A Day in the Life: March 22nd

People have asked me, "What is a typical day like for you in India?" There really is no typical day in India! Every day, truly, was filled with a whole variety of surprises and adventures.


So I documented a day in the life to share with you. Thursday, March 22nd, 2012.

Today is a holiday! (This one was was declared.) I wake up to the drums of Kshetram vadyam,  the traditional, percussion-dominated music of Kerala. I've managed to sleep through a surprising amount of festival celebration. I hear the sound of the girls running outside and giggling; someone yelling "Chechi! Chechi, come!" below my porch. I run out to my porch and lo and behold- there's an elephant resting at the entrance gate of the hostel! The girls watch in awe as other highly decorated elephants pass by, preceded by throngs of people parading and playing music, a slow procession to the temple. What a sight!

I go with a few of the girls and warden to the temple- we walk the crowded streets, shielding ourselves from the sun with umbrellas. I feel like the whole earth must be shaking with the noise of all the drums and the heavy steps of the elephants.

I was told that typically, Christians are not allowed to go inside of a temple. Never letting go of Lidiya's hand for fear of losing her, I slipp off our shoes and add them to the pile of hundreds outside the temple gates. Lidiya leads me straight inside the temple-we are both surprised to discover that I am allowed in!

The inner part of the temple, which I know I am very lucky to see, is not what I expected. It is kind of a courtyard- a garden of shrines. I had imagined that there would be some kind of central focal point, or chairs. Instead, people meander through, visiting different shrines, and it is under open sky. Everything is lined with tiny oil lamps and bright orange and yellow flowers, and the air is filled with the smoke of various offerings- camphor bits, flowers, incense. I walk with Lidiya as she prays before the different shrines, and I watch the women in the temple giving their offerings and prayers and putting various colorful powders on their faces.

Outside the temple are the decorated elephants. We spot a couple of foreigners with cameras-most rare in Kottayam!!! (I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have seen fellow white-skinned folks around Kottayam my whole time here.) "Chechi, look!" says Ledu, pointing them out.

"But I'm the only one lucky enough to be holding the hand of an Indian!" I reply. :)

With Ledu outside the temple

These elephants were inflatable....? They looked so real!

Later in the day, mazha (mah-RHA) comes: the rain. The girls go crazy when it rains as it is rare outside of monsoon season and brings respite from the sweltering heat. I love watching them play in the rain- they get completely soaked, not a care in the world.

"Manga, manga!" a girl yells as a ripe mango falls from the tree. From different sides of the hostel, three girls dash to be the one to reach the mango first. I watch this from the bench below, where Kavya and I sit as she paints the nails of my left hand.

Mazha from my porch

Reeba watches the rain fall...

Rain, newspapers, chatting

With Kavya
Later that night, after dinner, there are fireworks! (Fireworks, at least in Kottayam, are very common. I confess I rather stopped watching them at some point.) But it is always a treat to see the smiles on the girls faces and hear their excited squeals. I watch the fireworks reflected in their eyes as we all watch together from my porch.

Kripa, Greeshma, Jincy, Sherina, Bincy, Roshna

Ledu and Sherina stay after the fireworks and we have a mehendi (henna) party! Each girl expertly draws a design on each foot, by hand! I try my hand at giving Ledu mehendi on her palm- it's not anywhere near as expert :) We talk about our visit to the temple, temples, Ledu's beliefs. They write me more little notes to stick inside "cutie pot," a handmade pot on my table, notes which I am not allowed to open until I've returned home. We stay up very late eating mangoes and Goa fruit, and dance around to Chris Tomlin music, which they love.

Sherina and Kripa

Ledu's palm: my first go at doing a mehendi design

We have few days left together and every moment is precious. I wonder to myself where I could have been more Christlike towards them in my behavior. I hope and pray that I have represented Him well to them, sinner though I am. I worry about the times I failed. Did I ever do anything around them that would lead them in any other direction than to Him? Did I ever encourage anything, even innocently, that was unwholesome or wrong, or just pointing anywhere other than to Him? In these last days, I feel burdened, wondering if I shared about my faith enough, wondering if I was too reserved, wondering how much of my sharing the Gospel with them has been in words and how much in actions... I feel a deep pain knowing that I am not assured of their salvation. And I never did share the Gospel message with them openly. We talked about faith and God and His love, but we never did talk about Jesus. Am I a failure?

All this time, I know that I have been planting unseen seeds. Sometimes all we can do is just remove rocks from the soil, even. Someone else will come and plant seeds, another will water them. I remind myself: God is in control. He knows what He's doing, and He loves Ledu and Sherina more than I ever could. He constantly calls out to them. Will they answer Him?