Reflections on Kolkata in January 2009
by B. Erin Buckner
Three parts made up the the educational aspect of the Princeton Theological Seminary student’s January 2009 trip to Kolkata, India. First, this class of nine women were given the chance to meet and engage in interfaith dialogue with Hindu and Muslim communities as well as observe the nature of these groups ceremonial practices. Second, our group was given the opportunity to interact with various Christian groups, be they churches or seminaries, to gain a sense of the ecumenical feel in this Northeastern part of India. Finally, we took a close look at some of the NGO/nonprofit work being done in the greater Kolkata area to aid the poor and sick. To reflect on this experience, I want to explain a few events that happened in each of these settings. This will give the reader the opportunity to see India through my eyes. In addition, this paper would be lacking if I neglected to add a few events that occurred ‘outside the classroom’ that have left a lasting impression and have altered my outlook on my own life and work for the future.
I know I had great expectations for the trip, particularly because I was coming off of one of the hardest semesters of my life. Both personally and educationally, I was feeling a great void. Somehow, I trusted that this adventure to India would make up for that lack of substance I had felt since returning from abroad in August 2008. Having said that, I was far from prepared for what I would see in my three weeks in India. I was prepared to see extreme poverty. I knew I wanted to make a difference in this place. I brought small trinkets with me to give as gifts to people who might extend kindness to us. I planned my wardrobe in order not to stand out in a crowd.
Even with all these acts of preparation, I quickly discovered this was utterly impossible to be prepared for what lay ahead. I soon discovered that there is nothing one can do to keep from feeling huge levels of emotions when exposed to a world found on the other side of the planet from our own home.
Now, let me share some of the moments that truly shocked me and that will never leave my conscious for all the rest of my days.
INTERFAITH DIALOGUE
To have interfaith
Dialogue, we have to hear
What the Other means
Visiting the Ramakrishna Mission
One Tuesday, 13th January, the class traveled across town from our accommodations at Chowringhee Guest House to the Ramakrishna Mission in Golpark. We were expected. Upon our arrival, I was struck by the cleanliness of the place. The smell of pine sol hung in the air, a smell so foreign from that just outside its door. All of us had been overwhelmingly struck by horrendous smells of Kolkata in our first six days. In stark contrast, this Krishna sanctuary was pristine, like Princeton. That thought struck an incongruent chord with me, making me acutely aware of how we ourselves are so sheltered where we study. Though the Indian winter hid the country’s potential for excruciating heat, there was no sense of Klostermaier’s “theology at 120°”1 in this place.
The next thing that struck me was the grandeur of this building. The walkways, the walls, the rooms were massive, bare and spotless. Invisible workmen hustled and bustled dusting nooks and crannies that were already spotless.
Looking back, I am tempted to see this building and its display of refinement as a reaction to the colonial period, when the British were the ones who held power and status above the people of India. By displaying their new wealth and stature, this Krishna mission seemed to be saying that now India was in control of its own wealth and grandeur. Perhaps I am reading too much into it.
Perhaps, however, this impression comes from the behavior of the men, our hosts, with whom we spoke, or at least tried to speak. We were swept in and out so quickly that I hardly understood who these two men were, except to know that they were very important and that they had no interest in deep interfaith dialogue with Western Christian women. The Professor, at least, was able to ask legitimate questions, undoubtedly more knowledgeable of the Ramakrishna movement than any of us sitting there in the background.
This particular interfaith dialogue did nothing to encourage me. Only seven days into the trip, and I was already beginning to notice the blatant absence of women in power. To be clear, however, we were later shown the language school in that same Ramakrishna mission, headed by a woman principle. However, the students we saw held a male majority. India itself holds a male majority, but for now I will not discuss that issue, for it is too large in itself to diagram here.
Finally Reading the Letter from a Wife by Rabindranath Thakur
Before our trip even began, we were assigned several articles relating to India’s culture, literature, statistical data and theologies. One of these articles I was unable to read. As I said, last semester was one of the hardest periods of my life. Traumatic experiences from undergraduate days crashed into the forefront of my life, devaluing all the other aspects of my life. My schooling, my friendships, my health all suffered. I say this now to help explain why I was unable back in November to read this story of a woman who writes to her unloving husband about the life he had made so insufferable and her decision to leave him. I recommend it to everyone.
