Indian Summer

This summer I will be living and working in the state of Assam, India, as one of 42 UNICEF interns sent to work on a project related to children in the realm of health, emergency, rights or protection. My team's project is public health related, incorporating analysis and process documentation of the Integrated Child Development Services, the Government of India's early childhood health and nutrition programme which has been in operation since 1975. In a team of four interns based in this northeast region of India, we will create of a formal report incorporating assessment of the existing ICDS programme as it is carried out in Assam and make recommendations for improvement based on the findings of our field and desk work research. This report will be presented to UNICEF, government and collaborating NGO officials at the closing workshop in Delhi on 1 August 2012.

Assam is in purple, surrounded by other Northeast Tribal States which border Bhutan and Tibet (mainland China) to the northwest/northeast, Myanmar (Burma) to the southeast, and Bangladesh to the southwest.

Our Assam team at the orientation in Delhi, 23-25 May 2012. UNICEF India interns were selected from a pool of over 400 candidates, all graduate students (Masters/ PhD) from various academic disciplines and various regions of the world, including India, Europe, Africa, North and South America. My team includes myself (MPH candidate), two Indian women and a Bulgarian man, studying nutrition, rural development and global health at universities in Belgium, the US and the UK. Other intern teams of three and four students are working on projects related to social protection, disaster impact, rural planning, urban disease load, police interface, HIV and other topics in the states of New Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.

The entries that follow are in reverse chronological order and detail my first week in India, which I spent traveling around North India to Amritsar and Dharamsala with an American friend. The May 18th Golden Temple entry is my first in India.

Dalai Lama Temple, Dharamsala

From Amritsar, we took a 9 hour bus even farther northeast to the backpacker’s village of McLeod Ganj, just north of Dharamsala. McLeod Ganj is nestled at the foothills of the Himalayas, and the view of Mount Triund is particularly spectacular. Being near the border of Tibet, many Tibetans reside there and it quietly serves as the permanent home of Tibet’s free leader, the Dalai Lama. On the bus connecting Dharamshala to McLeod Ganj, we met a practicing Buddhist nun donning the signature red and yellow robes. She was returning to this tourist spot as a short retreat from her work at a children’s home near Nagpur in the central part of India, and given our bus’ nighttime arrival offered to assist us in finding our lodging. On the way, we discussed her life as a Buddhist and thoughts on the state of affairs in India, and sensing our curiosity, she offered to guide us through the Dalai Lama’s temple the next day.

These round cylinders are mantras, with thousands of prayers handwritten inside each in Sanskrit and Tibetan letters. Each full clockwise turn of the mantra is said to work the good merit of the prayers. The wheel is an important symbol in Buddhism and elicits the eight fold noble path.

8 Fold Noble Path
1) Right understanding
2) Right thought
3) Right speech
4) Right action
5) Right livelihood
6) Right mindfulness
7) Right concentration
8) Right wisdom

Alisa and Pankoori in McLeod Ganj

Capturing a moment: monks and others washing their clothes in the river, on a hike near McLeod Ganj. Buddhist monks' robes symbolize compassion (red) and wisdom (yellow). "Save Tibet" (partially covered) is written on a rock and is ubiquitous in this part of India.

India-Pakistan Border Ceremony

My second full day in India arrived, and already I had made it to the border of Pakistan. A popular attraction for both Indian and international tourists is to attend the flag lowering ceremony that occurs daily at the Wagah Border, located 30 kilometers west of Amritsar. Since 1959 millions of Indians have frequented the spot, as it is said to be the only road border between the two countries and the only border crossing area which maintains this kind of peaceful display of citizenship. Alisa and I joined an Indian family of five in a shared van to reach the vicinity of the border, with roughly an hour to spare before the ceremony began.

We followed alongside thousands of others for a few kilometers through various disjointed security checkpoints, and were relieved when we arrived near the event stadium and officials ushered us and the few other foreign visitors to a separate section with an enhanced view of both the Indian and Pakistan sides. (As an aside, this was after experiencing a not entirely unfounded fear of being trampled to death by Indian aunties on foot and border security officials on horse, all of whom must have forgotten their manners at the Golden Temple).

Inside the stadium, we witnessed India’s Border Security Force perform exercises, we chanted patriotic slogans (Hindustan zindabad! Long live India), sang along with popular Indian music to include a massive “Jai Ho” sing and dance-off, and watched children run the Indian flag to and from the border in a kind of informal relay race. “Children” should be loosely applied here, as it may or may not have become a participatory event thanks to Alisa’s peer pressure. The moment I joined the line, the guard handed me the flag of India and told me, "Go!" Only when I reached the border did I notice the man carrying an AK-47 to secure Pakistan from intruders. But this helped me to run the flag faster on the way back.

Harmandir Sahib: Amritsar's Golden Temple

Less than 12 hours after arriving at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport I was headed north. My friend Alisa has been living and volunteering in Jaipur, Rajasthan for several months, and after I procured my summer internship with UNICEF, we made a plan to travel together around north India during the week following my final exams, prior to the start of my internship. The city of Amritsar is about eight hours northwest of Delhi - accessible via train or bus - and home to Harmandir Sahib (Punjabi: Darbar Sahib) or Golden Temple, a sacred ground for Sikhs and a place of worship for all. As we learned from a new friend in our bustling sleeper class train ride out of Delhi, followers of the Sikh religion in India will often make multiple pilgrimages in their lifetime to this shrine, which comprises a large outer complex made of white marble, and the “pool of nectar of immortality” (the literal translation of Amritsar’s namesake) a body of water which surrounds the most precious gilded inner temple.

Shown above, the inner temple is made up of over 100 kilos (approximately 220 pounds) of gold and includes valuable artwork and precious gemstones and metals such as silver, ivory, pearl and lapis lazuli. Construction began in 1577 and the temple as it presently exists was completed in the late 1700s. The surrounding complex includes a dining hall, able to seat 35,000 people at one time, as well as sleeping quarters. All major components of the inner complex (including dormitories, dining hall and the inner temple) are open and free for all visitors of all faith traditions to enter 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. While many things struck me on my visit, I particularly admired the manner in which people moved in and out of the temple and the dining hall, which was at once inconspicuous, reverent and efficient.

Waiting in line to enter the inner temple took about 30 minutes. We formed a steady cloud of primarily Sikh men women and children but also included some Indian and international tourists. Every person removed footwear and covered his or her head with a scarf, bandana, hat or turban (dastar) upon entrance, and we slowly budged closer to the front as people exited the temple on the other side at their leisure. While it reached well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit by mid-day , we were not uncomfortable due to our position on a shaded strip below large fans. Once inside the temple, I watched one man chanting from the Holy Scripture (Adi Granth), while another played the harmonium, broadcast via speakers across the complex.

Many will present an offering of food like this (procured free of charge at the temple) or leave a donation while entering or exiting the inner temple.

A primary tenant of the Sikh religion is that all people are equal and should be treated as such. Going along these lines, tourists and foreign visitors are welcome to participate in the pilgrimage, meal and site activities as they see fit.

Waiting in line for lunch. Meals are served free of charge around the clock. Simple but filling meal of round wheat flat bread, black lentils in broth and a sweet rice pudding type dish (not shown). Anyone may also assist the hundreds of volunteers washing dishes after people have eaten. N.B. that plates provided were sparkling clean.