4/6/07

Farewell to India

By now you may be wondering what happened with the kids and their performance. Well I went back a couple days before the show, fine tuned the dance the best I could without speaking their language, and helped prepare for the big day. The event is called School Days. It was the anniversary of the school and opening of a new building for the boys dorm. Everyone helped prepare including the kids. They went around picking up rocks and other debris to make the land look nicer. I tried to help but they would not let me. Instead they pulled a chair out and put it in the shade near where they were working so I could sit near them. I had bought the kids nail polish. The amazing thing was before they painted their nails they made sure mine were painted. Then within about 10 minutes 50 girls and a few boys had their nails painted. Everyone went to work painting each of the kids. Somehow I had the longer line of kids wanting their nails painted. ;) Then they braided my hair, put a headband on me, put barrettes in my hair, then flowers, and then one of the girls took her gold necklace off her neck and gave it to me. She said "This goes to America". And those kids do not have a lot of stuff. One of the girls painted my palm with henna (mahindi). We spread powdered colors on the ground to make these beautiful floral arrangements.
During the show I thought I would hide backstage with the kids. But apparently they had another plan for me which I was only going to find out as it unraveled. An American couple that had donated a lot of money came to India for the ceremony. All 225 kids that were not dancing in the show lined up to create a walkway to enter the event. In came the limo with the Ambassador of the state (or some other government person), a minister, the American couple, Tom and Geetha who run the Foundation, and me. We were preceded through the walkway of all the kids. We got to cut the ropes to enter the new building and be the first to enter. The kids sat on sheets on the ground in front. Then we were seated in the chairs in the front row behind the kids. At the second round of speeches they called all of the honored guests up to the stage. I was wearing my saree and was praying I did not trip walking up the steps. Then we sat on the stage during a few long speeches. And I was not prepared. (I had to go to the bathroom.) Then they honored us by putting garlands of flowers around our necks and then a beautiful shall over our shoulders. Here comes the best part. We each had to give a speech. Since I learned how to say "Hi. How are you?" in their language Telegu, I started with that. And every single person responded "I am fine" in Telegu. We did not need a translator for that part of my speech. Being impromptu from there I went into the usual thanks for having me here. It is an honor. This is a great program… And finally I was relieved from the stage; now sweating even more since I had this thick shall on my shoulders in addition to the layers of material the saree provides.
Weaved throughout the program were the kids' dances. They all performed beautifully. I was very proud of their performance of the piece I gave them. I have a video of it to show when I do my talk on India. Right after their performance I barely got to say goodbye as I was rushed to scarf down dinner and driven to the next town to catch an overnight bus to another town to fly to Delhi to take a train the next day so there would be enough time for me to see the Taj Mahal on this trip. You can't go to India without seeing the Taj Mahal! It was sad to leave the kids and the south leaving a bit of my heart behind.
You will get an opportunity to donate to this program at my talk and slideshow on India on May 24, 7:30 pm at the Santa Barbara Central Library.
By this point I realized I had to go on a tour of the Taj Mahal as a tourist if I wanted to have a somewhat pleasant experience. From the train station in Agra my tour was supposed to pick me up. Not enough people had signed up for the tour so they sent me in a taxi. All I wanted was to go to the Taj Mahal and all he did was take me everywhere else first. He wanted me to go shopping in some store and I had to fight with him not to make me go in. Finally the big moment at the Taj Mahal, against the driver's wishes to be there so early. When buying my ticket I realized this ticket gives me a discount to all the other attractions I just paid full price for. That is probably the most I got cheated in India though. You have to go on a little bit of a hike to get to the amazing building. You walk through a big archway of a building and there it is; right in front of you in all its symmetry and pure whiteness. A manicured lawn with the reflection of the Taj in a long man made rectangle pond. That reminded me of the mall leading up to the Washington Monument in D.C.  It really is one of the seven wonders of the world. There is something magical about seeing the whole Taj Mahal from a distance. It cost over $300 million and took about 20 years to build. Afterwards they cut off all the thumbs of the artists so nothing like it could ever be built again. Not a job I would have liked to have. There is a sneak peak of the Taj Mahal above. For the full view you will have to come to my talk on May 24.
Back to Delhi late at night. Early the next morning to Rishikesh for the International Yoga Festival. It was a bit of a trip getting there. The most interesting part was the storytelling from the cab driver. He told us about how there are groups like gangs that each have specified times and spots for bathing/purifying in the river. One day one gang tried to bathe during another gang's time. That ended up in a fight with some murders. But they did not stress as they were all relieved from their sins because of their belief they were purified once they bathed in this river.
I went from sweating to death in the south to needing to wear all the clothes I brought with me in Rishikesh. To my surprise one of my favorite teachers, Desiree Rumbaugh, was teaching at this festival. And to my greater satisfaction she even remembered my name! Of course I signed up for all her classes. Then I got the opportunity to try different styles and types of classes. I ended up doing a lot of meditation, or napping. I'm not sure which one I did more of when I sat down and closed my eyes.
While I was there, we celebrated Holi, the Festival of Colors. Within the safety of the ashram, we threw colored powder all over everyone, played loud symbols, and danced around. Afterwards everyone went in a procession led by the Pujya Swamiji through the streets of this small area of town. Then down to our nightly Aarti celebration. This was a small community ceremony versus the big production Varanasi puts on. It is filled with showing reverence to a particular god through song, cramming on the steps by the river with blankets over our shoulders, throwing petals into a fire to symbolize getting rid of the bad stuff, and passing around a torch. And for some reason on this day one of the boys living in the Ashram was dressed up like a fancy woman with lots of jewels.
One of the craziest things I did on this whole trip, besides going to India, was waking up for a 62 minute chant that started at 4 am. After reading Eat, Pray, Love and how Liz woke up everyday at 3 am for an hour and a half of chanting, I was inspired to try it. It was a much more elevating experience than any meditation I have ever done. I actually felt this energy moving upwards in my body.
Finally I had a full day in Delhi, the city I passed through many times. Coincidentally I was able to meet up with a friend from home. We wandered around seeing some sites and shopping. I tried to prepare him as best I could for the trip. Yet still when he got home all he could say about India was that it was challenging.
I took a leisurely final day in India having accomplished all I wanted to, but one thing; To see the movie Guru. Normally when you ask someone about a movie they sum it up in one or two sentences. Maybe a cultural difference, but this Indian friend told me line by line what happened in the movie. Of course he stopped about halfway through after he saw my fifth yawn. So I was fortunate to know exactly what happens in the first half of the movie and guess what was happening in the last half. Here's my two sentence summary: It is a rags to riches story about a poor rural boy who becomes one of the richest men in India. Of course it combines a love story, life challenges, music, and dancing. I am not sure if it was the actual movie or the fact that I was sad to leave this culture that I had grown so close to, but I was sobbing the entire movie. I have already played the peaceful soundtrack in yoga class.
Farewell India!