Taj Mahal

            I know it’s cliché, but I really just have to have to go with the Taj as the most amazing thing I saw in India. It really is that amazing.

            I’m glad it was one of the last things we did so that we were able to build up to it instead of seeing it first and then having nothing quite compare to it afterwards. We also picked a great day to see it because it rained the whole way there and then stopped as soon as we got there, so we didn’t get rained on at all, and as a result of the rain, the temperature cooled off, and was just right. If it had been a lot hotter or a lot rainier maybe it wouldn’t have ended up being the greatest thing I saw, but everything just worked out so well for us.

            In addition, as we were going in, a young Indian guy offered to be our guide. We told him we were sorry but we couldn’t afford to pay a guide, but he told us that he didn’t charge, but that he did it as sort of an internship for his schooling because it gave him a chance to practice his English. At first I worried that he might end up being pushy or controlling of our experience as has happened in some of our not-so-great experiences in India, but he turned out to be a very fun and very knowledgeable person. There was so much we would have missed if he hadn’t been with us. He also happened to be an amateur photographer and had been taking photos as the Taj for so long that he knew all the best angles and shots to get, and he took a lot of our group pictures.

            I know I just wrote about how amazed I was when we stepped through the gates to the Golden Temple, but now take whatever you imagined that to be and times it by 10.  I don’t think you can even help but gasp and get goosebumps when you first see it through the gate doorway. Then when you step through the gate and out into the open grounds, it happens all over again. It’s so big! And it’s so far away still, which makes you realize just how big it really is. Up above the main dome you could see lots of birds flying around and landing on top of the dome, and for some reason I just really liked that sight…

Gandhi–Ji

            I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t know more about Gandhi before going to India.  For being one of the most influential people to have ever lived in India, I sure didn’t know that much.

            Nobody ever quizzed me about him or put me on the spot and made me tell them what I knew about him, but still, it seems like it should be a prerequisite to know about him before you go to India.

            Anyway, I learned little bits about him here and their while we were staying in McLeod. I knew he was considered the father of the nation, he’s on just about every piece of money, and he’s always referred to as Gandhi-ji (to add respect). At the hostel they put a picture of him right up there with a picture of a Hindu God, and another of the Dalai Lama. So he is practically considered a God for what he did.

            After we got back to Delhi though, and had a few days to kill before flying out, we were looking for things to do and found out about a Gandhi museum in the city. It actually turns out there are two museums, both pretty close to each other, but I’d say we chose the right one because it had air conditioning. We went to the other one too, but just briefly because we were already so overloaded with information from the first.

            It was a fairly little museum, but it was packed with information. Lots of photos and lots of written descriptions explaining the pictures or just talking about parts of his life, or his ideas or theories.

Indian Soaps

            

          Soap operas are pretty big in India, and even the Tibetans (or at least the ones that speak Hindi) get pretty into them. And instead of just being on during the daytime, they are on all day long and into the night. In fact several channels are dedicated to nothing but soap operas.

            It also happened to be a fairly common practice (or at least it was with the Tibetans we stayed with) to watch TV during dinner. So depending on who wore the pants, either the wife or the husband, you may end up watching soap operas or cricket. Or in the case of one Indian couple we knew, the husband would often pick cheesy scary movies, like Anaconda 3 or 7.

            At our first host home our host mother watched two shows fairly religiously during dinner. I don’t remember the real name of the first one we watched, but they always just called it “Baskar” because that was the name of the main character. He was a scruffy rude guy, and he and his mother were always being jerks to his wife.    

           The other show we watched, I believe must be a favorite of all, because we kept watching that one with our second host mom when we moved. That one was called “Pavitra Rishta” which means something like sacred or holy or good relationship. This one was about a couple who actually loved each other and were really sweet together, but sometimes would do dumb things like run away from home and get hit by a car. And when they weren’t getting into their own problems their family members usually were.

The Golden Temple

            For our mid-semester retreat, our whole group, plus a couple extra American friends traveled to Amritsar, Punjab, to see the Golden Temple.

