[Vision2020] Passage to India 2014

[Nicholas Gier]

*Dear Visionaries:My silence on the Vision is explained by the following
travelogue.  Back in Moscow on Dec. 9.The highs of traveling in India (my
fifth trip)--the people, the food, the antiquities--are still very high,
but the lows--increased traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, the
poverty and squalor—are very low. Without exception everyone we have met
believes that new Prime Minister Nahendra Modi, even with his dark Hindu
nationalist past, will solve all of these deep seated problems.We started
our trip in Mumbai (formerly Bombay, 18 million), where traffic (especially
from the airport) has improved, primarily because of new roads and a
beautiful new bridge that avoids a lot congestion in the middle part of the
city that extends at least 20 miles down a peninsula.  Compressed natural
gas (CNG) taxis have reduced air pollution.  Thousands of CNG auto
rickshaws also ply the much cleaner streets of New Delhi.  The much
polluting Hindustani Ambassadors—an virtually unchanged 1954 Austin Healy
sedan made exclusively and proudly in Calcutta for decades—have pretty much
disappeared from the streets.When I'm in Mumbai, I always take a ricketty
boat out to Elephanta Island, where there is a magnificent cave temple
dedicated to Shiva.  Most of the bas reliefs were damaged by Portuguese who
used them for target practice (!), but the 18-foot Shiva Trinity statue was
saved, presumably because the soldiers believed that it might embody the
Christian Trinity.  I was able to get my first digital record of the visual
treasures of this World Heritage site.We then flew to Aurangabad, where we
visited the World Heritage Ellora and Ajanta cave temples.  For the first
time I also was able to get a digital record of the Hindu, Buddhist, and
Jain cave (63 in all!) of these incredible monuments. Cheryl was a Pied
Piper for small children and school kids, who swarmed around her, drawn
ineluctably to her warm and loving heart.  The young people and entire
families insisted on having their pictures taken with us.I say that I don't
want to travel in China because of the polluted cities, but I learned, only
on our departure from New Delhi, that it is, at 25 million in the metro
area,  even with new emission reduction measures, the most polluted city in
the world.  We got some relief by riding the new subway, but we both
developed coughs and Cheryl is still suffering from the effects of a mild
bronchitis.  The highlights of our stay in New Delhi were visiting my best
Indian friend Deepak and meeting with the leaders of the Indian branch of
Soka Gakkei International.  I started my 22-year association with this
Buddhist group in 1992 on my first trip to India, and it was wonderful to
recapture those moments with the Japanese fellow who sought me out after I
gave a lecture on Gandhi and Buddhism at Delhi University.From New Delhi we
flew to Bodhgaya, where we had an incredible day visiting all the national
Buddhist temples (Burma, Japan, Bhutan, Tibet, Chinese, Sri Lanka, and
Nepal) surrounding the magnificent Mahabodhi Temple, which guards the Bodhi
Tree under which the Buddha reached enlightenment. (Too bad there was far
too much chaotic India in between the temples!)  Here Cheryl attracted the
same enthusiastic groups of Indians, and we traded autographs with many
young people with some of them writing their names on our palms.From
Bodhgaya we traveled to the temple city of Puri, where we were mobbed by
beggars at the famous Jaganath Temple.  Cheryl wanted to give something to
each one, but we had only 10 ten rupee notes (about 16 cents), and when
they were gone the dozens who were left out besieged us. We were both
devastated by the experience (not my first time), and that is why even the
best intentioned Indians ignore them.  Most of the beggars are connected
with organized gangs, and we were told that many of them make a very good
living, earning more than many hard working Indians, who understandably
have grown to resent them.North of Puri is the famous Sun Temple dedicated
to none other than the sun god Surya.  Our guide tried to amused us by
pointing out the bas reliefs depicting the dozens of sex positions from the
Kama Sutra. (He would have done that with Indian clients.) I finally told
him that three positions suited me just fine. I was was much more
interested in the extremely accurate sun dials, which read 3:04 PM, when my
watch said 3:06.  The wonders of ancient India are truly amazing.We then
took a 24-hour train ride from Puri to Hyderabad. I wanted Cheryl to
experience 2nd class AC, where couples sit across a small aisle in two
seats/berths with four others across the aisle.  (In 1st class AC a couple
has only two others in a larger coupe, the set-up we had traveling from
Hyderabad to Chennai.) 2nd class AC makes for lots of companionship and
conversation, and Indians are the world's greatest talkers. Cheap cell
phones and service (several dollars a month) have now made possible 800
million subscribers, and Indians are on their phones all the time.While
going to the bathroom on the train (never a pleasant experience in India),
Cheryl met some college women from the 3rd class car who took to her
immediately. For hours we went from their car to our car and back taking
pictures, singing songs, and somehow communicating fairly well even though
their English was limited.  Most Indian colleges are “English medium” but
these students were at a Telegu speaking school. Their teacher did a lot of
translating for us, but Cheryl's training with children with language
disorders allows her to communicate very well non-verbally.    I supported
an Christian Indian grad student and his wife for 10 years for his U.S.
