KIDS’ BLOG: ELEPHANTS! (Lorie in India)

In India, people ride elephants.  Most people do it for fun today, but in the past, people worked with elephants.

Bye, bye, elephant!

This elephant is walking through a spice plantation, where people grow cinnamon, cloves, ginger, coffee and chocolate.  Lots of things that we like to eat!

People love elephants so much that they are always making sculptures and pictures of elephants.  Sometimes they decorate their elephants by putting fancy clothes on them and covering them with flowers.

Because Indians love elephants so much, they have even made an elephant god, who brings good luck.  He is called Ganesh.  He has many arms.  People love him.

What did I learn from India?... A letter from Mumbai

We are in our hotel room in the Sea Green Hotel in Mumbai, the ocean visible across the street, packing and reflecting this last afternoon before an evening trip to airport.  It is a good time for me to think about and share what I learned from India. 

Insight #1: India, like China, is an ancient civilization with grand accomplishments which parallel and sometimes exceed those of European civilization over the past 3000 years.  While India may be in some ways a developing country now, climbing out of a 200 year colonization by the British, there is much we can learn from its “other” experience of philosophy, spirituality, daily practice, aruvedic medicine, agriculture, art and music making, and much more.  Eastern Civilization (mostly India and China) should be studied along with Western Civilization and given equal weight, especially considering the rising importance of Asia in the world today.  Latin American and African history should also be learned.  These things are shockingly ignored in the American educational standards, and we need to make time for them at Peregrine School. 

Insight #2: India and China are the big population centers of post-colonial development and rapid advancement in the world today.  They have similarities and shocking differences.  India is producing countless young people who are as well educated as U. S. students, and more eager to compete in the world market both in the USA and in India.  India is also producing (and using) oil, has become a major computer center rivaling the Silicone Valley in California, and is a media magnate producing more films in Bollywood for Asian consumption than Hollywood produces each year.  Understanding India is understanding our world.  Understanding the good and bad in how India and China are developing sheds light on questions of democracy, capitalism vs. socialism, and more in the world today.

Insight #3: Questions of human rights, fairness, and just plain decency arise for almost anyone visiting India.  Rapid capitalist development is enabling countless young people in India to have opportunities they never had before, and is resulting in rapid building and life improvements.  On the other hand, Mumbai - the richest and poorest place in India - is but one example of the costs of “survival of the fittest” capitalism.  While a rising upper middle and rich class wear designer clothes, go to movies, and sip cappuccinos, 37,000 children live on the streets of Mumbai with no means of support.  Everyone in India is on the take, at all levels of society, making contact with people both compelling and exhausting.  Every student wants a reference to come to the USA, every taxi driver wants to take you to see his cousin’s rug shop, and every child, dog, and monkey on the street is hungry.  For those at the bottom of the food chain, the current system offers no opportunity other than to grapple for the crumbs of those who are eating at the table.  A repeated set of signs has been stenciled in front of the beautiful if ostentatious Prince of Wales Museum.  The signs read: “What’s a few more bodies under the foundation, if India can become great?”

Insight #4: Anyone who doubts the toll caused by the rapid increase in the use of fossil fuels for autos and trucks, building, agriculture, and industry should come to India and/or China and see how our “model” of giving every family a car and seeing what will happen is affecting the environment.  The pollution levels in all of India and China’s major cities exceed Los Angeles before lead was omitted from American gasoline.  They are intolerable.  And this is before we consider global warming.  Garbage is another issue, as everyone gets coca cola and plastic water bottles - things they did not have in these numbers until recently - and then drops them on the ground and ultimately in the rivers and oceans.  No bodies of water we have seen in India are swimmable for Indian people.  It is sad to be in Mumbai, a beautiful city made of islands surrounded by bays and oceans, and see that it is forbidden to swim at the beaches due to pollution.  Since the USA is the major model of a “good” lifestyle dependent on fossil fuels, and of consumer use of products which become waste, it seems that we have a lot of work to do in providing a different model to the world.  We can’t expect others not to want the things that we consider essential. 

Insight #5:  India is a personal story for everyone.  I have never seen a place so vital, so multi-faceted, so beautiful and so challenging.  The human story is here in all its many forms.  Anyone who loves art wants to bring it all home in the form of purchases.  Anyone who loves food wants to eat all the spices.  But India’s earthy materialism is linked inextricably to spirit.  A multitude of important religions - Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and many other forms of worship - either originated here or have a history here which goes back thousands of years.  People meditate and do yoga on the crowded seawall where I join others in walking each morning.  India makes one mindful of oneself, of one’s body, and of the process of becoming mindful.  It creates personal challenges which it might take a lifetime to consider.

