Saras Che

After a 26 hour train ride by myself in a cramped sleeper bunk (on the very very top) I am now in Lucknow, safe and sound in one piece. I didn't know I could do a straight shot 26 hour ride, but sleeping off 14 hours of it, trying to not wake up the toddlers around me made time go a little bit faster. trains in india are interesting places, and this is my fourth time going from one place to the other on these lovely carriages.

time in gujrat flew by so fast, and the last 10 days in the village (Vasna) has definitely been a trademark highlight of this summer. I didn't think I would get this attached to the life there, until I was leaving. The genuine warmth and kindness of people, and the inherent sense of community is inescapable and i miss it terribly. my train left at 5am which meant we had to leave the village at 3:30 in the morning. I didn't think anyone would be up at that hour, it would just be me and my friend driving to the station. Not only was the ENTIRE house up, so was the neighbor to bid me farewell!! i was truly overwhelmed by their sweetness.

I didn't really think or know at the beginning of my india trip that I would spend time in Gujarat at all, until the friend that i stayed with came to the rescue. his family just took me in. homecooked food, going from one relatives house to the other, and just going on mini excursions, all of it was immersion like no other. i've picked up scattered bits of gujrati (i said "saras che" to everything, which basically means "it's really good!") and have adapted a taste for the food as well! Everything about the experience was new, and it was a completley new zone for me as there was no connection to Islam at all. I saw things from a completley, completley new perspective, and let myself engage in it. And by doing so, I guess I realized a lot of things about my own ignorance about Hinduism. Up until now it has always been me trying in some sort of way explaining or justifying either Islam or Muslims or me as a Muslim, or whatever and what not to engage in dialogue to talk about stereotypes about my faith. Doing so I didn't realize that I had my own stereotypes about other religions, and there are other faiths that though I respect, i don't really "get". I stayed with a Hindu family, lived with them, saw the things that they did, and was completley isolated from my safe zone, and saw the community around them, and went to temples and had things explained to me. and all of that was such a learning experience! it was really beautiful.

My friend and I taught an English lecture to a classroom full of 10th graders at the local high school. 59 students in a non ac classroom in the heat, eager and beaming with excitement, had me on a high. We first sat in on an English class being taught by their own teacher to see and observe how the language was being taught and to get a grasp of their level. I was floored by the teacher and the way that she taught. I wish we had more professors like that at UNC! She had a beautiful way of not just covering the subject matter but connecting with the students. She spoke of loving even those who may hate us, helping those who don't help us, and going out of our way to understand people. One of my favorite things she said during the lecture was "We got our freedom through tolerance"

As soon as my friend and I entered the classroom, the entire class rose up in unison to say "Good Morning Sir, Good morning Madam!".
Madam?? I had to do a double take. I thought there might have been other teachers, but no they were actually speaking to us. We were there to help them feel more comfortable with speaking English, so we had mini exercises to get them to talk.
One of the things that sticks out in my mind soo clearly, is how their faces would light up and beam when I used to look at them and smile. They were all so eager! Before leaving Vasna, I went with my friend just to say good bye to that class, and all of them as they were leaving the classroom would individually say "Bye Madam".

I can't believe I only have a couple of weeks left in India! And I can't imagine going back to the States. At some point in my life (like soon) i really have to find some way to live on this side of the world for an extended period of time. It's like some strange sort of thirst to absorb everything about this place.

more to come later :)