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I got up early. First I went to see the Naga students to get all the names and tribes of the students in my book. We almost forgot Panger, which would have been a very gross omission as I knew him well because we both did the Dalit theology Course. Ekie gave me a chain to make sure my luggage was secure. Then we waited for Sathi to collect me. While we were waiting he explained to me how to trap birds using gum and bamboo. This is the second time Ekie has told me about hunting. Before he was describing how they fish in his village. I am not sure that I remember all the details but roughly it goes like this. They grind up two sorts of tree bark and a vine to make a poison. When this is put in the water it drives the fish down stream into a trap.
Sathi arrived and it was time to go. I felt that I must get back to India to see my friends and brothers and sisters in Christ again. The train left at 12:10 so there wasn't time for lunch. Prema made me some sandwiches. I got the train and locked up my case.
Fortunately there were a lot of people to speak to on the train and that helped to keep my mind off leaving UTC.
I had a fitful night of sleep so I was rather tired. Lamboi’s's brother, Haopu, was there to meet me off the train. It was good to see a friendly face in this new city. It was a fair walk to the entrance and for the first time I had my luggage carried by a peon. At first we missed the ARI jeep, mistaking it for someone else's lift. Haopu accompanied me to ARI so I was able to tell him how his brother was. My room in the guest house was more like an apartment. The bedroom has air conditioning but it is not really warm enough to use it. After staying for a little Haopu went to see his sister, Esther.
I met Professor Maitra later and arranged to see the department in the afternoon. In the afternoon I not only saw the microbiology department but was also taken to see Dr. Rajshekar and Dr. Kummar in the Geology department. They were going to arrange for me to see a mineral collection and go to Deccan college. In the evening I felt very lonely after UTC but at least I had time for reflection.
Thursday 19 AugustWe arranged that I would go to see Mr M. F. Makki's mineral collection tomorrow and visit the department of archaeology at Deccan College. In the afternoon I went on a sight seeing tour. We saw the Shaniwar Wada Palace. This was built in 1738 but burned down in 1828. Now the inside is a garden. The most interesting feature of the palace is its spiked doors which were intended to fend off enemy elephants. Outside the gate there was a map of India in a design made out of coloured sand. Apparently the old Peshwa rulers used to execute people by having elephants trample them to death.
We also went to the Raja Kelkar museum. The Saras Baug Ganesh Temple in Peshwa park was a little disappointing. The Ghandi memorial was interesting. Originally the Aga Khan's palace, Ghandi was imprisoned here. When I got back I was very tired and got a little lost. Fortunately someone gave me a lift home on the back of his motorbike. A couple of students took me to BMCC for dinner, but the timing was rather late for me.
I got up at 6:30 by mistake; my watch showed 7:20 but this was the alarm set time. Then I walked to the train reservation office to get my ticket for Bombay. On the way back I stopped off to buy some biscuits and bananas for breakfast.
At 11:30 I met Mr Makki and he took me to see his mineral collection. He is a mine owner and lives in an amazing house. His mineral collection was fabulous. It was some way out of Pune so I got to see the countryside. I had lunch at the ARI canteen. Then a little sleep before giving my seminar. The seminar was to have been at 4 p.m., but the start was delayed because of a special puja in the canteen. It is only now that I am in Pune that I can really see how integrated religion is into the lives of Hindus. Christianity could learn a lot from them. So often our worship is only on a Sunday and we are completely secular for the rest of the week.
In the evening I phoned home and learned that my parcel had arrived.
A lot of minor events happened today. First I went to Thomas Cooks with Dr Kumar and the driver in the ARI jeep. Unfortunately we parked at the wrong end of MG road so the whole process of changing money took half an hour. Then we went to the post office to send some books back to Britain. The parcel was taken and wrapped in linen with a bit showing because it was papers. The people behind the counter wouldn't accept the parcel at first and there was a lot of arguing at different counters. Finally they agreed to take the parcel provided that it was fully sewn up and had a customs declaration. So we went back outside to have more linen sewn on. I wanted to take a picture of the man sewing the parcel but the security guard wouldn't let me. There was no legal reason for this only airports etc. are restricted. Then we had to go to the counter again, and after that to another counter to get the stamps. These were fixed with the customs declaration onto the parcel. Finally there was a last wait at a counter before I got a receipt.