Reading the story was not exactly a scheduled interfaith interaction, per say, but reading this novelette while submerged in its very culture helped to open my eyes. I cannot submit to you a full book review here, but the way in which the author allows the reader to look through the eyes of a woman in a Hindu world where caste, status, sexuality and cleanliness all serve to oppress the Indian culture provided me the opportunity to see what I could not have been able to see in November. Only after seeing India in with my own eyes am I able to glean from that short story the true sense of pain and suffering, of a form of an injustice so ingrained by an entire culture that justice itself becomes seemingly impossible, and yet this woman takes a chance to reach for it. Listening to the words of that story spoke volumes about the lack of communication of which we humans are all guilty.
ECUMENICAL INTERACTIONS
On a more positive note, the interactions we had with other Christians were, for the most part, very positive, and we had quite the range of experiences from which I could have drawn from in which to share. However, these three will have to do for the time being.
The Ecumenical Service at the Cathedral
This ecumenical service took place on the second Sunday of our trip. Three major churches were invited to meet together in communion: the Church of North India, the Church of South India and Mar Thomas . One of dear roommates generously offered her most elegant sari for me to wear since I had nothing of the local fashion to wear. It was crimson red satin with gold trim over a black top, and I somehow managed to pull it off well.
The service lasted quite a long time, but once it was over, the entire fellowship of Christians were invited to the gardens for tea and sandwiches. It was amazing how so many people from the community recognized us and greeted us with smiles. Ministers, seminary students from Bishop’s College, professors and laypersons all welcomed us with open arms. Apparently, nine American Christian women studying Indian Christian culture are conspicuous, even in a city the size of Kolkata.
Chinsurah: Pray for us
Taxi, train, rickshaw
We taught kids Red-Light, Green-light
Inspirational
On Wednesday, 21st January, we were scheduled to visit area parishes in pairs, spending “a day in the life of an Indian pastor.” N.T. and I traveled to the church that was the furthest from our guest house, a church in Chinsurah, 15 miles west by rail from Kolkata. This was ne of my best days of the entire trip. The minister we met was called Rev. P. He was full of wisdom. He is young, energetic and all the people we met told of how his presence in their community had made a dramatic difference for the improvement of the school and other aspects of life.
The day was filled with interactions with the headmaster of the all-male school, the students themselves and the children who attended the after-school program next to the school. Towards the end of our visit during the after school program, I asked if I could teach the children a few American school games. I was graciously allowed to do so. We started with red-light, green-light. I shouted out the directives in English, which they seemed quite easily to understand. Then I taught them duck-duck-goose. English, however, does not communicate the idea as well with this game for Bengali students. So I altered my own language to speak the directives in Bengali. Hesh-hesh-ma’hesh. It means boy bird-boy bird- girl bird, of which species, I do not remember. It was like nothing I have ever been a part of before. A circle of no less than 150 children, laughing and screaming for the players to be caught while they ran 50 meters around the large circle. I was winded within a few rounds since I made such easy pickin’s as the one who introduced the game in the first place. I myself laughed so hard my gut hurt.
Then Rev. P. invited us to the roof for a view the Ganges flowing just next to the school. High above the laughter of the children, N.T. And I took pictures of each other and the Reverend. Suddenly, the air of the conversation became somber as P turned to us. With a hushed voice, he pleaded for us to remain friends and to pray for the safety of the school. He fears for the lives of his family, students and the staff. Because the school has begun to do so well, his fear is that soon the Hindu people of the neighborhood may become suspicious of their work and presence there, and act out in violence.
As I recall this now, I remember the moment when we arrived at the gate, seeing a mural of Jesus on the external wall of the playground. Its eyes had been scratched away.
The nine of us and our different denominational backgrounds
Each pray dif-rently
Separate Sabbath worships
God made everyone
The biggest surprise of ecumenical interaction I discovered in India was the diversity of our own group of nine. We covered most of the major denominations: Lutheran, Pentecostal, American Baptist, non-denominational and PCUSA. I may have failed in remembering one or two of these correctly, but the variation of opinions among us American Christians was repeatedly made known, in conversations with Indian Christians and within our own conversions. This helped to ground me in the purpose of our travels, to understand each other, no matter what background we may have. We are all a part of Christ’s church and it is up to all of us to strengthen that church so that it can be the light to the world we are called to be.
PEACE & JUSTICE
The young women of the Muslim Slums
Muslim girls in slums
Henna hands threads together
Interconnected
(Special thanks to Laura B for help with this Haiku!)
On Friday, 16th January, we met with an NGO (non-governmental organization) called Catholic Relief Services. They spoke to us at their headquarters about the work they do in the Muslim slums, educating children and teenagers. CRS teaches the basics, like the Bengali alphabet. They teach young girls how to sew sari tops and draw henna designs on hands and feet. This training is designed to give the girls enough independent income that they might be able to avoid a life of begging or prostitution.
