It's the winter in West Bengal and the countryside is very dusty and dry. The rice paddies are mostly brown and the cows and goats, which are everywhere, are I imagine forced to look pretty hard for a meal. That said, amidst the dull and dusty countryside out the bus window for hours of travel from Durgapur to Perulia and Bankoura, the Indians are the most colorful people I've ever seen. Walking along the highway you see crowds of schoolchildren in bright school uniforms or blue or red or women in royal blue, bright green, multihued red or saffron. Every place we stopped we are met by initially bashful children and the clergy and teachers at the hostel or school or church. The children get over their shyness and come running up to you with an out thrust hand and a hearty "Hello Sir, What is your name?". I joked to Deacon Annie today at our second stop, Bankoura, that I suspected the diocese was trying to fool us by busing the same group of children from site to site ahead of us because surely all the school children at all the places we have been since we got here could not be so beautiful. We were greeted at Perulia with a lei of flowers placed around each of our necks by beaming children at the brand new hostel the diocese built with the help of St Phillips, Brevard and others. They then danced and sung in a local Bengali dialect for us before we were treated to lunch. At Bankoura the greeting was much the same except we each had a beige dot painted on our foreheads by a pair of young schoolgirls (my understanding is that it has protective qualities) and we were treated to Oreo cookies and chips. The dancing and singing were much the same and very impressive.
Since we arrived in Durgapur last week everyone has been incredibly welcoming and helpful. Though we do draw a lot of stares they are very benign and when we chance to speak to a stranger I have found them to be curious and very friendly. Imagine everywhere you go people actually being happy to see you! We had stopped by a small camera shop to pick up a memory card and our guide and protector, Raja, mentioned to the proprietor that another member of our party had dropped his camera and it would not work and the lens would no longer retract. The camera and owner were summoned inside the shop, the camera was fixed and the shop owner would not accept any money for the repair!
India has been tiring due to busy days and bodies fairly sure it is not really the time it appears to be. There is great poverty and challenge to improve and provide services for the people. Over the last week a fatigue that is the accumulation of all this creeps up on you and makes the days long. That said, the people are lively and bright and open to strangers and I am blessed to have made their been their guest for this little while and I am sure that India will keep a piece of my soul when I have to leave.
Namaskar!
Bill