and I just enjoy being ridiculous together - so basically, I can just be myself with her.  Iidu chanda.  We can usually be found just laughing and chatting - her arm around my waist and my arm over her shoulders.  The other night, she decided we should do the "frog dance," as she called it... Picture a 6' tall 20-year old white girl and a 5' tall middle-aged Indian woman hopping around chasing frogs in the dark.  Yep, that crazy image is probably what we actually looked like.  Iidu chanda.

Yesterday, before returning to Kenchanahalli after work, the students from UC San Francisco and I went to the market to go shopping for fruit and sweets.  Before we got back into our vehicle, a group of school children approached us with the classic conversation-starter, "What is your name?" in their perfect little English.  Iidu chanda.  I knelt down to be on their eye-level and just started asking what their names were, and which standard (grade) they were in... they began joking around with me and pretty soon we literally had a mob of people around us.  The children wanted their pictures taken (they love being able to see themselves on a digital camera) - it was funny, they began rushing the camera, smiling and laughing.  Iidu chanda.  I was finally able to capture a group of Indian children just as they look in real life - chanda.

This whole experience has been chanda... Even the times that were a bit of a struggle have really helped me to grow and appreciate all of the phenomenal moments - and the little moments - that have made this trip the experience of a lifetime.  I think Mahatma Gandhi said it best, "the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." This one quotation completely encapsulates my time here.  I came here to help SVYM, and I yet I feel that I'm going to be taking away so much more than I am even capable of giving.  Such an experience.  Iidu chanda.  

Oh, India.

Wow - I can't believe how quickly time is going... I'm not even really sure where to start with this post, I feel like so much has happened in the past week, but much of it is so difficult to explain... please bear with me.  I have learned a lot about a lot while I've been here - and actually have taught a couple of things about "America" while I've been here too.  Learning about Indian culture and experiencing how it functions - and then being accepted into the fabric of daily life here has been such a thrill.

It's just been within the past couple of days that I have begun picking up and remembering Kannada (the local language).  Living almost exclusively with Kannada speakers has been an immersion for me - when people are speaking, I can often get the gist of what is being said by picking up on commonly used words that I understand, and then facial expressions, tone of voice and body language.  It feels pretty cool, actually.  I now know enough to string together simple phrases, am able to properly greet people and to ask for (or decline) food.  When Sudha and I are walking in the morning, it always is so very beautiful or, "iidu tumba chanda" ("it is very beautiful"). In the morning, people always greet each other, "Namaskara sir/madam/ma'am. Iidu iayata?" ("Greetings, sir/madam/ma'am. Had your breakfast?"), to which you either say "iayatu" ("I did have.") or "illa" ("I did not.").  I try to practice every morning by greeting the people sitting in the hospital on my way to the office... my accent often makes it difficult for them to understand me, but it's much easier for them than if I speak English!  Oh well, it's good entertainment value for them.

After lunch the other day, I was sitting on some stones along the side of the road outside the hospital campus and a mother was also sitting there with her two small children.  They are absolutely adorable.  This image just doesn't capture how sweet the little girl was - she had such a huge, adorable smile and great big brown eyes.  She wasn't afraid to come right up to me, smiling and waving.

One of the funniest things though has been my attempts to Skype with family and friends at home, "in America."  I should preface this story by saying that privacy in India is not nearly as important (actually, I'd say it's not even considered here) as it is at home.  So when people want to read the email you're typing, or the webpage you're currently reading, or to talk with the people you're Skyping with - it's just normal.  So, so funny though.  I've talked with a couple of my friends and my family - and each time they get to meet someone (or someone just sits close-by to watch and listen).  The absolute funniest night, though, was about a week ago when I Skyped with Grant and my parents... they met so many people.  One man who I had never met before, Alistar, was very enthusiastic and excited to meet me.  He had an enormous smile and very happily began talking with me in the middle of my conversation with my family, "I'm a Christian! My name is Alistar! I'm from such-and-such-a-village in Tamil Nadu! Beautiful place! You've been, yes?!"... it was such a struggle to keep a straight face.  He then proceeded to sit down beside me and begin talking with Mom - oh gosh. It was so funny.  (I saw him again later in the week and he wanted to make sure my family was still doing well.  Very friendly.)

