Namaskar to Calcutta!: Namaskar and Welcome!

Saturday, May 1, 2004

Namaskar and Welcome!

SEE the 5'10 white woman trying to fit in amid a Calcutta bazaar!
FEEL the sensory and emotional seasickness in the sea of humanity!
SMELL the wonderful curry and hundreds of spices!

You've arrived at the Official Blog commemorating my journey to India in early 2004.

Navigating the Blog

Don't expect Kipling or Hemingway in my posts: just one woman's experiences, thoughts and tales. I've posted my musical soundtrack in the Music by iPod section, detailing the songs accompanying me. If you're like me, you'll also want to know a little more about India . . . its people, culture, geography and history. So check out the About India section for information I shamelessly gathered from other websites. And finally, if you want answers to the big question, "What the heck is she thinking?" then read the Why I'm Here and Who I'm With sections.

Itinerary

I arrived in Delhi to spend 3 days simply adjusting to the incredible change of scenery (not to mention the change in diet). Next came an eight-day sight-seeing train trip upon the "Palace on Wheels" through the Indian state of Rajasthan (including stops at the Taj Mahal and Ranthambore National Tiger Preserve). Take a deep breath and follow me to Kolkata (Calcutta) for time spent with incredible people serving the poorest of the poor in the slums, the brothels and the streets. Walk with the inhabitants and, somehow, expect to understand why a former slum is named "City of Joy." Finally, I flew from Calcutta to Geneva, to spend a week decompressing in the snow-covered mountains of Switzerland with wise and learned people of faith.

Visit early, visit often,

Denise

Why I'm Here

My friend Bill Haley, who is much more articulate than I, said it well:

"Literally millions of street children in Third World cities every day beg for food and steal for bread and turn to primitive drugs for some escape from their circumstances. Every day millions of women struggle for survival after being abandoned through death, disease, forced prostitution, or simply being disowned. But every day, God is loving these millions of people. Every day, God is caring for these women and children in miraculous ways. Every day, Christians around the world are taking care of the outcast, abandoned, and forgotten. Every day, Jesus is somehow present in the most painful and broken places in the world."

Who is this Jesus that is present and even actively, lovingly involved in these awful struggles? Struggles of obvious horror in third world urban cities, but also in the daily personal or work struggles that you and I experience in Dallas, Washington, Denver, San Francisco or Cincinnati. Where is Jesus in our suffering?

In the last few years I have shuffled Jesus to a role of merely an old friend with whom I've been only casually related, and with whom I catch up only periodically. After all, work kept me very busy. In fact, my job pretty much owned my life for two years. I spent less and less time with Jesus, and and began to see attributes I didn't like: shallow, self-seeking, self-centered, worried. I could see them pretty clearly.

The Bible tells us to love Jesus "with all your heart, soul and mind," and to "seek first the Kingdom of God." What do these really mean? To truly understand will I have to shave my head or something? No. If Jesus is truly who he says he is, then this changes everything. He humbled the proud, he confounded the legalistic priests, he challenged the powerful and "intelligent" . . . all the while healing the lepers, caring for prostitutes and eating with tax collectors.. Clearly I need to get out of my comfort zone.

So I sent an e-mail to several trusted, travel-savvy friends about my notion of walking along side, helping out, and just listening to some wise and faithful servants working with those aforementioned in poverty. I have some negative qualities that need burning up, and by joining those who are humbling themselves in service I know that I'll gain a deeper understanding of Jesus's love. "Where should I go?" I asked them. Resoundingly (and separately) they all said one place: India. Poverty and flat-out need is perhaps nowhere more pronounced than in the urban slums of India.

I want to know Jesus by loving those of whom he said, "inasmuch as you've done it for the least of these, you've done it unto me." I'm not going to lie to you . . . I'm not in India for the express purpose of helping the poor (though that would make me sound noble). India is actually only a conduit and is incidental to my main purpose for this journey: to get to know Jesus better. And I endeavor to do so by respecting and loving the poor, the street children, the disaffected. Those people who have been forgotten by everyone . . . except Him.

Bottom line, I have no idea what I'm really getting myself into. This is truly a journey: I'm simply showing up and expecting to be disturbed . . . emotionally, spiritually and no doubt visually. I am confident I won't be disappointed.

In the weighty and daring words of that cultural philosopher / private eye John Shaft, "Can you dig it?"

Trip Soundtrack

Thanks to my good friends at Apple, I have undoubtedly the most bitchin' digital music transporter around. 30GB holding over 3500 songs, baby. Here is a sample of some of the songs I am listening to as of late, to inspire or to simply set the scene wherever I am in India.

"Man In A Suitcase" by The Police. Tales of a traveling sod as told through a great pure pop song. The background airport / train station noises in this song are apropos sounds for my transport from Tokyo to Hong Kong to Delhi.

"Beauty Way" by Eliza Gilkyson. Her low, rough voice talks about how she's kind of sick of some negative qualities she's developed, too.

"Buildings and Bridges" by Ani DiFranco. A fun, plucky guitar song that's great to listen to while looking out the window of a moving train.

"Cure for Pain" by Morphine. Love the bass saxophone.

"I'm Looking Through You" by Steve Earle. A cover of The Beatles song . . . much better with Earle's slightly twangy Texas voice and bright mandolin.

"One Good Year" by Slaid Cleaves. One of the better Texas writers of the just plain sad song. Give me one good year.

"Jack of Speed" by Steely Dan. From their Two Against Nature album, it's a smooth piece for after hours. No collection is complete without Steely Dan, period.

"Amelia" by Joni Mitchell. Excellent soothing tune for a late night on an international flight, when I can't sleep. The 1976 album from which it's from, Hejira, has been called a "lyrical bass fantasia." I don't know what that means, but all of the songs have a depth of maturity that was lacking in her goofy hippy songs of earlier years.

"The Weight" by Cassandra Wilson. This version is like smoky port to The Band's sour mash whiskey original version. The bongos and deep bass drum add colorful percussion to the two acoustic guitars.

"Amazing Grace" by Lisa Tingle. An Austin musician, who sings the best rendition of this song I've ever heard. No instruments, just her raspy, strong voice that might indicate she's got nothing in her life but two packs of cigarettes and Jesus.

"Take My Hand, Precious Lord" by Mahalia Jackson. The First Lady of Gospel sings this old spiritual very slowly, accompanied by piano and an ever-present organ. Her soulful vibrato can bring you to tears.

"L'Enfant" by Vangelis. I first heard this song from the great 1982 Mel Gibson/Sigourney Weaver movie "The Year of Living Dangerously." It's a cross between classical and electronica.

"Dansa Negra" by Yo-Yo Ma. From his newest album, he collaborates with South American musicians to play traditional and non-traditional Brazilian music. The song features a dueling cello and piano for a cultured call-and-response exchange.

Namaskar to Calcutta!

Saturday, May 1, 2004

Namaskar and Welcome!

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Why I'm Here

Trip Soundtrack

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