The Gods are Back in Town

Last year about this time, giant bamboo scaffolding rose from the ground at the corner of our street and Airport Road. Colored lights outlining the image of a deity soon appeared. At that time we had no idea that a multi-day festival was about to take place in our colony. This year once we spied stacks of bamboo, we knew the gods were back in town.

This festival appears to be local to our colony. Signage wishing a “Happy Phoo Palaki” revealed no understanding to us. Google, as well as Jay’s office mates, were equally stumped over the meaning of the festival. Not everything enjoyed is understood.

Last year’s witness of the festival gave us a general outline of affairs. The key focus is the gathered idols from the local temples. The idols are heavily decorated with flowers. Pooja (worship) is offered. From early dawn to late darkness recorded devotional music is broadcast from large speakers. During these religious ceremonies, we maintain a respectful distance. When Bollywood tunes are broadcast, we engage.

Last year we mingled with the Bollywood entertained crowd. Our crowd-pleasing antics of a 1-2-3 cha cha netted us an invitation by the organizers to dance on stage to the delight of the colony residents. This year we watched from afar. Our attention was on packing for our departure from India in a few days.

We put aside our packing when the evening’s fireworks had exploding clusters of red, green and white pyrotechnics bursting at near eye level from our bedroom balcony. Resistance was useless. Soon we were mingling on the streets.

A carnival-like atmosphere had invaded the streets. Balloons, plastic toys, bracelets and other trinkets were sold by street vendors. The main event came around midnight when the idols were paraded on their colorfully lit chariots.

A palaki or pallaki is a poled, suspended chair used to carry maharajas or sahibs. We suspect Happy Phu Palaki is related. It is a tradition at Hindu temples to employ a chariot in which the idol is transported. The famed stone chariot of the ancient temple complex of Hampi is a good example of the deep roots of this tradition.

Once the idols were in their chariots, devotees gathered with drums and horns. The drumming is frenetic as is the responsive gyrations of the faithful. You can feel the drum reverberations in the air pressing about your body. It is a spectacle without equal. The drumming, dancing and parading of chariots continued into the night. As the chariots moved down the narrow streets of the colony, attendants raised overhead electrical wires with bare hands (egad!) or bamboo poles to allow the chariots to pass. The electric flow to our apartment that evening was not surprisingly rather spotty. As dawn broke, we could hear the drumming, albeit more subdued, return to our lives. The chariots had finished their evening tour of the colony. Having come full circle the crowds dispersed, the chariots were stowed and the idols returned to their temples. We are sure they will be back next year. Until then, Happy Phu Palaki. We must return to our packing.

The Check’s In the Mail

Today we completed the circle of generosity initiated by our church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA), and presented the proceeds from our church’s social justice donation to Sukrupa Community Development in Bangalore. Helen had informed Krupa, the center’s Executive Director, that a donation from UUCA for Sukrupa would be made on April 15. To manage expectations, Helen indicated the donation would be in the range of $2,500 (Rs 100,000). Krupa later shared with us that, given that expectation, she had started some mental math on how the donation would be used.

The monthly rent of Rs 25,000 had not yet been paid… and there was no money in sight that would cover that expense. Meals for the over 200 children cost Rs.100,000 a month. Good progress on that expense. Need to figure out how to cover the shortfall by the end of the month. The other expenses….what to do?

With the ‘comfort’ that the rent would be paid and a good portion of next month’s meal expenses covered, Krupa stood pleased and grateful as Helen handed her an oversize check we had made for the occasion.

After holding the check for a few moments, we motioned to Krupa to actually read the amount on the check. Rather than the anticipated of Rs. 100,000, the check was for Rs. 214,067 (2,14,067…2 lakh, 14 thousand and 67 rupees in Indian-speak). Krupa’s breath was taken away. Complete strangers from the other side of the world had reached out and their anonymous generosity had made a big, big difference to children they will never meet here in Bangalore.

We were given the gift of actually seeing those children. As part of our visit, the Sukrupa children put on skits they had developed regarding pollution in India. “Do not wash your cow in the river where you draw your drinking water.” “Wash your hands before eating.” “Don’t pass urine on the street.” Tacit and simple lessons one may understand from the vantage point of the mature urban environs of Canberra, Hong Kong, New York and London. We, however, were watching the birth of a new generation of Indian citizens. The future will not be a repeat of the past.