The best times here are the real-life moments.  The moments where I get invited into someone's home, or am able to just sit and talk with someone, or to actually do the things that real Indians do... those are always the best.  Work is great and rewarding, but it's the people that make a situation.  Spending time in Sudha's home is always a treat, her family is so warm and welcoming - and it's remarkable, Sudha has learned all of her English from her daughter, Vani ("Wani")... she speaks it incredibly well.

Sudha's family: Sushemah (her mother), Ganesh (her husband), Sudha, Vani (her daughter) and Vani's 3-month old son that has yet to be named.

Being invited into Dr. Arundhatti's home is always fun too.  She's always ready to show me something or teach me something new.  She's very soft-spoken, but with a sense of humour.  I've learned how to make a number of Southern Indian dishes from her - so look out at home, be ready for the Indian cooking! hahaha

One more story today.  The other day, the two girls from UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) and I decided that we would go to the canteen and observe Rangashetty (our cook) as he made dinner... unfortunately, he doesn't speak any English (except for "thank you," which he learned from me), so we were unable to explain what we were trying to do.  Instead, we went into the next room to help make chapati (similar to a thin, handmade flour tortilla).  We watched Sarojah expertly rolling perfectly round chapati - and then it was our turn.  We made the most misshapen, deformed looking chapati - but it was so much fun.  People were laughing at us and our ridiculousness... and we even managed to get a couple of the guys to come make them with us.  Rudrashetty (the accountant - I share an office with him) was hilarious about it - I convinced him to make one, and he said, "you must bless me, wish me, Jessica-ma'am!"  Yeah, like my chapati blessing would do him any good... it probably would've hindered his abilities.  Then he crouched down and rolled a perfect chapati - extremely satisfied with himself, he stood up and, I think, began trash talking the other guys.  It was absolutely hilarious.  The pharmacist, Praveen, then sat down to make one... he was about as good a calibre chapati roller as we were - so he decided to make the shapes of countries.  He made Sri Lanka and Australia... and they actually did resemble those countries.  The whole adventure only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was just one of those perfect moments.  One of those memories I'm going to have for a long time.  

Walking with Sudha

Living in Kenchanahalli is definitely turning me into a morning person - something I never thought was possible!  Every morning for the past week, I've gotten up at 6:30 to go walking with Sudha ("sued-ha"), a middle-aged woman who works at the hospital.  Some mornings I had absolutely no intention of going walking, but if I'm not outside by 6:30, she'll come to my window and yell in at me, "Jessica! Coming for walk?" hahaha and there is no saying "no" to Sudha.  I tried to do so one morning and she just said "okay, I'll wait for you!" hahaha it's a good push to get out and be active though.

Sudha is one of my absolute favourite people here.  She is always happy - smiling, friendly and upbeat - and was so welcoming when I first arrived two weeks ago.  Our walks in the morning have been great to get out into the two local villages and meet some people.  Sudha has two main routes, we can either turn left or right as we leave the hospital.  To the right is a small, predominantly Muslim village (Morband - "more-bond") and to the left is another small, yet predominantly Hindu village (Tittu - "tea-too").  Usually we walk into Morband, and when we went this morning we were invited for tea at the local tea stall - I felt like such a local!

The mornings are so perfect here.  No matter how hard I try, I can never quite capture how the landscape looks here.  Really, the feel of the place goes so far beyond what can be captured in a still image... the sounds, smells and just sense of peace are the intangibles that make a place like Kenchanahalli feel so special.

These little girls were so adorable.  There's a high school (grades 8-10) for tribal girls in Tittu - every morning they come to the well just outside the hospital to wash their faces and brush their teeth.  They're always so excited to see us.

A typical "agriculturist."  Each morning we see about a dozen such farmers walking with their cows (usually attached to a wooden plough) to their fields.  I'd say the most common crops here include cotton, tobacco, coffee, rice and beans, but bamboo is also pretty common.  Also - this is kind of a rare picture in that the man is actually smiling... it's very uncommon for Indian people to smile for photographs.

Again, these are some of the girls from the high school, dressed in their uniforms.  The girl at the very far right (just her head is showing) is named Umbruka ("um-brew-kah") and she was the "brave one" who ran out to talk with us first.  I love talking with the girls here - they're always so proud to show off their English phrases and I struggle to string some Kannada together... it always ends in them laughing at me, but hey, it's worth a shot.  

Also - Sudha is the woman standing in the back next to me - she is the third person from the left of the picture.  We must look so funny when we walk together... the top of her head just comes up to the top of my armpit!

