The Vision Behind the Awards

Our visit to the Government Model Primary School and Pearl Valley Resort on Saturday was at the invitation of Sai Prakash. Sai is an accomplished business professional who is wise from a combination of advanced education, life experiences and wide travels. His achievements have provided him a comfortable life. What more could be desired? The answer to that question unfolded as we discovered Sai’s inner heart’s desire to share his gifts.

We first met Sai in early October when we attended an interfaith service at the Ashirad. As Unitarian Universalists (UU’s), we are on a spiritual quest. Armed only with our religious principles and faith in the rewards of a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, we mingle here among those steeped in Hinduism and Islam.

That meeting in October at the Ashirad was a continuation of our religious odyssey in India. We have visited temples, churches, evangelical hand-clapping meetings, sought invitations to mosques, but not until that Sunday afternoon in October did we find people, like ourselves, who had ventured on a road less traveled. The people there discussed how we could make the world a better place and bring greater harmony to our communities. We had met fellow UU’s. Business cards were exchanged between Sai and Jay, as well as promises to keep in touch.

A month later we were driving on the muddy, winding roads south of Bangalore to Anekal to visit the primary school and Pearl Valley Resort. Pearl Valley was an earlier vision to create an economically viable spa and resort among the small villages and cultivated teak forests. That vision failed. Opportunism replaced the vision and Pearl Valley became seedy and the venue for alcohol consumption, gambling and prostitution. Sai and personal friends purchased the closed grounds of Pearl Valley.

Their vision is to be economically viable, but more importantly, to transform Pearl Valley into a center of learning and hope among the people living and working in the villages and teak forests. It is here where community events could be held to bring aspiration to children who see far more alcoholism and dreariness than they should. On this Saturday, just a few weeks after the purchase of Pearl Valley, an award ceremony was held and trophies distributed for competitions held the day before. The children competed in events like leap frog, races, odd-even counting…simple challenges…small steps to begin the longer journey.

We reacquainted ourselves with Bob Hoekstra, a former seven-year resident in Bangalore from Holland and fellow guest at last year’s Thanksgiving dinner. Bob is one of Sai’s generous backers. After the ceremony, we ate lunch and then there was a group discussion with some of the village leaders on how to solve the problem of providing transportation for village students to attend high school.

We shared with Sai the vision fellow UU’s held in their hearts long ago when they purchased an old decaying summer camp on a mountain top in North Carolina. Their dream was to be economically viable, but more importantly, to provide a venue for hope, learning and community. The Mountain has been that center for 30 years. It is where we, Jay and Helen, first met that started a six year journey to our eventual marriage.

It is wonderful to know another visionary who will leave a lasting legacy to many he will never meet.

Back to School

By the unusual threads that form the fabric of our lives, we found ourselves Saturday morning at the Government Model Primary School in Anekal Tuluk, about an hour’s drive south of Bangalore. The invitation to be guests at the school was part of a larger invitation to also attend a village awards ceremony organized by the philanthropic efforts of a small circle of visionaries headed by Sai Prakash. More on the awards ceremony in another blog; now back to school!

We suspect the Government Model Primary School we visited is like many schools in India. The small teaching staff is caring, the children bright-eyed and the educational resources merger. Students attend school six days a week. The Monday through Friday school schedule is 10:30 am to 4:30 pm. On Saturday the schedule shifts from 7:30 am to 11:30 am.

We arrived around 11:00 am as the children were eating their government supplied lunch of rice, dal (lentils), onions, curry, chilies and tomatoes. After meeting the headmaster and the teaching staff, they organized the students for a group photo. Without fail, we have found that a camera acts as a magnet for kids. Once the camera is sighted, kids magically collect in tight circles, act a bit giddy, wait for the shutter snap and then paw the camera for a look at the instantly displayed image.

The teaching staff then motioned us to sit in the “computer lab” comprised of two older model HP and Compaq desktops. There is no Internet access (or telephone) at this rural school. The students showed us with pride their computer skills, making an excellent image of the Indian national flag in Paintbrush and demonstrated their mastery of Kannada grammar from an instructional CD. The students are native Kannada speakers. We were greatly impressed with their ability to work Romanized lettered keyboards and add commentary to their work in English.

Some of the children then sang songs, performed orations and danced for us. We enjoyed their energy-filled performances for 30 minutes. Afterwards, we shook hands with students and exchanged our good names. “My name is Priya. What is your good name?” We then lunched on the same fare provided to the children.

Outside we marveled at the instructional messages painted on the outside walls of the school. There were pictures of plants, animals, the English alphabet and the evolutionary emergence of man. Aside: There is no discussion of intelligent design that we can detect outside the US. The depiction of the solar system was also updated to the highest and latest scientific standards. The heavenly body, formerly known as the Planet Pluto, was scratched out.

Photos of the staff were taken, the nursery school visited and more thanks given for honoring us as guests.