The next step was college to leave a message for Haopu. His
dorm was the furthest from the entrance of course. At last we got to
Deccan college. We arranged that I would go back on Saturday to talk
further.
Back at ARI I reorganised my slides for Saturday. Then I went for a
walk up towards Shivaji Nagar station and saw the Pateshwar temple on
the way. This temple is carved out of a cave with a circular mandapam
in front. One man was asleep in this. It was interesting to sit and
watch the people coming for puja, ringing the bell and entering the
shrine. Some people found it quite an effort to reach up to the bell.
While I was in the area I attempted to find the CPS ashram ( a
Christian nunnery run along Indian lines), but had almost given up hope
when I saw the gate. They would have a mass 7am on Sunday so I decided
to try to go to that. I stayed for a time of prayer and then for
dinner. Then it was back to ARI, I even got a lift on the way back.
I got up at 7 and had breakfast. On my way out
to college I saw Prof. Maitra and he told me that I should arrange to
pay for the accommodation and arrange transport to the station for
Monday morning before the end of today. Then I got a rickshaw to
College. This was quite a long drive. When I arrived, Lalet, Haopu's
brother answered the door. That was a bit confusing because he looked
quite like Haopu and I hadn't met him before. We talked a little about
what the brothers do; Haopu was studying chemistry and Lelet was
studying geography but is also doing a computer course at night.
Haopu and I left for Union Biblical Seminary, this was another long journey. When we got there it was just time for chapel so we went there. The services were evangelical with a lot of emphasis on preaching. The prayers were very similar to prayer in evangelical circles in Britain. After chapel I handed the letters I had been given to Ekie's friend Ilungle, but she had to rush to a lecture so I didn't get chance to chat. We went for a cup of tea and found Lamboi’s's friend Angam, so I could give a letter to him. After tea Haopu and I went for a walk round the campus and up to a catholic convent on the top of the hill. The chapel here was in an Indian style with a low altar for celebrating communion. We went back to UBS just before lunch because I wanted to say hello to the principal (I had met him at UTC a week or two earlier). Then we had lunch in the mess. I talked to Angam about the political situation in Manipur. He told me that there are a lot of problems because the area is used as a corridor for drugs coming from Myanmar. This means that heroin is very cheap in Manipur and many young people become addicted. He felt that this problem was destroying Manipur. There is clearly a lot of social action needed in the area; not just preaching but active help. Haopu tells me that he thinks that there are two interacting problems. 1) People are uneducated so they don't know the effects of drugs. When others try drugs or tell people that drugs will make them happy they try heroin. 2) The people are very poor and can make a big profit by buying drugs cheaply in Myanmar and selling them in India.
I thought that it is amazing that I have sent email to someone who was more or less born in the stone age. It also makes we realise how fortunate we are in the west to have education as a right rather than an expensive privilege. It is a pity so many of us undervalue education. Knowledge may not be the answer to all problems but it is an important part of the answer. I hope that I can use my wealth and talents to help people learn in the developing world.
I've been here 2 months today. This morning was very wet. It was still raining very hard when I went to the laundry to see if my clothes were ready. I wore a coat but my trousers got soaked. My washing wasn't ready yet but should be at 6pm. I had to wait around till 10am. before the shop opened and I could buy a new umbrella (I lost my last one in Mysore). On the way back I decided to get a rickshaw because I was so wet by that time. At home I changed and washed the bottoms of my trousers which had become very muddy. Then I got a message that there wouldn't be a car to take me to Deccan college but Dr Rajshekkar would come and we would take a rickshaw together.
On the way we saw the river was very swollen, many of the slums by the river edge must have been swept away by now. The road and rail links to Bombay were cut and planes couldn't land at Bombay. Later I was told that these were the worst floods in 20 years. I can believe it. Even crossing Pune was becoming difficult as several of the bridges were unusable. The roads were swimming in water. I didn't hear if anyone died in the floods but it is hard to imagine that everyone escaped. It is yet another example of how dangerous life in India can be. It is not surprising that religion is more integrated into peoples way of living. When the world is so unpredictable and sometimes lethal we need something to make us feel that something is in control, but is this a true basis for religion or just superstition? It often seems to me that what is considered Celtic Spirituality comes out of this same unpredictability and I think it is something that it is good to be wary of. On the other hand we often think life is so predictable in the West that we feel is safe to ignore God until unexpected events remind us of our frailty.