            This temple belongs to the Sikh religion and is considered their holiest place on Earth. Many Sikhs make pilgrimages there to visit the temple and bath in its water.

            Before we even went to Amritsar I was lucky enough to get to talk to a Punjabi Sikh man who was visiting McLeod Ganj for a weekend. He told in general about the religion and about the Golden Temple.

            It is easy to spot a Sikh man in India because they wear turbans or cloth coverings on their heads. Sikh women are a little harder to spot, but I learned from this man, that they also usually wear special bracelets on each wrist.

            I asked the man a little about the religion and was very interested to hear his explanation. From what he told me Sikhism seemed to fall somewhere in between Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. He said that they believe in one God who is the creator of all things, and concerning the afterlife, that if you were good and did the right things you would go to heaven, but if you were not good or did not do the right things, then you would go to hell for a certain period of time, and then eventually be reborn on Earth and given another chance.

Hindi Comic

            In our second host family’s home I found a kid’s magazine next to my bed. It was all in Hindi, so I flipped through it looking for something I could understand. I wasn’t having much luck, but then on the back of the little magazine I found a comic strip. That might be cheating a little because there were pictures to help me, but I read carefully through each panel trying to understand as much as I could. I think I even did it without looking up any words. I didn’t know every single word that I saw, but I was able to figure out most of the statements based on the words I did know and whatever context I could figure out from those words or the pictures that went with them.

            From what I could tell, there was a businessman working in an office. Another man came into the office, but in an attempt to get rid of the intruder, the businessman pretended to be busy talking to someone on his telephone. He talked and talked, but the other guy wouldn’t leave the office, so finally he asked what they guy wanted and he answered that he was there to fix the businessman’s telephone.

Vocab

            For one of my cultural proof credits I was allowed to study a language. (that’s why several of these have dealt with Hindi). Although Hindi was the mostly what I focused on, I did learn a little Tibetan as well. As one of my requirements I was supposed to keep a vocab dictionary to keep track of the words I was learning. For this blog post I am simply going to supply some of the vocabulary I learned from each of the languages 1) in case anyone is interested in learning a little themselves, and 2) as a way for myself to review.

Monk Conversation Class

            A week or so into our stay in McLeod we noticed a sign in the street saying that English speakers were needed for a conversation class with Tibetan monks who were studying the language. It sounded interesting and fun, and more than anything, it sounded like a great way to meet some more people and maybe even learn a little about Tibetan Buddhism.

            The class was three times a week for an hour each time. We started going right away and went to every class for the first several weeks. Later on, Julia started Rogpa baby daycare and wasn’t able to go anymore. I was also busy a lot more often with my film, but I still made it a point to go whenever I could.

            The teacher, a woman named Margaret from Australia was always glad to have us and was very excited about the fact that we would be there for three whole months.

            How the class worked was we would go in and sit down in the back of the classroom, usually as Margaret was finishing up their lesson from before. Each day there was a different topic they would talk about, share some ideas and learn new vocab dealing with the topic. Then Margaret would write some example questions up on the board. The monks would then choose one of us as a partner and we’d all spread out around the room to have our conversations. Then after about half an hour we would switch partners and talk to someone else.

            Our first couple visits we barely even got to discuss the topic on the board because we spent so much time just getting to know each other and learning about the monks and their lives and lifestyle.

Hindi Stories

            Learning to speak Hindi is one thing, but learning to read and write it is an additional task. It’s not as difficult as Chinese or Japanese, because it is still a letter/phonetics system, rather than symbols. But there are many characters, and many of them combine to form entirely new characters when placed together.

            Luckily, in the Hindi class I took at BYU before leaving for India, we were taught the basics of reading and writing, so I was able to slowly sound out words when reading, and be able to spell words (or at least guess at their spelling) when writing.

            While in India, people were always super impressed when I was able to read even the simplest signs in Hindi, even if it took me a whole minute to sound out the words, but I wanted to get better and faster at reading. I also needed to expand my vocabulary since I didn’t know enough to communicate very well. So I came up with a plan.

