Hindustan part #1

As I write this I am sitting in a cold cubicle, tightly bundled in a soft jacket and warm scarf. It's raining outside that the temperature is a few degrees below my preference, but then again the cooler weather has been growing on me lately. Today's gloomy skies and chilly winds are a far cry from this summer. It's incredible for me to think that it's already been four months since I returned from India - fast approaching double the time I was there for. Clearly I've been procrastinating, and these blog posts are very overdue. Honestly the thought of encapsulating eleven weeks of India in a couple blog posts is very daunting to me. My friends would tell you that even now I'm still processing a lot of what happened over this summer - but I can tell you this, while I went to India with the intention to serve and encourage I think that the Lord had other plans. He had something to teach me in India, and that's the real reason I had to be there. By God's grace I pray that I was able to serve and encourage others in the midst of the most intense object lesson of my life. These next couple blog posts will be an attempt to share with you a sampling of what India is to me. I hope that some of what I share will make you smile, some will sober you and that other things will cause you to love and praise the Savior more for the things he has done and is doing. Enjoy!

* I need to preface that some of the information in these post is somewhat sensitive, i have tried to be careful, but for security's sake please do not tag me if you share this or re-post this anywhere. Thanks!

New Delhi 

We landed in New Delhi, India around midnight local time with all our bags and expectant hearts eager for the journey of a lifetime. We made our way out of the Indira Gandhi International Airport and into our first encounter with Indian culture. A gust of 95 degree, dusty air greeted us upon our arrival in the land of colors, chai and cows. We wandered about for a bit before we located the driver who had been hired to take us to our hotel. It was there that I became aquainted with India's idea of a bed, which provides nothing like America's idea of an optimal sleeping experience. I can best describe it as feeling something like a foam cushion atop a box spring. The first couple night were an adjustment, but we adapted.

Street of Old Delhi

 South Indian Dosas

Our first 7 days in India were ones of discovery. Early on the first day I discoverd the wonder of good chai, the insanity of indian drivers (suffice it to say there was little regard for the designated direction of traffic), the unimaginable heat, and the precious gift of clean water. Later I discovered the choas of Indian clothing markets, the delicacy of true Indian food and the necessity of head scarves. That first day was also one of memories (New Delhi reminded me very much of where I grew up). Pedestrians only have the right of way if they are faster than the cars they are running in front of, I am very tall and very white and that prompts lots of curiousity manifested in the form of staring, mangos in America aspire to taste half as good as the mangos from their native countries, and all attempts to keep your skin dry are futile - sweat is a given - the sooner you accept that the more likely you are to survive.

For the most part our first week in India was playing tourist, and taking real life crash courses on Indian thought and culture. As we traveled from one land mark to the next (India has phenominal architecture...just mind blowing...and it's really, really old). I couldn't help but hurt for the Indian people who have struggled for centuries to being conquered and re-conquered multiple times. From the moguls to the english - you will hear mixed reviews form outside people on the benefits or detriments of these conquerors, but the Indian opinion is nearly unanimous. I won't speak to the complications of that here, because regardless of their political history, the spiritual history has burdened my heart the most in New Delhi. Little did I know this would only grow from that point. We visited mosques and temples in Delhi but that was really the tip of the iceberg (a terrible cliche I know, especially considering the ice would have melted in India anyways ;) ) Perhaps the most impactful evening of our week in Delhi was when we visited what is called a Darga.

At the Darga...this picture doesn't do it justice.

This place was a traditional holy site for folk islam. A holy man is buried there and often times muslim pilgrims will journey there to pay respect and worship. As part of our cultural education we went there - what we didn't know was that a massive pilgrimage through all the holy sites of India had arrived there that day. I had NEVER seen so many people crammed into a space that small, nor have I seen anything like that since. We were required to remove our shoes - which we left with a young boy to guard and then made our way barefoot through unfamiliar alleys in the night with people pressed up on every side. We spaced the men between the girls of the group and many times had to literally hold on to each other in order not to lose one another in the crowd. There was a narrow stone door that led to the entrance of the Darga several inches shorter than myself. By the time we reached it, the crowd was pushing us through with such force that I seriously wondered if I would be able to duck at the right times in order avoid decapitation or being trampled. At this point the guys had to separate from the girls who were not allowed into the inner court of the Durga where the body was actually buried. The four of us ladies, along with local workers, made our way around the edge to wait for them. All around us people were shoving for a spot closer to the center where a folk muslim group sat singing something like hymns of praise at the top of their lungs with a sitar and drums. At our feet a lady lie trembleing on the ground wrapped in a shawl. Behind us a woman some claimed was possessed was violently screaming every ten seconds or so. The memory of those sounds still send chills down my spine. Desperate people were pressed up all around me, all hopes of personal space and comfort on my part having been abandoned long ago. The air was so thick with smoke, heat, and body odor that breathing became exceedingly unpleasant. Safety was at the forefront of my mind, knowing that even in a crowd this large we stuck out. Despite the overload of my senses it was the sheer 'lostness' of the people around me that threatend to overwhelm. It was gut wrenching. Our team returned to the hotel very sobered that night. I know that we will never forget it.


The Sikh temple - or guruduara

I enjoyed our time in Delhi, the local workers we had the opportunity to meet there were a great encouragment and were very helpful in our transition into the 10 weeks of India we had ahead of us. We had survived our first week, our sleep schedules were a little more consistent with the hours of sunlight,  so far all our digestive systems were in good working order, and we were slowly but surely adjusting to the heat that had been too much to bear just a few days earlier. Delhi was a wonderful leg of the trip but it was really just the preamble, I knew it. Our trip had only just begun.

- shaela
PS - more to come!