Germans and Diwali

I walked around HMI the other day and was basically in awe of the kinds of things I was experiencing as a part of my day to day life. It hits me like this once in awhile. I walk down the long driveway to campus in the morning often avoiding the cows and their ‘leftovers’, I wish a ‘guten tag’ to the Germans, a ‘namaste’ to the Indians, a ‘hey-what’s up?’ to the Americans and/or a ‘wanakam’ to the Sri Lankans. I usually am aware of who the newcomers are because they are most often related to the academic end of things, but sometimes even I am surprised to see who might be on campus. Then, as I hook up to the internet for the morning, I am connected to at least 4-5 other people from various parts of the world in an instant…talking on Skype to a former Luther Seminary student in Egypt or a present Indian student at Luther or a friend in Ghana. A woman from the UK comes to me for orientation and Elsa Marty’s parents deliver a package from my parents with photos of nieces in all their sporty-ness and my favorite cookies! I walk upstairs and one of the Indian workers who injured his back earlier in the morning is having a kind of acupressure treatment administered to him by a South Korean student in the middle of the hallway.

And amidst all of this random and ever-changing global community in which I live, there are actually a couple focused things I can pick out and share about in this blog. They are, as the title says: Germans and Diwali.

First of all, we hosted a group of 11 German Deans and their Bishop for a 10 day program. The Bishop and a couple other leaders have come to HMI before and will come again (in January actually) as they are determined to expose more of their leaders to the pluralism of religions and culture here in India. The group had a very busy schedule as we learned about and had exposure visits to various worship environments for 5 different religions (Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam and Hinduism) – but also took time to discuss interfaith dialog and the ‘theology of relationship’. This theological perspective is the structure by which our director, Dr. Andreas D’Souza shapes HMI’s mission. I will try to get the article he has written about it as another blog entry this week. Anyway, it was nice to hear the insights, reflections, questions, and also the music that the German’s brought to the table as we went about our week. (Pictures are of us at the Jain temple near HMI and the Buddhist monk who embodies his faith)

Secondly, the Hindu festival called ‘Diwali’ just finished its celebration. It is a festival of lights, when people celebrate that good has overcome evil. As with most holidays, there were sweets and new clothes and gatherings with friends and families. But the lighting of lamps and setting off fire crackers is the Diwali specialty. These two things contradict each other in my head because I am soothed and calmed by the peace of candles and little lamps burning everywhere… but then BANG! BANG! Bangbangbang bang… pop… BOOM! Oh well… I guess they are just different expressions of celebration.

The holiday was actually very fun for me because of some fun events in which I took part. At HMI, we had a great evening celebration with beautiful decorations and lights, singing and sharing, as well as this fabulous drama that the students did in order to share the story (one of the main ones) of Diwali. I am putting a picture here of our fabulous actors in their phenomenal costumes (see photo to left). I truly was impressed! I returned to my apartment to enjoy the festivities in my neighborhood and put candles out on my balcony. Then, I was invited to a Diwali party at some friends’ house. Shanna is a research scholar from the US and she is married to a Hindu man from Hyderabad. They hosted a gathering of friends this weekend. I arrived early to help decorate (light a lot of lamps), and then we ate, drank, talked and played cards. It was a very fun evening for me. And finally, we played a few games of Diwali-ball! (that’s what I call any volleyball games played around the time of Diwali, since the ‘w’ is often pronounced ‘v’ anyway!)

I really enjoy the fact that I have various opportunities to play here. It makes for good balance, especially when I’ve been at my desk all day. I continue to jog or do yoga every morning as I wake up at around 6:15 am. But I can’t forget the extra exercise I get almost DAILY as I regularly forget my keys at work or my cell phone at home and need to run back to get the item!

I am discovering how extremely strong my sense of egalitarianism is lately. The difference between the international travelers and the national students or workers is ever-present and in my face. The fees for students and groups from in and outside of India are very different, which is absolutely understandable for a non-profit organization here, but it is simply hard for me to get used to. Sometimes the int’l folks truly want or expect the special treatment – and are willing to pay extra for it. Other times, Westerners wish to be treated the same as Indians… but this simply does not and cannot happen – at least not for a very long time. The greater difficulty comes in figuring out how hospitality is expressed in this context. Is a worker genuinely wishing to help out a visitor without any expectation? Are there alterior motives? Does the visitor offer money as a ‘gift’ to say thanks for the hospitality, or is it payment for service? I struggle with hospitality being a commodity and with the roles we all play based on resources we do or do not have.

As I work to standardize the various fee structures in the academic programs at HMI, I am in need of wisdom about cultural, organizational, and justice-oriented ways of doing it well. Ultimately, the decisions are not mine to make, but I do have a significant place in giving input. I appreciate the support and influences I have around me which help me keep an open mind about ‘different’ ways of doing things as well as standing strong when there is a clear issue of justice that needs to be addressed.