This morning, on our way to the Muslim village, we saw ELEPHANT TRACKS!  It looks like there were two of them... they walked through one field, crossed the road and then into another field - but first they climbed over the "elephant moat" designed to keep elephants out of the road...

Half-Way Point

Today marks the day I've officially been in India for four weeks, and have exactly four weeks to go.  I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by!

As different as it is here, I have really come to love it in Kenchanahalli.  The weather is perfect - yes, it's the monsoon season, but the temperature is great.  Everything is so lush and green, the flowers are colourful and plentiful, there are always birds singing and insects chirping.

My favourite though, is when the power goes out at night.  When the majority of the compound is in complete darkness, the stars shine so brightly.  Never before have I seen so many stars.  The sky is a deep black, speckled with hundreds of shimmering little balls of light - in constellations that I've never seen or took the time to notice before.  Completely devoid of human noise, the chirping of the insects and the rustling of the wind in the palm trees is so soothing.

But I have to say - highlight of my morning today: HOT WATER SHOWER.  That's right - HOT water.  First time in two weeks... I never thought one little bucket of water could make a 20-year old woman so happy.

Indian Wedding

I've been told numerous times that Indian weddings are so lavish, celebratory and beautiful... and not-so-secretly I was hoping to be able to see a wedding during my time here.  But the today was the day - we were all invited to a wedding (arranged marriage) in H.D. Kote, a village roughly 30 minutes from Kenchanahalli.  I had to get up very early to get ready, but fortunately I had a sari and was prepared for the occasion!  One of the doctors, who is my neighbour, helped me to get ready and lent me a necklace, a bangle (that's a funny story in and of itself) and gave me a bindi, so I looked as authentically-Indian as possible for a Canadian!

A little bit of background on the three types of Indian weddings.  There are arranged marriages (the most traditional and the most complex), love-come-arranged marriages (as women are receiving more education, these are becoming more common) and love marriages.  Ultimately, arranged marriages of some flavour are the most common and socially acceptable.  Dr. Arundatti ("air-oon-dot-tea") explained to me the difference on the night before the wedding - arranged marriages are highly complex in the number of steps and checks of assurance that are made by the family members, but not by the couple themselves.  The entire family is involved in the selection of a partner for the bride or groom to be, and in most cases - but not all - the couple gets the final say as to whether they would like to marry the proposed individual.  Culturally, this type of wedding makes sense to me.  Indian culture is such that men and women do not often share the same company, and therefore it would be quite difficult to "meet Mr. Right," as we would say at home.  Also, family is so important here that it is logical why the family would be so fully involved in such an important process.  Secondly, love-come-arranged marriages are when the couple meets and falls in love - often in graduate school - and then the family arranges their marriage.  These are becoming more prevalent and are widely accepted as ultimately, the families both approve of the union.  Love marriages, however, are highly frowned upon.  In these cases, the couple meets and falls in love, but the families do not approve of the match.  One possibility for the disagreement would be if the wedding was an "out-of-caste" marriage - this is highly frowned upon, as people are expected to marry within their own caste.

Indian weddings take place over multiple days, and we were invited to the last day of the ceremonies - where the actual "marriage" component takes place.  The wedding was beautiful.  The ceremony itself was comprised of dozens of smaller rituals, some of which we were able to participate in!  At one point, everyone who was invited went to the front, where the couple was seated under a golden dais, and poured buttermilk, followed by water over the couple's hands, and then placed small amounts of rice on each of their heads.  I'm not sure of the symbolism, but it was really neat to see the entire "audience" blessing the couple.  During the ceremony, there are many exchanges - of flowers, food, necklaces - and each have a special meaning in Hindu culture.

We were fed two meals while we were there - and they were served traditional-style, on a banana leaf.  I've never seen anything like that before.  Note the teeny banana in the picture below - it is one of my favourite fruits that I've eaten here (I think second only to mangos).  They are so much more flavourful than the bananas that we have at home... and they actually have a slight strawberry flavour to them.  So good.

One of the most interesting parts for me, though, was an elderly man who approached me and wanted to talk.  Unlike everyone else I've met thus far, he greeted me as if I was an Indian woman, by referring to me as "Sister," a term of endearment for those you are close with.  That felt really special.  He caught me by surprise with one of the questions he asked me though, "are you educated, sister?"... he was very shocked by the amount of education I've already received!  