Tibetan Temple

            We visited the Tibetan temple pretty soon after arriving in McLeod. I think it was the same day we went around the Kora with our host parents. After our second time around the Kora, they took us inside the temple grounds.

            The building and the grounds surrounding it is quite large; a big courtyard down below and a large balcony up on the second floor. The temple itself or at least the main room of the temple is up on the second floor and is fairly small. The balcony going around the temple room acts as a mini-Kora and many people come to do these shorter laps that circle around the main room of the temple.

            After a few passes around with our host parents they took us inside. Like most religious or holy places in India, we first took off our shoes before entering the room. It was a small space. At the front, as I’ve seen in all Buddhist temples, was a large figure of Buddha. Not the plump jolly Buddha that many people think of, but the slender, peaceful-looking, meditating Buddha, with a golden body and blue hair stacked on top of his head. Several packaged food offerings sat on a small alter in front of him, including Sugar Crackers, which were some of our favorites in India.

            Off to the right was another figure with many heads stacked on top of each other. This we were told was the God of Compassion, or, as we more commonly know him in his human incarnation, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Buying Things (in Hindi!)

            I never became even close to fluent at Hindi, but I was able to put some simple sentences together. Of course, it would usually take me around 15 – 30 seconds prior to stating my statement to figure out how to say what I wanted to say. And even then it didn’t guarantee I’d say it right.

            But I recognize that the most important part to learning a new language is through practice speaking to people. You can study and memorize and even read and write all you want, but if you don’t practice speaking you’re never going to get it down.

            I wish I would have practiced more in India, but because most people seemed to speak better English than I could speak Hindi, I usually wimped out and let them do the speaking. The times I was most apt to try out my Hindi were when the other person knew no English at all, or when I was buying something from a stranger. I would think and think all the way over to the store of how I could say different things. And you don’t even have to say that much to buy something. But for example, if I needed to ask a question, such as if they had something specific, and where I could find it, things like that. And I could and still can say those kinds of things. The only problem was when they would respond.

            Here’s how a lot of my endeavors went:

            Me: Namaste, (in Hindi) do you have _______

            Them: afhuetrbvluwerualbvluiaewrbavnuawerugar

            Me: ….. sorry, I only speak a little Hindi. Can you say that in English?

Typing Hindi

For my project I had a consent form that I needed to get people I filmed to sign, just to say they were ok with being in the film and such. I had this all typed out and ready to go before I even entered the field. The only remaining work to do was that I needed to get the form translated for those who didn’t read or speak very much English. And because I was working with Tibetans and Inidans I was going to need to get it translated twice. Once in Tibetan and once in Hindi.

            I found people who could translate fairly early, within the first two or three weeks in McLeod Ganj, but then it was another little while to actually translate them. A Tibetan friend of ours who translated the Tibetan form had a friend who could type in Tibetan, so he was able to give me a file with it all typed out and ready to go. But the Indian woman (and also close friend) who translated the Hindi version, didn’t have a computer, and thus gave me a handwritten copy of the Hindi document.

            I figured all I had to do was take it to an internet café and ask one of the owners if I could pay them to type it up for me. The only problem was, everyone I asked responded that they didn’t know how to type in Hindi. I was kind of surprised. I just expected that that was something everybody would know how to do. The keyboards were all in English characters, but I knew there must be a way to type in Hindi. I asked several people, but finally decided just to figure it out myself.

            Well there’s a probably a good reason nobody I talked to knew how to type in Hindi, and that’s because it is complicated. And even more complicated for me. I know the basic Hindi alphabet and what sounds the different characters make, but I hardly knew any of the words written on the document. So mostly I just had to do my best and hope the words I was typing were the same words that were on the page.

TIPA

TIPA stands for the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. It’s a small little school that focuses mainly on Tibetan song and dance, which in turn is a common way for Tibetans to tell stories, especially of their homeland in Tibet.

