Janet's Entry January 25, 2009

Our landlady has been very good to us. The first day we were here she took us to the market just a short disance from our flat. It's really an unbelievable place. The shops are all so tiny with usually just barely enough room to squeeze down one isle. The goods are stacked from floor to ceiling. Sometimes there will be a tiny little storage room in the back, usually just a little cubby hole. Everything seemed so dirty to me at first and covered with who knows what, but now that I've been here for two weeks it doesn't seem so bad. The people are for the most part just so nice and treat us so well, they have really made us feel at home. But back to the little shops at the market. Although there are always mouse droppings and other various bits and pieces of trash everywhere the shop keepers have their own strange way of organizing things and they can usually find just about anything you need.
There's a barber shop called Snipers (snippers misspelled), several tailers, a dry cleaners, internet services, cell phone dealers, copy machine stores and laminators. There are several juice stands and fruit and vegetable vendors, shish-ka-bob makers, candy makers, flat bread makers and we just yesterday discovered a very good ice cream store. We also have a resident herd of Brahmas wandering aimlessly around the market but sometimes they like to take a stroll down a side road or lay around over at the park.
We saw a beggar woman almost get killed at the market the other day. She had been following us around with her baby hanging from a sling and her little three year old daughter (a very lively little urchin) running circles around us.
We had stopped at a small store, buying a few items from the Sikh owner and the beggar was waiting off to the side. The Sikh and his wife were both telling her (speaking in Hindi) to go away and motioning to leave. Then suddenly an old Sikh man from another stand came racing up yelling, with a heavy plastic crate ready to smash the beggar's head in. Just before the crate came down our store owner ran to the rescue and stopped the crate, but as he turned to go back behind his counter, the old man tried to kill the beggar again. This time both the store owner and his wife stopped him. Everybody was yelling at the beggar and then the old man went back to his stand across the road. The beggar was crumpled down on the ground wailing. It was a very pitiful sound like a small child crying.
Sister Brown (another missionary) said that the government is trying to get the beggars relocated and improve their situations. It's illegal for them to beg but it's next to impossible to enforce the law. I've learned that the little kids who are out selling books, magazines, flowers,etc. in the middle of traffic, are some who the government is trying to teach to sell instead of beg.
We have the best situation here in some ways. All day long we have vendors coming right past our door calling out their wares. They sell fruit, vegetables, cloth, plants, and all kinds of services. Each person specializes. One does toilets, another does floors, and another will cook but nobody does it all. We've gotten so confused. I think Fred has hired a new person every day to take the trash.
The trash is another interesting thing. People will come and get your garbage then they go through it, take it down a couple of streets and dump it at someone else's corner. I think they have no such things as land fills here. The beggars, dogs, birds, cows , and rats just tend to clean most everything up. But then things like broken bricks and broken glass and various other non-etable trash just gets left in heaps here and there.
You have to be very careful not to step in dog doo here. I stepped in some and didn't even know it until I was in the church waiting to teach an investigator. I had to excuse myself and go ditch my shoes behind a door until after the lesson was over.
There are many, many dogs here and they are very strange creatures. You never see them hardly ever move. Most of the time they are just curled up in some dirt hole or on the sidewalk which people never use here. People walk right in the road and when they hear a horn beep behind them, they move over. Even we do that now. We walk miles every day and it's always so dangerous but God must have a higher purpose for us and he has been allowing us to keep on living.

Janet's Entry- January 23, 2009

The first night we were surprised how well we slept on our Indian mattress. It is very, very firm. Two single bed mattresses which are about four inches thick have been pushed together and they lay on a wooden base. Surprisingly we have been doing well on it.

Monday morning the assistants to the President , Elder Swanborough from Australia, and Elder Hansen picked us up for a meeting with President Ricks. We walked several blocks to catch what they call an auto rickshaw (a three wheeled conveyance without protecton on the sides but a cover over the top). They are built for only two passengers and that's the legal amount. But all four of us got crowded in with Elder Swanborough sort of hanging out the side and Elder Hansen sharing the drivers seat up front. Before we chose our ride they both went from one richshaw to another haggling over prices. Thirty to forty rupies (which equates to sixty to eighty cents American money) is the maximum to spend on a ride to the mission office which is about six or seven miles away.