Overall, the wedding was such a cultural experience - on so many levels.  The entire dynamic was something unlike anything else I've experienced or seen before.  Being so fully immersed in Indian culture is such a learning experience - and so much fun.

Deeper into the Indian Jungle

Our last group picture before leaving Mysore and moving to our individual project locations. 

L to R: Marko, Ruby, Shannon, Aminatta, Prabu (the man who ran the powerpoint presentations in each of our lectures and taught us incredibly fun children's games every day at tea time), Kevin, Aarti, Henry, Chelsea, Sam and Me.

Last Saturday afternoon, I arrived in Kenchenahalli and moved into my new "home away from home" in SVYM's Vivekananda Memorial Hospital compound.  I am living with three other students - all of which are graduate students (dentistry, nursing, pharmacy) from the University of Iowa.  They are going to be here with me until the end of June, so it is really nice having other primarily English-speaking people around as I adjust to this new location.

The campus itself is adorable - it is nestled in the Indian "countryside" (that's not the correct word to describe this region, but I'm not sure how else to explain it... It's very hilly, lush, full of fields and exotic plants, lots of insects and wildlife) and it's absolutely beautiful.  The view behind my little house is incredible in the evening near sunset... we have a field immediately behind with a large pond to the right and a very large banyan tree to the left.  Oh, and speaking of wildlife, I have acquired two new pets since my arrival.  I am now the proud surrogate mother of the small pink lizard that lives in my room who I affectionately refer to as George, and the large-ish spider that lives in my bathroom... I don't have a name for him yet, but I'm working on it.

My backyard.

The hospital has two parts: the traditional medicine (Ayurveda) component and the western medicine component.  Ultimately, their philosophy is to treat people, not just their illnesses and symptoms.  This hospital is blessed to have three medical doctors that work here full time (which is 6 days a week here) and each is trained in both Ayurvedic and western medicine.  It is the needs of the patient that dictate the type of treatment they will receive.  I will be living and working here for the next six weeks, spending most of my time in the Ayurveda department, but basically will work wherever they need me.  One of the biggest lessons that I've learned in India: Patience.  It's okay to not always know exactly what I'll be doing at every minute of every day... having a little room for the unexpected - and an open mind to embrace it - is all part of the fun.

This past Tuesday, I spent the day at SVYM's tribal school in a village named Hosahalli ("hoh-sah-lee").  The tribal children are so adorable.  Dr. Dennis (one of the doctors from Kenchenahalli) and I went together, and he was saying that the children were all staring at me because I am "like alien" here.  I laughed so hard because it is entirely true.  Being so much taller and paler, I definitely stick out like a sore thumb.  That day, we measured the BMI (body-mass index) of over 260 elementary school children as a basic indicator of their nutrition and overall health.  Dr. Dennis visits the school every week to conduct basic health checks and to measure BMI of the students.  The tribal school is incredible.  I loved it there.  The organization provides everything for those children (grades 1-10) from notebooks and uniforms to backpacks and meals to housing and field trips as long as the children will dedicate their time to learning diligently and to the best of their abilities.  Never have I been in a school where all the children seem so happy to be able to go to school.  The children all appeared to be so happy... here, in India, education is still not a right, but rather is a privilege.  Something that, unfortunately, tribal children are not always able to access.   

Some of the younger boys playing on the slide outside of the dining hall.

The work that SVYM does for the tribal people in this region is both remarkable and commendable.  They do their best to ensure the tribals are involved and comfortable in order to maximize compliance.  In fact, at the hospital in Kenchenahalli, treatment is so greatly discounted (thanks to the goodness of many people), but is never free.  SVYM has discovered very poor compliance when something is given for free, as there is no incentive or sense of ownership to follow-up or to complete the prescribed regimen.  Furthermore, the tribals assume that if a medication is given to them for free, it is a faulty drug with minimal efficacy and they will not use it at all.  Despite their poor socioeconomic status, they will not accept what we would call "hand-outs" when it comes to receiving healthcare.  It's very interesting.

Communication Blackout

Hey everyone, my apologies for not posting anything recently!  Everything is still going well, but I have had both minimal time and internet access recently.  I now have access to slightly more reliable internet, so I should be able to post more regularly again soon. 

