Report to Church Supporters Re: Woodstock, 2011

December 2011:  An Update from the Thomases, former mission workers in Northern India

During our weeklong Eid-al-Adha break from our teaching positions at ISG-Jubail School in Saudi Arabia, we took our son Coleman back to Woodstock School in northern India.  Believe it or not, Cole is a senior this year!  He wanted to visit his former classmates at the boarding school in the Himalayan foothills one last time before they graduate and go their separate ways. For us, it was a time to visit with former colleagues and students and check on the progress of projects that this church supported during our four years in India.

Some things had changed – the new international airport terminal in Delhi was stunningly beautiful and modern. Many things had not changed – the air pollution upon exiting the airport still burned the throat and stung the eyes. The eight-hour drive from Delhi to Dehra Dun was still fraught with fright as we dodged camels, ox carts, huge trucks and people on bicycles while avoiding huge potholes made by earlier flooding. The winding road up to Mussoorie now has metal guard rails to keep cars from plummeting down the side of the mountain, but still has sacred cows sitting in the middle of the road. This is the India we remembered.

The  weather was cool and the air crystal clear in Mussoorie.  We were greeted warmly by students and teachers, and they were grateful for the teaching supplies we brought. Coleman stayed happily in the senior hostel with his “batch-mates” and we walked the bazaar road, being greeted by vendors along the way. It felt like being home.

We met with Rakhi Meher, the woman who handcrafted the adorable “Mussoorie Monsters” that began a women’s self-development project still in existence. With money from the Thomas India Mission Fund, women are encouraged to keep working to support themselves or their families.

We worshipped at St. Paul’s Church, which your congregation helped renovate and support. The beautiful historic church is now open to the public during the week, and the church pews were full and the Sunday School active.

We met with Pastor Timothy from Kellogg Church who had invited our participation in starting a school in the tiny village of Bel Gaon. We learned that the school now has three teachers, and there is talk of moving the school to a nearby larger village to serve more children.

The next stop was Shishya School and Orphanage in Dehra Dun. The boys instantly recognized Coleman as  “the boy who taught dancing” when a mission group that Barb and Coleman led visited there in 2010. The boys were sprucing up the grounds in preparation for the visit of the state governor – a very big honor.  Founders Frieda and Ken McRae appreciated the school supplies we brought, but even more were grateful for our contribution towards the surgery for Josh, who will get a glass eye to replace the one calcified since birth. Josh happily remembered the softball games led by the guys of our mission group! Josh is hoping to go to college to study law – and we feel this articulate, confident young man will do just that. Although some of the cost for his surgery will be covered by growing social organizations in India, there is still a need for travel and lodging fees during his recuperation. You can visit the website of the school at shishyasociety.org and make a donation if you feel called to help, or let us know and we can put you in touch with the McRaes by email.

We took the overnight train back to Delhi and toured the city, going souvenir shopping along the old Janpath road and taking in a tabla/jazz concert at the modern Habitat Center. Reliving our time in India, we gratefully remembered your support of us and these projects.
Until we meet again, Namaste – Barbara, Jeffrey and Coleman Thomas

Cross-posting a link to our blog entry about our brief return to India November 2011.

Departure Week

Returning to the U.S. was bittersweet, but we managed several good photos in the last week...

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Woodstock High School Graduation

The Woodstock class of 2009 graduates! Attached is a link to photos that show sunny days and happy people.

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Farewell luncheon at church

St. Paul's Church set up a pot-luck luncheon for the departing members.

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The weather was wonderful, the lunch delicious.
More photos in the album, at the link.

Relaxing at Shaheen Bagh

For our twentieth wedding anniversary, we spent the weekend at Shaheen Bagh, a lovely quiet guest house between Dehradun and Mussoorie. Highly recommended for rest and relaxation, swimming and bird-watching.

Easter in Amritsar

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The Grand Hotel is recommended by Lonely Planet, and deserves that mention. The room are spartan but clean and serviceable. As the hotel was converted from a Haveli – a rich man’s extended family/guest house – in 1951, the central garden courtyard is the best feature. The owner chatted with us over coffee, discussing the merits of different boarding schools. He is a graduate of St.George’s (in Mussoorie). He had considered sending his son to St.George’s, or Woodstock, but ending up sending him to Mayo, the school for Rajasthani princes, where they offer golfing and equitation.

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During our discussion, we heard singing outside – a Good Friday procession of Christians, several hundred strong, all carrying crosses and processing through town.

Some nearby Woodstock parents invited us to their house for dinner. They live in a large house with extended family – grandmother, two brothers with their wives and children. It is even a legal entity, in terms of property ownership: the Hindu Extended Family. This social model is still typical in India, and seems to produce well-socialized and gregarious children.

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We hired a car for Saturday, to take us 50km south to Kapurthala, the residence of the Spanish princess that Barb had read of. The maharajah traveled to Europe in the early 1900s, met and wooed a Lady in Spain. She returned with him to India and inspired him to build a palace modeled after Versailles.

