My first impression of India came at the airport. I remember sitting in the Bombay Airport (now known as Mumbai) waiting for our next flight. Across from us there was a counter that offered water to those passing by. From my perspective the attendant had two glasses. Someone would come along and grab one of the glasses, drink the water, and put the cup back down. The attendant would take the empty glass, dip it below the counter, and then return it to the counter filled with water again. To my mind no washing of the glasses happened. I was shocked by the lack of hygiene. Someone told me recently the attendant did wash the glasses, but that was not my impression at the time.
India was quite a change from Egypt. We left Egypt and flew east making one stop somewhere in the Middle East. We didn’t leave the plane, but I remember the stop because an Arab family got on the plane. It was then that I saw women wearing the full burka for the first time. Another new experience for me.
From Bombay (Mumbai) we flew to Nagpur, a city in the interior of India. Many years ago, as Christian missionaries began to arrive in India, the various mission organizations decided to take the idea of divide and conquer. As a result they divided the country among the different organizations so each one would have a specific area of ministry. For my denomination the center of India was our location.
In Nagpur our team split up. We were to be in India two weeks, and there were two locations. One was in Nagpur; the other was in a smaller city south of Nagpur called Yavatmal. The leaders split the team so each half would spend a week in each location. The Fortunes were our leaders, and we started in Yavatmal.
There was a mission compound in Yavatmal where the Bible school was located. Judy Fortune’s parents were serving there so she was excited to see them. We stayed in the dormitory where the Bible students stayed. The one thing I remember about that was my introduction to a squat toilet. It was quite a shock the first time I needed to use it. I had never even heard of such a thing, but I did get sort of used to it.
Our main ministry activity was participating in the evening services they had every night. The element I found most interesting was the music, particularly the instruments. They basically used drums and an instrument called a harmonium. Think of an accordion lying on its side, and you have an idea of what it was like. One pumps the bellows with one hand and plays the keyboard with the other. They would sit on the floor as they sang and played. I really enjoyed the music time.
The early 70s were when the Beattles were into their Indian music scene, and so I was expecting to see a sitar in the mix. However, they didn’t use one in the service. Despite that, I wanted one. I thought it would be cool to play so one day I went with a young man who helped me buy a sitar. The only thing was one didn’t just buy one off the rack. Each one was individually made for the customer, and they couldn’t make one in time for me to take back with me. In the end Judy Fortune’s parents brought it over to me the following year when they returned to the US.
Unfortunately I never did learn to play the sitar. I discovered that the Indian music scale was completely different so western music couldn’t be played on it easily. It was, however, a great conversation piece which I kept for many years. I finally sold it about six years ago as we downsized to our current home.
Yavatmal at that time was fairly rural. One of the discussions I remember was about cobras. One of the missionaries mentioned seeing one around his home, and the gardener was keeping an eye out for it. That certainly raised my alarm, and I kept my eye out wherever I walked.
I don’t remember much about our food service there, but I do remember eating at one of the missionary’s home. We were served curry and told it had been toned down for our American taste. At the first bite my mouth was on fire. If that was toned down, I wondered what the real food was like.
In this more rural area we observed many aspects of life that were different from our own. While we did not shop the markets, we drove by them and saw how people gathered to sell their produce. After returning to the US, I remember showing some of the slides and saying that they were inadequate because one needed the smell to go along with the image for it to be real.
One hears about cows as being sacred, and we did see cows and oxen everywhere. However, they weren’t always just wandering around. The people used them to pull carts and and work in fields.
Of course part of the challenge of being in India was seeing the poverty. This was definitely a new experience for me seeing the poor homes and the children running around with ragged clothes. It certainly opened my eyes to the differences that existed between my own culture and theirs. It helped me realize how lucky I was to live in a land where I had a decent home and didn’t have to worry about food.
In Egypt we had learned about the Muslim religion. Here we encountered the Hindu religion. Hindus, it seems, are pretty willing to worship whatever creature or being around. Someone told us that in some Hindu temples there were even pictures of Jesus. Besides visiting some Hindu temples, one unique experience we had was passing by a Hindu cremation. Fortunately we couldn’t actually see the cremated body.
One day we traveled to a nearby village. There we visited a hospital run by our church. The Umri Hospital was interesting to me as my mom was a nurse, and I had worked as an orderly in high school and college. The hospital seemed quite primitive compared to our hospitals. Usually family members were involved with the care and feeding of patients with the nurses focusing on the medical needs. Again I realized how privileged I was to receive medical care in the United States.
On the same day we visited the hospital, we also visited a school. Since I was studying education, this was of particular interest to me. It was different seeing the children lining up to go into the school rooms. The classrooms themselves were very basic with the children sitting on the floor. Even with such basics, it was obvious that the children were learning, and that was good to see.
Our time in Yavatmal came to an end, and it was time to travel back to Nagpur for our second week in India. I look forward to sharing that with you next week.
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