Exploring Buddhism in India

Before coming to India, I had always been under the illusion that Buddhism was widely practised here.  However, it is actually rarely practised (in comparison to the prevalence of Hinduism), and is more widely practised in Northern than Southern India.  Despite all of this, in the region of Karnataka where I am living, there are numerous Buddhist monasteries and temples.  Two Sundays ago, my first full day in Kenchanahalli, I went sightseeing with the grad students from Iowa (Julie, Mandi and Mikey) and we visited two such Buddhist monasteries.

The first monastery that we visited was my favourite of the two.  Tucked way off the main road, we had to take a very small one-lane bumpy dirt road to reach it.  As we were nearing the monastery, it literally felt as if we were crossing the border into Tibet.  There were prayer flags strung across fences and between trees of every property and all of the people were Tibetan - I didn't see a single Indian person.  Interestingly, the area we were in was one of many Tibetan refugee camps founded over 100-years ago.  Anyway, when we arrived at the monastery, the Buddhist monks were praying inside - it was one of the most incredible sounds I've ever heard.  It was like a symphony of low, rattling voices chanting mantras interwoven with the methodical beating of drums, the clanging of a gong and the whistle of horns... very loud, and yet very peaceful at the same time.  The building was intricate and gilded without becoming gaudy - it was beautiful.

Later, we went to The Golden Temple, a much more famous Buddhist temple that has become more of a tourist attraction.  It was a huge complex - there were hundreds of monks (of all ages) that live and meditate there - consisting of three main temples (including the famed Golden Temple) as well as all the living quarters.  While we were there we even saw a monk using an iPhone... that was definitely unexpected!  But The Golden Temple definitely lives up to it's name.  The inside of the temple was breathtaking.  At the front of the large prayer room were three enormous golden figures, each seated in the lotus position - I only recognized Buddha, I'm not sure who the two statues flanking him represented.  Everything was so intricate - the walls, the pillars, and the front of the building.  I've never seen anything like it before.

Right after we finished looking at the inside of the temple, the gong began to ring - calling the monks to prayer.  It was so cool to watch them come running from all directions, kick off their feet at the base of the stairs into the temple and dart inside.

 

Indian Prom 2011

Tonight, Sindhu (our coordinator at SVYM) organized a “Cultural Evening” for us to attend.  We were taken to a special performance of “Ramayana,” which is one of the most famous epic Indian poems ever written.  From what I understand, it tells the tale of Rama – the man that encompasses all ideals that Indian men should strive to attain – and his journey to save the woman he loves.  Before the performance, I had never heard the story, so it was somewhat challenging to follow along.  However – it was performed in such an interesting style.  A single female dancer (one of the most celebrated in Southern India) wordlessly performed each role, and was accompanied by live vocalists and musicians. 

One of the most exciting aspects of this evening, however, was that we got to wear saris!  We all got ready together and proceeded to take dozens of pictures... thus dubbing our evening, "Indian Prom 2011."  Marko and Kevin gave each of the girls a wrist-coursage (hand-picked from the extra flowers that were growing over our fence and full of tiny ants, but hey, it's the thought that counts!), so we were being super cheesy about the whole thing.  It was great.  Previously, Sindhu had taken the girls out sari shopping at the only store in Mysore where she buys saris – and since we are all in love with Sindhu, we were totally excited to see where she shops.  The little store we went to was stocked with literally thousands of colourful (or not), patterned (or not) cotton and silk saris.  A sari is simply a very long piece of fabric that is wrapped around a woman’s body in a particular way, which actually varies between regions.  Each sari comes with the material to make the “blouse” (the itty bitty shirt that is worn underneath the sari), which must be custom made to ensure an ultra-tight fit.  I can’t imagine how Indian women are able to get themselves dressed every morning – it took 2 Indian women with me helping to get myself dressed.  We were each given a bindi (the little decorative sticker that women wear between their eyebrows), so it felt like we were really becoming Indians – at least for the evening.

