Dear all,
This will have to be my last e-mail. Madurai has felt like a step up again in the Indian experience. The climate, hotter; the worship, more indigenous; and cultural experience, particularly a visit to the Hindu temple, quite overwhelming.
The climate is hot, although not as hot as it might have been. November to February are the cooler months of the year and days like we have had would not be unknown in a very hot English summer. Despite warnings from Rach about cockroaches I regret to report that I have not seen a single one.
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Dear All,
One story in the news here is about Valentine’s Day. In India it is widely kept as a day much as in the West. Lovers exchange heart-shaped gifts, pink chocolates, and cards. It’s a day when people go out on dates, and romantic attachment is expressed, in various ways. However, not everyone in India is happy with such a situation. There are Indian nationalists and fundmentalist Hindu groups which object to such western intrusions into Indian national life and culture. One such group, called Sri Ram Sene, takes to violence in the pursuit of its calls for ‘patriotic’ and traditional values. They attacfked halls where Valentine’s Day events have been held, and even young couples. As a sign of protest at this violent behaviour others have responded by sending the leader of the group pieces of pink underwear. Apparently the office has been inundated with them. After considering various ways of getting rid of the unwanted knickers (I presume that’s what they are) Sri Ram Sene considered giving them to an orphanage or sending them back to the senders. Finally they have settled on a public burning.
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Dear All,
Today we arrived in India. The overnight journey was smooth, but tiring. We had to leave Kandy at 2.00 a.m. to get to the airport in time for a 7.45 a.m. flight to Bangalore. The car journey was along quiet roads, but we did get stopped at army checkpoints three times on the way towards the airport.
Bangalore is a big contrast to Kandy. From a small city high in the hills, with a cool climate and a colonial past, to a sprawling modern city, one of the wealthiest in India. We travelled from the airport by taxi, and the driver couldn’t find UTC. We had to ring them up eventually and get directions. The contrast between the colleges is as striking as that between the cities. In Sri Lanka a small group of staff work with 48 students, running everything on a shoe-string budget; their library is only small, although tri-lingual (Tamil andSinghala, as well as English); at the moment they only have resources to teach at undergraduate level. Here in Bangalore the United Theological College is one of the oldest in India, and is based on a busy but attractive urban campus. Nearly 200 students are engaged in undergraduate and post-graduate degrees, and the library is impressive. (Including, we found, copies of the Methodist Magazine, and before it the Arminian Magazine going back to Wesley’s time. There are also a hoard of archives about Methodism in India — as well as about most of the other denominations that made up the Church of South India.)
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Dear Everyone,
Saturday was too busy to write. Today is Sunday. It’s 6.05 p.m. and I have another meeting in half an hour. The programme is packed, and every conversation adds to the complexity of understanding Sri Lanka and her people.
What we’ve done:
- visited Pusiliya and Nuwara Eliya to visit two Anglican priests who recently graduated from Theological College of Lanka (TCL);
- looked round a tea factory;
- met a Candian couple working in Nuwara Eliya running a college to better equip school leavers for employment.
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