Julia and I hiked up to the school randomly one day just to see what it was like. When we got there it seemed pretty empty, but you could hear someone off in the distance practicing their Tibetan guitar. We went into the main office and talked to someone there who said there wasn’t really anything to see during the day, but that we should come back that evening for a performance they would be putting on.

So we came back that evening and for a hundred rupees each bought a ticket into the auditorium. There was a big turnout, including a lot of monks and nuns that appeared to be on a field trip.

Norbulinga

            We heard about Norbulinga from our first set of host parents, and they recommended it to us a very beautiful place to visit. It was a bit off the beaten path; we had to take a taxi down through lower Dharamsala, and I’m glad we did or else we probably would have gotten lost trying to find it.

            The sight as we walked in truly was beautiful. On the other side of the large stone gate entrance, we were met by trees, a stream, and a winding stone-laid path that wandered off through the complex.

            Since I haven’t said yet, I probably should, Norbulinga is a type of University for Tibetan arts. It’s a very beautiful little campus and appears to be more of a tourist attraction, but there are actually students there, learning about the different Tibetan arts.

Kora

            Our first day in McLeod Ganj, the host family we were staying with invited Julia and I to go to the Kora with them. We weren’t sure what that was, but then they explained, the path that goes around His Holiness’ home and the temple. This we had heard of, but didn’t know much about. So off we went.

             We walked past the temple and down a road, then off the road onto a trail, much like any nature hike type of trail. Stuck to a tree was a sign that said “Kora, circumambulate way” with an arrow indicating the direction to go.

            We walked down the path behind our host Pa-la (father) and Ama-la (mother). It was such a peaceful and quiet little trail, and the surroundings were beautiful. Strung throughout the trees bordering the path were hundreds of Tibetan prayer flags, small square flags hung in a row, blue, white, red, green, yellow and then repeated.

            As we walked further we found that humans weren’t the only ones that walked the Kora. Dogs, cows, and monkeys also abounded. Of course they did not always stick to the trail and would frequently run off on their own adventures. Or in the case of the cows, they would sometimes pick a spot on the tiny path to stand, or plop themselves down to rest, making everyone else detour around them. This did not bother anyone by any means however, and many people would bring food to give to these animals. There was one spot where someone would bring a bag of crumbs (or some type of small food) every evening and leave it in a pile for the monkeys. It was a routine and the monkeys learned it, so everyday at that time there would be at least ten monkeys gathered around to eat and play and rest.

            A little further up the path we started to see some stones with carvings in them; Tibetan symbols and letters. Some were small and simple, whereas others were very large and even painted in bright colors.

            Next we came to sort of a clearing. A large open cement-covered area. To the left was a large covered area with benches where people could rest, and to the right was a long line of prayer wheels, small Tibetan towers, and more prayer flags. We walked along the long line of wheels, tall, heavy cylinders with an pole running through the center. We took hold of each one and gave it a firm spin clockwise. We walked down the line, spinning at least a hundred wheels.

            At the end of the line we came to one giant prayer wheel, twice my height and about the width of my arm span.  For this one you had to walk all the way around it, pulling it as you went to get it spinning. The wheel would inform you of each full rotation by ringing a bell. We walked around the wheel three times and then continued up the path.

            Turning a corner, suddenly the path wasn’t so beautiful and peaceful. The trees and lazy, winding path were gone, and instead we were met with a wide stretch of cement leading up a very steep hill. We trekked up the hill trying to look like we were in shape, but getting passed up by 80-year-old Tibetan men and women who we were told sometimes walked the Kora three times a day.

            Finally we reached another more flat and peaceful path, which wound around and suddenly dropped us off right in front of the temple where we had started. I was a little disoriented and it took me a while to realize that we had just gone in a circle. I knew it was supposed to be a circle, but for some reason, just out of the nature of hiking, I felt like the final destination should be someplace other than where we started. Our host parents turned to us and asked, “Do you want to go around again?” We shrugged and agreed, “Sure!” so off we went again.