Magnificent Vistas

This past Sunday, we were taken on a 13-hour sightseeing adventure... We were taken to two significant Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Shiva, and they were both beautifully and ornately decorated.  And, on our way back to Mysore, we came across a road that was literally half missing (due to the monsoon rains), and forced us to turn around - so that was an experience!  The absolute highlight of my day though - and actually my favourite site that we've been taken to see thus far - was the first stop of our day of sightseeing... Sravanabelagola.  (Pronunciation translation: "shrah-wenah-bellah-golah"... try saying that 5 times fast.  We had a hard time even saying it once! hahaha)

Sravanabelagola is a huge monolithic sculpture of a Jain holy man, built over 1300 years ago.  There are 2 major sects of Jainism, and they are easily differentiated by their attire: whether they are dressed completely in white or are completely naked.  Devout Jains walk from the Himalayas to the very tip of southern India, begging for their meals - and they are only able to eat a maximum of 24 morsels of food daily (the amount that would fit in your outstretched palms). 

At the base of the sculpture, there were 2 Jain "priests" who performed puja (or prayer) asking for guidance in our studies and our work.  We were given a flower as a symbol of welcome and were each given a bindi (the turmeric dot placed on the forehead) as a sign of blessing. 

The statue at Sravanabelagola was built atop a very large hill - which we climbed barefoot, out of respect for it being a holy site - and the view was absolutely incredible.  As far as the eye could see, it was a patchwork of green trees and fields, reddish-brown soil, tiny tan houses and little winding roads.  It was so beautiful.

The site was so majestic.  I felt totally on top of the world.  It looked like the perfect place to do yoga, or to meditate, or just to watch a sunset.

Our entire group in front of one of the Hindu temples we visited.  We're having such a great time together.  It's such a great, adventurous and compatible group of people - we have truly enjoyed getting to know India better together.  It's going to be sad when we all leave for our respective project sites (in various communities) this weekend.

A Saturday in Rural India

Despite being taught in class that 70% of Indians live in rural communities, until Saturday I could have been convinced that India (or at least Southern India) was just one large city.  I had only seen the bustling city streets with the constant stream of rickshaws, busses, pedestrians, cars and ox-carts, small homes and business piled atop one another and the constant presence of people - no green space.  Today, however, I was exposed to rural India... and I now understand why people fall in love with this country.  The cloudy, yet pale blue sky - unobstructed by anything taller than a large tree - seemed to go on forever and the land was a lush green with a patchwork of fields, rolling hills and small mountains - and even a handful of large rivers.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Even if I had a camera with a lens 6-feet wide, I couldn't possibly capture the true essence of the rural Indian landscape.  The road was so narrow, that our large bus was unable to travel the roads very quickly, and in places it was a one-lane partially dirt road... it was legitimately rural.  Which here, means the presence of tribal people (like indigenous people at home).

We visited Saragur - where SVYM has a secondary care hospital (a general hospital with the essential specialties - such as pediatrician, OB-GYN, ear-nose-throat, etc.) for the tribal population.  It was a very clean, highly organized and seemingly efficient hospital.  They seem to make every effort to care for the patient as well as to provide services to ensure patient adherence to treatment methods - through emotional, psychological support and providing subsidized, affordable medications.  They also emphasize prevention, and look at each patient as a person - not just as an illness - and attempt to heal the cause of the illness, rather than treat the symptoms.  Interestingly, one of the orthopaedic surgeon's has a passion for sanitation - and has built an "environmental park" behind the hospital which demonstrates the different toilets that are available at all different price points for use in tribal communities.  Even today, not all tribals have access to toilets in their communities - let alone in their own homes.  The cutest though, were the children of the "Vivekananda School of Excellence" - a tribal elementary school behind the hospital.  They were so adorable, all dressed in their uniforms, and were very excited to show us their English - and we were excited to show them our Kannada!  Brave little boys and shy little girls were clambering to have us take their picture (most have never "seen themselves" on a digital camera before) and ask us our names.  Seriously, they were some of the most adorable children I've ever seen.

Our second stop was the main tribal school - located in Hosalli.  We were served an authentic Indian meal - even ate sitting on the floor - in the dining hall with the children.  I'm really beginning to get the hang of eating with my fingers!  It's monsoon season right now, so naturally we got caught in an absolute downpour on our way to see the school itself.  Out of nowhere, the rain just crashes down - and then it becomes sunny just as suddenly.  It was a nice campus with an innovative curriculum.  To encourage tribals to send their children to school, the school also teaches the basics of tribal living - mostly through agriculture and farming, where the students actually grow the vegetables that are eaten in the school cafeteria.  