We spent several hours chatting with the Sukrupa staff. Our first stop was the Fashion Center. We took photos of the tailors working at their sewing machines. The embroidery staff was equally keen to have a photo taken, as was the kitchen staff. We will make prints of the photos and gift them to each hard working individual.

We leave India with a hope that we have had some positive impact, however minuscule, on the lives of a tiny number of children. We were present at the creation, so to speak, of a generation that will demand more of themselves and others around them. If such a hope comes true, our adventure in India would be a greater treasure than we could have imagined.

Off to the Presses

As we continue activities related to our imminent departure from Bangalore and return to our home in the US, we have prepared our blog to be printed in book form. The process required hours of patience to transfer our blog text and pictures to a Word document. Then hours were spent re-formatting and updating with a few corrections. Our blog book is now ready for the printer.

From work done for the Overseas Women’s Club, Helen selected Grafiprinters on Residency Road. The printer is housed in an old section of the former British Cantonment in an original bungalow that has fallen into disrepair.The printer told us that they have been renting space in this location for many years. He recounted a common story heard amid today’s soaring real estate values in this section of Bangalore. Ownership of the building is disputed by family members. At first, seven relatives were vying for control and the eventual proceeds from the sale of the land on which the building sits. Another 30 relatives have joined the fray. Our printer was not too concerned about receiving a notice to vacate the premises any time soon.

We named our blog book BeingInBangalore: A blog of our India Experience Sep 2005 to May 2007. With the cost of printing and binding running about $50 per book, we opted for 11 copies. We will keep a copy and then distribute the others to family and friends as gifts. We anticipate an expression of warm appreciation, perhaps a hug, a thumbing of the pages and then have our gifted opus relegated to a book shelf. That’s okay.

In this world of Google Instant Messaging, cryptic cell phone text communication… “where r u”…and ubiquitous e-mail messages, we are a society of perishable thoughts. Hardly anyone writes anything down on paper anymore.

Imagine our collective loss of prose if, John Adams, second president of the United States, and Abigail Smith Adams, his wife, had used their Yahoo e-mail accounts instead of quill pens in their exchange of 1,100 letters. Lost forever in a “You’ve Got Mail” pop up window would be a December, 1773 yearning from Abigail to her husband, “Alass! How many snow banks divide thee and me and my warmest wishes to see thee will not melt one of them.”

Our modest thoughts from our blog with its 141 entries, 206 pages, 975 photos and 66,940 words will soon find a home other than the ethereal world of the world wide web. Via the xerographic magic of electro-statically charged colored plastic inks, our work will be transferred to high gloss white paper. Maybe they're not the magic of the parchment- preserved words of John and Abigail. Yet, these are our 21^st century thoughts. A lone surviving copy of our blog book just might find a reader in distant times grateful that someone put their experiences and thoughts to paper.

Preparing to Leave

In ten days we will be boarding our flight back home to the US. For almost two years we have called Bangalore home. Now it is time to start closing down our apartment, tidying up accounts and saying good bye to friends.

The biggest activity to close out is Helen’s volunteer work on the Overseas Women’s Club fund raiser called the Pink Elephant Sale. The Pink Elephant is a community-sized yard sale where articles donated by OWC members such as clothing, books, CDs, toys, house wares and all the other trappings of expat life are put on sale for all of Bangalore to purchase. This yearly event, the second largest OWC fund raiser, involves Helen gathering volunteers and donations. We have boxes of donations in our small apartment that have been sorted and priced. Finally, Helen needs to organize the activities on the day of the sale, 2 May, at St. Mark’s Cathedral. Needless to say, Helen has been focused on fulfilling her commitment. Time, nonetheless, for our departure marches forward.

Our departure heralds the completion of Jay’s work. The new development center facility has been opened in Bangalore. All the software development work, over 150,000 hours of effort for a large client, has been delivered. Mission accomplished.

Two unexpected business trips back to the US recently has allowed us to thin our belongings in India. We are down to a few sets of clothes and necessities. While in India, we have held to our marriage vow commitment of “no new stuff.” We are at a point in life where our experiences and relationships far exceed the value of “stuff”. Despite many, many temptations to acquire exotic accoutrements, we leave with but a few native treasures.

Notification to vacate our apartment has been given; arrangements for final payment of electric, gas, newspaper and so on have been made. We still need to close our Citibank account and hope that a repeat of the four weeks of hassle to open it is not repeated. The end of that saga is still to be realized.