Ph.D., and his family was at the Hyderabad train station to greet us. We
were garlanded with marigolds and other flowers and there was a special
reception for us at their church, where there even more garlands for us.
Cheryl received a beautiful Indian dress (I had already bough her two) and
I got an extravagant maharaja's suit. We are now thinking of a service
auction item for our UU church: "New Slides of India and Fashion Show."The
congregation went wild with affection and adulation. We ended up hugging
and kissing the children, who kept coming to us. They especially loved
Cheryl, who I now believe has a special gift of communicating love and care
to anyone she meets.  I tell her that her heart is a large as India
itself.On the train to Chennai (old British Madras, 7.7 million), I asked a
fellow for change to buy breakfast, and that started a new friendship that
produced one more memorable Indian experience. Our driver got lost on the
way to meet him, and we were just about to abort the mission when he jump
into our car out of nowhere. He led us first to a large 700-year-old
temple, where I stepped in cow dung trying to feed a temple cow. That
experience gave new meaning to the phrases "holy shit" and "holy cow." We
stood in awe as our devout IT expert joined hundreds of others in complex
rituals that go back at least 2,000 years.Our new friend, who speaks five
languages, then took us to a classical Indian music concert and we were
immediately taken in by the enchanting melodies, improvised on the spot by
the singer and the violinist with the tabula player joining in
occasionally. The evening ended with a feast of the best South Indian
dishes.From Chennai we drove to two temple cities before landing in
Pondicherry after an an exhausting 3-hour ride that covered only 60 miles.
When the British finally beat the French in the late 18th Century, the
French army retreated here and they were allowed to have a colony here
until Indian independence.  The schools are “French medium” here and it is
the location of the famous Sri Aurobindo ashram.  We spent most of an
afternoon there going through the book store and meditating at the shrine
of The Mother, Aurobindo's closest disciple.The last leg of our journey was
another exhausting drive to Madurai, near the southern tip of India.  We
visited three Shiva temples on the way, and at the last one we were lucky
to come right at the time that a giant stone Nandi, Shiva's bull, was being
bathed by a crew of Hindu priests. From high scaffolds they poured ghee,
milk, and tumeric water all over the 30-foot statue.  There were about
2,000 people there to witness this ancient religious ritual for devout
Shaivites. When my daughter and I visited in 1992, we pretty much had the
place to ourselves.  The highlight of that visit was the temple elephant
blessing Christina, but only after giving him a ten rupee note.In Madurai
we met a couple from Moscow, who are spending six months here.  She is an
expert on Tamil poetry (Wisconsin Ph.D.) and she is involved in some new
translations.  A miracle is unfolding outside our hotel window.  It is
quiet!! No beeping, no honking, no loud speakers blaring, and no dogs
barking.  We see clean streets and brightly colored houses.  This is a
residential area, about is still unusual.  India is giving us a special
good-bye, and thanking Cheryl for coming to their amazing country and
spreading her love and good will.On our very last day we visited the
Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, a huge complex that has many large goparams
(temple towers).  The original temple was consecrated solely to the local
goddess Meenakshi, but later Hindu patriarchs domesticated her by marrying
her off (the wedding is celebrated annually) to great male stud
Shiva.Tomorrow we begin our flights home: Madurai to Chennai to Mumbai to
Dubai to JFK to Seattle and finallly to Spokane.  Our passage to India will
then be complete.*
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