As our group drove across town to the Muslim slums, it was pointed out to us how these massive skyscrapers jut up against the slums, steadily encroaching upon the places where these extremely impoverished disenfranchised citizens call home. Arriving at our destination in our jeep, we are greeted like movie stars who have just stepped out of stretch limousines. We are mobbed by smiling children, most of them just starring in awe at these nine foreign women who have simply appeared as if out of nowhere, which is exactly what we did.
After making our way threw the alleyways of a life I would not wish upon my worst enemy, we reached a small building, just one room 15×15 feet. Inside I saw the true movie stars. These beautiful gems sat around the room, staring up at us with these smiles that lit up the dark room. As the children whom we had past along our route crowded at the door and windows to peer in at us, the girls communicated with their eyes and through our translator. We learned that they are happy to be learning these trades. One girl drew on the palm of my hand in quick artistic style, smiling and laughing all the time. Another girl, the feistiest of them all, wanted very much for me to henna her hand. She indicated she wanted me to write my name on her hand. I will not bother now to explain how this experience relates to peace and justice. I will let you, the reader decide that for yourself.
Sanlaap: Meeting L and R, dancing with prostitutes and their children
“Ba-ba BA-BA ba!”
Dancing in holy brothels
Real life Interfaith
Of all the experiences in India, this was no doubt my favorite. Coincidentally, I started the day in the worst of moods. We were on our way to meeting another NGO, Sanlaap. Their mission is to help prostitutes find new trades so they can leave the business and/or help tutor their children so they don’t have to follow in their mother’s footsteps.
As we walked into this neighborhood, I began to feel rage and hatred for all the men we passed upon the street. Just the possibility that any of these men would use a prostitute made my stomach turn.
We met the co-founders and they spoke of the horrible lives these women survive. If offered any other job in the world, even cleaning the sewers, these women would gladly take it over being prostitutes. It is the most violent of lives in the world. I had to leave the room during this discussion. It was far too overwhelming to imagine this life, one that is sometimes idealized in the American media. These beautiful women’s lives are a far cry from that portrayed in “Pretty Woman.”
After what seemed like an eternity at the headquarters, we left to visit the women who gather at this safe house set up by Sanlaap. Prostitutes can go there to rest between shifts, and their children get after-school help with their studies. Perhaps 20 prostitutes and the eleven of us gathered in a large room and sat down to have a discussion. It was the most awkward thing I think I have ever experienced. Academic women of the first world sitting down with uneducated prostitutes of a third-world slum trying to have some kind of manufactured conversation. It was just not working, mainly because the conversation was being translated into three languages. All I could hear for half an hour was “Ba, Ba, Ba.” I have no idea what this word means, but it was used a whole lot!
Finally, we had a tea break and then the air lighted in the room. We all stood up and somehow began singing with each other and dancing. It was the most amazing atmospheric transformation I have ever experienced. It was as if the dead had come to life. It was such a beautiful moment.
That is when I met L. She and I made an instant connection. She and I looked into each other’s eyes and it was as if we could see the soul of the other. I could see her pain and she saw mine. She expressed to me that she was Christian by crossing herself. I laughed and we hugged. I asked how old she was, expecting to hear thirty and she looked at me and said “twenty.” I have never seen a more haggered and beautiful twenty year old in my life. I will never forget her as long as I live. I wonder what she saw in me or if she even remembers me. It broke my heart to watch her leave for work.
SENSORY IMPACT
India is Loud
All five senses overwhelmed
But we are happy!
Finally, I must tell you of a few other events that made the trip invaluable for me. I was changed by my experiences in so many ways, as anyone who has ever traveled abroad would understand. Fighting to find the words of that alteration is challenging. That is why I chose to write Haiku throughout our adventure. It was a practice in disciple and a personal challenge also. Others in our group took up to challenge and wrote poetry and Haiku as well. That unity meant so much to me, especially when our guide, Sumit, and his friend, Sogato, joined in this little ritual.
During the course of the trip, someone said of India, “The people use the streets to bathe, eat, sleep and to travel.” These essentials of life all take place right out in the dusty streets, where the sewers back up and men are sent down into them to unclog the pipes. Trash is heaped up miscellaneously. I often observed people wash themselves in small cement boxes along the streets or in the polluted river systems. I wanted to share this with you, the reader, so that you know what kind of life these Indians are willing to accept.
