The Final Few Weeks in India

I am pleased that my twelve weeks here in Kerala are coming to an end. The weather is heating up and the brothers are doing end of year exams. I am correcting this morning’s exam and sitting in my classroom with a cool breeze coming from the overhead fan set on high.

I am looking out the window at the picturesque view of the river through the trees waiting for my students to arrive.

I am much better than I have been in the last few weeks. My chest infection and rash have both gone and now my only real issues are some heat rash and delaminating feet and hands from the psoriasis.

On Wednesday we will go into Cochin to help the MSC sisters celebrate their feast day.

Once I have finished my exams tomorrow and corrected and returned them I am free until Monday evening which is my farewell party. There will be priests and nuns there from the parish and other institutes. We have engaged a cook and I have sponsored the event. It will be held on the lawn with lights overhead. Then I leave early on Tuesday morning to fly to Bangalore and catch a bus to Mysore for two days. Then on Holy Thursday I will catch a train back to Bangalore for Easter.

In  hindsight, my teaching here has been effective. I have been comparing the exams as I correct them with what they wrote on my first day here and and for most there is observable improvement.

Of the 9 students here when I arrived only 5 are continuing next year for one reason or another. Of those five only four have a reasonable grasp of English and have made any real improvement. The other one had very little English and will repeat first year. When Br McCann arrives to begin the next group in June there will be a new batch to join them, all with very little English. When they say they have learned English in school you have to understand that there is very little that they know, taught by teachers who know only a little more.

I have toiled hard to get them to use the definite and indefinite articles correctly and the mysteries of tenses has baffled most.

If they could structure a complete sentence and manage these two issues there would be a real sense of achievement. I have had them reading copious books as well and writing reports. I correct these by rewriting the sentences which they then have to rewrite and read back to me.

I was discussing the issue with the priests at lunch today and would say that I realise that while it is my job to water and weed this crop, I am neither the sower nor the reaper.

I am excited to be starting the next and final part of my journey. I love the idea of spending time in Mysore and then Easter in Bangalore. They will spoil me in both places and I will renew many acquaintances and friendships. Then I fly to Cambodia on April 8th to spend a week with Liam. It will be hot.

Once I get home on April 14th I have a week before I go to Melbourne for the Anzac Day weekend and then to Cadet Camp the next week.

Having completed these two tasks I am looking forward to two months of restful dissipation.

Gerard in Kerala.

The Final Third

It is the experience of most people who are working away from home that once you get over the "hump" you start to hanker for home and that is my situation here in Kerala at the beginning of March. What are the approaches which work in this situation? One trick is to go home early which our daughter Michelle did before Christmas last year. She was volunteering in Port Morsby and

Me showing a German visitor how to secure the Lungi
with a belt so it won't fall down.

was not due to come home until mid-January but she surprised us and made a Christmas present of herself. What a joy!
Another approach comes from the same source. I visited Michelle while she was teaching in the Himalayas in West Bengal in 2012. I was leaving just after Easter and she still had a few weeks to go. As I suspected she was experiencing some despondency at my departure after such a wonderful stay I suggested she do the fundamentals well. Concentrate on doing what she could for the children and concentrate on the relationships.
A third strategy might be to focus on your misery and ruin the remainder of the stay.
The middle one of these is, of course, the most productive, if the most difficult. I will try to teach the Brothers as well as I can right up until my departure and to focus on developing the relationships with those around me. That, I am sure will harvest the best outcome. Who knows, I might even do some good.

The Golden Temple

The Golden Temple of the Sikhs.

The driver taking me to the temple warned me that it was going to be busy as it was the “Half Moon” (I thought he said) festival and there would be great crowds. When you join the throng heading by foot the last few hundred metres through the narrowing streets of Amritsar individuals approach you with orange and other coloured handkerchiefs. These, of course, are for the men to put on their heads, for a price of Rs 10, because you cannot enter the golden temple without your head covered and your feet bare.

The narrow street gives way to a huge marble plaza with a line of businesses and a gate. After receiving a numbered metal disk in exchange for your footwear, you wade through a cool foot bath into an entry way to the pool and temple itself. Imaging an ornate marble open air rectangle with a beautiful marble floor surrounding a clean lake. In the centre of the water is the Golden Temple, a place where the God of the Sikhs resides. There is an atmosphere of cleaning, bathing and preparation before joining the queue to enter the temple across a bride walkway.

I wandered around being a respectful tourist, taking photos with some of the other pilgrims and exchanging a few words with those who speak English. I was not sure what the eating arrangements were so I stayed away but believers are able to make a food offering as part of the ceremony.

