From royalty to poverty...day 2

Okay, so on to Sunday.  What a draining and exhausting day, full of emotions and thoughts and stark contrasts. 

We started out the morning by visiting Jantar Mantar, which is an old 18th century observatory listed on the UN's World Heritage list.  It was built by the Maharaja Sawaii Jai Singh (king) in the 1700's and has many astronomical devices and sundials.  It is all outside, and was very cool, the sundials were still as precise as can be today.  I love anything science related so this I really enjoyed.  The funny part was what the information was used for.  It is the bridge between astronomy and astrology, where science is used to help make non scientific decisions.  It's fascinating actually.  Indian culture believes that each person's fate/life is based upon the specific day/time they were born and under which astrology sign.  After birth, parents would visit an astrologer (not sure the proper word) and receive guidance on what path was best for their child.  Special dates for big events, like marriage would need consultation with the astrologer to select the most auspicious one.  All of these observatory devices were used to be able to help provide more scientific data in order make more astrological decisions.  It is still used and part of today's beliefs.  (for all my Indian friends, I hope I explained that the right way!).

Then Pawel (my project partner) and I had to leave the rest of the group early to head back to the homestay to meet our non profit partner.  We were going to help and observe how the Annakshetra program works.  There are two types of places they pick up food from, catering places after weddings and also temples.  Every Sunday they have a standing commitment from an ISKCON temple.  Most people know them as the Hare Krishnas.  They have "services" each Sunday and then feed between 300-500 people.  The leftovers are then picked up by the Annakshetra team and delivered to those in need.  We were invited to join them in a meal first, as it is a special blessing to eat the food.  Below are Pawel and I, with Dr. Vijay, our non profit partner, enjoying our nutritious food.  It was quite good actually, some sort of rice porridge with potatoes, and some curd and a delicious dessert that was like cream of wheat with cashews and raisins.  All eaten off of homemade plates made out of leaves.  Most people eat with their hands, they managed to find us some spoons. 

 Here I am helping to transfer the food into the Annakshetra containers.

So, once we said goodbye and thank you to the Iskcon, we were off to deliver the food to a Leprosy home about 45 minutes away, outside of Jaipur, in the mountains on the way to Delhi.  It was quite a drive.  I was getting used to seeing all of the garbage and beggars in the city, but now that we made it outside the city, it became that much more intense.  We first passed a tent village along the train tracks, where the inhabitants collect garbage off of the street, they sort it and then sell what is salvageable to earn money.  There were piles of white bags filled with garbage everywhere.  Children were running around without clothing, it was just really sad.  Then we drove thru the slum area.  It just broke my heart watching, I will try to, but it is very hard to describe.  There are animals everywhere, the poor things.  Dogs, cows, camels, goats, chickens, pigs, they are all just standing along the streets, rummaging for food in the garbage, or worse, tied up outside a shack.  But they appear to be well fed, as some people feed them first.  Along side them were children, dirty, without shoes or pants usually, just playing in the open areas, or their parents bathing them out in the open, alongside the animals.  Then you would see men urinating on the side of the street, anywhere.  The conditions were deplorable, but according to our non profit partner, this wasn't the worst.  The people living in the slums somehow made money, they had some government assistance and from other NGOs. 

We arrived at the leprosy ashram, which provided housing for about 150 "forgotten" people, those that have been shunned by society because of their deformities.  The Annakshetra program requires that the beneficiaries of their food are provided housing, clean facilities (bathrooms) and food, since this is a random delivery of food.  The ashram was very clean, but the people were very sickly looking. They were very appreciative of the food though and Pawel and I got a lot of stares from the children.  It's a shame, the kids don't go to school, so they have been asking the NGO for help with somehow educating the kids.  Here's a pic from the ashram

After that, we went back to the homestay and I took a nap and just vegged for a bit in my room, it was quite an overwhelming experience to say the least. 

It made me realize just how lucky I am, no matter how bad a day I'm having, these people will never have as good a day.  After dwelling on it for a bit, I decided to not let it get to me, that I have to enjoy myself and take everyone in and use it as a learning experience.  I'll pass along what I know to you and that is all I can do.  I can go to work and help them with the food program and hopefully watch it grow. 

Focus on the little things....they are big to somebody :-)