Our final stop was Kenchenahalli - where I will be placed for six weeks.  Needless to say, I was really nervous.  SVYM has a primary care hospital (10-beds) serving the local tribal people in Kenchenahalli.  Here, they believe in a holistic approach to health care - using both modern western medicine and traditional Indian medicine, known as Ayurveda (which will be my primary focus).  Thankfully, the hospital is adorable, there are plenty of other people going to be living on campus and the doctors are passionate, enthusiastic and eager to help me to learn.  Dr. Dennis (one of the western medicine doctors) said that I will "be like a child at first - I will need to learn how to crawl before I can walk, and then how to walk before I can run - then I will be comfortable in Kenchenahalli."  I really am looking forward to the experience.  It just might change my life.

The main hospital... it even has an elephant "moat" around the building to keep the wild elephants out of the building!  It's apparently pretty rare, but the hospital is situated in a National Park, so they are seen around the campus frequently.

I'm So Saree!

I haven't written the past couple of days as we've been kept very busy with classes.  Every morning, our day starts with 6 am yoga and we're booked entirely until 4/5 pm.  For the most part though, classes have been very interesting.  We're taking yoga, Indian Culture and Civilizations (a history-architecture-religion-archaeology-type course), Gender in India (looking at gender inequality - mainly causes and manifestations), Indian Health Care (public health, sanitation, general medicine, disease...), Labour Economics and Kannada.  My favourite classes are Indian Health Care and Gender - the professors are so passionate and are able to build on what I've learned in class at school by explaining the situation in and perspective of India.

In terms of health care, things here are so different from at home.  However, India is a developing country, and "development" also comes with a price - India is now the "diabetes capital of the world"and many now suffer from obesity-related diseases, just as we do in North America.  Fortunately communicable diseases (i.e. cholera, malaria, TB) have declined substantially over the past 50 years.  However, this has been coupled with an increase in the spread non-communicable disease (i.e. cancer, hypertension, diabetes) due to altered lifestyle and increased Western influence.

The waiting room of a primary care clinic in Mysore.  Each of chart is for the reporting of the number of cases of specific diseases (i.e. malaria, leprosy, TB) at that specific clinic.  There's a tremendous amount of transparency about disease rates in hospitals and clinics here.

Outside of class, I continue to be exposed to the traditions of Indian culture - mainly clothing and food-wise, though.  Yesterday the girls and I went saree shopping!  The little shop we went to was literally filled with hundreds and hundreds of colourful (and not so colourful), patterned (or not) silk and cotton sarees.  The saree is an Indian woman's traditional attire - they're worn all across the country, but apparently each state have subtle differences in how they wear them.  Today we had our measurements taken for the custom tops that come with the saree... apparently we were the first "international students" the women have ever fitted, so it was a cool experience for both of us! 

So Much Fun...

The people that work here and the Indian grad students that are studying here are so welcoming and friendly - but they're also so much fun!

Yesterday between classes, we were totally acting like children - and were loving it!  One of the people working in SVYM's school taught us a common game for young children called, "Fire on the Mountain."  Picture a group of 10 college students, age 19 - 21 running in a circle chanting "Run, Run, Run!" in perfect unison after the teacher would say, "Fire on the Mountain."  He would then yell instructions like "1 house" or "1 house, 2 sheep" and we would have to find a group of people and make the corresponding signs with our bodies - and the last person was eliminated.  So naturally, we became super competitive and were racing each other, screaming and squealing to beat everyone else.  It was just so great! (I'm pretty sure that the video is going to be posted to our team blog on Cornell's ILR website.)

A couple of days ago, my whole group went to the school to play some volleyball with the Indian grad students - it was a prime example of finding common ground without being able to speak the same language.  Some of the students spoke some English, but the majority just picked up on the phrases that we used during the game, like "nice!" or "I like it!" or "dirty!".  Basically, we mixed the teams so there were Indians and Americans on each side and, again, became competitive.  We played best out of 7 - there was so much trash talking between the teams in both Kannada and English.  It was really cool how I had no idea what they were actually saying, but I could totally get the gist by watching their facial expressions, hand gestures and the tone of voice they used.  Pretty sure they were being as sassy towards the other team as we were!

This has been such a wonderful experience so far.  I never realized how much merit there is to taking some time to learn in an unfamiliar environment... it really brings a whole new perspective on things.  From listening to my various lecturers, I've found that people who were originally non-English speakers have such a gift for phrasing what we would consider to be basic or simple ideas in such a way that you are forced to take a step back and think about the ordinary in a different way.  It's really quite powerful.