Most Indians are arrogant and self-focused. The cannot understand who they cannot go somewhere or do something just because it inconveniences others, sometimes many. The Sikhs are very different. They are dignified, respectful and have a tolerance and acceptance of others which forms a part of their very egalitarian religion.

I decided to join the group lined up (I hesitate to use the term queue as it was more a gentle, well organized and safe throng of males and females in separate lines. The line moved forward in a shuffling wave every new and then. There were four people all in close tough with me on all sides yet I felt extremely safe as there was no pushing or trying to establish position or to forge ahead of others as in the usual Indian crowd. Once I got towards our goal after about an hour I realized who the crowd moved forward in waves. There were two men with a velvet covered stick blocking the progress of the pilgrims. Once a group had moved through, and there were thousands there, and a space became vacant they lifted the stick (like a limbo dance) and allowed a group through. When it came down again there was no disappointment or argument. Everybody accepted the decision of the stick. The whole experience was incredibly well organized and regulated. There were men in tailored coats with little curved daggers at their side overseeing everything in a gentle but firm way. I was chatting to a man from Canada as we approached the temple and a man nearby just raised his eyebrows and said a word in Punjabi and we both understood that we should be silent and respectful, prayerful even.

Inside the temple there was an official, call him a priest, standing over and fanning with a white swish stick a lump of something covered with carpet. A small ensemble was playing and people were placing offerings of money through the railings. Once I had done the same I was politely ushered out and crossed the bridge back to the rectangle of marble with a huge sense of peace and acceptance. I am not becoming a Sikh but I am becoming more accepting of the rightness of a devotion to a God such as they believe in.

In a small bookshop near the entrance as I was leaving I had a discussion with a man selling me books about what Sikhs believe. He told me that as we approach death and the meeting with God we have to be zero. This took me back to my dad and, as Michelle described it, an emptying of self in preparation for the end of this life.

There are lots of details which I have omitted but which combined and interwove to form the tapestry of the experience; the photos with other pilgrims, the peanut butter clump of dough in my hands after leaving the temple, the speakers all around, with devotees sitting glued to their words, the men bathing themselves and their sons in the pool, the women in their secluded bathing spot, the variety of people from many places in the world, born in the Punjab but making their way in many parts of the world.

What have I learned from the Golden Temple:

The need for humanity to seek the beyond, a sign of the beyond itself.

The capacity of people to be confidently different from those around them.

The rightness of going to places and experiencing things. (Contagious from your children.)

I came to the Golden Temple in Amritsar and discovered a beautiful place and people with a fervent belief in a wonderfully loving God. Not a bad find if I do say so myself.

Pilgrimage

Thursday 19 February, 2015.

When one embarks on a pilgrimage there are a number of principles which pertain:

The proclaimed reason for going is never the true reason and the outcome has very little association with the stated reason.

The pilgrim steps out into uncertainty, risking the necessary operation well out of their comfort zone.

There are always difficulties to be overcome and the pilgrim must face these setbacks which threaten to turn him/her back without achieving the destination.

It always costs much more financially and emotionally than the pilgrim was intending to invest.

These and other principles apply to my trip to Amritsar. I set out with an eager anticipation early Monday morning. My flight from Delhi was also a metaphor in that I fled as well as flew. Delhi airport was where my journey took a turn for the better. Feeling sorry for myself rather than accepting my responsibility for what had happened about the trains and the day in Delhi, I felt much better once I had checked in and started to mingle with the people, mostly Sikhs, heading for the Punjab. They came from all over the place and there was a shared ownership. Even seating on the plane was unrestricted. You just found yourself a seat and sat in it.

The flight took no more than an hour on the Air India 777 and there was hardly time to distribute the obligatory snack. The surrounds of Amritsar are green and flat with a snaking network of villages surrounded by clean looking fields. It is a clean city with pockets of filth.

After baggage collection, because we were domestic, I was able to get out early and caught a taxi to the hotel which would be 4½ stars in Australia. A bar and dining room also in plush comfort. I spent an enjoyable solitary evening with Fosters “light” they called it (domestically made and 5.8% alcohol) and delightful chicken meal. With hundreds of channels to watch on TV there was not much on.

The next morning was breakfast in the plush dining room and then a hotel car to the Golden Temple. I will write separately about this experience and suffice it to say that it was one of the most wonderful experiences I have had in India. It was as if I had ten thousands close friends all in this sacred space on a fervent but relaxed purpose.

Afterward a few hours there I wandered the streets and had a meal in a veg café then caught an auto home in the late afternoon with sore feet and a weary sense of accomplishment.

Then I enjoyed an afternoon of self cleaning (including my laundry returned neatly folded) and resting. A wonderful Skype with Jenni and Michelle was lovely.

