Elephant Delays

India celebrated the 57th anniversary of its Constitution on Jan. 26 (Friday). I celebrated in several meaningful ways throughout the day. It began with a flag hoist (what a great word… HOIST! It's fun to say... try it!) here at HMI, including an historical speech and an “India of the future” speech as well. It was quite inspiring. They sang the National Anthem and spoke the following pledge (the pledge struck me in a significant way). I am also including a picture or two of the event.

India is my country.
All Indians are my brothers and sisters.
I love my country.
I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.
I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
I shall love and respect my parents, teachers, classmates and all elders, and treat everyone with courtesy.
To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion.
In their well-being and prosperity alone lies my happiness.

Then, a few of us went to two community centers where Hindus and Muslims come together for particular training or study. HMI helped to start these two community centers (Aman Shanti is the name of the project, which is the word “peace” in Urdu – the language of Muslims here, and in Hindi – the language of many Hindus) after some violent religious riots took place at the exact sites in 1990. Now, the hope is that they will be places of healing and reconciliation. The first place was a tailoring school where approximately 26 women learn their skills side by side (some in burqa – the black dress covering many Muslim women, and others with a bindi – the colorful dot on the forehead of many Hindu women). The second site was a school, tailoring place, and health center all in one. At both places we had a short program and flag HOISTS! The school children impressed me the most with their presentations – and the emphasis on multi-religious collaboration was most evident there.

Friday evening was very nice as the German contingency (a Lutheran pastor, her son, and two young women from her congregation) and I went to an HMI staff member’s home to share in food and music. It was really a great night. It was good to have a busy day of outings since I was not feeling well the following two days with some kind of throat infection. Basically, I slept Saturday and Sunday away – with the exception of some work on my thesis project. Monday, I was back to myself, so I began my work editing some articles for an HMI publication. It’s interesting stuff to read, so I like the work overall.

Tuesday was another holiday (Yes, Mom, there are a lot of holidays here!) This time, it was unlike anything else I have ever experienced. It was the final day of the Shi'a Muslim commemoration of leadership heritage in the family line of Muhammad. This day is particular to the martyrdom of Hussein, Muhammad’s grandson, and it is called Muharram. The Shi'a community gathered in the morning for one event and again in the afternoon for a large procession. Together with the 8 HMI students, Andreas, and the 4 new Norwegian residents here (they came the day the Germans left), I attended the afternoon procession. We found a very nice spot to stand under a tent where buttermilk and water were being handed out freely to those participating in the event. We waited a couple hours for the actual procession to begin, but during that time, Andreas and some of the students taught and interpreted many details about what was happening around us - which truly enhanced the experience. I won’t go into all the details here, but it might be helpful to know that the Shi'a and Sunni community here in Hyderabad generally does not have conflict with one another. The Shi'a men typically wear black for big occasions whereas the Sunni wear white or other colored clothes. Sunnis were even some of those at this event who handed out the beverages to the Shia devotees.

There was plenty to see during the wait and I laughed aloud when I realized that an explanation like, “The procession is delayed because they have a new elephant,” is not something I would commonly hear anywhere else! I am truly in an extraordinary situation and time in my life, don’t you think?! It became hard for me to imagine how to relay the experience to you all, but here I am making a meager attempt. Evidently, the elephant was as overwhelmed as I was in this mass of noise and people.

It was only going to become more overwhelming, however, as the procession finally did begin. Singing over huge loudspeakers, the men mourned Hussein in a rhythmic chant which gradually became faster and enveloped everyone. The men would then wave their arms and beat their chests with their hands (see photo here). This continued in waves for about 20 minutes before someone started handing out razor blades to some of the men. They then put the blades between their fingers in order to intensify the beatings they self-inflicted. Even some of the young boys joined this cutting. I sat in horror and in wonder at what was happening around me… especially as I sat next to some mothers who watched as their 10 year old boys proudly washed their wounds.

Although I had been told what to expect, there is nothing like actually standing within several feet of this activity. I knew that in the morning, the men had cut their heads as a part of another part of the commemoration. I saw many bloody heads bandaged as I waited for the afternoon procession to begin, but I was glad that we did not stay too long into this part of the event. I walked away unsure how I felt and what to think. Even though I had a bit of one-on-one time immediately afterward with a Shi'a Muslim student from HMI, I found myself unable to process my thoughts well enough to discuss it with her.

However, in the following days, the students and I have done a good deal of reflecting together. Many of them are just as, if not more so, confused and disturbed by what they encountered as I have been. It is so difficult to understand such a different cultural and religious expression of mourning. There are evidently a couple instances in the world where Christians do such physical acts as a part of their faith expression, but encountering those things would be just as confusing to me, I am sure. I also have seen through media or heard about various other physical expressions of faith in Hinduism and even historically in Christianity, but this experience really made it real for me and has caused so many reactions in my heart and mind.

I hesitated in even sharing this experience in my blog, because I am still unclear about what to think or feel about it myself. I have tried to give an accurate account of what happened here, but obviously, I have left out much of the meaning behind it simply because I do not know or understand the meaning. It’s a journey of mystery as well as discovery for me, so thanks for joining me in the process. In the end, I was glad that I went to see what Muharram is about and I am very thankful for the others who shared in this experience with me from HMI, who have helped me to think through so many different aspects of this event.

These two big events really capture my week well, so I won't tell about the more routine everyday things of my week this time. Just know that I am learning more about the city and the people here all the time. It is a fascinating experience!