Elder Hansen, who is very tall, looked funny with his arm around the little driver and then Elder Swanburough started giving the driver a back rub which he seemed to be enjoying very much and we all had such a good laughing time.

The traffic here is so crazy. I hope we never have to drive anywhere ourselves. It's just a huge mad crush with everyone honking (but just to warn another vehicle off). There doesn't seem to be any road rage. Everybody is just so accepting of the bad situation, although it's very exciting for us foreigners. No one seems to know anything about traffic rules and the buses, cars, motorcycles, and auto rickshaws just madly swarm all over the road. There are no lanes at all and once in a great while there will be a traffic light, then the beggars and street vendors descend upon you.

The other day a little boy selling magazines looked into our rickshaw and saw that we were Americans. He got really excited, found a magazine with a blond , blue eyed cover girl and started pointing at her eyes then pointing at mine. He then stuck his hand into the cab for me to shake, so I did. We haven't seen another American couple, (other than the three missionary couples who live far away from us) since we came here. Most people are very nice, but they really like to look at us.

We have seen some sad sights on the streets while riding in the richshaws and at the markets. We saw a man with both arms cut off clear up to the shoulders and he was shirtless. Another man's leg was completely cut off at the hip and he was just hopping on the one leg with no crutch at all. Another man was sitting on the ground and his feet looked like hands bent side ways at the wrists with long toes that looked like fingers. An old beggar woman looked like a small heap of old rags. She was so tiny she couldn't have weighed more than thirty pounds.

We've been to the Central Market twice now. This last time it was quite a miserable experience for Fred as a tall beggar woman followed him around every second, everywhere and she had her hands all over him making her begging sounds. She was carrying a lifeless little baby but she finally got to Fred and he started telling her to stop it. Nothing worked though. Each time after we are accosted by a beggar, and we don't give them anything, Fred worries what God is going to do to punish him.

Sister Ricks and others have told us not to give money to the beggars or you will be completely mobbed. She said the beggars have actually formed Unions and that they cripple and maim their children and also drug their babies so as to look sick or lifeless. If a woman doesn't have a baby, she will borrow someone else's baby to carry while she begs. The Elders have been bitten by beggar children and one Elder drug a little beggar boy on his leg (the little boy wouldn't let go) for quite a ways.

We saw one beggar woman riding in a bicycle rickshaw with her three little children the other day. That sort of ticked Fred off. If you try to give them food, they won't take it. They just want money.

It's a very sad situation here in India as the lowest caste children aren't allowed to go to school because they aren't born in hospitals, therefore they don't have birth certificates and they aren't allowed schooling without birth certificates. Because of this, they can never improve their lot in life.

While at the market on our first outing there, a tall terrorist looking man with a black Sihk cap started talking to Fred, then as he passed by he said, "Shalom". Fred answered back with "Shalom". Afterwards we worried that Fred's new dark colored Tilly hat might give him the appearance of a jew.

The second night at around eleven o'clock we were awakened by loud raucous drums hammering their erratic beating right outside our door and also the strong smoke from fired charcoal. We wandered if it was our neighbors trying to drive us out or if it was a welcoming party. Fred peeked out of the window and the fire had been built right on our doorstep.

The next day we learned that it was a planting celebration and that there would be many more fires and parties that evening. We were invited to two of them. They say the farmers have huge planting celebrations. I remembered in the Bolly Wood movie, Bride and Predjudice, the big dance around the fire. That's probably what it was.

