Lost in Translation

Last week I had the pleasure of time traveling in the past. 

On Wednesday I had a very lovely day going around Bangalore a bit with Mr. R's driver, so I visited the famous ISKCON Krishna temple, went to a Safari and to the zoo, and saw some Bangalore by night - to be then dropped off at the station where I took the night train to Koppal.

Everything was very beautiful, although I was a bit disappointed by the temple: only about 20 years old, a mixture between modern and old, but worst of all too commercial! It starts off very religiously (you need to say the Hare Krsna maha-mantra a certain amount of times before getting in), and it finishes with loads of restaurants and modern shops of any kind, a complete commercialization of the God. Or at least that's how I saw it. I actually bought  out of curiosity the book 'The Science of Self-Realization' which I'm reading now and it's very interesting.  





 



 I found something similar in Shiv Mandir's temple that I visited yesterday, but on a much smaller scale. Actually the temple itself was much cooler. This time to come in the pray was  om namah shivaya - reminded me of that Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros' song.

Here's some photos of the Safari/Zoo: 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we spent a long time in the car I couldn't help myself and started asking  the driver many questions about his traditions and culture, and the fact that he was so nice and open helped a lot. In particular we had quite a vivid discussion on our different points of views on marriage; he was very shocked by the fact that in the West we have short relationships without real attachments that not always lead to a wedding, which if it happened here between 2 non married people it would be seen very badly ('...And the police doesn't do anything?!' 'uhm...'). 
He is 32 and he's been married for four years with a woman he saw for the first time only after having married her, which is normal when your marriage is arranged by the family. Arranged marriages here are very common between more traditional families, and him as well did not find anything wrong with that.  
After a while I had the impression to be talking with my grandfather. His take on life and experiences, the thought of 'new generations' being much more emancipated nowadays (when did it happen in the West? 50s? 60s?) and experiences he only had late in life, if he had at all, really made me feel like I was talking to someone from a different generation. When he heard some stories on how it is where I live he was very shocked!

Then I left and went to Koppal.

The night train was fine, didn't sleep
and had a spider crawling up my arm, but fine.

On a first glance, this district seemed to me like a small town with a lot of life and many things going on - for sure not the small village I was expecting. Then, on a second look, I noticed its more 'rural' character: houses literally cut in half to make space to a new road (with the half remained still standing and functioning, eg. for petty shops, etc), pigs wondering around with wild dogs and sharing waste as food, cows carriages constituting most of the road traffic. All this alternated with new cars and modern constructions. Unfortunately I didn't have time to walk around photographing the surroundings, I wish I was able to take a picture anytime I blinked... I will try to take some more when I am back tomorrow - leaving tonight and not looking forward to the night journey at all.

During my two-days visit I went to see the villages where Sampark has its projects going on. Firstly I visited two schools where they are trying to lower the drop out rate between kids from 15 to 17 years, so instead of going to child labor they continue with their studies. There I talked to the teachers and headmasters, who illustrated me  all the problems they have: no drinkable water, one room for three classes, etc. I felt very helpless in listening to all that and knowing I could not do anything to improve their situation. 

After that I moved to the classes to meet all the kids, who as usual took me as the latest attraction - I'm starting to get used to it. I got particularly struck by a 14 years old boy who was so intelligent, spoke well English and even knew about London and Italy. Every afternoon after the lessons he helps his classmates who did not understand something and explains it to them, being the smartest of his class according to his teacher. He even got offered to study in Thailand, but his farmer parents forbade him because they don't value education enough, which means that after 10th grade he will most probably end up in a field to help with the family income.

 

The second day I visited the girls of the tailoring training, two Self Help Groups meetings, a Village Learning Center and saw the 'Mobile Library', a van that moves from a village to another to provide books and some entertainment on TV. The SHGs were brilliant, in particular the first, which was funded 10 years ago and where the women really became small entrepreneurs. Thanks to that, they are now able to send all their kids to school, pay for surgeries and even afford some small treats such as jewels and gold necklaces. They are so united that anytime there is a problem in the village they get together and work to solve it, whether it's a dispute between husband and wife, or drinking issues between the kids.

It was very hard though to communicate with those people, my 'translator' was a Sampark coordinator and he didn't seem to know much... Sometimes he had really long discussions with the other people, only to translate it to me in a couple of words - often not even relevant to what I asked. I got a little frustrated for that, but hopefully tonight when I go back there should be someone who speaks better. 

Overall I realized that even if I had read tons of reports on Sampark's projects before leaving, it was a completely different experience to see it in person, and my expectations were once again completely wrong (it seems to happen quite often here). I met some wonderful people on both sides who really value any little thing they have, and are so committed in giving anything they can offer. Good to know there is still someone like that in this world!


On Sunday I did one more of those 1 day trips, but I wasn't really in a sociable mood so didn't enjoy it as much. Here's some pics:

 

 

 

C