Kite Flying Fun

Raksha Bandhan

Today we celebrated Raksha Bandhan. The festival is a Hindu festival that celebrates the special relationship between brothers and sisters and is quite commonly celebrated through out India. Technically, yesterday (Saturday, August 16th) was the day to celebrate, but do to logistical reasons, Udayan Care chose today to mark the occasion.

All of the Udayan Care Homes met up at Indraprastha Park in New Delhi and the afternoon was filled with fun, food and festival. Traditionally, sisters tie Rakhis, or holy threads and bracelets, on the wrist of her brother and the brother in return offers a gift to his sister and vows to look after her confirming his love and affection. It isn’t necessary for the “brother” and “sister” to be actually related and there is quite a bit of exchanging that takes place between good friends as well.

Thus, we festivaled. There was much bracelet tying, and sweets consumption as well as just intermingling and getting to know one another since it is not a common occurance for the Homes to be able to get together. We were quite the big, happy family. Following the tying and vowing was a huge picnic and a chance just to enjoy what was a gorgeous day (well, until a thunderstorm rolled in and we all fled for our rides home).

Today was the third day in a row now that the boys haven’t had school and they have definitely been busy days indeed. I am so glad that this weekend worked out the way it did and I really feel this was a perfect weekend at the perfect time. Not only did I get some quality time with the boys the last few days, but I also was able to spend some good time with them outside of the Home setting and with the larger Udayan community. I’d love to say that I planned it all to work out this way and such, but nope. This all fell together under the guidance of One who understands much better what it is that I truly needed to close out my time here well (and to think I still get another week to boot!).

National Zoological Park

Today was Zoo Day. We had been planning on going for almost three weeks now and last night the boys were so excited that they all went to bed without even being told. Only one of them, Ajay, had been to the zoo before so it was going to be quite the treat.

We have had pretty substantial rain over the past week and I’m pretty sure I haven’t prayed for a rain free day this much since my days of track and field. I guess somebody was listening, because the day turned out absolutely perfect. Not only was today the first rain free day in a week, but the morning was nice and cloudy with temps a little cooler than normal. Perfect for traipsing through the Park. A volunteer who usually comes every weekend, Ravi, was originally going to join us with his two kids, but was called in to work on Saturday, so it was 10 boys, and 4 adults all packed into the Bolero.

As is the norm with me and groups of kids (most recent event prior that comes to mind is a certain trip to a water pack in Gulfport, MS), I somehow managed to be separated from the caretakers and our driver with 8 of the boys while they split the two youngest amongst them.

No complaints here. It was so great going from exhibit to exhibit and listening to the boys as they searched for which animal was inside and worked on getting the names right. Some of the big favorites of the day were the elephants, lions, tigers and giraffes, but the runaway winner was the gibbons. Regardless of which animal we were watching, the was a constant stream of laughter and it was really great just to listen to the boys enjoy the animals being themselves.

I also really enjoy the fact that being with a bunch of little boys means there is plenty of conversation around why a deer poops little pellets, how much pee the hippo actually peed, which bird is gonna win the fight for the fish, and just how great it would be to have a trunk like and elephant. Learning to read the zoo map was also quite entertaining and since I made them take turns trying to lead we went in circles several times.

After the zoo, we went to the India Gate for a spell to play in the park and let off a surprising amount of energy considering we had just spent a few hours in a zoo. Then we took a vote and hit up McDonalds (unanimous decision and a very special treat) for some lunch on our way back to Noida.

It’s now a little bit after 9pm here and the house is absolutely dead. I deem it a successful day :).

Independence Day

Today is India’s Independence Day. Just like the States, everybody get the day off from school and work and all that jazz. But the texture of the day is a bit different. It has only been 62 years since India won her independence and the immediate fall out from the British leaving and bisecting India into the nations of Pakistan (majority Muslim) and India (majority Hindu) was a very messy and bloody affair. Millions died in the scramble to get to the right side of the new border. The first generation to taste independence is still living, so the stories are real and independence means so much to those who lived when it did not exist.

We had our own little flag raising ceremony up on the top deck and sang a few songs commemorating the struggle and then the national anthem of India (and by we, I really mean I hung out while the boys did the heavy lifting since it was all in Hindi). It was great to share that with the little dudes.

The day was not all ceremony, though. I had put together some history on the Indian flag that we went through with the boys and this was topped off with a contest of ten flags from other nations with the one who identified the most getting a bag of potato chips.