Janet's Entry January 21, 2009

Now here we were in this foreign place. No phone, no friends or family, in a cold dark apartment. We felt like prisoners with all the bars on the windows, drawn curtains and bars and blots on the doors. The apartment wasn't what or where we thought originally, but in an old middle class neighborhood. So we sat there looking at one another, prisoners in our own home and scared to death about the whole appalling situation outside.
After naps and showers (I was still in my bathrobe), we heard a huge racket outside. Fred yelled at me to hurry out. To our amazement, right down the side street one house down from ours, a parade was happening. I rushed back in to get dressed then ran back out and started taking pictures. I missed the first of the parade but it circled around and came back on the other side street at the end of our row. At the first of the parade were twenty or so white horses with their turbaned riders. Then several different bands with colorful uniforms sauntered by making a lot of racket with drums, horns, and large melon sized brass rattles and various other noise makers (no order, just a sauntering mob of color and noise). If anyone saw me trying to take a picture, they would stop right there and pose.
You can always tell the Sikh boys because they will have a black nylon stocking cap covering the little hair bun on the top of their heads. The men never cut their hair or their beards and they pull their hair and sometimes their beards back and twist them into the beautiful turbans that they wear. Sometimes the men wear the stocking caps also.
A decorated truck loaded with little Sikh boys had come to a stop a little ways away from me and some of the boys saw my camera. They jumped off of their truck and ran over to me begging, "Take picture of us lady, take picture of us."
There were many beautifully dressed ladies parading past then finally a decorated wagon with some priestly looking fellows kneeling behind an ornate trunk which held their holy book. Ahead of this float beautiful women swept the road with their little Indian brooms (which even I use everyday now). The broom consists of a couple of handfuls of dried reeds tied together at one end onto a stick about two feet long and one and one half inches in diameter.

Janet's Entry January 20,2009

Our flight to Munich Germany seemed like an eternity (about 12 hrs.) I watched a couple of movies, got up and walked around, slept some, knitted some, and ate two meals. When we first got on we ate dinner because it was in the evening, then just before we got off, we ate breakfast, but since we were flying East and through time zones, when we got off in Munich it was dark already. When we got back on the plane to head for Dehli it was dark and they fed us dinner again, and everyone went to sleep, except for us because we already went through a night but then we caught a few naps then ate breakfast again and eight hours after take off from Munich we were here. We didn't really suffer from jet lag although it seemed like it was one eternal night the whole trip.
I was prepared with my little bottle of Vicks Vaporub to put in my nose and I had a handkerchief ready. I had heard that the smell of raw sewage would knock us over. Actually it wasn't bad at all. It just smelled like stale cigars in the Delhi airport and outside too. Now after one week of living here, I don't even notice it anymore.
Gratefully all of our luggage made it safe and sound. I wasn't sure what I would do if any of my luggage containing all my cool missionary clothes got lost, but now I wish they all would have gotten lost and I could just wear the beautiful native Indian clothing all the time. I can't believe my good fortune, but my land lady is a very stylish lady and she also owns a stitching (tailor's) shop which to my great joy is in the basement right underneath our apartment.
She is already in the process of making me some clothes. She took a few measurements, the tailor took a look at me and Walla the top is a perfect fit. I'm going down to pick the pants up tonight.
Now, I've gotten ahead of myself, so I'm going to go back to when we first got off the plane at the airport. My ankles were so swollen up (really embarrassing when you're trying to look like a sharp missionary).
We didn't know for sure if anyone would be there to pick us up. We hadn't really notified anyone that we were coming.
We got through customs in good speed, then dragging our heavy suitcases down a wide corridor of turbaned, bearded, dark skinned, costumed, individuals holding signs with strange writingand names on them, we started searching for ours.
The signs weren't the clean white poster board signs you would see in the U.S. either. They were ragged old cardboard or dirty wrinkled paper signs you might drag out of a recycle bin.
Fred told me to search on the most congested side while he watched on the other. Finally on the very end behind another gate stood President Ricks, Sister Ricks and their Indian driver, Alexander. What a relief it was to find them.
We came straight from the airport to our home here at Vikram Vihar, Lajpat Nagar. Believe it or not they pronounce Lajpat Nagar- Lodgepot Nigger. Fred had just broken himself of saying the "N" word. Now he has to say it every day.

