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.