Helen has cleverly sold our large purchases (king sized mattress, sheets, pillows, bedspread, coffee pot and bean grinder) to our next door neighbor. Due to plug configurations, our electrical appliances will be gifted. The printer-scanner-copier combination along with our wireless router will be given to Krupa for her use at the community center. Our wireless phone used with our Vonage VOIP adapter goes to our driver, Harish. Helen is actively helping Harish find another expat employer. He has been steady, dependable and helpful and has always protected us. We are glad to be his agent.

Our flight home is arranged. We fly home through Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Due to the sprawling configuration of that airport, we typically give ourselves a few hours layover to ensure we catch our connecting flight to Atlanta. Since this is our final flight home, we opted for a six day vs. a three hour layover. Paris will be our halfway house as we transition from chapattis to croissants before returning home to bagels and English muffins.

One of our OWC friends, Pamela Bertram, is arranging a gathering of selected friends for a farewell dinner at the Blue Ginger restaurant the day before we depart. We have participated in several of these dinners in the past; it’s hard to believe that this time we will be the honored guests.

Our Gifts to Others

We had a recent reaffirmation of the depth of generosity that some people can extend to strangers. Our church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA), has a commitment to give away the Sunday plate donation to worthy charities. Over US$50,000 has been given way this year. The Social Justice Committee selects organizations from nominations presented by church members. Helen’s nomination of Sukrupa Community Center in Bangalore was accepted for Sunday, 15 April.

Sukrupa is a non-government organization (NGO) founded in 2000 with a vision to provide an environment where slum children can learn academic, social and physical skills as well as being provided food in a safe, nurturing and caring environment. School-aged children come for breakfast and after school shelter and help with their homework. Preschoolers are cared for all day. A total of 230 children are served at Sukrupa. Very few of their parents pay anything for this care. Sukrupa depends on the donations of individuals and groups.

Despite labor laws to the contrary, child labor and exploitation is very real in India. Every third household has a working child. Girls deemed by tradition as lesser beings are the most exploited. Those once categorized in the caste system as untouchables are now called dalits. Their fate remains unchanged. Whether disadvantaged by age, gender or caste, Sukrupa extends a hand and gives hope that tomorrow can be better than today.

Helen is a Sukrupa volunteer. She has seen first hand how far young children who have no home training must stretch themselves to learn simple things like the names of shapes, numbers and letters and how to use a toilet and wash their hands. Small steps forward daily are meeting the challenges.

Our delight could not have been greater when we learned that the scheduled plate donation for Sunday, 15 April was for Sukrupa. Jay was in the US on a business trip and was provided an opportunity to share with the congregation Sukrupa’s story. It was candidating week for a potential new minister. The sermon was high voltage. Every seat was filled.

On Wednesday, Jay stopped by the church to pick up the donation proceeds. We had hoped for $3,000, maybe $4,000, given the circumstances of this past Sunday’s events. The check given to Jay was for $5,250.50 (215,270 rupees).

This is enough to pay for four qualified pre-school teachers for a year. Meals can be served. Repairs can be made to the building. The vision to change the future of young children who struggle against the strong bonds of tradition can be achieved. Thank you to the UUCA community, who helped shape the future for these young strangers.

Akshaya Tritiya

On Saturday, the newspapers were full of ads from the jewelry stores, car dealerships, real estate brokers and stores that sell silk saris, especially designed for weddings. Tomorrow would be Akshaya Tritiya. Buy now!

Akshaya Tritiya falls on the third day (Tritiya) of the new moon of Vaishakh month. This day is considered one the four most auspicious days, according to the Hindu calendar. According to the Puranas, this day marks the beginning of the Treta Yug. The birthday of Parashurma (left), the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, falls on this day. It is believed that by doing a good deed on Akshaya Tritiya one can earn Punya (merit) for life. In northern India the holiday is known as Akha Teej.

The word Akshaya means “that which never diminishes.” This day is believed to be so pure and auspicious that starting new ventures and making new purchases like, gold, silver, property and vehicles are considered to bring success and prosperity. In India, gold is regarded as the ultimate symbol of prosperity, and jewelry shops are open into the wee hours on auspicious days. In spite of modern technology and changing lifestyles, this dedication to an auspicious time is a prominent feature of Indian life.

It is the best day for new investments. Thousands of marriages are performed on this day. It is also considered auspicious to seek the blessing of your elders. Most Hindus begin the day by visiting temples of the Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth and prosperity.