Then the best part of all was we spent the entire afternoon flying kites. Not the plasticy-can’t-really-fly-but-are-dirt-cheap-at-wal-mart-so-we-still-buy-’em kind. But the real, bona fide paper kites that every child on the sub-continent grows up flying (if you’ve read the book “Kite Runner” then you’ll know what I’m referring to. If not, pick it up, it’s a great read). It was the perfect afternoon for it and the hours just flew on by. It was also pretty special in that the caretakers here at the Home, Berindra and Rita, were able to leave and see family for the afternoon so that meant that I had all the boys to myself for a good portion of it.

All in all, such a great day and a chance just to remember that many of the things we enjoy in life came at a huge cost to others in our past as well as enjoy the simple things like paper kites and string and being together for an afternoon...

Hard Work and Water

I was back at the Noida Girls Home again today. Since they have tomorrow (Friday) off for Independence Day, I wanted to at least make sure that they understood their homework for the weekend. They are still struggling with basic names of letters and simple addition which makes doing things like working with nouns and learning division (their assignment topics) really tough. Needless to say, it’s slow going. But progress continues to be made. All three worked incredibly hard all afternoon, which is definitely a first for my time with them. I absolutely love it when they cross the threshold to understanding and things just click. The sparkle in the eyes, the radiant smile, the excited posture and sometimes the all out victory dance are all incredibly beautiful instances of grace and redemption...

In other news, I managed to get completely soaked on the way back. Surprisingly this is the first real drenching I’ve received this monsoon season. Instead of taking the long way around on the major roads, I usually cut through the sector between the boys home and the girls. Needless to say, I am one of very few foreigners who have ventured into that neighborhood and am always greeted by so many curious children. Today was even better than usual since I got to surprise many of them by joining in their puddle jumping fun...

More Delhi Pics...

This is what the Olympics are really about...

A Tale of Two Worlds

This picture embodies a lot of what has struck me about India (click the picture to zoom in for a closer look).

In the foreground is a group of homes that have been built from whatever materials could be found. They are probably home to a bunch of construction workers and their families. The workers tend to migrate to wherever they are working with their families and when the job is done, they up and move on to the next one, family and all.

In the background, you can see a huge mall complex being built. Some of the tenants in the foreground may actually be helping to build it. Soon it will be filled with all sorts of goods and services and the surrounding neighborhoods will appreciate its close locale.

I know what it’s like to live in a world of malls. To go shopping and have options of what I would like to spend my “expendable” income on. I don’t know what it’s like to be in the other world. I have not had to struggle to put food on my plate. I have never had to choose whether my kids should work or go to school. I have never had to struggle for existence in a world that seems impossible to overcome.

Yet as I go though India, I can’t hope but notice that there are far more people living in the world that I don’t understand than in the one I do. Far more people toil for the comforts of a few than the other way around. I refuse to believe that this is due to laziness or a lesser intelligence or just dumb luck.

This disparity is also not unique to India, although the swelling population and social structures may make it more obvious. The system is broken, yet for those of us who benefit so greatly, it’s business as usual. I cannot reconcile this...

Two weeks.

That’s all I have left. Crazy. I cannot believe how fast the time has been flying by. We had another quiet Sunday around here today and it was great to slow things down and relax. It is strange how all of life here has become the norm. Except for the heat and humidity... I’m convinced my body will never think of that as normal.

On the flip side, I am definitely tired. It has been non-stop action and the boys don’t slow down for anything. It takes quite a bit to keep up with them as well as quite a bit of energy just to function out ‘n about. Erin and I have been starting to finalize our touring plans and I am getting really excited to jump into the tourist role. I’m trying to be a good planner...

Two weeks to continue waking up each morning and seeing how the day unfolds... gosh it’s so simple :).

Numbers

I’m not a huge fan of throwing facts around, but they do help to add insight sometimes... Here’s a collection of different facts about India that I’ve been collecting as I go...

1.027 Billion - Population (2001 census)
16.7% - Percentage of the World’s Population
53.7% - Literacy Rate for Women
75.3% - Literacy Rate for Men
41% - Families living in one-room homes
1st - World Ranking for reported HIV positive persons
60 million(est) - Number of Child Laborers
350 million(est) - Number of Persons below the Poverty Line
35%-40%(est) - Percentage of the Population that lives on less than $1(US) per day
2035(est) - Year in which India will surpass China as the most populous nation