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!
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