An SVYM Staff Dinner

Last night, the Cornell students living in Sargur and Kenchanahalli were invited to attend the monthly staff potluck at one of the physicians' homes in Sargur.  Once we arrived we realized that this was a dinner for the Executive Board of SVYM, the directors of the SVYM hospitals and their families.  It felt incredible to be welcomed into a group of such intelligent, driven and passionate individuals.  We had so much lighthearted fun - we played Telephone, had a huge Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament and played a math game (sorry Cornell, I was out long before the Indian children I was playing with... hahaha) - and had the opportunity to listen to some of the doctors sing Indian classical music and dance Indian traditional pieces.  The monsoon rains began halfway through the night, so we quickly grabbed the food and went inside, where the furniture was whisked away and all 50 people sat cross-legged on the floor sharing food, conversation, and laughs.  We were absolutely stuffed at the end of the night, there was so much good food!  It was such a fun evening.

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Note: the night before, we were asked (or rather informed) to make pasta to serve the fifty people who would be attending the event... so we prepared a list of ingredients we needed to make the noodles and the tomato sauce and hoped we could actually pull it off.  Yesterday, we were told that they had found dried noodles, so picturing the boxed noodles we have at home and thinking of the amount of time we would save, we quickly agreed to use those instead.  When we arrived at their home to cook yesterday, we discovered that the dried noodles were actually the Indian equivalent of Ramen noodles.  We laughed to ourselves, began to prepare our tomato sauce and hoped for the best.  After putting an Indian twist on the seasoning, we finished our dish and brought it to the potluck.  It was by no means stellar, but we tried... hahaha everyone was a really good sport for trying to eat it!

Another Indian Wedding

Our group was fortunate enough to be invited by Sindhu, our SVYM Project Coordinator, to attend the wedding of her aunt's cousin in Mysore.  Of the three weddings I have now attended, this was the most lavish and the most beautiful.  When assessing the cost of South Indian weddings (or at least weddings in this region of Karnataka state), the more expensive the wedding, the more desserts that are served.  At minimum, 1 and at maximum, 5 desserts will be served - and there were served 4 at this wedding.

Along with hundreds of beautifully dressed guests, we filed into the air conditioned (this is a luxury in and of itself) wedding hall on Sunday morning, where we were served breakfast before the ceremony.  The families of both the bride and the groom were so welcoming - they sat us in the front row of the hall so that we could see all of the rituals that took place during a typical South Indian wedding.  The ceremony took hours, but it was fascinating to watch!  

Ashley, one of my students and my sorority sister, and I outside the wedding hall.  We felt so glamorous to be dressed up like Indian women!

Before the ceremony, the groom's family prepares the groom and performs a series of rites, rituals and puja (prayers) to bless the groom and his future family.

One of the last rituals of the wedding - when the groom places toe-rings on the second toe of each foot on his new wife.  They both looked so beautiful.  It was an arranged marriage, and they initially looked nervous and concerned, but after this ritual they looked at ease.

Rev. John, lecturer at Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick, and I blessing the newly wedded couple.

Beautiful Coffee Plantations, an Elephant Camp and the Golden Temple

Getting a behind-the-scenes tour at a coffee plantation in Coorg District.  Karnataka State produces 80% of India's coffee, of which 80% is produced in this district.  The plantation owner (the man standing in the picture) loaded us into the back of his truck and drove us through the plantation to see the coffee, herbs and spices, fruit and nasturtiums grown on the sprawling grounds.  The "jungle" was so dense and lush, it felt like something out of a Jurassic Park movie.  It was the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in India.

I GOT TO PET A BABY ELEPHANT!  Her skin was so soft, yet tough - and was covered in tiny wiry black hairs.  Their tails look just like paintbrushes - and rings that contain elephant hair are believed to be auspicious.  Elephants have been tamed by and worked alongside Indians for centuries, so it was very interesting to observe living history at the Dubare Elephant Camp.

The first temple in the Namdroling Nyingmapa Tibetan Monastery, home to the famous Golden Temple.  This temple boasts a large picture of the Dalai Lama.  The two small yellow buildings in front of this temple house large incense-burning stoves, which were lit when we left as prayer began.

Seated inside the Golden Temple.  When I was in India two years ago, I visited this site twice... the spirituality and magnificence is breathtaking.  It's definitely one of my favourite stops.  During my last visit, the floor was covered with prayer mats and we sat silently around the edge of the mammoth room as Buddhist monks prayed, gongs pounded and conch shells were blown.  It was awe-inspiring.  This time, the mats were rolled up and put away, so we were able to walk right up to the statues and sit on the floor - the level of detail not only in the statues, but also in the murals covering all of the walls, the textiles wrapping each pillar and the doors themselves is amazing.

Sravanabelagola & Belur

Standing at the base of Sravanabelagola, the largest monolithic structure in the world.  This incredible Jain holy site is set atop a mountain - we climbed barefoot up 614 ancient steps hewn into the side of the rock.  Remarkably, this project was completed in 981AD. 

Halfway there!  The views were spectacular.  My camera just can't do justice to sites like these.

We made it.  A series of temples and shrines have been built at the top of the mountain, but the piece de resistance is the monolithic statue (again, carved out of the mountain) of Gomateshvara, a Jain saint.