After a good rest I face the final challenge of Delhi and then Kochi. These should work out well as all the steps are booked and paid for but on a pilgrimage one can never be sure.

This trip has cost a lot of money and been quite stressful at times but these

add to the story that can be told.

All the principles of pilgrimage apply to this trip. It has been fantastic!

Pilgrimage to the Punjab

Tuesday February 17^th.

I am currently sitting in a dingy hotel room in Delhi. I am waiting for breakfast and then a flight to Amritsar this afternoon.

The story started yesterday morning at 4.00am. I was collected by my taxi at 4.30 and had a good trip to the airport. After waiting several hours I flew Indigo to Delhi. At the airport I caught a cab to the Ambiance Mall which is like an upmarket Northland which they didn’t quite get right. Basically I intended killing time for the day before my 10.00pm train. After breakfast there I caught a cab to the wrong train station. There I was convinced by a man that his driver would show me the sights for the afternoon, for a price. We visited India Gate and the Hindu ruins which I can't remember. But I was too tired to be a tourist, so I asked the driver to take me to a shopping Mall near the station so that I could kill some time and then catch the train. He wanted to take me to his “commission” shops and tried several times to get me to go into individual shops. Eventually I got him to go to a Mall where I sent him on his way. It was still only 5.00pm so I stayed there for a while then caught an Auto back to the station. It was peak hour and the trip was horrendous if you worry about those sort of things. More like dodgem cars at the carnival than traffic. The driver was pushing and shoving through the bedlam.

When I got there the information man informed me that the train was already 2 hours late. This would make it midnight before I got the train.

I sat on the station on a bale of cotton for a few hours and read my book but it was looking like the train was not going to arrive at any reasonable time and from what I saw of the trains beforehand, I didn’t relish the possibility of joining the throng and fighting for a metal shelf for a 12 hour trip.

That was when I decided to stay in Delhi and went out and got a taxi to this hotel. Once they get you and they sense that you are vulnerable they get really helpful, for a price.

The upshot is that I get two flights, and two nights for $725.00 with all transfers included.

Not a bad night’s sleep and at least I am not amongst the throng on the station.

Delhi is a terrible place. At night it is a throng of people all pushing and shoving. On the trip from the station to the hotel the driver ran into numerous vehicles to try to get through and force his will on everyone else. During the day it seems more chaotic but at least you can see.

Australia Day Quiz In India

This year for the 26th of January I celebrated Australia Day and Indian Independence day together. One of the exercises was to produce a Quiz for the Brothers and see what they knew about Australia. It was a chance to interact about a topic in an English context. I gave them lots of resources and information before hand.
Here is the Quiz. How well would you go (if you were from India)?

 MAP OF AUSTRALIA HERE

1. Write the name of each State (6) and Territory (2) in the state or territory.  8 points

2. a. Write the name of the Capital City beside each blue cross. (7)

2. b. The red cross is the national capital. Write its name beside it. (1)                 8 points

Australian Animals

Name 10 Australian Animals and write one thing about what they look like.

  

Animal	Description	Animal	Description
1		6
2		7
3		8
4		9
5		10

20 Points

History

Who were the first people to settle in Australia?                                                                                        

When did they come to Australia?                                                                                                                

When was Australia first settled by white people?                                                                                     

  

Where did the first white settlers come from?                                                                                             

Why did the first white settlers come to Australia?                                                                                    

When did Australia become one nation (Australia)?                                                                                  

What was it called when the different states became one on this date?                                                  

7 Points

Famous Australian People

Name a Famous Australian for each category:

A famous singer:                                                                                             

A famous comedian:                                                                                      

A famous cricketer:                                                                                        

A famous explorer:                                                                                        

A saint:                                                                                                               

A famous tennis player:                                                                                

A famous scientist:                                                                                         

7 Points

Food

Name 10 different foods that Australia produces and eat:

1                                                                               6                                                                     

2                                                                               7                                                                     

3                                                                               8                                                                     

4                                                                               9                                                                     

5                                                                               10                                                                  

10 Points

(Bonus Point: What is the Australian National Anthem called?)

General Questions

What is the current population of Australia?                                                          

Name 4 items of dress Australian Men typically wear:

                                                                                                                                                        

Name 4 items of dress Australian Women typically wear:

                                                                                                                                                        

How much of Australia’s land mass is fertile?                                                                  

What is the big rock in the middle of Australia called?                                                 

What is the bridge in Sydney called?                                                                                  

What is the big reef in Queensland called?                                                                                

Draw the Australian Flag 3, 2 or 1 point.  16 Points

Please stay tuned for the India Quiz which the Brothers are preparing for me to do.