Q&A with Tibetan Monks

A few weeks after arriving in McLeod Ganj, we discovered an English conversation class for Tibetan monks which needed volunteers. We were eager to help out, and have continued to do so throughout the majority of our time here. I will probably be writing more about the entire experience later, but through this volunteering we got to know the English teacher, a woman named Margaret from Australia, very well, and one day she invited our group to come and have a question and answer session with a couple monks from a higher class she was teaching. We were more than happy to participate. I already had several questions about Buddhism and I was just waiting for the opportunity to ask them.

The following are some of our questions and some of the monk’s answers. They are not word for word, but an account of what was said based on my notes.

Q: = question, A: = answer, and then I’ll add a “C:” to some of them for my own comments.

Q: What does “Ohm mani pedme hum” mean?

(this is a mantra, a very special phrase written around the Kora, in the temple, in prayer wheels, as well as repeated out loud in song or in chant)

Cultural Proof: Teachings from His Holiness The Dalai Lama

            While staying in McLeod, we had the opportunity to hear His Holiness The Dalai Lama give teachings at the Tibetan temple. It may be assumed that this would be a frequent occurrence since the temple stands directly in front of His Holiness’ home. However, he is a very busy man, frequently traveling to talk all over the world. In fact it seems somewhat ironic that in the time we’ve been here, he has given more teachings in the United States than in the next-door temple.

            So this was a big deal. Before we could even go to the teachings, we first had to get a pass that would allow us to enter the temple grounds on the big day. And not just us foreigners; everyone had to have a pass. So the day before the teachings we found ourselves in a very long line of Tibetans and foreigners, waiting to get our passes. The wait was long, but we finally got them. We also had to buy a small AM/FM radio, as the teachings were to be given in Tibetan and translated over radio broadcast into English.

            There were, I believe, three different sessions of teachings over two days. The first day had a morning and afternoon session. Because the morning session was very early and people were getting there even earlier to get a spot, we decided to wait until the morning session got out. Then when everybody was leaving to get lunch, we’d swoop in and grab a spot and wait until the afternoon session started.

            We managed to get pretty good spots too: upstairs, just outside the temple and to the right. We weaved through the crowd and found a nice vacant area next to a pillar. There are no chairs, so we brought cushions to sit on, and the pillar provided back support. We were at an angle that we couldn’t see His Holiness directly, but there was a nice, flat screen monitor set up fairly close with live video of what was happening.

            Thus far, everything resembled very much my own faith’s general conference meetings. So I expected it to continue as such. I was ready to get some good, inspired insight on life that would help me make myself a better person… and maybe I did. I’m still trying to make sense of it.

            We tuned our radio to the English translation channel as His Holiness began to speak. After a while, he stopped, and the translation began. The teaching was on “emptiness”.

            I listened to the teaching, doing my best to understand and even took notes. I’m not sure if I understood everything (in fact I’m sure I didn't), and my notes may not even be correct, but this is what I took from it:

Cultural Proof - Bhagsunag Temple

            “Please remove your shoes,” said the sign outside the Hindu temple, though I probably could have figured this out by the pile of shoes at the bottom of the stairs.

I stood outside trying to observe as much as I could about the temple and its attendants before ascending the stairs myself. The temple looked small and even a little run-down, but that didn’t stop its visitors from showing their complete respect.

            After removing their shoes, visitors would touch the first three stairs and then their forehead before beginning their ascension. Some would even bow down, touching their head directly to the stairs.

            Partway up there hung a bell overhead. As people passed under it they would reach up, grab the clapper and ring it against the bell. Children jumped to try and reach the bell, but most could not. Of the teenagers and adults, some rang the bell softly while others gave much heartier rings. One man in attempt to impress his wife and kids, grabbed the clapper firmly and banged it as hard as he could against the bell. He laughed as it rang quite irrelevantly, but if anyone was bothered, they didn’t show it.

            To my left was a table piled high with little plastic gifts: fake flowers, bracelets, and small packages wrapped in newspaper. Here temple visitors stopped to purchase these items to take into the temple with them: an offering.

