The last 3 weeks have consisted of temples, village visits, fundraising and a cheeky weekend break to Puducherry that I barely know where to begin.
Tamil Nadu is famed for its temples, often referred to as the land of the temples and there is certainly hundreds to see! I've visited 3 in the past few weeks, Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur, the Rockfort and the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Tiruchirappalli. I think out of all the temples i've seen so far the Brihadeeswarar Temple has been my favourite however that is most likely heavily infulenced by the time of day we chose to go. We went very early in the morning when the sun was rising, so the sunlight reflected beautifully of the tawny sandstone and we was allowed around the whole of the temple site, we even got to watch a morning ritual where they poured milk over a shiva lingham and everyone recieved blessings. This was great because many areas within Hindi temples are off limits to non-Hindus which can be frustrating at times! The highlight of the visit for me though was being blessed by a temple elephant, i've never seen one so close up before! They're so intelligent as well, if you put food into his trunk he'll eat it, but if you put money into his trunk (like we did) he'll pass it up to the man sat on his back then bless you! The first person to do this was Mitul and me, Sapphire and Jenny started freaking out like you can't feed him money, he'll get ill!
The other 2 temples that we visited in Trichy (that's short for Tiruchirappalli) were still nothing short of amazing, there was just a special sparkle at the one in Thanjavur for myself. Lonely Planet describes the Rockfort as 'lording over Trichy with stony arrogance'. I can't think of any better description! It's a hike to get to the top but the view is definietly worth it! You can see for miles around and we could also see the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in the distance which looked magnificent so we decided there and then that once we'd completed the trek back down to jump on a rickshaw there. Sri Ranganathaswamy is more like an enclosed city as opposed to a temple, when we passed through the first gopuram we thought that was it but it kept on going, and going, and going! The architecture was stunning, especially all the carvings. A lot of the temple was cut off to non-Hindus which was frustrating, but what we saw was beautiful and you can tell a lot of attention to detail has gone into this temple. It's unfortunate that non-Hindus cannot go in certain parts, they're that strict they wouldn't even let Mitul in because he didn't have a certificate to prove he was Hindu - apparntly the reason behind this is because Muslims used to come in a lot and steal all the gold. Another thing i've learnt from living within India is that there is great hostility between Hindus and Muslims, I wasn't particularly ignorant of this (you only have to look at the long standing problems between Pakistan and India to know) but you don't truly realise it until you're here.
There was a point of around 8 days where there was literally nothing we could do here, which was extremely frustrating and I really did find myself in a place I didn't expect to be. Angry and wound up, sitting in a village with nothing to do. The main reason for this was because the month of May is the school holidays and all the children had been sent away for summer camp. Granted there were things to be doing in the office, but not enough to fill 8 days and the internet connection is so poor here it makes getting anything done extremely hard add that to the long power cuts we have and we're pretty stumped. I'll never take electricity for granted ever again!!!
We finally began to visit the villages again once all the children had returned from camp. Tollgate has fast become the teams favourite village, they're feral but in a good way, over excitable and eager to learn and play! I instantly fell in love with one little boy who was a right scruff, he had a mass of crazy black hair then two long rat tails down the nape of his neck. He just reminded me of a few people I know back home and I found it hilairous! On our first visit to Tollgate one man ran up to us ranting and raving, though I couldn't understand I knew he didn't want us there so I asked Kavita what he was saying. Apparantly volunteers in the past (not Skillshare) have come to Tollgate to try and convert them all to Christianity - he obviously saw a white person and instantly assumed that was what we were there for. To clarify for anyone reading who doesn't know me personally, i'm agnostic.
We also visited Pudhukkudi and Poolongudi, we live in Devarayaneri - we're yet to visit Keeranu (NEWS supports 5 narikuravar communities). We'll finally be visiting Keeranu on Monday, as long as the 'indian way' doesn't ruin our plans!
It's hard to beleive I am now halfway through my placement and I feel like i'm only just starting to get a grasp on things here. Lesson plans are starting to be cemented and we hope to plan some youth camps. The children here are all very intelligent for their age and many would put us Brits to shame, I met a 14 year old girl today (whose a crackin cook!) whose studying 2yrs in advance and has just completed our version of GCSEs. I want to leave this placement feeling like i've enriched atleast ONE persons life, I think a good place to start is Tollgate as only 1 child from the whole village goes to school there which is extraordinary. They're such fast learners, yet their parents won't allow them to go. Of course I will not forgot about the other villages either, but most the children in the other villages do go to school. I'd also like to fundraise specifically for the hostel - this is the childrens home for 10 months of the year as it's too far for them too travel each day and all they have are straw mats to sleep on and nobody to properly watch over them.
We did write a letter to a local rotary club, however in typical Indian fashion the meeting keeps getting pushed back! I'm in the process of contacting schools and businesses back home as well. I'm perfectly aware of some peoples views on giving aid to India (to clarify Skillshare is not an aid giving charity we're here to help enrich peoples lives and help them live sustainably and support themselves) however the Indian government is corrupt and does not spread its riches responsibly or evenly. These people are trying their best to help themselves, however it is thanks to generous supporters that they got themselves off the ground in the first place. Through the classification of Scheduled Tribe, the Indian constitution provides legal benefits to communties that have been historically marginalized. The exclusion of the Narikuravar people from this consitution denies them legislation safe guards and benefits. In other words, the goverment won't help them because they see them as the 'most backward tribe'. NEWS is and has been fighting for ST status since they were founded in 1990 however despite many petitions (one amounting 50,000 signatures!) and conferences the status has still not been granted.
It makes me sad because the Narikuravar people have been extremely hospitable towards myself, the team and past volunteers. They're nothing like what many Indians assume them to be and don't deserve the prejudices they recieve each day.
Rox - x