We traveled to Sector 5, the high-tech neighborhood where IBM and the like are building their Kolkata headquarters. Sumit told us that a 30-story high skyscraper we passed had not been there a month ago. These are resilient, hard working people who will survive. I only wish for them that they may begin to see each other as equal some day. If that were to happen, India could become a far greater place. It is a dirty, miserable place now, and I will pray for this country and its future, because people deserve respect and dignity.
Eventually, all things must come to an end, be they good, bad or ugly, or all shades in between. It took us three buses, one canceled flight, a street riot and a near visit to the hospital, but we finally managed to depart from this newly discovered land. I learned a great deal from my experience there, but I can’t say that I will ever go back. But then again, never say never.
Leaving Kolkata
Not as easy as we thought
Home seems far away
* * * * * *
Packing for India: Day before departure
The Ladies on the Trip
At this point, I’ve got the bags packed, the passport accessible, the itinerary printed out and I’m ready to leave. I am excited and have so much to look forward to while in India. I will try my best to keep this blog updated.
First though, I have to get to Newark Airport by train, fly to Heathrow (London), arrive on time and see if I can’t meet up with my classmates there. Then, from Heathrow, I fly to Kalkutta (at least, that’s how I’m spelling it today). Once I get there, I hope to make it to the accomodations without too much difficulty. I can’t wait!!!!
So while I’m doing all that, you should go check out
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. It was a fantastic fillm, full of colour. A must see film and one of my favorites! Until then, ciao! Wish me luck!
Modern Indian Cafe, Kolkatta
In January 2009, I will have the amazing opportunity to travel to Bishop’s College in Kolkata, India. The oportunity comes out of the new structure of the PTS curriculum and the desire of one of our professors to reach across continents and waters to discuss Christianity in settings beyond American understanding.
Below is the initial description of the course, offered by Professor Richard Young:
HR/EC Cross-Cultural Seminar in Hindu-Christian Studies:
Premised on a belief that interreligious dialogue is enhanced by being present at the point of tangency between religions, the seminar travels to Calcutta (West Bengal, India) and bases itself in the heart of the city at Bishop’s College, a seminary of the Church of North India. With students and faculty of the College, the seminar learns about, interacts with, and engages India’s different Hinduisms and Islams. Themes explored include Hindu and Muslim perceptions of Christianity, Indian Christian theology, spiritual formation in a multireligious milieu, plus on-the-ground issues of fundamentalism and intolerance, poverty and development. Enrollment by permission with a maximum of 12. Prerequisites: HR341 (Hinduism) or an equivalent and the fall-semester, non-credit pre-seminar orientation.” 3 credits.
Fall Short Term (January 2009); Mr. Young
Estimated cost, $2,588 (inoculations, airfare, room & board, local transportation only). Housing will be off-site in a guest house on Chowringhee (Calcutta’s main thoroughfare), within walking distance of Bishop’s College. Meals will be mostly in the city but occasionally on-campus in the seminary ‘mess hall.’ Locally, we get around mainly by foot, by bus, or by underground (subway). Your health should be robust, your endurance in a challenging physical environment attestable, and your patience with logistical uncertainties infinite. Prof. Young, who is on sabbatical, will respond to email questions.
Selection process: 1) submit a statement of 400 words or less on your reasons for wanting to participate in the seminar to Professor Young (richard.young@ptsem.edu), no later than 10 PM, Tuesday, May 6th,; be sure that you refer to relevant coursework and previous cross-cultural experiences; 2) come for an interview on Thursday or Friday, May 8 or 9th, if selected as a finalist; 3) submit a $250 deposit with the Bursar within a week of notification of acceptance.
Having lived and traveled in a variety of communities, the apparent similarities of all humanity is most obvious to me. Though we look different, have different genders or skin colours, there is no doubt that we all come from the same source. Understanding and even worshipping that source takes on a myriad of flavors. However, my studies in Christianity and other world religions has only strengthened my faith in Christ and the One God.
Since living in Silicon Valley with two friends from Hyderabad, I have been most interested in the growing international reaches of India in the 21st century. My experience as an assistant minister in Troon, Scotland, has only served to strengthen my desire to further explore international religious practices and attitudes. My original desire to travel abroad for field education was to experience a culture with a growing Christian community, as can be seen in Africa. Though Scotland is far from this type of community, living in a culture of “old Christianity” in a first-world country has established a base for me that is invaluable, especially since I see how sleepy a community can become.
In an attempt to build a stronger understanding of the past, I am spending six weeks this summer in Tel Dor, Israel, working at an archaeological dig, with an additional two weeks in Jerusalem/Bethlehem. Work there will help my understanding of not only ancient Israel and Old Testament studies, but also the other nations which were crucial to the development of their beliefs and formation of national and religious identity.