The visit to Deccan college was longer than the last one and I got to see their fossil collections.
I overslept and didn't get up till 6:45. There was no time for a wash, I got dressed quickly and went staight out. It was still pouring with rain and the streets were quite flooded in parts. I had to walk some way to get an auto, in fact first I got a lift in someone else's rickshaw to Fergusson road. I was wet and cold when I arrived at CPS. The Communion had already started. The priest was a catholic which demonstrates how much less importance church divisions can have in India. Yet at other times the church parties within the Church of South India seem more divided than denominations in Britain.
We had breakfast with some excellent brown bread. I spent the morning talking about the problems in the North East of India and about meditation. I had some time for meditation and reading before lunch and then I headed back to ARI.
Just after I had changed and washed my old cloths there was a ring at the door and Haopu came with Lalboi, a friend of his who is studying geology. Lalboi told me a lot about how Kukis see the dispute between some of the Nagas groups and themselves. I can see why there are a lot of problems. Yesterday a group Naga guerrillas attacked a Kuki village, killed one and injured 9 others. It is important to say that these problems are only in some areas of Manipur and not the state of Nagaland and so the majority of Nagas and Kukis are not involved.
Increased population pressure probably makes the situation
even more tense. Haopu told me that they used to have a 10 year
rotation of jhum (slash and burn fields) cultivation but that 8 years
is common now. I find this personally very painful as I have friends
who are both Naga and Kuki. In some areas of Manipur both are in
danger. I can only pray that Christian love will triumph and that God
can move the hearts of fighting groups to live in peace. The churches,
in particular the Baptist church may be able to mediate in this
situation, however they tell me that the Baptist church has not always
been particularly forward in helping the situation.
Later that day, at 6:30, Dr Rajshekarar picked me up on his bike and I
went to have dinner at his flat with Dr. Kummar. His daughter, son and
his son's friends were very keen to meet me and ask me what I thought
of India. The dinner was in traditional fashion, us three men served by
the women. It was interesting to be in a Hindu household and see how it
operated. To see the picture of their God and to have a meal in the
traditional way.
I felt alone again; I had left my Kuki as well as my Naga brothers and sisters behind. I was also tired because I didn't sleep well, worrying about oversleeping. Actually I was up in plenty of time and was at the station quite early. I had to wait to see what platform the train arrived at, though the train arrived quite early. I kept a look out for Haopu because he said he would try to come and see me off but either he couldn't or I missed him. He didn't know what carriage I was in and the train was quite long. I learned form Haopu's letter that he did come but was late so he missed the train.
Everything went smoothly in Bombay, I saw the person waiting for me straight away and was soon in TIFR (The Tata Institute for Fundamental Research) ). After settling in I got lunch, only one canteen was open because it was a holiday. It was Krishna's birthday, Janmashtami. There was a lot of drumming and noise coming from the slum that was adjacent to TIFR. On this day money was put into pots and suspended high up. The more money the higher the pots. Teams of men formed human pyramids to try to reach the pot and smash it. The team that succeeds share the money. As I went on the TIFR bus I saw several of these teams and one pyramid of people.
After lunch I went to find Dr Lobo but she wasn't in. I investigated the path that runs along the side of the institute by the sea. Later I found myself just killing time.
Today was the day of my talk. I gave it at 10am and it was very well received. There was a misunderstanding over lunch; I went to the wrong canteen and had just got my food when Dr Lobo found me. I abandoned that food and went to the West canteen.
In the afternoon I went into the centre of Bombay in search of a book on Manipur, but I couldn't find anything. I wish I had got it in Bangalore now. Without it, it is difficult for me to get an accurate history of the conflict between Naga and Kuki in Manipur. This search gave me a fair walk around the city centre. The buildings were colonial British and it almost looked as if India was draped over this foreign skeleton. The overall juxtaposition was odd but very Indian in its contrasts. In some ways the city was quite western. The traffic, though congested was more orderly than Bangalore. This might be partly because there are no auto-rickshaws within the city limits. There are also many more white faces than I am used to.
