Mooventures

July 21-28 was when 9 of us took off on an adventure in Kerala, India (southwestern part of the country). During the week we had our own van and driver (yay for Abraham!). He picked us up at the Cochin Airport and we spent our first night there.  Sunday morning we looked around the town for a few hours. Our first stop was to this church:

We then went to the water’s edge where we got a personal tutorial about Chinese fishing nets and how they’re used by the local fishermen in the area. They have quite an amazing system set up!

Sunday afternoon we started to travel towards Munnar.  Along the way we saw some beautiful waterfalls!

We also stopped and took a tour of a spices and herbal garden.

We finally arrived Sunday evening in Munnar and stayed here:

We spent most of Monday in sightseeing and exploring the area. The sights we saw were incredible! After being in cities and rural towns for 3 weeks, it was refreshing to enjoy the lush greenery and fresh air this climate had to offer.

It seemed everywhere we turned we saw workers in the tea plantations. Most of them stopped to smile and wave at us, seeming happy in their work.

I loved how the bright colors of the villages seemed to pop out at me as we drove by them.

We saw some animals along the way, including a family of wild elephants! (it was hard to get a good photo of them)

We stopped at a place called Echo Point, where if you yell loud enough, the echo is actually quite loud and clear.

Later that evening we went to Punarjani Traditional Village.  The first hour was Kathakali, which is a classical dance drama. I could tolerate it in the beginning – in fact, Kim and I both got on stage for a minute.  But it got to be so weird and creepy, I ended up walking out halfway through.

The second hour was Kalarippayattu, which is a form of traditional martial arts. This made up for the horrible first hour! We saw some amazing battles, fighting, and acrobatics. Here are some photos, but they don’t capture the intensity of seeing it live!

On Tuesday, we started our trek to Thekkady.  Along the way we stopped at:

We started with a 1km walk and along the way I met this friendly cow-

We ended up at an amazing view point – we were standing in Thekkady and looking out into the town of Kumily.

Then we all crammed into a jeep, and went to spend some time with 2 enormous elephants!! They were so sweet and calm and we had a great time hanging with them.

After our elephant adventure, we were passing by a school and Jami stopped by to drop off some school supplies she had brought with her. Look at the smiles on these kids faces!

Tuesday afternoon we went on a boat tour where we were told we would see some tigers. The board ride was nice enough, but the only wildlife we saw were more elephants!

Wednesday morning we came down from the mountains and headed towards Alleppey, where we spent some time on a houseboat. It was nice to have the whole boat to ourselves and the ride up and down the river (although we basically went in one big circle!) was relaxing.

Thursday morning we left the Alleppey area and traveled most of the day to reach Kovalam beach. This was the view from the lobby:

Friday morning we took a 3-hour boat ride that was incredibly fun and relaxing. We passed through a huge mangrove where we saw various birds amidst some vibrant scenery.

We eventually ended up at a beautiful golden-sand beach where we lounged in the sun for an hour.

One of the highlights of the day was eating lunch as a floating restaurant. Our boat pulled up next to the “dock” of the place, we ate our lunch on the restaurant deck, and then went back on the boat.

The catch was very fresh that day!

Saturday morning we all got up incredibly early to head back to Cochin. The whole week in Kerala would not have been the same if it weren’t for our awesome driver/tour guide Abraham. Thanks for everything!

July 20 marked the last day of the formal program. One of the highlights was getting to meet a woman who worked with and personally knew Gandhiji! She was an inspiration and a pillar of strength!

This is me with Mr. Shugan Jain, our lead teacher and the person who helped make this program possible:

And this is our whole crew after certificates were given out:

Three weeks went by quick! We battled the intense heat and humidity of Delhi, lived in the horrid rooming conditions at meditation camp, survived “Jain jail” in Aligarh where we struggled to demonstrate ahimsa on numerous crickets, and dealt with naked Jain monks in Jaipur. But we also witnessed amazing things happening in schools across India, learned that nonviolence can be taught to children, were inspired by some incredible students, were appreciated for being educators, drank countless cups of delicious chai, shared with and learned from each other, and I know we are all walking away from this as better people than we started off.  For me, I know what I need to do:

The last school visit of the program was on July 19.  We went to Mahaveer Public School in Jaipur.  If you’ve been following the other school visits, it was similar to most of them. Think of this as more of a photo entry 🙂

We were welcomed by the Girls’ Bagpipe Band – they are all very proud members!