Quiz
India
It has been said, "You don’t cast your vote in India, you vote your caste." Without India the world is doomed to the poverty of materialism. Sit down and start sipping some hibiscus juice while you work this quiz on India. India’s economy grows at night while the government is sleeping. It has been called the most religious country on the earth. India is an enigma even to those who live there. It is the seventh largest country, geographically speaking and has over 1,000 languages. However, Jawaharlal Nehru said that it was English that was the glue which held India together and this has become prophetic since the rise of recent computer technology.
1. Who are the Dahlit? The word means "oppressed" or broken to pieces"?
2. Why is the suffix "ji" added to a person’s name and how does it affect the meaning?
3. There are over 1,000 languages spoken in India. How many of these are official?
4. Approximately how many children do not go to school in India each day?
5. What color is know as the "Holy Color" for Hindus? Hint: It is one of the four colors on India’s flag.
6. What city in India could be called the "Cow Capital of the World"? It is a cow product research center and museum.
7. It has been said there are only two kinds of people in the world, those that have seen the
"____ __________________" and those that haven’t.
8. What is a "Burra Sahib"?
9. Name the four major world religions originating in India.
10. The "Breadbasket" of India is the largest continuous area of farmland in the world.
Where is it located? Hint: It is also located in the same area as the "Hindi belt."
Bonus: Match the Castes:
_____ A. Brahmin 1. Farmer’s Servants
_____ B. Kshatriya 2. Untouchables
_____ C. Vaishya 3. Warrior or Military rulers
_____ D. Sudra 4. Merchants and Business men
_____ E. Dalit 5. Priests or (Priestly)
Answers To India Quiz

1. They are the Untouchables or lowest of all the Castes.
2. "Ji" is an honorific suffix that is given as a mark of respect. It has an open-sesame effect if everything else has failed in trying to get your way
3. Eighteen languages are official
4. Over 40 million do not attend school each day.
5. Saffron (Orange)
6. Nagpur
7. Taj Mahal
8. The Big Boss
9. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism
10. The Ganges Plain
Bonus:
A. 5
B. 3
C. 4
D. 1
E. 2

Countries included in Our Mission

India New Delhi Mission includes: Northern India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. These range from the highest elevations in the world---(Nepal, the Roof Top of the World) to the perennial Monsoon innundated country of ---(Bangladesh). From the only country in the world without telephones ---the Kingdom in The Clouds, (Bhutan), to the Land of the Pure, (Pakistan).
India is the seventh largest country in the world, geographically and the second largest country in the world demographically.

Nepal -- Sample of our Mission in Action

BIRGANJ, NEPAL
To show appreciation for the recent donation of 80 wheelchairs by LDS Charities, this city of 100,000 on the southern border of Nepal held a parade down its main street. The event coincided with International Disabled Day and received extensive local media coverage.
A Certificate of Appreciation, honoring LDS Charities for its work with people with disabilities, was presented to Elder Lynn R. Bradshaw, country director for LDS Charities in Nepal. The highlight of the presentation was the awarding of the proverbial "shawl" of honor, a Nepalese custom, to President Gary R. Ricks and Sister Florence Ricks of the India New Delhi Mission.
In total, 750 wheelchairs were distributed throughout Nepal in 2008. LDS Charities is collaborating with Nepal's National Rehabilitation Society for the Disabled.
The Church conducted several other humanitarian projects in Nepal in 2008. In March, relief was provided to the Goldhap Bhutanese Refugee Camp after a fire of unknown cause destroyed thousands of bamboo huts, leaving 9,000 refugees homeless. Two hundred 110-pound bags of rice were delivered in partnership with the Sushma Koirla Memorial Trust of Nepal.
In August, the Church again went into partnership with the trust in delivering 500 110-pound bags of rice and 1,000 quarts of cooking oil to the Koshi River flood victims in the Sunsari district of Nepal.
The Honorable Paramanand Jha, vice president of Nepal, expressed his country's appreciation for the Church's humanitarian efforts. He expressed hope the Church would continue its help in neglected regions of the country, such as Terai, where the city of Birganj is located.