Our group received the "VIP Treatment" and was allowed to climb to the temple roof to get a better view of the towering monolith.  Gomateshvara is depicted naked as some devout Jains live that way.  Their tenants of non-violence are so strongly adhered to that they don't want to harm any animals, insects or organisms in the harvesting of materials to create textiles for clothing.

The doorway of the breathtaking temple in Belur (my apologies for my tour guide's unfortunate photobomb in the corner...).  The Chennakesava Temple at Belur is an iconic representation of South Indian architecture, which is distinctly different from North Indian architecture.  The temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, was commissioned in 1100AD and is believed to have taken 100 years to complete.

Flashback!  On my last visit, I also took a picture with one of these lions, which are outside both temple entrances.  They are a symbol of the king of Hoysala, the kingdom that commissioned the temple.  The level of detail in every aspect of this temple is breathtaking - not a single original surface was left unadorned - even each towering each pillar inside the temple is carved with a different pattern.

Return to Kenchanahalli

On Friday, we returned to Kenchanahalli for a visit and I didn't realize before how anticipatory I was for that moment until it was happening.  As we drove away from Mysore, I was surprised how much I recognized.  The spectacular rolling hills covered with lush greenery, rice paddies, cotton fields, rows of sugar cane and several herds of cows passed slowly by my window as we wound our way through the red dirt roads towards Kenchanahalli.  My favourite landmark is a tiny roadside temple that is surrounded by a pond bursting with white and yellow lotus flowers.  That lotus flowers, one of the most beautiful blooms, grow and flourish only in dirty water always strikes me as a powerful metaphor - of looking for the silver lining, the positive, in each occasion.  The lotus perfectly represents everything that SVYM and my time in India has taught me.  As we drove past that temple, I felt my heart beating faster.  We were getting close.  We had just entered my little corner of India.

When we arrived at the campus, I paused for a moment before jumping out of the bus and onto the hospital campus that I have dreamed and talked about returning to for two years.  I suddenly felt panicked - what if I had idealized it in my memories so greatly that reality didn't match with my memories?  I took a deep breath, stepped out of the bus and was immediately greeted by my former coworkers.  We hugged, shook hands, laughed and talked about all that has happened in our lives since we last spoke in person (thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I've been able to remain in contact with my coworkers since my first visit).  It was seamless.  Perfect.  Even better than I imagined.  Kenchanahalli - the people, the surroundings, and the organization - owns a special place in my heart.  And it feels wonderful to be welcomed back to my Indian home away from home.

We stopped for lunch at Hosahalli, where SVYM's semi-residential school for tribal children is located. These were some of the schoolgirls who wanted their picture taken.  They had such big, beautiful smiles - but they quickly disappeared when the picture was being taken!

At the Kabini River backwater.  In non-Monsoon months, herds of elephants live in the forest surrounding the backwater.  Too bad we weren't here 2 months earlier!

Carnatic Classical Music

Tonight SVYM arranged for a private, classical Indian music concert for all of the students from Cornell, the University of Iowa and Mt. Allison University currently studying at their Vivekananda Institute of Indian Studies. We had the privilege of having world-renowned classical violinists and percussionists first explain the history and art of Indian classical music, followed by a breathtaking concert. Outside of church (and once last summer in a Sikh gurdwara), I have never listened to music that was so spiritual, moving and emotive. Words can't ever convey the energy, passion and talent that these musicians shared with us this evening. We all left completely energized and unable to enunciate what we had just experienced.

There are two main streams of Indian classical music, Hindu classical music (more prevalent in North India) and Carnatic classical music (more prevalent in South India), both of which have been performed for the past 1500 years. Traditionally, Carnatic classical music does not involve violins, as they were only introduced approximately 200 years ago when the British governed India. However, the violin has been adapted for use in Indian music - violinists sit cross-legged with the violin perched between their shoulder and right ankle, providing sufficient stability for the constant vibrato and slides used in their music. Watching the Mysore Brothers (the name of the violinist duet) perform was so amazing - I felt myself smiling throughout the entire concert.

The percussionists - one on a drum, the other on a traditional clay pot instrument - were the most entertaining. They were so expressive - their faces scrunched with their eyes bulged and unblinking as their bodies seized when they pounded their instruments. It was phenomenal.

Deja Vu

It is so wonderful to be back with SVYM in Mysore!

The past few days have been filled with deja vu moments - while two years have passed since I last visited, everything still feels so familiar. It's a strange mix of similarities and differences... the physical is almost the same, with the exception of a number of beautiful renovations at SVYM's Vivekananda Institute of Indian Studies (VIIS), but the intangibles are so different. When I visited last, I had never traveled this far away from home on my own, and never to a resource-poor environment for an extended period of time. I was unsure of myself, my goals and abilities, and how I would both navigate and handle being immersed in a culture so different from my own.

And yet, despite all of these initial concerns, I found a way to thrive in ambiguity, to communicate across language barriers and came to both respect and admire the deeply spiritual, sense-filling world that is this little part of India. It was here, at SVYM, that I began to discover myself for the first time. And in turn, these discoveries shaped my last two years at Cornell and continues to contribute to the opportunities and experiences that come my way. It feels incredibly fitting to return to the place that catalyzed my personal growth and transformation immediately after graduation. I've come full-circle, and I can't wait to see what the next chapter has in store for me. Bring it on, world... I'm ready!

We were all smiles after some successful sari shopping at the same store from 2 years ago!