Bathing in the Ganges at dawn JOHN PEARSON took his family on a holiday with a difference. Boldly entrusting themselves to the tender mercies of seasoned India-wallah David Paterson, they spurned Raj tourism to sample the life-styles, cultures and religions of Gandhi's golden sub-continent. Here John describes his Passage /o India three weeks in India with my wife and daughters, aged 14 and 9. For each of us it was the experience of a lifetime. I must guard myself nowadays from prefixing all I say with “when I was in India”. But immersed once more in everyday life here in Newcastle, I am in danger of falling back all too easily into the usual routines which any one day in India made seem so unimportant, and of taking not enough from the trip. We travelled with David Paterson, on one of his expeditions which seek to expose those from “home” to the real lives of those who live in the non-tourist villages, towns and cities of this mighty subcontinent.
David may complain that I misrepresent the real India that he [i= the New Year and following “Where so many earnest people worship so many Gods, how can there be just one? Can there be any?” knows, the one we should be caring for, but I hope not. Few can have tried harder to do the right thing (or, if you read the Euro-centric, hotel-centric and I think paranoid guidebooks, the wrong thing).
We drank each and every cup of water offered to us. We travelled second class - un-booked, in very crowded trains. We abandoned all alcohol. We ate whatever vegetarian-only food was served, generally sitting on mats on the floor. We walked barefoot on the cow-dung carpeted floors of village homes. (This feels rather nice actually... like a good class of unlacquered cork tiling). We adopted the Indian approach to toilets (enough said on that one). All this proved to be the passport to the most wonderful acts of friendship on the part of our various hosts, from land-less Dalits (the so-called “untouchables” ) in some village far from anywhere, to an overwealthy “Gandhian” businessman in the city (somewhat incongruous that?).
And what is being done to make life a little better for some?
In the village of Valod we saw womens’ co-operatives, developed specifically to enrich the lives of local women, both in terms of giving them occupation outside the home, through the communal manufacture of chappati etc., and in providing some financial independence. Also in the country districts, the Ashram Schools and Communities, largely voluntary organisations, give education of a good standard to the local children. We visited many schools and saw their work, telling them of England.
In the town of Bhavnagar we saw a massive play scheme, still managed by the man who founded it, to meet a need he recognised for play and education for the poorer children there. The man, Mambhai , a much respected figure, now 92, still works daily, administering the project. India seemed full of ageing heroes of this sort - founders of Ashrams, Rural Colleges and the like, who stay to see their projects through. Hopefully the good things they have created will live on after them.
In India I sensed the same mixed up (double?) standards that we have here.
City dwellers wish country areas to stay just as they have always been. Country dwellers wish for the trappings of city life (better home, better standard of living).
It was interesting to see a village hut, floors as described above, walls of mud and dung plastered over timber laths, timber main post and roof structure - and a satellite TV! In some poorer parts of town, houses look somewhat run-down but a gleaming 4x4 or scooter stands outside. In the real slums, large families live in brick huts, only a shabby curtain separating the two rooms, the bare concrete floor broken and flaking in places. But here we were still offered the usual cups of water, and then a cup of Chai (spiced tea, made with milk and sugar), the staple drink of all Indians, rich and poor alike.
Happiness of the children the projects seek to help has to be measured carefully.
They are “happy” when earning a good DOCTOR OF MINISTRY/RELIGIOUS CARE MA PASTORAL STUDIES MA RELIGION WITHIN A PLURAL SOCIETY A range of taught practical courses on a part-time basis for continuing ministerial and lay training. Learn at the interface of faiths!
For further information please contact Revd David Hart in the School of Education & Social Science Tel: 01332 622222 ext 2080 University of Derby, School of Education & Social Science, Chevin Avenue, Mickleover, Derby DE3 5GX TRAVEL “Watching the sunrise by the river at the village was satisfying.
But must I be in India to find such an atmosphere, somewhere to be at such peace?” Per UNIVERSITY of DERBY Where learning is for life VN living by begging on the trains that run between the cities or good naturedly harassing tourists (of whom there are very few) or natives (of whom there are 800 million). They are unhappy, obviously, when they are cold, wet or hungry, as we would be. But most can work to remedy this.
An American-funded project based around Gandhi’s Ashram at Ahmedabad throws “happiness” at poor Dalit children.
It provides nice new clothing and sandals (inappropriate to the professional beggar). “We gave out 10,000 pairs to the kids” says the project chief. They serve occasional grand meals (inappropriate to a child who gets no such regular food at home), and no doubt a ration of a God (highly improbable to most?).
The Sarjan Project works with the children, offering respite from their lives rather than an outright change... a quiet corner (in as much as any corner of a city station can be quiet) in which they can sit and chat. The children make small items, the sale of which will earn money for the project , with a small return for each child. If any are really ill then help may be on offer via the project’s contacts. If any are suffering unduly at their workplace - so many are still involved in child labour - or escaping homes where they are suffering abuse ( the standard story of the children is that Dad is a drunkard, Mum died when they were 6, or whatever) then Sarjan makes representations on their behalf.
What all the projects sought to give was some self worth... some happiness perhaps?
What I remember above all, when I have time, is that in India I was happy too. So happy that I forgot work, forgot all the other places and past eras that I usually spend so long daydreaming of. Maybe this feeling of relaxed wellbeing, sustainable for three weeks, would have run out in another couple of days, though I rather hope not.
And what of religion in this so religious country ? Friends here, in between stern strictures about the water (the Englishman’s obsession?) felt that India was bound to have a profound spiritual effect upon me. It did certainly give me cause, time at least, for reflection.
Did I come home believing in God? Of course not - said I wouldn’t! We saw so much evidence of so many different faiths, from tribal religions still adhered to by some, to a seedbed of Christianity in a village meeting-hall. Here the congregation all waved their arms (not waving but drowning?)- some fell in trances on the floor. Then there were the local mainstream religions of Hinduism and Islam. Where so many earnest people worship so many Gods, how can there be just one? Can there be any? Maybe I came home believing more in Good, the sensible good of the Project(s). Some of these would be well worth devoting the rest of one’s life to, though what could I do in a practical sense, with my two words of Gujerati?
I did have some “spiritual” moments, or were these just base emotion? I was charmed, for instance, by the atmospheric scene at one particular Ashram of a group of boys sat in the open, chanting their evening prayer, the moon rising most photogenically behind the trees in the warm evening. I saw value, strength even, in this communal activity and others like it - though if this turns to a sectarian selfsatisfied certainty, the cause of rivalry and conflict such as we have seen recently between Muslims and Christians, then things are going wrong. Watching the sunrise by the river at the village was satisfying. But must I be in India to find such an atmosphere, somewhere to be at such peace? I could of course make ten minutes to sit in my wicker chair in the attic here last thing every night, listening to some favourite piece of music - but do I? Could I?
David seeks to expose his “teams” to India. I felt very exposed to India, though not in the same way as the gawky guy in short shorts and tee-shirt, aiming for a yuppie tour of Delhi; not so much as the semi-bare girlies in the row ahead of us on the plane, heading for a feast of sunbathing and booze at Goa. By the time I returned (seeing them again en route!) I really felt like saying “Get your clothes on and come and help at the station”.
Oh well... on with the humdrum! @ John Pearson is SoF Network Treasurer and a churchwarden in Newcastle. David Paterson is also a member of the SoF steering committee and an Anglican priest involved in inter-faith projects.