Although stated several times before, it bears repeating: India is very large and complex.
Just about the time that I think I have clarity on an issue, a cultural practice, a ritual, or the Indians themselves, I learn that there is more to the picture. At the moment, I’m sitting in a sparkling clean railway waiting room, evidence of government attempts to modernize train stations and airports across the country.
This morning I visited the St. John’s Church in Trichy, one of a number of churches of the Church of South India, a denomination that is based on the Anglican tradition. Unfortunately, I arrived too late for Holy Communion, but I did hear a bit of preaching about hope, as well as some fine singing. The building itself is an old British garrison church, which was rededicated to the Church of South India in the 1800s. While on a pastoral visit, famous Anglican and hymn writer
Reginald Heber died here unexpectedly, and his body is entombed here. I spoke with the husband-wife ministry team (she a convert from Hinduism) and learned that this particular congregation is one of some 18 in the area, and though it has 300 members, it is far from the largest.I thought this might be a good chance to provide general observations about the country and its people.
- The north, west, and east are more diverse in religious population, with larger numbers of Muslims and Buddhists particularly. The south is largely Hindu, but about 20% is Christian.
- Every religion except Christianity expects visitors and worshippers to remove shoes, and usually socks, before entering their temples, gurdwaras, mosques, and sacred shrine spaces. This custom is likely rooted in theologies and commands, but it also serves a more practical function – keeping floors and holy places clean – considering the amount of dust, garbage, and other less positive wastes that are on walkways and streets. But the practical function seems a bit distorted in view of the primary foot apparel – sandals – and the rather large number of people who simply go barefoot all the time.
- Levels of service occupations vary in terms of delivery options. In the older parts of cities, and in entire towns in the north and west, I saw barbers who simply placed their tools on the ground, or a towel, squatted behind a customer, cut hair and shaved stubble. The prospect of a straight edge on one’s neck, in the midst of crowded walkways, does not interest me. In the North I saw dentists who worked in similar fashion, with an additional dark bottle of some presumably numbing solution, various pulling tools, and a chair or bench for the patient. Store and street cleaners work with short straw brooms, crouching over as they walk along and move dust and trash out onto streets. Garbage is collected by workers with carts, who take it to larger piles which, in some cities, is hauled away to landfill areas and burning dumps.
- Pollution is a large problem, as I’ve said earlier. I learned today, however, that one significant complicating element is plastic. In the past, various effluents and garbage would decompose naturally, flowing through drainage canals. But now these channels are clogged with plastic bags and bottles. In the past banana leaves were used widely for carrying small purchases – flowers, for example – or for lunchroom plates, but now bags and throw-away plates are the first choices.
- Women dress conservatively all over the country, though I have not seen the major technology centers of Bangalore and Bombay, where this generalization likely does not hold. Where I have been, women wear saris (about 1 x 5 meter pieces of cloth), or modified saris with pants, and rarely do they allow arms or legs to be seen. In the North headscarves are also common. Men wear traditional long topshirts and pants, as well as Western style casual dress, but many men also wear a kind of sari / skirt that may be long or short. Probably half of the people have freshly placed “dots” on their foreheads, the sign of recent worship at a temple or shrine.
- Families are important here. The evangelist in Chennai and his wife, Roy and Mercy, have been married a little over a year, and they do not have any children now or any on the way; her parents are very unhappy with Roy and his family. Everywhere I go, I see families, especially extended families. While waiting in the train station, I talked with a family of at least three generations. They were on their 27 hour journey from central India to an important pilgrimage/vacation spot near Sri Lanka, and it was clear that this was something all of the family did with resoluteness and joy.
- Hindus worship individually and by families, but there is no concept or reality similar to a body of believers who meet together regularly. There are trends where Hindu youth are meeting for encouragement and devotion times, but the communal nature of the Christian church is not an aspect of Hinduism, as far as I know.
slp
