Last Day in India

Sun at last. It's been quite rainy here in sympathy with the weather at home. We've been experiencing the effects of cyclone Neelam that's been slamming Chennai, to the east of Bangalore.
 After an early morning walk at Lalbagh and breakfast at MTR, we're off to Vijayapura, Manju's home village. We'll visit with family, eat lots more fabulous Indian cuisine, and then, hopefully, board a plane back home. We're hoping that Newark is fully functional and able to accomodate our flight from London. Otherwise, we may have an extended stay in the UK.

Unusual tree in Lalbagh

 Monkey outside house in Vijayapura

 Monkey close up

 An ant hill with offerings to the cobra that lives at the bottom

Cricket practice in the square in Vijayapura

This has been an extraordinary week. Indian hospitality is unending. I am returning home with bags of delicious homemade delicacies and truly priceless memories, hoping that this is the beginning of another enriching global connection for Parker.

Day 6 Shopping!

 A shrine outside a small cooperative shop

 

 Nalli, where the dress was purchased

 

 A pedicab waiting for a passenger

 

Bangalore traffic

Today was spent patronizing the merchants of Bangalore. We had to do our part for the local economy and certainly bringing some presents back to the States was in order. I think my favorite purchases were a set of 10 figures of the 10 different incarnations of the god Vishnu which I hope to use in class when the 2/3s study India, and a traditional Indian dress for my almost 4 year old grandaughter. Tonight we'll eat out at a local restaurant and return to the new house for our last night sleeping ther.

The big day...visit to Shanti Bhavan



Me with our tour guides Sarita, Lilly and Thomas

The grounds of Shant Bhavan

 Some students in the second grade class

 

 The art room!

 

Manju, Me, Veena, and Shanti

 The younger children going to

lunch

Nap time

After spending the first night after the Pooja in the beautiful new house, Manju and I set off to Hosur, two hours from Bangalore to visit Shanti Bhavan. We picked up Shanti, their Director of Outreach and Development along the way and she directed our driver through traffic and then very rural back country (for India) until we reached the gates of the school. After a welcome cup of tea, we were taken to an assembly much like Parker's Friday morning. The whole school was gathered on the floor of a large community space. The program began with the school song, which talks about all the potential these children have and how they can become whatever they choose. I was moved to tears. Students then presented news from around the world and responded to questions from others. A couple of skits were performed and some of the older girls performed a dance that they had learned for the previous school graduation. It was Veena, the assistant principal's, birthday and two songs were sung to her and a card from the kids and faculty was presented. Lastly, Manju and I introduced ourselves.We then were introduced to several of the volunteers working there. Many are from the States and most of those from New York! Then our tour began. Three graduates, Thomas, Lilly, and Sarita were back at Shanti Bhavan working as substitute teachers while on a brief school break. Their energy, insight, intelligence, poise, and knowledge is hard to capture in words. They took us to all the classes, filled us with stories from their days at the school, answered our endless questions, and were truly an inspiration. This school's mission lives in these kids. They came from a place that offered them no future to speak of and are now in a position and with an obligation to raise their families out of poverty and give back to the school that supported them and gave them a home from the time they were four years old. If only more children were given similar chances, the world would be a better place. We handed the second grade teacher the writing and illustrations that our 2/3 kids made for them, and during the course of the day those children wrote responses that I'll bring back to our 2/3s. Hopefully we can keep this burgeoning relationship going and the Shanti Bhavan children will become our experts when the 2/3s study India next spring. The teacher volunteer opportunities abound, but a word of warning...these children will steal your hearts and you won't be the same!! To say that this was an inspiring day doesn't begin to express what I'm feeling right now.

Day 4, House Warming Ceremony

 Priest performing ceremony

 

Manju's brother and family 

 

 The beautiful grand neices

 

 House shrine

 

Yours truly with Manju's brother

Modeling my newly acquired salwar kameez

For the family, the day began at 3:30 a.m. with an excursion to the new house for the Pooja to begin. I joined them at 10:30, after sleeping an additional three hours. When I arrived at the house, many guests were already there. The apartments were all decorated with rangoli, flowers and shrines. Many tables were set for hundreds of guests to enjoy lunch. Everyone was dressed in their finery, and the priests were performing the Hindu rituals involving small fires,and offerings to the gods, creating a festive and somewhat smokey atmosphere. After hours of visiting and congratulating the family, the guests sat down in shifts to enjoy a delicious lunch. Late into the afternoon the activity died down, the guests departed and the family seized the opportunity to get some much needed rest.

Day 3 in Bangalore

Preparations are underway for a house warming ceremony or "Gruha Pravesh" tomorrow. The Manjunath/Shiva Kumar family has built a beautiful new home and before it can be occupied it must be blessed in this Hindu ceremony. Many workers are pulling the final details together to insure that all will be ready.

 Hand decorated for the ceremony

 

 Lalbagh Park

 

 Parrot in a tree

 

 Idly at MTR

 

 Coffee served in two cups

 

 Food preparations at home

 

Pooja or shrine

Today began with an early morning trip to Lalbagh Park in the center of Bangalore. It is a magnificent 240 acres of horticultural beauty where many residents of the city go for meditation or exercise in the midst of the indescribable traffic and hustle of the streets. After our walk through the park we had a sumptuous breakfast at the famed MTR restaurant where one can walk through the kitchen to observe the many staff who interact like clockwork in a small space to produce their fabulous cuisine. Then back into the streets that can barely be crossed for fear of losing life or limb and home to CNN coverage of the super storm back in the states.

Travels to Bangalore





Manju feasting at Heathrow

 Our airport welcome

Manju's family...welcome party

Dr.Kallanna Manjunath, a past Parker parent, and I drove to Newark on Saturday afternoon, left for London at 10;15pm, arrived 7 hours later and after a 5 hour layover at Heathrow, began the second leg, 9 hours with a tailwind to Bangalore! We arrived on Monday morning at 5 am India time. Most of the Manjunath clan was at the airport to greet us with flowers and coffe and biscuits! What a fabulously warm welcome it was. We then were driven through the notorious Indian traffic into Bangalore where the overwhelming hospitality continued. Fabulous food, company and accomodations awaited us. What a wonderful beginning to this adventure!

I'm off to south India to visit Shanti Bhavan, http://www.shantibhavanonline.org/, a remarkable boarding school outside of Bangalore. Our hope is to establish a relationship between Shanti Bhavan and Parker that will deepen our studies of India and help our students gain connections to children of a very different culture. I am bringing work from our 2/3 students telling the Shanti Bhavan students about them, their families and their interests. I hope to bring back responses that will begin a relationship between our schools, students and teachers, with future visits on the horizon.