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The royal families were gradually disinherited by the new democratic socialist government in India.

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In 1961 the palace was converted to a boys’ military school – the Sainik School is an important feeder school for the military academies, and is now accessible only to invited guests.

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Another Woodstock family provided a local tourguide and entrée to the school and its dusty drawing room holding the maharajah’s curios – French tapestries, statues, clocks, and tiger skins.

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The school library is a rigid square of old cloth-covered books lined up around a gorgeous spacious ballroom.

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Our guide then took us to visit the home of the newly-appointed District Commissioner (chief civil servant), a Woodstock alumnus from the class of 1980. He noted that Kapurthala is a peaceful posting, though remote from the capital. We discussed the upcoming elections and the responsibility of the commissioners for ensuring a safe and transparent balloting process. The national elections take place in 5 phases in April and May – Punjab votes in the last phase – due to security concerns. They hold the boxes until May 16th, when all are counted at once.

Amritsar travel

Last-minute long-weekend decision to visit Amritsar. We found an overnight train that was timed just right. But there was a curious feature of the train – it offered an un-airconditioned First Class ticket, rather cheap. Well, we would see what it was like. How bad could it be? We arrived at the station early, walked right past our train coach because it was not marked at all, and looked quite old and unkempt.

From 200904Amritsar

Indeed, it was a first-class coach with no air-conditioning, probably built thirty years ago and untouched sinnce then. The ceiling fans were whirring rapidly, unnecessarily in the cool evening. But only 1 of the 4 fan-switches worked. The cabin as spacious, with typical plastic covered berths; but it seemed to have been simply swept, not washed in so many months. The Ticket-Taker (TT) came by, graciously offered to get the mechanic to take care of the fan switches; and told us that no, there were no linens or blankets available for this coach (I even offered to pay something for that, but no…). Quite a shock, but the weather was cooperative, and we appreciated the privacy offered –we could close and latch the door to our compartment. Soon, all of the fans stopped, evidently shut at some master switch. We slept all night, jarred regularly by the train stopping and starting, and occasionally awakened by the chilly air. The train arrived at Amritsar twelve hours later.

From 200904Amritsar

In India’s economy, Amritsar is a relatively prosperous, peaceful, and spacious town. The train station was relatively clean and spacious and well-kept.
Perhaps when the dominant religious and cultural influence – Sikhism – has a strong tradition of charitable hospitality and rectitude, the destitute public do not settle in the train station. Most station platforms and walkways in India also serve as havens and sleeping places for destitute travelers, as it is the safest and cleanest public space. Sikh temples -- Gurdwaras -- are specificially designed to incorporate a soup-kitchen and dormitory for any peaceful person who arrives. Amritsar is the center of the Sikh religion, and thus especially equipped to feed and house the destitute. The Sikh sense of rectitude is reinforced by its explicitly warrior-centered notion of the defense of the faith. The Sikh turban is an iconic identifier of a righteous and fierce soldier. When lost in India, seek the turban for help – an observant Sikh will be trustworthy and helpful. Though the turbans are often a target of jokes, and the plump and preening Punjabi housewife a stereotype in TV sitcoms, that sense of rectitude and honor is also part of the cultural stereotype recognized throughout India.

From 200904Amritsar

Through history, many different societies developed traditions of assigning their children to specific occupations. In the Punjab, families – even Hindu families – traditionally offer their firstborn son to a Sikh military career. He then starts his own family, representing a mix of Sikh and Hindu observance.

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Palm Sunday in Mussoorie

February, then March, then April... it is already Palm Sunday.

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We celebrated at St.Paul's Church, and enjoyed the beautiful sunset,

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and the clear skies with views beyond the Shivalik Hills to the south.

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From Corbett, back home

Jaime woke with tummy troubles and Jeff with a chest cold, so we decided to leave the park a day early and break up the long drive to Mussoorie into two days. A long drive to Haridwar found us the surprisingly comfortable and affordable Ginger Hotel, a new chain of budget hotels in India. After checking email for the first time in many days, as well as showers for all with unlimited hot water, we enjoyed TV before bed.

Tori was up early to enjoy not one but two lattes from the coffee shop in the lobby, and Chris and Barb worked out in the small gym. Jaime and Jeff were feeling worse, so we packed up quickly and sped back to Dehra Dun in time to pick up lunch to go from McDonalds and begin the drive up the mountain to our home. Barb called the nurse on duty at Woodstock School and relayed Jaime’s symptoms; she recommended we go directly to Landour Community Hospital to have Jaime checked out by a doctor, which we did. Doctor Elizabeth determined that Jaime had “a very bad infection -- where did you get it?!”, was dehydrated and needed to stay overnight for an IV drip of multiple antibiotics, hydration fluids and observation. Tori stayed with her, and although neither got much sleep, they remarked on the good care Jaime got from the nursing staff. Full of antibiotics and hydration liquid, she was dismissed this morning and both came home to rest up.