India in Retrospect

It has taken some time to assimilate all that I experienced this past winter in India. In many ways it was my loss of innocence, of romanticizing India. In my first trips to India I became aware that India contained both the best and the worst of everything, and I chose to focus on the best--the glass half full syndrome.

I would return home from a trip to India with renewed vigour to fund raise for orphanages as I experienced so much pleasure in giving. On my previous trip I was made aware by some seasoned Canadian volunteers that all was not as it seemed. Most of the children were not orphans, but were supposedly from destitute families. I was there at Xmas when 90% of the children went “home” for the holidays and returned wearing much more beautiful clothing than I had brought for them. I became aware that a large percentage of the children were from the same village that the orphanage director was from, and that for many of them they were simply attending a free boarding school of sorts and that the locals did not refer to the facility as an orphanage but as a “hostel”.

I did not visit that particular orphanage on this visit but spent 3 weeks, including Christmas, with a local young man who had been adopted from a Canadian run orphanage at the age of 6, and was returning to discover his roots. He had done intensive fund-raising before he left Canada and brought a donation of about $10,000 with him.

His intention was to spend a year as a volunteer at the orphanage.

I was surprised to find him living with a local family and having been dismissed and barred from the orphanage after spending a couple of months there. He spent much effort trying to get permission for me to visit the orphanage but it never did happen. Through him I met a group of young people who were trying to improve the overall situation in orphanages--making them less insular and more accountable. They informed me of some of the abuses that take place, and how difficult it is for the children to integrate into the larger community when they mature and leave the facility.

The group had been very successful in getting the support of the local medical school and police force and in liaising with other charitable groups. I had brought a donation from my church and we decided to use this money to give a memorable Christmas to a local orphanage. Indians are very good at celebrating and this was no exception. It was a gala event including a feast and dance show.

The owner of the orphanage was keen to get my continuing financial support in her desire to build a facility rather than keep using the rented facilities that they were presently using to house the children, old age orphans and physically and mentally disabled people that they had taken in from the streets of Coimbatore. The children were presently being housed in a separate house quite a distance from the main facility. I was told that they had 60 children--45 boys and 15 girls and that that they all lived in the 2 room house that I was shown. I was shown the land and the beginnings of a new building that had been halted due to a lack of funds.

I was very keen to help them out and was planning how I could help to raise the needed money in Canada. The Youth organization informed me that the orphanage owner was not being honest with me and had inflated the numbers, using children who lived in nearby homes to make it look like they had 60 children. When we bought and distributed the 60 gifts I noticed that many were left over.

While in India I became aware of just how much corruption there is in the politics and civil service there. I guess it is just normal in India but was shocking to me. A local politician remarked that if he were honest he would never get elected.

So I am now planning to focus my altruism on helping to educate women in Nepal and hope that I find a bit more integrity in the NGO’s there!

I also became disillusioned with ashrams this trip. The two that I had supported and promoted for many years did not even know who I was and were not at all welcoming.

I discovered a new one close to Coimbatore that is now very popular in India and we spent 3 days there right after New Years. It was a very nice facility and I wanted to stay longer but was told I needed to do a week long course before I was eligible to stay.

I chose to do the course in Goa as it was the next one coming up. I was booked into a hotel and was in class by 6 AM every morning. I found the contents of the course to be very elementary and contained material that I had been teaching for years. I forced myself to complete the course but never did go back to the ashram.

Instead I went to spend some time in Hampi and then went to Shantivanam, a Christian ashram in Southern India. Here I found a very warm welcome and spent 3 weeks there which changed my life. They combined the best of Chrisitianity with the best of Hinduism and were extremely loving and honest. I was able to shed my prejudices about Christianity and to become open to the teachings in a whole new way.

Since returning home I have been discovering the treasures of mystical Christianity and integrate them along with what I have learned in India over the past 35 years. I continue to love my Unitarian congregation and my place in that community but have a richer, fuller understanding of my place on this earth.