Dec 122013
Our guide, the professor Annapurna Garmiella (you can google her if you are interested, and by the way, she is far, far prettier in person, especially when she smiles). She lives in Southern India, and we got to talking about conditions in India. She mentioned that there are no men over 35 in her neighborhood. They drink themselves into an early grave. So I had some private time to talk with her as to why. The answer just floored me. The reason it did, is that I feel it is exactly what we are experiencing at home. The men have older trades that are dying, and the things they want to do are no longer of value. Tech has taken over, and if you aren’t in tech you don’t have as much value. When I mentioned this to Mom she said that her friend Nanda had said as much the last time they were together – so Nanda, I would love to meet you and talk one of these days.
Also the empowerment of women. Christianity, and then education are giving women power, and like any woman’s movement, at first, when this happens women seem to think that men are superfluous. We did it in the U.S. with the posters that said men are like bicycles, you really don’t need them. (and there was a frog riding a bicycle) I had it in my dorm room. It isn’t until the movement progresses that you realize that the point of liberation is to become a partner and work as a team, making your life and his better for the partnership.
It is sad, and something I would love to learn more about, it will be interesting to see how this movement plays out.
Next – garbage. We are truly, truly appalled at the amount of trash everywhere. I delicately asked Annapurna about this, saying I thought it interesting when a country that has so many religions that worship cleanliness that you can walk outside the temple and it is dirty. She said not dirty a PIG STY, and absolute PIG STY! So much for delicacy :-).
Apparently “going green” is left to the children. They are taught about the vanishing tigers, and the need for clean water and picking up trash and recycling. HOWEVER, once they get older they are taught that they must work hard, drive big cars and build big houses. The mixed message is obvious.
I wrote a bit earlier that the cows, pigs, and monkey root through the trash. She did say that the cows stomachs are full of those plastic bags, so much for the intelligence of cows. But it furthers says what a serious problem these piles and piles of trash everywhere are.
Today we visited a Suffi Temple. As someone who has done a lot of reading about Suffi mysticism I was thrilled. It was quite an experience. You enter and are given a thread to tie on the marble screens, you ask for something, and if it occurs you are supposed to go back and untie the string.
The process made me wonder how the true worshipers feel with foreigners traipsing through their house of worship taking photographs. Then again, it is done all over the world, but it doesn’t stop me wondering how ludicrous the whole concept is, and how offensive it can be.
Today we did a bird sanctuary. I know it sounds odd, but sometimes it is nice to just do something as soothing and relaxing as bird watching. In this country that is so full of energy, that never turns off, it was a real nice quiet break.