On a much different note, we rode in our first rickshaws today!  Seeing the city from a rickshaw is such a different experience from seeing it from a bus.  I felt like we were able to actually experience the city more... the people, the sounds and smells - it was absolutely incredible.  I loved it!

"Look! A white person!"

Yesterday my group and I were taken on a day-long tour of the main attractions in Mysore.  It was a very long day - but I have never said the word "incredible" more times in one day in my life!  The people, the colours, the architecture and the history are amazing here.  We visited Chamundi Hills, Somanathpur, Mysore Palace, St. Philomena's Church, as well as an Indian clothing store and a silk store.

Our first stop yesterday morning was Chamundi Hills - one of the eight most sacred hills in India.  There are actually 1000 steps that go from the main portion of Mysore city to the top of Chamundi Hills (we didn't climb the stairs though...).  If an Indian woman wishes to be married early, she must climb all 1000 stairs and perform puja (Hindu prayer) at each step.  Most people, however, just climb the stairs for exercise on the weekends.  At the top of the hill is a temple built for a Hindu goddess.  It is built in the traditional southern Indian style of temples, meaning that it has a "step-like" construction.  Every southern Indian temple has 3, 5, 7 or 9 steps - and the one at Chamundi Hills had 7 steps, each with different representations of Buddha.  We were unable to go inside, as Saturday is a holy day and there was a very long line to wait.  But we did get to climb down 300 of the 1000 steps to see the Bull of Shiva!  It was incredible.  The second largest stone monolith bull in India, it is 4.5m tall and is carved from local rock.  Every 6 months, a ceremony is performed to redecorate the Bull, and we were able to see it after it was freshly redecorated.  It was incredible - one of my favourite parts of the day (but I'm awful at picking favourites, so I probably have 15 favourite things from yesterday!).

Chamundi Hills was our first experience being immersed in Indian culture and being out in public with the Indian people... and did we ever stick out.  People were stopping to stare, point, wave and yell "hi!" just to hear us say "hi!" back.  But the greatest was when entire families would run over to us, excitedly wanting us to pose for pictures with them, or when mothers would force their young children to take a picture with us, or when Indian men would come up to the guys in our group wanting to shake hands.  At first it was a little uncomfortable, but then we got used to it - and just enjoyed it.  It's not tourist season here now (mostly because it's so hot) so we are definitely a bit of an oddity around here!

On our way to the Somanathpur temple, we passed the Banyon Tree where the Buddha reached enlightenment.  It's one of the largest banyon trees in souther India, and is over 500 years old.

The Somanathpur temple is one of the most famous Hindu temples in India.  Carved entirely from local soapstone about 750 years ago, this temple was constructed for the worship of 3 Hindu Gods.  It was intended for use by the brahmin caste (the upper class), but was never actually used.  Sadly, the temple was never even completed because it was attacked by a group of Muslims three times, and after the third time, the work was never completed.  The outside of the temple is covered with intricate carvings of elephants (for strength), horses (for courage), as well as many representations of different Hindu gods and goddesses.  It was so interesting - on each carving of Shiva, if you just looked at his torso, you could see the face of a bull (which was Shiva's mount).  It was so cool.  Somanathapur was also where I had my first experience with a non-Western toilet.  Let's just say it was an authentic Indian experience.

 
We then travelled to Mysore Palace, an enormous complex that was built for use by the Indian Kings (I'm not sure if it was the King of all of India, or southern India) and designed by the British.  The palace was actually in use for hundreds of years, but after the end of the reign of the last Indian King in 1969, it has been used primarily as a historical site.  The entire building was stunning - beautifully ornate, yet tasteful.  All of the chandeliers were made of glass from Czechoslovakia, all pillars from Scotland, each stained glass window from England, a set of each crystal, bronze and gold chairs each made in different Indian cities.  The most breathtaking rooms though, were those that we were shown as "VIP Guests"... we were taken into a room that housed the entire Royal sword collection!  It housed over 300 swords and special weapons designed solely for use by the Indian Kings.  Connected to this room was the Royal animal collection.  The entire room was filled with taxidermy Indian and African animals - everything from elephants to crocodiles to cheetahs and even a giraffe!  So incredible.  It was such an honour to be shown such special artifacts.  We were even able to see the palace illuminated in the evening!  It looked just like an Indian version of Disneyworld, only more historical.  The entire complex felt so magical.