The next 3 days the biologists are holding a molecular biology conference so I will go to some of the talks. Meeting people is more important than being a tourist and hearing about Indian science is more informative that looking at buildings.
I don't have anything very important to say about the last 3
days. I have been to some good scientific talks, but much of it was
molecular biology which was never my speciality. Going to the talks
does make me feel more as if I belong. I also got chance to buy some
shirts for home and a tiffin set for Andrew (back in college).
On Friday I took a trip to Elephanta and saw the cave temples.
Elephanta is an Island about an hours boat journey from Bombay. The
boats set out from the Gateway of India. This was built for the visit
of George V in 1911 but not officially opened until 1925. It is an Arch
of triumph in a Muslim style. There are moves among some groups in
Maharashtra to have it demolished as a sign of British imperialism. The
rock cut temples on Elephanta were carved between 450 and 750, some are
more complete than others. In there hay day they must have been very
impressive but now they are empty shells. The statues were desecrated
by the Portuguese and now any feeling of religion is very diminished.
I was invited to join the biochemists on their annual outing, a trip to the Buddhist cave temple at Kondana. I was up at 6:15 as I thought the bus left at 7, but it was nearer 9 when we left. It was a long journey through Bombay and then into the county. At about 12:30 we had gone as far as the bus could take us and we stopped in a village. We ate our packed lunch and then started on the long uphill walk to the temple. While it was cooler than Bombay because we were in the hills, it was still warm and humid; it even rained a bit. If the forest was thicker I guess it would have been like a rain forest. By the time we reached the end of our trek we were sweaty and wet. The first glimpse of the temples was a bright orange yellow carved cliff seen through the trees. Closer to the temple we saw that there were waterfalls cascading down the front and later we all stood under the water to cool off. The temple itself was never finished because the builders discovered that the rock was no good for carving.
While we were at the cave one of the group had a
bad asthma attack. This seemed much worse in India because the health
infra-structure is much less well developed than in the West. We were
all worried about how she was going to make the trek back. On the
return somehow the group split up and some of us arrived earlier than
the rest. We became quite anxious as time went by and it became dark
and still the other group had not appeared. In the darkness the
fireflies started to come out in large numbers. First a few flickers of
green luminescence, but later it almost looked like Christmas with
little flashes of light all over the trees. The countryside was dark
and that seemed to amplify the sparks. I saw one close too later on the
way back because one got caught in my neighbour's (Sudiptho's) bag. I
also had a good talk with Sudiptho about religion, evolution, what I
believe and what he believes. He doesn't consider himself religious,
which probably means he doesn't practise Hinduism, but he does believe
that we are all part of Perusa an need to find our way back. In many
ways this is classical Hindu thought, though I have a feeling that he
may be more drawn to Buddhism.
We arrived home at 11:30pm and everyone was very tired.
I went to church today but the 9am service at St. John's, just round the corner, was almost finished by the time I got there. I caught a bus and went to the other church that the presbyter looks after, Wesley Church. They had a 10am service. After the service I heard the news that Princess Diana had been killed in a car accident. I didn't feel the grief people claimed when I got back to Britain but it is tragic to leave two children in need of a mother. Her work against land mines and for AIDS charities makes her death even sadder. Back home I learned that UTC were very moved by her death and some stayed up to watch her funeral.
In the afternoon I rested and then in the evening went to the Taj international hotel for dinner. Expensive by Indian standards but part of the experience of India.
I had just washed my clothes when I realised that I would be leaving in the early hours of tomorrow and so I need to get it dry today. I put the washing on hangers under the fan. My miscalculation meant that I didn't have time to do my final sight seeing but I went into Bombay to buy a few last things before leaving. I had sent nearly all my books home by post so I needed to get a new novel.
In the evening a couple of us were going to the airport and we had to wait for the transport for a while, but we were there in plenty of time. I had forgotten the details of luggage check in India, so that delayed me a little. Waiting for the plane, Tobias from the states came over and said hello. We met on the plane going out and once in Bangalore. Now we were both returning together. We had met again in Frankfurt and exchanged EMail addresses. Really I was too tired to take in much when I got back to Britain. It was good to be back among my family and friends again, but I will miss my friends from India. I hope we manage to stay in touch.
