I have been very blessed to meet good people and see very beautiful places so far in India. After leaving Delhi, I went to Dehradun, a six hour train ride to the north. I had the good fortune of becoming friends of the owner's of the hotel where I stayed. They are a very dignified family, the ruling family of the Garwal province. This liniage of the Majarajah does not govern anymore, since India is a domocratic country, but in the years before the Brittish colonalization, this family's responsibility was to govern and take care of the people of this mountainous region as the kings.
I will be helping the youngest son of this family start an organic farm in the mountains three hours north of Dehradun beginning in March. I have visited the farm, surrounded by terraced mountain landscape all around with views of the snowcapped Himalaya in the distance. I will rent a small cottage there, after the weather warms up a bit, and help design a plan of how to implement local organic farming techniques that I learned about at the Navdany organic seed saving farm, started by Dr. Vandana Shiva. There is also a small school in the nearest village to the farm where I can teach.
For now I am in Mussourie, also in the mountains but a little closer to Dehradun. I am renting a beautiful room with an amazing view from a very kind family with two beautiful daughters who are lawyers. I will study Hindi here and read Hindu mythology for three weeks until the 14th of February when my yoga course begins in Dehradun.
That's the update on me. But far more interesting than me is Indian culture. I am so impressed with the kindness, intelligence and morality of everyone I have met. In India, women, children and elders are all very respected. It is considered impossible here for a man to accomplish anything without his wife by his side. If a child has no parents, the extended family takes them in. Old people always live with their relatives. If a family tries to send their parents away, the neighbors loose respect for them. Marriages are arranges here and matches are based on astrology. When a baby is born, they have their birth chart done. The family guards this chart until the child is of age to be married. Then the chart is sent to many astrologers, and they compare the charts with others until they find some compatible charts. The divorce rate here is less than 5%. This does not mean that all marriages are happy, necessarily, but families stay together. Divorce is not favored, but if a woman does not want to live with her husband any longer, she can live separately and the husband is obliged by law to support her.
These are some of the interesting things I have learned so far. I like it here more than I could have ever dreamed. Thank you for reading.
Peace
Rachael
I will be helping the youngest son of this family start an organic farm in the mountains three hours north of Dehradun beginning in March. I have visited the farm, surrounded by terraced mountain landscape all around with views of the snowcapped Himalaya in the distance. I will rent a small cottage there, after the weather warms up a bit, and help design a plan of how to implement local organic farming techniques that I learned about at the Navdany organic seed saving farm, started by Dr. Vandana Shiva. There is also a small school in the nearest village to the farm where I can teach.
For now I am in Mussourie, also in the mountains but a little closer to Dehradun. I am renting a beautiful room with an amazing view from a very kind family with two beautiful daughters who are lawyers. I will study Hindi here and read Hindu mythology for three weeks until the 14th of February when my yoga course begins in Dehradun.
That's the update on me. But far more interesting than me is Indian culture. I am so impressed with the kindness, intelligence and morality of everyone I have met. In India, women, children and elders are all very respected. It is considered impossible here for a man to accomplish anything without his wife by his side. If a child has no parents, the extended family takes them in. Old people always live with their relatives. If a family tries to send their parents away, the neighbors loose respect for them. Marriages are arranges here and matches are based on astrology. When a baby is born, they have their birth chart done. The family guards this chart until the child is of age to be married. Then the chart is sent to many astrologers, and they compare the charts with others until they find some compatible charts. The divorce rate here is less than 5%. This does not mean that all marriages are happy, necessarily, but families stay together. Divorce is not favored, but if a woman does not want to live with her husband any longer, she can live separately and the husband is obliged by law to support her.
These are some of the interesting things I have learned so far. I like it here more than I could have ever dreamed. Thank you for reading.
Peace
To be in the majesty of those mountains! And just to BE! It sounds as if you are in just the right place.
ReplyDeleteWe are slogging through a winterland of snow and sparkling trees. It is so cold that the ice has not melted from the branches. Spectacular in its own way.
Thanks for sharing! Janet
It was so special to see you! I'm glad to know that you're in Mussourie. When it is clear at night, we can see Mussourie sparkling in the night sky!
ReplyDeleteI hope that you continue to have magical experiences and learning Hindi is going well!
Love you! Michelle