            I watched person after person go into the temple and tried to get up the nerves to ask someone if I could go in. I was pretty sure I could, as I’d seen several non-Hindu people enter, and it seems as a rule in India that temples are very visitor friendly, but I hoped that by asking someone they might let me go in with them and maybe even explain some of the temple to me.

            So I sat there, watching people go in, and tried to guess who might speak some English. Finally I asked a man, “Can I go in?” He didn’t understand. He called his son over who listened to my question and replied with a simple, “yes” and a head wag.

Cultural Proof: Lotus Temple

It’s time to catch up on my cultural proofs. These are things I do, places I visit, etc. that are meant to help me get more involved and immersed in India’s culture. I have done several already and taken notes, but now it is time to blog about them.

So today’s cultural proof will be about the Lotus Temple!

This was one of my first sites to see in India, maybe two days after arriving in Delhi. I knew almost nothing about it beforehand, and what I did know, or what I guessed I knew, only made me more wrong. First, I had imagined that it was probably a Hindu temple, and second, I confused the word “lotus” for “locust” and so after hearing that it was named for its shape I imagine a building shaped like a giant grasshopper.
Well, it was neither a grasshopper nor a Hindu temple. For any who are ignorant like me, a lotus is a flower:

and the temple actually belongs to the Baha'i faith.

However, the temple itself is purposed as a place where people of all faiths can come to pray, meditate, and draw closer to God.

Cultural Proof (small) – Ex-political prisoner shares his story

A few nights ago we went to hear a Tibetan ex-political prisoner tell his story. He had recently come from Tibet after being imprisoned by the Chinese government for several years. I feel like we’ve already heard so many of these kinds of stories, but they have usually been told through a film or second-hand accounts, and are stories that took place more than 20 years ago. This however, was a chance to hear of something more recent and to hear it first hand.
I regret to say that it was a little hard to pay attention at times because there were a lot of people in a small room, sitting on a hard floor for about an hour and a half. I don’t mean to complain, because after hearing what this man went through, sitting on a hard floor sounds more like a reward. I just mean to say that at times I was distracted, and so I apologize that my notes are not a perfect representation of all that was said.
Despite my temporary distractions, what I did hear and take note of was enough to finally secure in my mind the reality of the injustice being done in Tibet through China’s occupation.
This man was arrested for holding up a Tibetan flag in a protest. Yes, it was a protest, but from what he told us, it was peaceful. Others have been arrested just for putting up pictures of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (not even as part of a protest). And for this man being arrested wasn’t just being held in jail for a while and then let go with a warning not to protest anymore; it was being was being beaten, interrogated, and beaten again day after day. It was standing naked with the other prisoners in front of the police. It was being forced in the cold Tibetan winter to stand outside barefoot and barelegged on a patch of ice for hours at a time. It was years in jail. And it was watching his friend’s limp body, after being beaten to death, as it was dragged down the jail stairs to be disposed of…

Before hearing this man’s story, I had questioned a little bit what the situation really is like in Tibet. I don’t know for sure why… it’s not that I didn’t believe what I had heard, or that I doubted an injustice was being done against Tibetan’s human rights, but I think that because most of what I had heard was through films and second-hand sources, and always from the point-of-view of Tibetans, I suspected that there could be some exaggeration as I know there often is in any kind of passed down story. But for some reason it’s the sorrow stories that I have the hardest time believing freely. Maybe it’s a protection against people trying to make me pity them in order to take advantage of me, or maybe it’s because
I like to hear both sides of a story before I take a definite side, but I had only ever heard Tibet’s side of the story. Maybe it's a combination of all those things, but when comes down to it, I think I have basically been a little insensitive towards the issue. However, after hearing this man’s personal story and knowing that he experienced it and not someone else, it kind of clicked for me that this really is a huge problem and it’s going on right now. Whether China thinks they are helping Tibet or not, they did not help this man or his friends.

I wish there was more I could do to help the situation, but at least for now, Tibet has my sympathy. I am grateful that they have received kindness and freedom in India, and that is a large part of what I want to explore with my documentary. But I have also seen how much the people miss their country and how much they long to one day go back. So I hope and pray that one day they will be able to do this.