Welcome to Pune

Thursday August 19th 2010

Graciously receiving the blessing

Orientation united the 30 of us in our academic and cultural challenge ahead. The bus ride for Pune on Thursday morning, August 19th was lively and talkative; all of us were happy to leave the village, meet our hosts, and see the city we will call home for the next 4 months. We reached the Alliance Program Center bungalow at Fergusson College around 12:45 pm. We were welcomed by staff at the Ladies Hostel gate (there are several gates around the enclosed campus with security that keep out non-students) and slipped off our shoes outside the building. We were led inside the cozy bungalow while Uttarra performed the welcome greeting to guests called Aukshan.  This ritual involves waving a lit lamp, using tumeric powder on the forehead, and sprinkling unbroken rice grains (akshata) in the hair to both welcome the divine frequencies brought on the earth and simultaneously surrender to these frequencies. It is supposed to create armor around the body of the soul. The prayer made for one’s spiritual progress with a complete attitude of surrender helps the jiv(the soul} in gaining maximum blessings from God. Uttarrah also performed a ritual for the removal of the evil eye with red chilies, rock salt, and mustard seed. I could feel warmth and complete comfort at that moment, but the experience is hard to describe.

Uttarrah

We were received by the wonderful in-country staff with a delicious meal with dal and rice, spicy peanut chutney, refreshing yogurt, spiced potatoes, the most succulent bananas ever, and a sweet delicious ladoo, a traditional Indian dessert made with condensed milk and peanuts in a cookie form.
 

Food!

I went to watch some participants get their passport photos taken (since their ears weren’t showing in the photographs, they were not accepted for police registration). The power went out right as the photographer was snapping the photo! Also notable was the translation that one girl, Carolyn, needed to open her eyes less. Haha!

my room in the hostel

I eventually moved into the Ladies Hostel that evening after touring Fergusson College campus. We had tea around 6 pm with our host Swapna, a single mother and professional violinist who inherited running a hostel for girls that her parents started. It’s a bit further away from the college than the other Alliance students’ homestays—about a 45 minute walk or 15 minute rickshaw ride. The ride only costs about 50 rupees( $1.08). The hostel has 17 girls from Maharashtra and other states in India. We (the four Alliance girls) joined them for dinner at 8:45pm. I was starving! Many of the girls didn’t arrive until 9:30 since they either work or study late. For example, Sudha on our floor works in IT from 11am-9pm since they follow UK business hours. The food was wonderful and I watched the cook make chapattis, a delicious tortilla-like wheat unleavened bread. Our host Swapna said we can learn how if we like. One girl, Shevani is really cool; a 20 years old musician from UP in the North. It’s nice that like us, she has no idea what anyone else is saying in Pune (because they speak Marathi here-a language specific to Maharashtra state). India has over 300 languages and the most people know 2 to 3 languages in addition to English. Shevani said she’ll take us to the disque-the disquoteche. But we still have a 9:30 curfew, so I don’t know how well that will work out.
I have so much more to say and will have to continue to update, but I already feel very far behind!