Being who I am, I relate much of what I do and see back to Peregrine School.  I felt bad to leave our school during the school year - something I have never done before.  But so many rich things will be possible because of this trip.  At the elementary school, the week after the winter break, we will do a unit on “fiber” which will draw heavily on India.  I have collected multiple kinds of silks and cottons which illustrate various processes, such as batik and tie dye, which we can do.  I have also collected block printing tools and natural dyes to use.  I have been saving photos of key topics, such as elephants and cows, which can become inspiration for daily life and for art with all kids, even those in Escuelita.  I believe that a 21^st century education involves knowing the world as much as possible, and that India is an important addition to any world curriculum.  I can’t wait to share with you and most especially, with the children, in person!

Kerala- a land of water and wonder (Lorie in India, Blog #11)

We entered Kerala at the Tiger Preserve, in the mountains, where we stayed at a mountain spa which would make anyone jealous.  We took a boat through the preserve but saw no tigers!  Here we saw spices grown under the shade, along with coffee, and then visited Kerala’s famous Cardamom Hills, where tea is grown in a spectacular patchwork quilt of terraces.

Tea must be picked every twelve days, so that only the tender leaves are taken.  We learned that different teas come from different processing of the same plant.  White tea is very tender leaves only, green is processed less, and black tea is roasted.

Next we visited the inland waterways of Kerala, famous for their houseboats, which once provided local housing, but are now mostly for tourists.  We had a fish lunch on a houseboat in this labyrinth of beautiful canals, which form a complex delta.

Are you jealous yet?  I wouldn’t mind renting these cottages for a time.  

Kerala also includes the city of Cochin, another remarkably beautiful place which is centered on a bay much like San Francisco.  Cochin is an ancient port, first settled by the Portuguese, who have left buildings behind.  It is a center of the spice trade.

This Chinese style of fish net is lowered on big ropes, then brings in small fish.

Fish caught in Kerala.  The small ones by the nets, the others by boats that go to sea.

Some consider Kerala the wonderland of India, and in fact the name means “God’s Country”.  Kerala also has the distinction of having a socialist government during the 55 years after independence.  It has many cooperatives, and apparently although the per capita income is as low as other states, there is much less poverty here: better health care and education.  This came from a colleague on the trip who is an economist who has studied Kerala.  I would like to learn more about this seemingly idyllic state.  

Madurai Orphanage and “Little” Diwali (Lorie in India, Blog #10)

On Day 2 in Madurai, we went to an OAT (our tour, Overseas Adventure Travels) assisted project, an orphanage and old people’s home.  Oddly, most of the people there- about a hundred children ranging from age 3 to 17, and about 35 “old” people- are from the Brahmin (top) caste, but have fallen on hard times.  The caste system is still important in India today, but some of it seems confused.  Apparently one can be from an old distinguished family but be poor today.  The children were seated in rows in a large hall, quiet and orderly, waiting to greet us, with the “old” people (most in their sixties, but warn from a hard life) seated behind them.

At first the children were very quiet, then they began to sing.  It was weird because I was wondering what we might teach them to sing, and thought of “If you’re happy and you know it…”, and this is what they sang one minute later!

We arrived on a special day, because it was “Little Diwali”.  Diwali is a Hindu festival of lights, when little oil lamps are lit in large numbers at each house and fireworks go off.  Large bonfires are also set.  We missed the main one, but another one is celebrated on the next full moon, and we were there for this one.  We brought fireworks for the children, who are here not too safely putting them off.

We visited the nearby village where households were also celebrating Diwali, and big village bonfires were under way.

This woman is drawing a rangoni on the pavement in front of her house.  This is a common sight for festivals and daily life, and wards off the evil eye or other bad luck.  

Driving out of Madurai the next morning, in the heartland of South India, one sees beautiful rice fields, clothes washing, and more. 

India is a complete picture, 360 degrees, complete with monkeys and other delights, complete with garbage. 

 

We drive out of Madurai, where we visited both a housing development for untouchables (now learning to make batiks) and the orphanage, and head for Kerala.  Kerala is considered the jewel of South India- a place with beautiful scenery, both mountains and wetlands- and an effective Communist party rule for 50 years which created many cooperatives and better education and healthcare.   The communist party is not now not in power, but none of it is contentious there- its reforms carry on with moderates in power.  In Kerala, there is reputed to be a still low average income but considerably less suffering and a larger middle class than in the other provinces.  We are eager to see it after Tamil Nadu, the real knitty gritty of South India, but are also very happy that we have seen Tamil Nadu, where few tourists come.  We were like celebrities when we walked on the streets in Tamil Nadu or even joined religious processions, because not many westerners come to the interior.  Part of the reason is the roads.  We bump along for up to 8 hours a day, going only 50-100 kilometers in all.  It once took us 3 hours to go 22 km.