Love that they call their art room an Art Cottage. The art instructor says she believes having space available in which students can let creativity flow and let the ideas come as they may. She always has beautiful, calming, and inspiring music in the background because she believes music can unlock creativity in the brain.

All around the art room (and the entire school) were student-created posters and projects. They were all amazing! Here are some examples:

They had a huge library with books in English, Hindi, and Sanskrit.

Good to know someone still uses a card catalog!

They have a new gymnasium in their building. We visited 11th graders during their yoga class. They have yoga class 3 days a week in addition to their regular PE classes.

The school uses a handwriting method called the Dandia Technique. This is a mandatory class for all 9th-graders and it is possible to not pass it. It’s amazing that they make time to ensure proper handwriting is being used. We got to sit in and watch how it is taught, and afterwards we saw some performances from their cultural groups.

A great visit with some amazing students!

Last Wednesday, we had the opportunity to see one of the most incredible examples of ahimsa in action.  The official name of the society is Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS).  The objective is to provide mobility and dignity to the handicapped. BMVSS emphasizes a holistic approach to addressing the problems of amputees. The society focuses no only on the medical problems of the underprivileged, but also the financial and social problems.  It was started by Shri D.R. Mehta, pictured here: 

He said he started this society because he almost lost a limb himself several years back and it got him thinking about the options people have who have lost a limb.  While the concentration is on the disabled in India, in the last several years, BMVSS held on-the-spot artificial limb fitment camps in 25 countries such as Afghanistan, Honduras, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and other countries throughout Asia, Africa, and South America.  They provide artificial limbs, calipers, wheelchairs, hand paddled tricycles, crutches and other aids and appliances to the handicapped to about 65,000 disabled in a year.  Here is the most amazing part: BMVSS provides these aids and appliances totally free of charge. In fact, about 99% of their patients are below the poverty line. The place we visited is known as Jaipur Foot, and they manufacture the artificial limbs.  Jaipur Foot is closest to the human foot and limb in terms of flexions, functions and cosmoses.  With it a below knee amputee can walk, walk on uneven ground, run, climb a tree or a mountain, sit cross-legged, crouch, ride a cycle or drive a car.  The average cost of one artificial limb of BMVSS is $45 in Jaipur, whereas in the US this may be more than $10,000. I would strongly encourage you to visit their website to learn more about this incredible organization: www.jaipurfoot.org.  Here are some photos from our tour of Jaipur Foot:

This is one of the employees in the factory. He received a limb through Jaipur Foot and was so grateful, he decided to work for Mr. Mehta.

This is one of many people who hang around the clinic all day. He is waiting for his limb to be finished. In this photo, Mr. Mehta asked him to show him everything he has in his pockets – he had 1 rupee.  Mr. Mehta said these are the types of people that need the help the most.

Jaipur is known as the “pink city” because there are lots of walls made of pink sandstone all over town.  Here is an example:

Jaipur is also home of the Amber Palace built completely of white marble and red sandstone.  Set high on a mountain above the city, it is an old but beautiful palace built in 1135.  The intricate decoration of the fort is influenced by both the Hindus and Muslims. There are detailed carvings on the walls and ceilings along with minute mirror work.  Stretched out and around the palace there is a wall that serves as protection – sort of like the Indian version of the Great Wall.  Here are some photos, although they don’t do it justice:

Day 17 of this program brought us to Jaipur. After a 6+ hour bus ride from Agra (home of the Taj Mahal) we arrived at 1:45 in the morning. Like the rest of the trip, we normally would be staying at the local Jain complex, but our arrival coincided with the 2012 Monk Conference. Not your typical Jain monks like the one we met back in our first week:

No, the monks at this conference are of the naked variety. Yes, you read that correctly. These naked monks have taken all the vows of Jainism, one of which includes the vow of non-possession.  As a result, they literally have nothing. Here is the banner hanging on the gate at the Jain complex:

In response to this conference, we are staying at a hotel that is a 5-minute walk away, but we are still having lectures at the complex.  There have been some awkward and uncomfortable run-ins with these monks, but for the most part we’ve been able to avoid needing to interact with them. 

