Directress

This week in review: Conference on “Reservation Policy”, personal womanist struggles, talking with the youth group at the Catholic church, a rainy walk in a major park here, more creative and unique worship experiences here on campus, ‘field work’ reports, my devotion (singing “Wood Song” and all!), dinner with Sam Harry and his wife at their home, visiting an ‘old age’ home, fellowship group, dancing with a group of women…and uh, oh yeah, classes too!

(Photo is me in the computer lab - right now as I write this blog! there are 9 computers in this room and behind me is the main floor of the library)

I guess I better just highlight the things that stood out the MOST for now, or you all will tire of reading my blog (I could write 5 pages each day it seems!) So, I begin with the ‘reservation policy’. This is basically the same as affirmative action in the U.S., but even more controversial. The UTC community has discussed the benefits and challenges of the government’s policy and how it plays out in daily life (and of course what the church’s role in the debate should be) for quite some time. I should mention that UTC is kind of on the cutting edge of many social issues in India. They are known to be rather progressive. So, who is the beneficiary of ‘reservation policy’? Primarily, it is Dalits (otherwise known as untouchables), but the legal terminology is OBC (Other Backward Classes). Yikes! Right away there are issues with the word “backward”, but we didn’t even get into that discussion on Saturday! OBC includes tribal people as well as those who are lower classes or Dalits. Just understanding the terminology was itself a challenge for me. The discussion and presentations were very lively and people really shared openly about their concerns. I discovered, as usual that I learned so much, but also left with 100 more questions than when I came.

Next, my personal issues with sexism. I must first note that again, UTC is rather progressive here in India. They insist on inclusive language and really recognize injustices of women (they even call a female director - 'directress'!). However, like anywhere, there is certainly some situations that sexism rears its ugly head. My friend, Asongla is addressing women’s issues in the church through her doctoral dissertation, so we have had a few discussions on the topic. Then, there was the VOLLEYBALL GAME! Most of you know that I’m kind of fanatical about volleyball, so when I was told that I belonged to one of the 4 teams (‘houses’) that competes in sports together and that there would be a volleyball match on Saturday, I was SUPER excited. (Our house leader yells spontaneously in the already very noisy mess hall the name of our house, "Devanandan! Devadandan!" and we respond by grunting, "Hoo! Hah! Hoo! Hah!" That's team spirit!) Well, I got my expectations up much too high and so when I was informed that it was to be a ‘mens match’, I was terribly disappointed as well as extremely frustrated with the way the whole thing was handled. It certainly wasn’t an open participation kind of thing (like most things are here) and I left quite upset, trying to hold back my anger as I tried to attend to the situation and the different system of doing things here. I worked through it and am now trying to figure out a way to handle the ‘girls match’ that is likely to come up next, but will not be competitive playing. However, I will explain the next issue of sexism within my next ‘topic’ as well.

For one month in the fall, the students who are studying to become pastors go to do ‘field work’. It is a little bit like an internship and a cross-cultural study program combined, but far more intense. They not only go to a region of India that may be ‘foreign’ to them, but they work in some of the most difficult social settings you can imagine. I attended a couple classes now in which pairs of the field workers present their experience and learnings, as well as their social evaluation of the situation they encountered. I was blown away in several ways. The two groups I heard presentations on Monday had worked with a) commercial sex workers (CSWs) and b) manual scavengers (the ‘lowest’ of the Dalits who clean out dry toilets). So, on the first level, I was overwhelmed with the realities of the two populations described. I cannot even now go into detail about the terrible conditions of life they endure. Secondly, I tried to imagine Luther Seminary students going into such kinds of situations for a month of field work. I know that there are some Luther students who have encountered such things, but the intensity of this educational requirement was very shocking to me. And on the third level, the students not only presented their experience, but also had to be critiqued and challenged by professors and fellow students on various issues, in a similar way that I have seen in PhD dissertation defenses. I had talked in advance with several of the students who were presenting that day and they were severely ‘stirred up’ about how to describe the transformation they had through the field work, but then to have such pressure to adequately and accurately e press it all was beyond difficult. I left the session drained and in need of a LOT of processing before I could lead my ‘love the struggle’ devotion a couple hours later! Since that session, I have heard more presentations and continue to need a lot of time to settle my emotions and thinking.

I was additionally challenged by the sharing of a young man who analyzed the story of Shanti (one of the CSWs). I have no doubt that he has come a long way in learning about women’s struggles, but one of the resources (a book written by a man) he cited in their paper was very disturbing to me. It said something about how “women are more emotional and need love and affection from their husbands.” This was listed among the reasons that Shanti ended up being a CSW. Well, I spent a couple nights struggling to sleep because this was on my mind, but I have since had a very good conversation with the student about it. Once again, I don’t know when it is my place to address such issues as a white, female foreigner, but no one in the class brought it up as an issue (including the female professor who exchanged an eye roll with a male professor when it was said.)

I got a cell phone (see picture here) with the urgings of Asongla, for the purpose of more easily talking with people back home. I don't have it with me most of the day (since most of you are sleeping anyway then!)

Music continues to be very important to me as I integrate into the community. I have continued with daily bhajan singing and have now taught "Bambalela" from South Africa to two groups. I even snuck in to watch some ladies dancing with sticks and was quickly recruited to join them!

Those are the big things for this week. Class schedules continue to change day by day, so I am always on my guard for something to throw me off and additional events are constantly added to the schedule at the ‘last minute’. It has been working out so far, but I am getting busier now. I like the classes I am taking part in and seem to understand the style and language of the professors a bit more too. I’m trying to grasp Eastern philosophy via my classes and reading on Hinduism and Buddhism, I continue to be inspired by religious pluralism, and daily life keeps me on my toes for sure.

Thinking of home and praying for all of you each day during my ‘morning routine’. Peace,
Sara