Day 2: 'Timbits' from India

Day 2:

Timbits from India:

Why am I calling this the “Timbits” of India? Well have you ever had a Timbit? Timbits are what Canadians call donut holes—those doughy balls of deep-fried awesomeness. So this post is going to be all about the wonderful little things I’ve seen in the last two days. They might not be the whole donut but they are definitely a part of it and I’m thinking they mean a lot! (I know silly metaphor but maybe I just want some timbits?)

Timbit #1: Sailijha

Sailijha is the sweetest girl. She is one of our cook’s helpers. But she doesn’t stop there. She is everywhere—always offering help, always watching out for us. From what I know she’s only 18 but you would never know it. She banters back and forth with everyone we meet and men and women seem to respect her everywhere we go. I’ve only known her for a few days but she is incredible to me. Today, while we were shopping she was so kind with us. The mall was a gong show and we were all very intimidated. But Sailijha led us around, herding us and answering with her usual “you’re welcome ma’am!”. She doesn’t speak much English though. But the thing I wish the most would be to understand Telugu just so I could understand what she says to people. She always sounds like she is being very witty. Cunning, bold, kind, hard working—those are all words I would use to describe Sailijha. Also, I think I’m butchering the spelling of her name; but Telugu is phonetic so I’m just guessing!

(I will take a picture of her very soon)

Timbit #2: Baby Babu

Babu is the head cooks newest son. He is about 3 months old and he is adorable. On our first day in the house Durga (his mother) let us hold him for a while. Personally, I am not very good with babies. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE babies but I am INTIMIDATED by them. I’m terrified that they will cry when I hold them or hate me or that I’ll break them in half or something. But I’m determined to get over these fears—its probably a good idea since I’m definitely going to have my own babies one day. Anyways, so like usual Babu didn’t quite like me as much as he liked all the other girls. So I just took pictures of him smiling at everyone but me and tried to learn from all the tricks the other girls where using to make him comfortable. Tonight Babu was given his daily massage. Babies here get massaged every day as a sort of medical practice to help with development. Its also kind of a ritual—and it was so cool!! Durga’s friend/sister tooks babu and rubbed him in oil while massaging his whole body starting with his head. She stretches his arms, rubs his face (not at all gently), and rolls his feet up to his head. And Babu doesn’t cry the whole time! Instead, like the little ladies man that he is, he stares at us, smiling until his aunt turns his head away from us (but even then he keeps turning his head back to see if we are still watching him). My fascination is not so much about Babu though. My fascination is with these women who dedicate so much time to this ritual (they wash him once in the morning and give a massage once at night). The whole process took what seemed like half an hour—but who knows maybe it was more, time doesn’t exist here. They are so dedicated to their children but they also don’t treat them like porcelain dolls. Babu sleeps in a hammock, he gets passed from person to person, and he is handled more like a toddler than a baby. Yet he NEVER cries. He whines a little bit from time to time but he is so well behaved for a baby! I admire the way they raise their children. One day soon I’ll tell you all about Siddartha, Durga’s other son (he’s two and a half). 

Here's babu with Mckenna; he wears eye liner and has a dot on his forehead to protect him from the harmful energy of other people's envy. 

One last Timbit for today:

Timbit #3: Church

Since it’s the Sabbath I’ll finish up with a little something from church today. We were all fairly rested today and so we decided that we felt up for going on a little trip to church. We took our first rickshaw ride downtown to a building where the church rents a floor for meetings. There are three branches in this city. So McKenna, Alexis, Sarah and I found some seats and were greeted by a few people. We even met some a senior missionary couple from southern Alberta! I was excited since we knew some of the same people. But the coolest thing about being at Church was the women. From where we sat women would turn around and despite their shy but curious smiles they could wave at us. It was the sweetest thing. Most of them couldn’t speak any English and so they couldn’t introduce themselves but still, they found a way to make us feel welcome. I was so impressed by them. And you could tell their daughters were learning to be the same. One little girl (I think she might have been between 8 and 10) stood a few rows ahead of me and kept repeating “Hi, sister!” She would take the hand of her little sister and point to us and tell her, “Say ‘Hi sister’”! I felt the spirit just by seeing how good those women are. All the women here have been the same. They often don’t speak any English but they are quick to wave and smile shyly.

I have so many more things I could write about but I just can’t do it all today. So I’ll keep writing Timbits of information for all of you, day by day. Today was a very good day and I feel sure that I will love being here. There is always something to look at, there is always something happening. But then when I get overwhelmed there is this room, and I can write, and talk to my friends, and find some quiet to hear the spirit and to pray. The latter has been my biggest comfort so far. Even though I wasn’t able to talk to my family or friends right away on the phone I was able to pray to adjust quickly and to know how to take these changes one day at a time. And now I can’t write one more word… goodnight!

Stéf