Today is Jonathan’s first wedding anniversary, and it is sad that he and Gita cannot be together but we hope to Skype with her tonight. We got up early and went to the roof, so David and Jonathan could play the banjo and the fiddle. It is certainly the most spectacular setting for a jam session that I have ever seen, with the blue waters of the lake, the sunshine glinting off all of the white buildings, the Lake Palace hotel floating on the lake, and domes everywhere.
We had the chance to watch the very old man who was creating plaster figures on the walls surrounding the pool. I had seen him the day before, and he was so incredibly stooped over that he was probably half of his original height. Jim asked the hotel manager and he was told that the artist was 92!
We had seen him use white paint to outline several figures the morning before, and when we came back a few hours later, he had already applied plaster and the figures were almost completed. A young man followed him and applied water over and over again to the figures which probably in some way helped the material set. We asked the manager to tell the artist how much we had liked watching him work.
Dave, Jon, and Jim went to a local museum (located in the Bagore Ki Haveli where we all went to a cultural performance the night before), which had a whole section on turbans, including a (perhaps fake) "world's largest turban"!
The rest of the turban exhibit was quite interesting, showing how the specific turbans came from different areas of the state, and different ones were used by people with different occupations. The highlight, however, was that Dave and Jon also got a chance to try on some of the "artifacts"...
Then out in a taxi again to go back to the airport. The little byways in Udaipur were even more exciting than usual since the major method of transportation appeared to be motorcycles and they pay even less attention to people walking or autorickshaws. Lots of noise, honking, etc, but once we got onto the highway, things were very smooth. We got to the airport, and, aside from the many security checks and the multiple “frisking” opportunities, we got on our flight without difficulty and went home to Jo who had made Chicken Biryani as our dinner treat.
We needed some milk, mangos, watermelon so Jonathan, David and I went out to the central market around the corner. It was a Saturday night, and the streets were filled with people – some walking and many selling items from carts lining the streets. Coconuts with their tops cut off and a straw into the coconut water, roasting ears of corn, Indian sweet and savory food. The stores sold a wide array of goods including fancy fabrics, electrical appliances, clothes, jewelry, toys. There were three people, with obvious, major/massive physical deformities who were lying in the street, asking for money.
I was appalled by the scene of the people with money to spend walking right over or around these incredibly impaired people, as though they were a discarded ice cream wrapper lying in the street. I have seen many many people begging in India, some who possibly could have found other work to do, but I have been stunned by the number of people I have seen who have severe physical conditions, such as the blind man asking for money at the temple in Udaipur. The man in the market tonight was a gentleman with essentially no arms or legs; rather they appeared to be appendages that ended in pointed sticks. I had no wallet and therefore no money, and I was so upset about the scene, that this man may have been severely injured as a child so he would be more pathetic and therefore would be a more effective beggar, and that I could do nothing about it – not even given a useless 50 rupee. I began to feel that India was too much for me and it was time for me to go back to the US. I know that there are many atrocities happening in the US, that not everyone gets the medical care they need, that there are people living below the poverty level, that the migrant workers and the illegal immigrants have a life that I cannot imagine. I know that I cannot “fix” these issues in the US or in India. However, in the US I feel more hopeful and less overwhelmed by the huge disparities between the very very very wealthy in India and the poor poor people I see carrying rocks on their heads at construction site, or dragging a 60 pound weight on their back uphill in Darjeeing, or the people sitting by the side of the row selling roasted corn next to someone selling roasted corn next to someone selling roasted corn across the road from someone selling roasted corn. Jo says that the people in the rural villages may have a strong social support system so perhaps other people in the community help the most unfortunate, but in the city this supportive network is lacking for many and so their lives are probably as dismal as I think they are likely to be. And the Indian government infrastructure is such that many of these people cannot get the help or resources they are entitled to, partially because they do not know how to work the system.
Our family has so much, so many wonderful blessings. Our health, a wonderful family, clean water to drink, satisfying work, world-class education, strong support network, easy access to outstanding medical care. I struggle with why we have so much and these poor people both in India and the US, and undoubtedly throughout the 3rd world, have so little. Since I do not believe that the ones who have so little or such a painful life are paying for something odious that happened in a previous incarnation, I struggle. Yes, of course we give to charity, but I think we will have to give more. As David says, I have made a difference in many lives, and I continue to try to make an impact, one life at a time, but it does not seem to be enough for me. Anyway, enough philosophizing for now…
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