Delhi 2

Before I lapse into day 2 in Delhi, let me just make some general comments about my observations about traffic.  If you have ever seen any movies or television shows that have pictures of Indian traffic and think, "That's got to be an exaggeration," then your wrong.  Indian traffic really is chaotic.  There are lines on the road, but they must just be guidelines because nobody follows them.  Everybody honks just to let people know, "Hey I'm coming up on your right."  They honk to tell people to move, they honk when they see someone they know, they honk when they see someone they don't know and just want to say hi.  We decided to play a game on day 3; how many horn honks can you count in a minutes time.  In addition to cars, trucks, mopeds, buses, and three-wheel auto rickshaws going every which way, there are also bicycles, people, cows, dogs, and sometimes horses in the middle of the roads too.  Like in other places of the world, you can see a whole family of four on a moped.  It takes a lot of time just to get a small distance.  I would show you a picture of this, but I just haven't taken one that does it justice.

Okay, now that I have that out of my system let's talk day 2.  This morning we began at a modern Hindu temple called Akshardam.  It was huge, hand-crafted, and so filled with meaning it is very difficult to figure out where to start.  We could only bring in passports, money, and bottled water (nothing else), so we couldn't take any pictures or notes in a notebook.  Their philosophy:  if you are writing or busy snapping a photograph than you are not taking the time to be with family or worship in the temple itself.  There were parts of it, in other buildings on the property, that remind me a bit of Disney World because they would take you into a dark auditorium and show you a little show.  One was about how only you can sculpt your life.  You are the hammer, the chisel, and the rock.  Your actions are what sculpts you.  The next was an overview of the Saint that the temple pays tribute to, and the third was a robotics show depicting his first act under a tree when he was seven (I think I remember correctly) that set him apart as a saint.  He made fish come back to life because he couldn't stand seeing fisherman sacrifice their lives.  Needless to say he was a vegetarian.  There were several other little shows that we had to miss due to time, but we did end with a boat ride on the history of India.  It was seriously like "It's a small world" at Disney.  You enter the little boat and it takes you though the canal while you see different scenes out of India's history.

We had lunch on site and a question and answer session with our guide.  He delved into some of the requirements for the temple by explaining that according to Hindu religion a temple must be self sufficient.  So, he went into water capture and filtration process, solar powered electricity, all uneaten food goes to feed the animals on the property (another requirement), etc.  It was fascinating.  He then went into some detail about the center's to service in the community.  They have a commitment to help end poverty, promote education, and empower women.  They make sure to let you know that they run several schools across India that are free to people who can't afford it.  They want to reintroduce to society that women are not to be treated as lesser people, but the reason they are put behind the men is because their lives and importance is so precious that men must place themselves in danger and be prepared to give their lives in order to protect the women.  So, they hope to help India change in baby steps.

After that we had about an hours bus ride to the Hope Foundation Asharan Orphanage.  I thought this was going to be really sad, but it wasn't too bad at all.  They went through some stats about how almost 500 children have been brought to the orphanage since it opened in the 90's, but over half of those children were returned to their parents.  Of the remaining, almost all of them were able to be adopted.  Less than 10% of the orphans have had to stay in the system until adulthood.  The branch we were at was specifically for children 0-10 years old.  They were all healthy, and the facility was very Indian middle class (in America we would be a little cramped).  Of the 25 children on site, there were about 5 with disabilities.  Two had downs syndrome, one had what we would call autism (it's not recognized in India, they just say that she is "off"), and another had leprosy.  The fifth is another "off" child that is not diagnosed.  The special education teacher in our group had no idea what the official diagnosis might be.  She had a skin disorder, but also other issues.  She was commanding, she would slap you if you weren't paying attention (yes, I got slapped), and she was apparently saying really violent things such as,, "If you don't play this game with me I am going to kill you."  I don't speak Hindi, so I will have to take another group members word on that one.  In addition to getting slapped,  a little girl decided to draw on my pants, and a baby spit up on me.  This is pretty typical of my experiences with children, which is a large reason for why I don't have any!

Here are a few pictures of our time.:

Fulbrighters Pamela and Natalie making bookmarks with the above four age group.

Fulbrighter Jen is holding a baby- the one who spit up on me

After the orphanage we came back to the hotel, and went our separate ways for the evening.  Some people got massages at the hotel, others went to a nearby shopping area and ate dinner at a risque restaurant (plastic pole dancer decorations), and then three of us went to the Lotus Temple, a temple that is part of the Bahá'í Houses of Worship.  The Bahá'í believe it is most important to worship God, so they invite people of all religions to come into the temple to pray.  It was very reverent and peaceful.  The structure itself was huge!  I liked this excursion because this time we were not the ones asking for pictures.  The locals were taking pictures of us left and right, and they even asked us to posed for pictures with them.

Jen and Craig pose like the ultimate American tourists in front of the Lotus Temple

After the Lotus Temple, we made an unexpected side trip to another temple that you could see from the Lotus Temple.  It is called the ISKCON Ashram (temple), and we didn't find out until after the excursion that it is a Hare Krishna temple.  I would tell you more and post a picture, but this is the subject of my blog contribution to our program blog at http://fulbrightindia2011.com so if you want to read more, then please visit.

Until Next time,
Namaste!