Lights, Camera, Action?

I had a hard time coming up with a title for this update, but I finally settled on this because several events of this past week seemed almost surreal. Often, I’ve felt as though part of a movie scene or news clip rather than a simple volunteer and tourist.

Part 1: Amritsar

Amritsar is the capital of the Indian state of Punjab and known most widely as the home of Sikhism’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple. Though often seen as militaristic because of its implications in 20^th century politics, Sikhism is a religion primarily based on the equality of all people, regardless of religion, gender, race, or caste. It places its emphasis on the pursuit of truth above all else and uses meditation and the practical application of truth over ritual.

Seeing the Golden Temple for the first time left me speechless – and not only because it was 5 am. Even as India’s most visited site, the temple retained a beauty and peace in the sunrise light that seemed ethereal. The shrine itself has doors opening in all four directions, welcoming people from every direction and faith.
Any visitor is welcome and equal to any Sikh pilgrim, but all must come barefoot and cover their heads out of respect, regardless of faith. Like everywhere else I visited, there weren’t many foreigners here, let alone foreigners dressed in the traditional Punjab clothing. As a result, I had many people staring at me and even a few ask where I was from and how I had become a Sikh.

As you can see from this picture, Sikhs are recognizable by five symbols displayed at all times, which include turbans for men, as Sikhs never cut their hair in recognition of the perfection of God’s creation; an iron bracelet, which is a constant reminder to always do good; and a sword, surprisingly symbolizing non-violence or ahimsa. Ahimsa, though, refers to an active non-violence that prevents violence rather than standing by passively in the face of injustice. As a result, the sword is used to protect the defenseless from violence when all other means of protection have failed.
Cool side note: ahimsa is not unique to Sikhism. It is also a fundamental concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism and formed the backbone of Gandhi’s Satyagraha philosophy, later advocated by both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela.

October 17, the day I visited the Golden Temple, was also Diwali, India’s most significant festival. Often compared to Christmas, Diwali comes right before the Hindu new year and is marked by gift exchanges. More importantly, it is the Festival of Lights in Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism and is filled with candles, oil lamps (such as those above), and fireworks.

Like everywhere else in India, the Golden Temple was covered in lights and surrounded by candles on Saturday night. I thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks, which surpassed even Disney World in terms of the number of explosives used in a single show. The fireworks, set off from all sides of the temple nonstop for over 45 minutes, turned the sky as bright as noon.

The Golden Temple not only produced the most concentrated display of fireworks I’ve ever seen but also was more crowded than any place I’ve ever been (I took this picture nearly an hour before the fireworks began, and the crowd only thickened in that hour).
As a foreign, female traveler, I still managed to stand out in the dark amid over ten thousand people. I will avoid recounting the details here, but, in the end, I’m very glad the Golden Temple is a Sikh shrine: obligated to protect the defenseless, one of the Temple Guards (over 6 feet tall, dressed fully in white, and carrying a 3 foot long sword) ended up following me very closely, his hand on his sword, to protect me from the rather undesirable attention I had been receiving. I had never felt more grateful to someone in my entire life, nor have I ever felt more like a character in some far away story.

This scene at Wagah, the “Berlin Wall of Asia” and only road crossing between India and Pakistan, overwhelmed me. A small village about 20 km outside of Amritsar, Wagah was split in half in 1947, and its eastern section remains controlled by India, its western part by Pakistan.
Every sunset, a large ceremony occurs at the closing of this border. Troops from both sides don colorful costumes to march and high-kick ritualistically for 30 minutes. Civilians from both countries swarm to their respective sets of bleachers to deliver competing chants of “Hindustan” and “Pakistan.” By the end of the ceremony, those on the Indian side were chanting “India – I would die for my country” (in Hindi, of course). By that point, I couldn’t hear any of what was being said on the Pakistani side, but I assume it was something similar.
Instead of posting more of my own pictures or explanation here, as neither does the event justice, I encourage you all to watch this clip from YouTube. While I haven’t been able to load and watch it myself, it should give you a much better idea of my experience at the border.

Part 2: The Happy School

While my experiences in Amritsar might have been clips from a documentary or an action movie, my time at the Happy School might fit better into some inspirational film. As I’ve said before, it has been a hard place to be – the teaching style of the teachers is different, harsh, and often jarring; the lack of materials is humbling, depressing, and challenging; and the children’s progress is often discouraging. However, amid these downsides, the Happy School manages to live up to its name: it gives slum children the opportunity to read, provides them shelter and activities during the day, feeds their hungry stomachs lunch, and clothes them with complete uniforms. I’ve added several pictures here, taken today, that show a little more of the beautiful children I’ve been able to hug, high-five, and teach the alphabet to over the past month:

Saloni and Mamta

A few of my girls:

the one to the far right is the sweetest in the class, while the other three are the class bullies.

Some of my macho boys on the playground.

"Deedee, Deedee, B is for Butterfly. Photo! Photo!"
The children tried everything, including catching butterflies and practicing their English, to have their photos taken at recess.

This last picture is particularly significant to me. This is Vikas. He is five years old and extremely eager to please and to learn. The first day I arrived at the Happy School, though, the teacher warned me to stay away from him; in her words, “he is stupid and will never learn anything.”
Angered and saddened by her assessment, I decided to work with Vikas myself. I quickly found myself overwhelmed: he would not make eye contact, could not follow instructions, and sat listlessly staring into space. I found that he had neither spoken nor smiled since the beginning of school three months ago. He wrote mirror images of all his letters, even when I provided outlines or traced them with my finger for him.
This past week, the teacher called Vikas to the front of the class: he was recognized as the most improved student. He now smiles, occasionally talks, and even manages to complete approximately half of his assignments. Though his letters are still often reversed, he now writes letters A-Q in order without any extra help. It’s been slow going, but his confidence has improved dramatically, and he now follows along in class.
I’m extremely proud of Vikas and all of the work he’s put in – staying through lunch and after school to work on letters and finish assignments, and, more significantly, allowing himself to open up. While I’m not sure how things will continue for him, I can only hope that he’ll find the energy to maintain his confidence and keep improving in the future.

Part 3: Bollywood and a Brief Update

I can’t reference films in the title of a blog post in India without mentioning Bollywood, India’s Hindi-language film industry, which sells more tickets annually than Hollywood. Since coming to India, I’ve had the chance to watch a few Bollywood movies and have come to enjoy all of the colors, music, dancing, and energy each entails. Not all are light and smiley, however. Some, including director Deepa Mehta’s controversial Elements trilogy (Fire, Earth, and Water), deal with heavy subjects such as child widows in India in the 1930s or Muslim/Hindu relations in the late 1940s. Others, though, do fit the cliché, including my new favorite Bachna Ae Haseeno; I won’t spoil it for you all, but it has a lot of colors, dance scenes and a very happy ending.
Bollywood also seems to tie in with India’s pop-music industry, with many of the most popular songs on the radio coming from soundtracks of recent and upcoming Bollywood films. The most widely played song right now – Chiggy Wiggy, which features Kylie Minogue (I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, but it is very catchy) – comes from the soundtrack of the movie Blue, released this past Friday.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve now finished my time at the Happy School. Over my last week and a half in India, I have two whirlwind trips planned. I’m leaving tonight to visit two more religiously significant sites: Varanasi (a.k.a. Benaras) and Khujaraho. I’ll return on Sunday night before heading out again to see the Taj Mahal, ride an elephant, and visit the world’s largest livestock market before boarding a flight to Tanzania on October 31.

Hope you’re well!
Betsy