Central Tamil Nadu: Madurai, the city that never sleeps (Lorie in India, Blog #9)

After a long bumpy trip, we arrived at Madurai, an ancient trade and religious center which “never sleeps” because there is activity all night long.  This city is the site of an extraordinary Hindu temple from the 16^th century, which seems to me equivalent to the Renaissance in Europe in terms of its beauty and intricacy.  Unfortunately, no photos are allowed in this temple, but imagine a tall room with 1000 intricately carved granite pillars, all lit with twinkly candles, and extremely fine brass statuary as part of a complex a kilometer square.  Below is a glimpse, from the outside, of one of the four towers which bound this temple, which has a huge rectangular park inside with huge halls such as the one with 1000 pillars.  It is great that we saw the 8-10 century work (at the Shore Temple), then the 10-12 century work (at Tanjore), and now are seeing this temple architecture at its peak (16^th century).   Amazing.

Madurai is the second biggest city in the state of Tamil Nadu, in the middle of a giant farm valley, so it is a big market center.  It is also very old, so narrow streets with endless market stands, of food and many other things, twist and turn through the town.  We were lucky enough to see these streets on a bicycle rickshaw, which can get through the smallest street.  









Here I am ready for the ride.

Here are some of our drivers, sharing a snack with us at a wonderful street stand.  We each got one sweet and one savory friend dough ball, highly spiced.  We also got milky chai tea or special milky coffee, if we so chose.

As is common in South India, our snacks are served on banana leaves.  Makes doing the dishes easier!  One full lunch was served that way, with ten little piles of things to taste.  Bananas are served at every meal, and there are 165 varieties- large, small, sweet, less sweet, etc. 

One of the funny sights we see daily are cows and bulls, as well as goats, walking around on crowded streets, eating organic garbage.  This one seems to want to go into the house to avoid the crazy cars, bikes, rickshaws, trucks and more that weave through the streets, honking.

People are incredibly friendly. As we go through the streets by bicycle rickshaw, everyone waves to us as if we are movie stars.  There are not many tourists in this part of India- most go to the north and the coasts.

Brihadisvara Temple, Tanjore (Lorie in India, Blog #8)

Today we visited a most impressive 11^th century Chola Empire temple in Tanjore.  This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site but also on the route of the pilgrimage which some men take for 48 days per year.  We see them entering with only a black skirt on.  They fast for breakfast for these days, and then eat one meal only, and vegetarian.  Many do this early in the day, then change clothes and go to work.  At the end of the pilgrimage, they must walk either 8 or 40 miles barefoot to the final temple.  This temple is not really active, however, but has become an international monument because it is such a good example of the Chola Empire’s achievements.

This Shiva temple represents the culmination of the skills we saw developing at the “temple school” and Shore Temple from the 8-10^th centuries.  By the 11^th century, the ability to carve and build with granite had reached a height demonstrated by the tall tower and intricate carvings here.  This was the great Hindu empire, which paralleled in time the Aryan empires in the north, which eventually created the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, and other Indo-Islamic pieces of architecture.  Whereas the Indo-Islamic architecture has few figures, this Drividian (Southern Hindu) temple and others in Tamil Nadu are covered with figures which depict Hindu stories.

In a photo below, one can see Indian children attending temple school, where they sing and learn the old stories central to Hinduism.  With many gods and a long history, the stories are complex yet become a shared language in Tamil Nadu.  

In the central platform of the temple, in front of the great hall and tower, is a huge figure of Nandi, Shiva’s transport, carved from a huge block of granite (30 feet high).

Nandi is supremely loveable.  This temple has a huge courtyard with smaller towers and buildings at its corners and various shrines within.  At some of these, people can be seen lighting candles and making offerings to various gods.  Below, women in beautiful sarees are seen lighting candles.

The Mother Temple

After this grand temple, we went to a smaller temple which is highly active today because the day is “Little Devali”, right after Devali, on the full moon.  This temple is very ancient and its center is the Mother, who was the main Drividian god before the Aryan influence which brought in the male gods and superimposed them on the earth religion.  “Without the mother there is nothing,” said Lacuma.  “Even the grass must grow from the seeds.”  The mother temple is preceded by a lake, where people bathe themselves as a blessing, and a new bride and groom might come to bathe and be blessed.

I had heard that South India still had remnants of the earth religion which came before the present Hinduism, which is a combination of earth spirits (including the Mother) and the gods, which were introduced by the Aryans.  So I was excited to see this. 

People are coming in large numbers to be blessed by making offerings to the Mother.  A market precedes the temple, where people can buy coconuts and bananas and other fruits as well as flowers for offerings.  They fill a basket with offerings and carry them in, with oil candles that can also be purchased, and give them to a priest who organizes them and places them before the Mother in the inner chamber (where we can’t go).  The Mother Goddess is wearing jewels and silk and more.  Lacuma says that in the summer, goats and chickens are brought and sacrificed in the temple.  This temple feeds the poor one full meal each day.  We see  hundreds of people lining up for it.  I am not certain, but imagine that the offerings, once displayed, come to serve a practical purpose.  Temples are a very important part of Indian life, and this is an important day to visit them.

