my last afternoon in Chennai

Sama

My last afternoon in India was the best afternoon I experienced in Chennai. I met one of the yoga students at the Eco Cafe for our goodbyes and she told me that I was probably the only one who was not in the group pic. She also told me about a tea that was given at the end of the day for the students. But frankly, a group pic, a tea, and teary goodbyes to people I only knew for a month and probably will never see again, mean nothing to me compared to what I experienced that last afternoon.

The Banyan (a women's organization where I gave the clothes I had brought with me and a money donation) was about 60 minutes from where I was staying. It was an overwhelming experience for me because I teach yoga in a shelter similar to this one. There are approximately 300 women there, and not just from Chennai. I was given a tour and talked with tsunami survivors, to an ex-movie actress who was rescued from the streets, to a woman from Bombay who has the same curly hair as I do and who hugged me because we had something so mundane in common, our hair. I lost it, I started crying because I thought about my yoginis mexicanas back home at the shelter, and one woman came up to me and told me in perfect English, "don't cry, madam, we love it here, we are happy here." They have nothing and yet they have everything.

Then my driver took me to the warehouse district where I walked through huge warehouses filled with fruit and veggies and flowers. I was the only westerner. I took my best pics of India at these warehouses. I was mobbed everywhere I went, people wanting me to take their pictures, then crowding around me to see the pic on the camera. Surrounded by 20 men and never hassled once -- would that happen in NYC or Chicago? Then, their yelling their thanks to me and kissing their hands and touching my cheeks, and bowing and namaste-ing to the OM tattoo on my wrist. Attend final classes that afternoon? Indeed, scheduling classes after our "graduation" ceremony in the morning was an anti-climax. I never would have given up the experiences I had that afternoon for anyone or anything. The best part was experiencing it alone, on my own terms, deliciously secure as only a woman of a certain age can be.

When I returned to the US, people who really know me told me "welcome back, we won't say welcome home" because they know where my home is. I am already planning my second trip, the school has a 2 week program in March 2006. I hope I can go, because I will take a week or two after that to travel. I want to visit Madurai and Palani, places where I know I have already been....

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My India, 2005-2008
sama: Pali/Sanskrit: that state of consciousness which reflects neither attachment nor aversion

Judi

What a beautiful experience, yogagal ............. thanks for sharing it with us.

PRIYA

A beautiful post, and what must have been a very humbling experience for you.

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Happiness is for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives. (Anon.)

aadil

WOW!!! What a moving experience!!! I am sure you will treasure it more than anything else in this world. Life is made up of many such beautiful moments and if you can enjoy them the way you do then there is nothing like it!!! I am sure you will come back soon and enjoy it even more the next time around. Keep up the good work!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

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Climb high; climb far;
Your goal, the sky,
Your aim, the stars!!!

Sama

FYI, in case anyone is interested, website here

Nick-H

Very interesting. I'm glad someone is doing this work.

Would I be right in thinking that the mental ill are not well provided for in India?

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Sama

the organization was started about 10 years ago by two 22 year old women who found a half-naked woman on the street. They took her in, and the rest is history.

as for the mentally ill, I can't say. But I remember reading about a man on a website of another similar organization based in Chennai. He had been chained up for about 20 years by his family because he was mentally ill and probably because his family did not understand his illness. But the man who started the organization (called "Helping Hands" I think) "rescued" him and the man is doing very well now in this organization.

I can tell you that things we take for granted in America (insofar as treatment for various illnesses, physical and otherwise) is different in India. At my yoga school, in my medical applications of yoga class, we saw many "case studies". The two most interesting ones to me were a man with MS and someone else with epilepsy. The teacher (who is a doctor) told us that the treatment of MS is almost unknown in India, the Indian medical establishment is not familiar with MS, causes, treatment, etc. As for epilepsy, the teacher-doctor said that epilepsy is considered "shameful" in India, that for someone to have a seizure, especially in public, is a shameful thing. Us westerners were pretty amazed at that. The school has been doing a study actually on how yoga can control epilepsy.

Auntyji

Yogagal, one of the women who started The Banyan was at school with me; she is just amazing. She and her colleague are doing wonderful work. I'm so glad you went there.

Nick-H, things are getting better but there's still a long way to go. There's just so much to accomplish, it seems so disheartening sometimes. I say this because quite a few of my friends in Madras work for social/educational organizations, and I can see how hard they're working to get things done.

Nalamdana is another organization that's doing good work in Madras. Yogagal, if you're interested in knowing more about such organizations, I can PM you a list.

Sama

yes, Auntyji, it was amazing to me just being there. As I said, I was overwhelmed by the place and what they do. I almost started crying when I walked through the gates -- two dogs came running up to me, barking, protecting the place. One dog had a bad rear leg so he was running on three legs. The other dog, was dragging her hind end, pulling herself with her front legs, she obviously must have had a broken pelvis or something. But she was still fierce, trying to protect "her place", her paralyzed back end did not stop her. I watched her as she dragged herself all over the place.

When I went inside I was greeted by a young Finnish woman. She came to volunteer after the tsunami and just stayed on in Chennai. I asked her about the dogs and she said "oh, we adopt them too..."

What did my heart good was that they also have yoga classes for the women!