There is no doubt in my mind that India will be at the center of the next century’s evolutionary development, technologically, physiologically and religiously. I am very much interested in seeing cultures firsthand, and India is at the top of my list. I also love the colors of their life and the spirit in their hearts!
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Hindu-Christian Studies Seminar
Approximated Daily Itinerary
Day 1 (Wednesday, 7 January)
• Arrival in Kolkata, 1:15 AM
• Transfer to Chowdhury’s Guest House
• Afternoon: Howrah Bridge Flower Market, Marble Palace, New Market [taxi & foot]
• Dinner: Kwality, at Park Street
Day 2 (Thursday, 8 January)
• Morning: Kali Temple at Kali Ghat, Savitri Shrine, & Mother Teresa’s [subway & foot]
• Afternoon: shopping (salwaar kameez, etc.) with Dr. Sipra Mukherjee & Dr. Bonita Aleaz
• Evening: free
Day 3 (Friday, 9 January)
• Morning: free
• Afternoon: College Street, India Coffee House, “Old Bengal” house visit at Beadon Street (Sumit Bhattacharyya’s) [subway and foot]
• Evening: free (or, sitar concert, Bollywood film, etc.)
Day 4 (Saturday, 10 January)
• Morning: cricket & quacks on the Kolkata Maidan [foot]
• Picnic at the Kolkata Botanical Garden (Sibpur) [taxi]
• Evening: Reflection Session (1)
Day 5 (Sunday, 11 January):
• Morning: church at St. Paul’s, St. John’s, Scots Kirk, Holy Trinity, Assemblies of God
• Afternoon: BC, meeting Bishop’s College students (back from field education)
• Evening: dinner with the Principal, Dr. Sunil Caleb
Day 6 (Monday, 12 January)
• Morning: free
• Afternoon: BC, “Hindu-Christian Dialogue in Kolkata (I)” (Prof. K.P. Aleaz)
• Preprandial: sporting events with BC students (cricket, volleyball)
• Evening: free
Day 7 (Tuesday, 13 January)
• Morning: Ramakrishna Mission (Golpark) [subway]
• Afternoon: free
• Evening: Reflection Session (2)
Day 8 (Wednesday, 14 January)
• Morning: free
• Afternoon: BC, “Hindu-Christian Dialogue in Kolkata (II)” (Prof. K.P. Aleaz)
• Postprandial: Marwari Sati Goddess Temple, Dum Dum [taxi]
Day 9 (Thursday, 15 January)
Morning: free
Afternoon: “Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Kolkata” (Prof. K.P. Aleaz)
Evening: free
Day 10 (Friday, 16 January)
• Morning: Cathedral Relief Service Project at Muslim basti
• Afternoon: prayers at the Tipu Sultan Masjid
• Dinner with Muslim friends
Day 11 (Saturday, 17 January)
• Afternoon: IT tour (IBM at Science City) & “New Bengal” house visit at Dr. Mukherjee’s at Salt Lake & discussion of “Indian Women & the Hindu Right” [taxi]
• Evening: free
Day 12 (Sunday, 18 January)
• Morning: church at St. Paul’s, St. John’s, Scots Kirk, Holy Trinity, Assemblies of God
• Evening: BC, dinner with students, discussion of “The Church & Indian Christian Women” with Dr. Bonita Aleaz
Day 13 (Monday, 19 January)
FREE DAY / Or, upriver to Serampore College, India’s oldest theological college [train & rickshaw]
Day 14 (Tuesday, 20 January)
• Morning: The Rt. Rev. Bishop of the Diocese of Kolkata, Church of North India
• Afternoon: BC, “Ecumenical Dialogue in Kolkata (I)” (Prof. Sunil Caleb)
• Postprandial: Conversation with pastoral staff, Assemblies of God, Park Street
Day 15 (Wednesday, 21 January)
• Morning & Afternoon: pastoral care immersion experience (i.e., “a day in the life of an Indian pastor”)
• Evening: Reflection Session (3)
Day 16 (Thursday, 22 January)
• Morning: free
• Afternoon: BC, “Ecumenical Dialogue in Kolkata (II),” (Prof. Somen Das)
• Evening: free
Day 17 (Friday, 23 January)
• Morning: free
• Afternoon & Evening: Red Light District & Cathedral Relief Service HIV/AIDS Project
Day 18 (Saturday, 24 January)
• Morning & Afternoon: free
• Evening: farewell dinner for our Kolkata friends
Day 19 (Sunday, 25 January)
• Departure from Kolkata, 5:05 AM
• Arrival in London, 10:30 AM