Akshaya Tritiya was once considered auspicious for giving charity to those in dire need. Vedic pandits used to be given a package consisting of a pair of footwear, an umbrella, a hand fan and curd rice in a mud pot. All these things were given to apparently alleviate the harshness of the heat during this season.

So Akshaya Tritiya came and went with the requisite number of purchases and weddings. May you feel blessed on this auspicious day!

Where Have You Gone, Wind Tunnel Road?

Some may offer deference to the invisible hand of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, as the cause for technology buildings rising from the ground. For the less religious, the booming Bangalore economy is the energy coaxing these buildings upward. We are not as sure that the spirit of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, is absent from the relentless deforestation of Bangalore’s roadways.

An outward manifestation of the jobs and money that have flowed into Bangalore is the ever-increasing vehicular traffic. With more cars comes conjested roadways. Boom times are no times for thinking in moderation, so more roadway is created.

The IT boom is taking place in the old British Cantonment section of Bangalore. In the closing years of the 18^th century, Lord Cornwallis, unsuccessful with American colonialists in Yorktown, was wildly successful in his Indian campaign. With his victory over Tippu Sultan in 1799, the British secured control of the Deccan Plateau. The British then settled into a near-continuous peace on the Deccan until their complete departure in 1947.

With time on their hands, the British planted trees that would underpin Bangalore’s claim to be the Garden City. The clever British even planted trees that sprouted their colorful blooms of yellow, red, pink and lavendar at different times of the year to provide a continuous display of color and shade over roadways. When one has an empire on which the sun never sets, one inevitably develops a green thumb.

The empire is gone and, sadly, soon the trees will follow. Age has removed some trees. Those that linger will most likely feel the gash of a spinning chainsaw followed by an uprooting. An asphalt topping will be applied to any woody remnants.

We have watched lazy Wind Tunnel Road slowly meet its 21^st century fate. First the narrow lane bridge near the airport wall was replaced. Width and support for tonnage won out over nostalgia. Working south from the intersection from busy Airport Road, trees have been uprooted and new curbing installed; roadway is not far behind. The last vestiges of shady trees will soon be gone.

Our comments are not meant to convey any sense of righteous indignation. We have watched the same methodical bushwhacking of God’s creation as Atlanta grows to support ever- increasing populations of people and cars. We cannot cast any stones from our glass house.

We are grateful that we were able to have walked under the shade of trees we did not plant. What will be Bangalore’s gift be to its future generations?

Easter Parade

Our Easter did not include a stroll down Fifth Avenue in New York humming Irving Berlin tunes ala Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Our Bangalore Easter was another adventure into the unexpected. We understand Easter completely. For Hindu and Muslin festivals the nuisances of the rituals frequently escape us. Religious festivals in Bangalore, however, tend to borrow from one another. The adoration of Mother Mary at St. Mary’s Basilica looks amazingly similar to the adoration of icons at Hindu temples. So when we were invited to a dance recital over the Easter weekend at a private residence, we were intrigued how the familiar and unfamiliar merged together.

The dance group to perform, Prayaas, was from Sukrupa Community Center. The invitation to the recital was extended by the community center director and good friend, Krupa. Sony is the lead dancer and one of the Sukrupa residential children.

The venue for this Easter gathering was at the home of Steve and Tricia. Steve and Tricia were strangers, so we socialized with them and their two young children to get acquainted. As we chatted, a few other friends of our hosts joined the conversation. We learned that our hosts and friends were in India to help mostly illiterate people learn how to communicate through storytelling. "We believe that it is through our storytelling we that share so much about ourselves and learn so much of others," we were told. How does one make a living on such work? Our host’s home was spacious and in a nice part of town.

As more stories were recounted, we learned that our hosts had spent five years in Africa. Other guests had similar backgrounds. We were among missionaries. It seemed like a perfect crowd for Easter.

The dance recital had been specially prepared for this Easter event. Accompanying the dance was recorded toe-tapping folk music; the lyrics sang praise and hosanna to the risen Jesus. All was conducted in the local Kannada language, but the printed program provided clear explanation in English.

Next, our hosts and their friends became storytellers. They recounted before the assembly of 25 people the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, starting oddly from Genesis. We are religious people who take scripture seriously without taking it literally. Our hosts were in the later school of scripture reading. As one of our Unitarian Universalist ministers spoke in a sermon, “In the face of religious diversity, our criterion for making choices must shift from where an idea comes from, to where an idea leads us. It's not about roots; it's about fruits.” We are sure there are some stories to tell about this path. Amen, Shalom…may it be so.