People buy and light many oil lamps, which fill the temple with smoke.  It is a warm, dark, and mysterious place, with twinkly lights

Pilgrims (men) wear only a skirt and beads, some of which are given in exchange for an offering.  This man has an American dollar which he asks me to exchange for Indian money to make an offering.  I give him three twenty rupee notes. (The exchange rate is 1:60).  He is delighted.  Later, I give the dollar to a beggar boy, who shows it to all his friends.  A nice exchange.

At night, we are lucky to see an amazing thing: a smaller version of Diwali, the festival of lights that occurred in October.  Some people celebrate this festival again on the full moon following Diwali.  On this night, every household has at least 21 small oil lamps (made from clay or halves of lemons) which is lit in front of their house.  The whole city is twinking, and at temples, drums play and elaborate fireworks are put off.  The full moon shines above it all.

Mahabalipuram: Early Hindu temples on the shore (Lorie in India, Blog #7)

Our guide, Lacuma, tells us about Indian religions.  How many are there?  Basically, she says, they all come from one: Hinduisum. The Indus River Valley civilization, in the north, where Indian civilization first began, also began the Hindustan religion, which means the religion of the Indus/Indian people.  At first this religion was an earth worshipping religion, focused on the sun, trees, plants, animals, and other things that helped this farming society to survive.  (Growing wheat and barley in the north; rice in the south) Then waves of people invaded India, from Iran and Turkey.  They were called the Aryans, which means “people who do not come from this land.”  They brought the idea of gods, and of the caste system, and they conquered the north in a series of waves, creating great empires.  They created the Hindi language, which is derivative from Sanskrit.  Many Hindu people moved south, where they avoided most of these outside empires.  They are the Drividian people who speak Tamil and other local languages, and created Hindu empires in the south. 

Deities became gradually blended with the earth religion, resulting in Hinduism as it is today.  One way these religions combined is that the gods took on sacred animals who were their vehicles.  For example, Shiva’s vehicle is the bramin, the bull with a hump.  These bulls and their cows are all over the temples, because they protect and transport Shiva, and are therefore sacred.  Likewise, the times of the year and the movements of the stars, which were central to the earth religion, are important in Hinduism, where worship consists mostly of bringing flower offerings and candles, and praying to the appropriate deity for the time and situation.  The gods are numerous and historical, and represent energy forces which transform into various incarnations.  There are many gods, and god is in everything.  Humans never know what will happen next, but they try to do things in a manner which is good and auspicious and will bring peace and happiness. Spirituality is a way of life.

Other religions of India, according to Lacuma, all derived from Hinduism.  Buddhism evolved from Siddhartha’s discontent with his privileged life as a prince, and his desire to search for the cause of suffering in the world.  In his time, many Aryan people of privilege were unfair to the lower castes, and demanded big temple offerings from them.  Materialism seemed to have corrupted the world, so the Buddha renounced it and set out on a spiritual journey.  Jainism evolved in the west as an offshoot of Buddhism.  Jain people do not believe in killing or eating anything, even insects.  Another offshoot in the 18^th century was the Sikh religion, where the five elements are carried at all times by followers. 

Hinduism as a way of life includes many things, which are built into daily life—yoga, massage, meditation, and diet.  About half of the population of Southern India is vegetarian, although that is a family by family choice.  But for everyone, since ancient times, a part of life is also worshipping at the temples, which exist everywhere in historic and more current forms.  To visit the monuments of Southern India is to visit Hindu temples. 

Some of the earliest temples were done as bas relief carved from cave walls.  Along the shore at Mahabalipuram, we saw amazing caves carved from granite rocks which occurred naturally along the Bay of Bengal.  These date back to the 6^th century.

In these temples, the animals interact with people and gods, but also appear as guardians on the temple walls- sacred cows which provide Shiva’s transport.

Near the Shore Temple, which is beautifully sited next to a rough but dramatic part of the seacoast, real Brahmin bulls make themselves at home.

The Shore Temple itself is beautiful and worn, having been sprayed with ocean waves and even occasionally flooded since the 6^th century.

Everyone loves the elephants!  And, just as real cows and bulls populate the land, so do present day granite carvers, doing what people in this area have done for over 1500 years.  

At Mahabalipuram and its vicinity, the early history of Hindu temples is well preserved.  Some think that this place was an early sculpture school, where artists practiced carving the granite rocks naturally occurring there, gradually working their way from cave carvings to temples cared from found stones to temples built elsewhere with stone that was quarried and moved.  But no one knows for sure.