Remembering India

My very good friend Julie moved to New York City about a week ago. We saw each other before she left, me promising I'd visit (of course I'll visit), but this week it hit me with a tightness in my chest that she's really not here in Chicago. Julie and I met at our first job out of college and quickly became friends. We made a trip to India together in 2001 to visit her relatives and do some volunteer work. It was such an amazing few months of new experiences. I think about that time often, so last night I dug out my photo album from our trip to reminisce and scan some of my favorites images. This is what I love about photography, its amazing ability to not only document your life but more importantly to help awaken your memories so that you can recall how you felt. Anyone who knows me knows that I was not blessed with the best memory. I think that is why I'm drawn to photography, it helps me remember experiences that, without images to call them to mind, I might completely forget (and how sad would that be)!

We arrived in Bombay (Mumbai) on Feb. 1, 2001, very late at night. Some of Julie's family met us at the airport and while driving back to their apartment I was shocked by the amount of life on the streets: so many people and animals, lights, food, smells, noise. I, in my post flight delirium, asked if there was a street fair going on. They laughed at me politely and said "no dear, this is just Bombay." It didn't take me long to fall in love with the place.

A Wedding
Julie's cousin Bittu was getting married the weekend after we arrived and so one of the first things we did was get mendhi in preparation for the festivities. All the women gathered together and sang songs while henna was applied to our hands in intricate designs.



The 3 days of celebration took place at a hill station near Bombay called Pune. All the guests stayed in cottages and ate together. In the evenings they'd take turns providing entertainment, signing or dancing on the stage. Julie, her cousin Shivani, and I quickly rehearsed and then performed a traditional dance (and I hadn't even been here 72 hours yet).

The wedding ceremony was on the third day and this is an image of the priests performing pujas, or prayers, and reading from the Vedas.


The bride


Shivani and me

Volunteer Work

Back in Bombay we began volunteering for a few non-profit organizations Shivani was invloved with. Vatsalya is a foundation that rescues boys from a life on the street and provides a place to stay, food, education and a chance at a better life. It was my favorite place to volunteer. The atmosphere was always fun and who wouldn't like a gang full of kids running up to you in the morning yelling "Namaste Didi" (which means "hello big sister" in Hindi).



Julie and I helped the kids make masks for their birthday celebration on Feb. 14th. They all celebrate their birthdays together on Valentine's Day because most of them don't know when they were born.


Another organization we volunteered with is Akanksha. I found this work much more challenging because the children would come to the center for education classes and a meal and go back to the streets. The atmosphere was much more chaotic and not coming from a background in teaching or social work, I was quite overwhelmed (hats off to teachers and social workers).

Meditation
For a first time visitor, India was a lot to absorb, so I decided to take some time for inner reflection through meditation. Many of Julie's relatives practice a meditation style called Vipassana and encouraged me to attend a 10 day retreat at the Dhamma Giri center in Igatpuri. After my first solo train ride (Julie was NOT interested in coming with me), I arrived and prepared myself for 10 days of no talking or reading. It's called Noble Silence (if I was a teacher I'd use that on my students). We also ate little and woke early (4 am) to start our 11 hours or more a day of meditation. It sounds intense but it was also really restful and grounding. I spent my birthday (March 13th) in total silence and although no one wished me a happy birthday (no one even knew it was my birthday), I knew I'd probably never experience another birthday like this.

This bell rang each morning for our wake up call (pretty awesome alarm clock)


Ladies heading to another meditation session (men and women are separated at all times during the retreat)


Travel
Aside from volunteering and meditating I couldn't visit India without a little traveling! Julie and I headed north to Delhi and then to Agra to visit the famous Taj Mahal.


I didn't ask for this pose but obliged the photographer


The look on this kid's face is priceless, well worth the cost of the photo


We also traveled south (Julie's brother was living in Bangalore at the time). This image is one I shot while we walked around the city of Cochin.


It reminds me of the cover illustration from the children's book "Madeline" where all the school girls are lined up and walking with their teacher. It may be India instead of France and they're wearing hijabs instead of hats with ribbons but little girls are just little girls wherever you go.

In Kerala we went to a performance of the traditional Kathakali dance, performed by men wearing boldly colored face paint and elaborate costumes. There is no dialogue or singing. To the accompaniment of drumming, the dancers re-enact religious stories from the Hindu epics, entirely through very stylized and choreographed body movements and facial expressions, all with particular meaning, like a language.

The performers applying their makeup


One of the performers


Books and Film on India
Having such an interest in India has led me to books and films on its history, social issues, and culture. Because it is difficult to tell any story about India without discussing the extreme poverty many Indians live in, there are countless tales of tragedy and injustice. But the tales of the strength and determination of the human spirit far outweigh the reasons not to learn more.

These are a few of the books and films I highly recommend:

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Fire, Earth, and Water films by director Deepa Mehta

Slumdog Millionaire, which I recently saw, brought back memories of sitting in Julie's family's dining room in Bombay watching Crorepati (which means millionaire in Hindi and really was a very popular show when I was there).

My New Name
While I was in India Julie's family renamed me Deepika, a Hindu name that also signifies one of the candles used during the Hindu Festival of Lights, or Diwali. They told me I must have been Indian in a past life because I seemed so comfortable with the culture. It was true, in a way I felt at home in India. It may be that Julie's family reminds me a lot of my family in southern Italy in that everything revolves around family, food, and religion.

My last image (long post I know!) is of Julie's uncle (Masaji), whom we stayed with while in Bombay. I was lucky enough to see him again this past August when he traveled here to visit Julie's family. I have so many fond memories of him and of my time in India. Here is a portrait of his sweet face.

Namaste (I bow to the divine in you).