Accompanied by some of the teaching staff, we were then off on the muddy village roads to the awards ceremony organized by Sai, our host for the day.

Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills, a towering pair of hills 65 kms. north of Bangalore, is a must-see local sight. Judging by the foothill temples built by the 9^th century Bana rulers, it appears the broad flat plain, overlooked by the 4,800 ft. high twin peaks, has been on the must-see list for centuries. Subsequent Hindu temple builders from the Chola, Hoysala and Vijayanagar empires continued to be drawn to these majestic hills.

Our visit to Nandi Hills was to see the remnants of the hilltop fortification built by the more recent Islamic dynastic rulers, Hyder Ali and his son, Tippu Sultan. Built in the late 18^th century, summer homes, tanks (water reservoirs) and ramparts were constructed to defend this strategic location. Ownership of the hilltops and the valley below changed hands in 1791 when British forces under the command of Lord Cornwallis defeated Tippu Sultan’s fortress garrison. The hilltop then saw the building of a British bungalow for Sir Mark Cubbon. Finally, time and independence returned the hilltop to Indian rule. Cubbon’s bungalow is now a guesthouse with a statue of Nehru prominently displayed outside in the lush garden.

The first adventure to Nandi Hills is the drive from Bangalore. The 40 mile trek took over two hours. With the construction of Bangalore’s new international airport in nearby Davanahalli, new road systems will soon replace the jarring roads of today. Remaining after the airport opening in 2008 with its current “rutted charm” will be the short stretch of road from the airport to the base of Nandi Hills. Also remaining will be the winding switchbacks with numbered curves that snake up the hillside to the fortress.

The grounds of the hilltop containing temples, fortress remnants and the head waters for the Pennar, Palar and Arkavati Rivers is more rustic than we expected. The vistas and the sense of history one gets as you walk along the ramparts studded with cannon and musket ports are more magical than we imagined.

A bit of unexpected whimsy was added to our visit of one of Tippu Sultan’s summer residences by the playful antics by the many monkeys. Perched high atop one wall was a youthful monkey with his head tucked neatly into a coconut shell, attempting to remove the last bit of coconut meat. The shell eventually came crashing down not far from us, either by careless happenstance or a practiced habit of cracking the shell to acquire the last morsel inside. More monkeys were found elsewhere climbing, sitting, preening or just playfully looking at us. Where’s a barrel when you need one? Interestingly, when the camera was pulled out for a close up, shyness was the order of the day.

Bengaluru-ed

There is more change for Americans who weathered the storms that turned industrial heartlands into Rust Belts. With a “can do” attitude, those Americans re-trained for the Information Age, only to see those high tech jobs shipped offshore to India. Once Bangalore’d, they will now be Bengaluru’ed.

With a mixture of state pride, adroit political exploitation, language chauvinism and impeccable timing, effective November 1, 2006 the process to rename Bangalore Bengaluru began. There are several forces that provided the impetus for the renaming of the globally- branded Bangalore.

Changing names used by the former British overlords has been in motion in India for some time. Madras changed to Chennai in 1996; Bombay changed to Mumbai 1998, Calcutta to Kolkata in 2001. During the Golden Jubilee anniversary celebration of the formation of the state of Karnataka on November 1, 2006, the Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy announced the renaming of six state cities: Bangalore (Bengaluru), Mysore (Mysuru), Mangalore (Mangaluru), Belgaum (Belgavi), Shimoga (Shivamogga) and Hospet (Hosapete).

Bengaluru is the Kannada pronunciation of the city name. An enjoyable and often repeated myth about the original naming of city dates to the 1300’s. The legend recounts that Hoysala King Vira Ballala became lost while on hunting trip. He found refuge in the hut of an old woman. The old woman offered the king cooked beans to sate his hunger. In his gratitude, the king named the location Benda Kaal Ooru (Town of Boiled Beans). Usage eventually smoothed Benda Kaal Ooru to Bengalooru.

Regardless of origins, the British, full of their own beans, renamed the city Bangalore. IT mavens put Bangalore on the global map.

There is much to be said and admired about national and language pride. Southern Indian states are divided along language groups. Politicians give serious consideration to the state of the state language. Swept into office six months ago on a bold re-alignment of power, Kuramaswamy’s coalition government is keenly aware of the political significance of the renaming. Announcing the name changes before a crowd of 35,000 Kannadiga celebrants in Chinnaswamy Stadium was political drama Carl Rove wishes he could again command.

Ironically, due to the enormous influx of out-of-state Indians and expats to Bangalore, native Kannada speakers (Kannadigas) account for only 30 – 40% of the population. Mostly marginalized from high tech jobs, the flex of Kannadiga political muscle is democracy in action. There is much discussion, however, in other quarters of the impact of the name change on Brand Bangalore. The future will answer that question. Bombay Sapphire Gin survived…and our blogsite name will remain the same.