Part 2, Posted February 4, 2001
| Dr. Stephanie Gilbertson, Ed.D.
a disciple from the Cincinnati Church of Christ, was in New Delhi, India
for a month working with other disciples and representatives of HOPE worldwide
providing a brief teacher education course to HOPE staff who teach in the
Village of HOPE, a leper colony, and in the Asharan Orphanage. Ten days after
her arrival, India was struck with one of the most severe earthquakes in
decades. This series of articles chronicle her thoughts and activities from
her life changing experience.
February 4, 2001 Our first stop was the Mahatma Gandhi museum. The spiritual essence of the displays depicting the life of that man and his wife was overwhelming. Photographs were not permitted so I have only the pictures in my mind to take me back to what I felt in that place. Freire's "pedagogy of the oppressed" has come to life for me, today. Our next stop was the President's Palace. We walked past the Minister of Finance Building and Navy Headquarters and looked from the distance at the round structure that is the Parliament. The architecture is impressive, magnificent and repulsive at the same time. These buildings represent a government of oppression. In the 21st century, with access to all of the current industrial, medical, educational, and technological advancements of the world, this government allows approximately 32 million children to live alone, homeless, sick and starving. This government allows Electricity boards to continue power cuts to select neighborhoods. The government of India promulgates the oppression of women, gatekeepers to education, and the slum environment for millions of its people. The roads around the government buildings were evenly paved, unlike any I have seen on the East side of the Yamuna river. From there we went to a road where the leaders of the Business community have built fabulously ornate and intricately adorned temples to Hindu gods. Their gods that can not save them are honored with millions of dollars worth of structures, gardens and statues, while the people who work in their companies earn less than a dollar a day and live with their whole family in one small room.
Our next photo stop was the entrance of the Lotus temple. This one was built in 1984 and reminded me of the Ode to the little Lotus Flower that Ed Dolreihs used to recite. The exterior of the temple was made to resemble the petals of a Lotus flower. Next my "guide" took me to a place where I was obviously supposed to buy a Cashmere rug. Although the rugs were beautiful, I couldn't see spending $250.00 on one the size of a door mat. When he realized that I was not going to buy anything, (I guess he would have gotten a commission if I did) he kind of lost interest in my tour. He said he grew up in Old Delhi and I asked to see that part of the city, so the cab driver took us there. We then hired a cycle rickshaw to take us to where my guide likes to buy his lunch at a corner bakery. He bought several delicacies and insisted that I try them. Samosa is a mixture of potatoes, chilies and spices wrapped in dough and deep-fried. Galebi is honey and wheat flour, mixed with water and fried. Dahi-vada is two big balls of lentil bread, smothered in yogurt with swirls of curry and mint seasoning. Raz gulla is a sickeningly sweet, very dry, white, puff of "cow cheese" served in sugary water. My stomach may never be right again.
I also wanted to let you know some things about the earthquake. The papers are still reporting that about 25,000 were killed. It is more like ten times that number. They don't count all the people who don't live in proper "homes." If you add up the street people, the tent dwellers, the slums the total will reach about a quarter of a million. Quite a bit is being done to send aid. One team of disciples went to Gujarat already and another team with brothers and sister from all over, including some from the States, will be sent there from Mumbai, in a few days. One brother from here lost his entire family at once. An entire school of children died as they prepared for the parade (that day was India's Republic Day, much like our 4th of July) The only person who survived from the whole school was one phys ed teacher. There has been a lot of speculation about the lack of safety of the buildings in Delhi, this city is also along the fault.
That's all for now, |
Next the cab driver was
instructed to take us to Qutab Minar. We passed a Jain temple on the way.
My guide explained that there are two kinds of Jains. One who believes in
a very simple lifestyle, the other who believes that all material possessions
are evil and shuns even clothing. From the vantage point the parking lot
for the Qutab Minar, a large leaning tower, we saw the ruins of the Delhi
of the 10th Century.
We walked up a narrow,
very crowded street to a jewelry store where, again, I was pressured, ever
so mildly, to buy. I didn't. We left. The cab dropped Sharma at his corner
and returned me to the orphanage where I am staying.