July 16, 2012 will mark the day that I WENT TO THE TAJ MAHAL!!! Definitely one of the places on my bucket list, but was never sure if I would ever get there one day. But I did!!! I don’t think there’s much to say about this wonder of the world, but I will point out one ironic point. We have been studying ahimsa and nonviolence for almost 3 weeks now and we went see the Taj Mahal which signifies an act of violence in the end. Shahjahan built the Taj for his wife Mumtaz, and after it was completed, Shahjahan had all of the workers’ hands cut off. He didn’t want them to be able to ever build anything as beautiful again. Pretty violent if you ask me. Despite this, I have to say it was pretty amazing to see. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:

East Gate Entrance

Despite being out in rural India, it was encouraging to see the time and effort that was being put into various schools we visited. The first one was Prakash Academy School – a tuition free school run by the Jains and geared towards helping the poorest families living in local villages. This school did not have a lot of the bells and whistles that the other schools we saw had, but the very presence of the school – the fact that it exists and runs as well as it does with as little as it has – is an amazing example of ahimsa. Here are some images from the school:

The second school we visited is Mangalayatan University. This university is only 5 years old, but they seem to be making a lot of progress. It was interesting to consider the fact that it was located literally out in the middle of nowhere.  Not much to tell about this school (at this point, I was on “school visit overload”) but here are a few photos:

The third school we visited was Delhi Public School. This school was also founded by Jains and while students have to pay tuition to attend, it operates on a sliding scale basis. One of my favorite parts about the school is their motto:

July 12 started early as we dragged ourselves out of bed at 4:30am in order to catch a rain from Smarak to Aligarh.  It’s been a while since I’ve done international travel with a large group, and I was reminded of the challenges of maneuvering not only the people, but the luggage as well.  Lots of stairs going up and down is much more overwhelming if someone has a large suitcase.  While I had my pack on, I found myself being hyper aware of the swarms of people around me, fearful that someone would cut open the front or bottom of the pack and take stuff (my Costa Rica friends might recall that incident!) We did make it to the train and it was my first experience on a train in India, and we were in a first-class AC car, which included copies of multiple newspapers and a hot tea service.  When I wasn’t dozing off, I was enjoying the sights of India what I wouldn’t have been able to see if driving by bus.  We arrived in Aligarh (a rural town) around 8:30am and as soon as we stepped into the carpark of the train station, I could sense the difference from Delhi.  Aligarh is a very rural town and as a result the landscape looked different – lots of open fields, mud huts, and small villages – most of which were several miles from each other. This was a very common sight:

We stayed at a Jain complex called Mangalayatan Teerthdham. We felt a bit like we were in a prison because outside of the temple, the living quarters, and the Jain School for Boys, there wasn’t anything to do. There were regular sightings of monkeys though. Cute to look at, but we kept our distance because they are carriers of so many diseases.

On the complex, there was also a Jain Temple. We got a tour of it, but we were only allowed to take photos in certain areas. Here are a few I got:

Also on the complex, there was an all-boys Jain School. We had the opportunity to sit in on their evening prayer and dance ritual inside the temple (although no photos were allowed) and one day they took us to their living quarters. These boys were some of the most amazing, well-spoken, intelligent, and genuinely HAPPY kids I’ve met. Spending time with them has been one of the highlights so far.

Last Wednesday morning (July 11) started off with “meditation camp.”  The night before we arrived at Adhyatma Sadna Kednrea, which is a Preksha Meditation center.  Our early morning meditation hour was lead by Swamy Dharma Nandji.  It’s a good thing we weren’t being graded on this because “quieting my mind” was a struggle.  It started to rain halfway through the session and after giving up trying to be still, I got distracted by some laughter.  I looked out the window and saw 2 children standing on the room of a building in the rain wearing nothing but underwear, and sliding down the slant of the roof.  The squeals of pure joy turned the morning around for me.  I snapped a few photos:

After breakfast, we went to the Heritage School for another school visit.  Unlike the first 3 schools we’ve visited, this is not a Jain philosophy school, but it was an amazing school with other impressive attributes.  I won’t bore you with the details, but I did want to share some photos: