Indian Pilgrims Reflections

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INDIAN PILGRIMAGE INTERVIEW
[The interview below was conducted during the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. A teacher from Trinity interviewed three of the pilgrims about their recent experiences in India.]

MS Why would nine young men about to embark on their last year of school, one of the busiest and most stressful times in a young persons life, decide to spend five weeks of their summer holidays in India And not just for a holiday wandering around looking at exotic sights, but working with some of the most destitute people in the world caring for physically and mentally handicapped children in orphanages or very sick people in homes for the dying. I went to Perth Airport to talk to these young men when they returned from their pilgrimage to India and spoke to three of them about their experiences.

Welcome home. I am sure you are very relieved to be safely back here in Australia. Can I ask you quite directly what on earth motivated you to go on such a journey in your summer holidays when you could have been relaxing around home, going to the beach and hanging out with your mates Why did you decide to make this pilgrimage to India

Matt S S What does it mean to go to bed hungry What does it mean to feel sick, not just for a few days but for your whole life Once in a lifetime you get a chance to do something more. For me it was India. India to me at first was a challenge that the world was going to throw at me. the chance to show how tough I could be, to see that being poor was not all that bad as it was made out to be. I see now, however, that it was more than that. It was a challenge by God to open my eyes to reality and to see him through these people.

MS What about you Nathan Why did you go to India NC The main reason I went was for a journey of self discovery, to see what my limitations were, but more importantly, to see a third world country first hand; to see how I felt about it and to understand truly how lucky I am. MS And you Matthew, surely being away from your home at Christmas was a real test. What would make you want to give up that special time with your family

MC To be perfectly honest, I was rather apprehensive at first and I was not sure about the challenges that lay ahead of me over the six weeks we were away. I had had 14 months from the time I was selected to consider things, but nothing could prepare me for the challenges and highs I would face in India.

MS So when you first arrived in India, what was it like for you NC In India you dont have to be doing actual work to be challenged. Just taking in the sights, sounds and smells is enough. That smell that cant really be described; the never ending sound of horns and engines, and most strikingly, the sight of beggars, homeless people and slums.

M SS Yes, walking out onto an Indian street, nothing can hit you more than just seeing a person, with no place to go, no one to talk to and nothing to eat, just sitting and waiting for the world to decide his fate. For instance, a man who could only sit in one place all day because his legs were leprosy ridden stared at me, with eyes that penetrated to my very soul and asked me if I had a spare coin. As this was the first poor man I had met, what was I supposed to do or say This for me opened the eyes in my soul. I wanted to shed my clean clothes and try to blend in, to push down the fact that I could be so shallow and comparatively rich while these injustices occur.

MS So arriving in Chennai, the first city you visited was quite a challenge What about the work you did there in the orphanage What was it like for you Matt

MC Our first stop was MITHRA, just out of Chennai in Southern India. MITHRA stands for Madras Institute to Habilitate Retarded Afflicted. It was an orphanage for mentally and physically challenged children. All of the children were afflicted in some way. Over the week we spent in MITHRA we learnt to dress, feed, educate and play with these children. Almost all our time was devoted to the children and their needs. Each of us undertook to look after one child that had been assigned to us. The child I had been assigned, Anand, was hyperactive. I soon found that he didnt want to sit in one place for the whole time. He couldnt speak much so I had to work things out intuitively. It was actually really helpful that I have a little five year old sister! However none of this put me off giving him all the help and love I could offer. Over the next week a bond of friendship grew. Even though I had only known Anand for a short while, it was hard to say good bye.

NC MITHRA is run by an Aussie nun, Sr Theodore, who from scratch has built a school and home for kids with intellectual and physical disabilities, most of whom have no parents or have been abandoned by their parents at a young age. Its sad but frighteningly true that sometimes kids as young as six months are just left to fend for themselves on the streets because they have a physical deformity or intellectual deficiency, because it is considered bad karma in the Hindu religion. The facilities are nowhere near Australian standards but there are many tireless workers. I was asked to care for a boy, David, who was only four years old and had an intellectual disability, was partly deaf, partly blind and unable to speak. It was hard work just finding some kind of connection with him and feeding him would be my biggest challenge for the day. Feeding him by hand in the Indian way was difficult as he would usually refuse to open his mouth, but this would lead to tears as food would then have to be forced in and if he spat it out I would quickly have to force some milk into his mouth. The food itself was rice and curry that I would have to squash into a pulp before feeding which would put me off my own meal. For the rest of the day David would just lie on his bed only being moved to be washed and to have meals. It was hard leaving MITHRA knowing we were leaving so many kids whom we will probably never see again. I know I think a lot about David and wonder how he is going. Although it was hard some mornings getting up and we would be sick of singing any form of childrens song at the end of every day I know that I learnt a lot about myself, about caring for someone I had never known, but seeing goodness in even the most distressing.

MS What about you Matthew, did you find anything distressing

M SS If its one thing you do not want to be it is a disabled woman. Most are hidden away back in the depths of the slums and left to fend for themselves because their families are so ashamed that they cannot live with them. The only women with disabilities I did see were those with leprosy or some contagious disease that people are afraid to touch in case they get these diseases. Another distressing thing was that I saw a man lying in the mud and faeces just on the curb of the road. I realised I could respond with disgust and turn away, assuming my superiority or I could see him as a man who just happened to be dirty, but still an image of God.

MS And this was just the beginning of your journey! I am really interested in hearing about your work in Calcutta. It has become famous because of the impact that Mother Teresa had there. Did any of you work in one of her places

M SS The biggest experience for me was being in Calcutta. This city has more people in it than the whole of Australia. It was in this city that I met the Missionaries of Charity, the disciples of Mother Teresa. I met many wonderful and beautiful people there. I worked in Prem Dan. This is the home for people with tuberculosis and for people who are dying. You have no idea what it is like to hold a dying man in your arms, to hear him mutter softly, his silent prayers to his god. Nowhere else in the world will you find more people willing to help than the volunteers who come here. Some come back again and again, just because they find their lives empty back in the western world. The most emotional moment for me was the day we were leaving. It was a tradition for the patients to sing a goodbye song. I was about to leave for the last time, when everybody started singing a song. The translation was Thankyou , thankyou brother, thankyou from the bottom of my heart. This touched me. It made me feel like I had made a difference, that I could be part of something bigger.

NC I was at Prem Dan too, and it was the friendliness of the place which struck me most. I will never forget it, especially that farewell song they sang us as we left on our final day. All of us left with heavy hearts. Many of the men who were patients there could speak and read English. One man I would chat to every day about anything we could come across, especially cricket - a common interest. I will never forget his face when I told him we would not be coming tomorrow on the last day we were there.

MS What about you Matthew What did you do in Calcutta

MC I worked at Daya Dan, an orphanage for mentally and physically challenged children. I spent most of my time either washing laundry or feeding children as both of these chores had to be done. You might think that doing washing is just putting myself further away from the children, but it did not matter if you were old or young, comfortable with looking after children or not, every job had to be done. I discovered that every little thing you do was helping to make a valuable contribution, whether in a big way or a small way. Here in Calcutta I found fulfilment and a sense of happiness.

MS So now that you are back home here in Australia, what impact would you say this pilgrimage has had on your life

MC All up the experience of going on the Pilgrimage has changed my life and has made me realise how much I take for granted and how much I really have. This was apparent to me as I was walking through the slums of Egmont in Chennai. I saw how poor and sick people lived and how even though they have nothing in the sense of wealth and riches, they have so much more in the way of riches. They always seem to have a smile on their faces, whether young or old. They do not seem to focus on the fact that they are poor. They seem so close to God.

NC The pilgrimage through India was most of all a journey of self-discovery; a chance to see how hard I could push myself, to test my limitations, to see how compassionate I really am. Most importantly it taught me about loving and commitment, because when you meet people whether they be poor or wealthy or disabled, it is then you learn the most about yourself.

MC The Indian Pilgrimage is a journey. It is also a time of giving and receiving, However these gifts are not the sort of gifts that people would usually give and receive. The gifts I received were gifts of insight, understanding and joy. I could only offer my help, my smile and my time. Something all the Pilgrims discovered was that the Pilgrimage is not just a journey to help the poor and the outcasts, but a journey of self discovery. There were times when I just wanted some time to myself but the pressure of helping sick people with leprosy or dying was just too much. Sometimes pilgrims showed their depth of character and stepped forward and undertook tasks that others didnt want to do. All in all, I felt that I got to embrace the people of India. This was special. It wasnt a case of pretending that only the rich and healthy exist. I got to work with the less fortunate in circumstances where I felt all the richer and more fortunate for my efforts.

M SS India is not something you just walk away from and forget. It stays with you forever. It is a place I know I will return to again and again, because God is calling me - calling me to come back to him and grow in the way he intended.

MS Thankyou very much for your time. I understand now why your journey through India was truly a Pilgrimage