Trip to Udagamandalam (shortened version...Ooty)!

We recently went with Ken & Mary Waldock and several members of Bethel Baptist Church to a wedding in a small village a few kilometers from Ooty. We were on the road for about 10 hours (counting a stop for breakfast, two tea stops and sack lunch stop along the way). We drove and drove and drove over some VERY rough roads and sometimes we wondered if the carload of friends who were traveling with us were going to make it over some of the bumps. They did, and we all arrived safely, although we were late for the wedding. The sad thing about that was that the pastor who was going to give the message was with us!

The wedding happened anyway and we did arrive in time to hear the end of the impromptu message and a few songs, and see the bride, groom and witnesses sign the marriage certificate. We also attended the reception which is a most important part of the wedding in India. Not everyone feels free to attend a Christian wedding if they're Hindu or Muslim, and vice-versa. But everyone can participate in the well-wishing that follows and, of course, everyone loves a good meal which was served on banana leaves (they work like paper plates and it makes for much quicker cleanup).

Despite the discomfort of the bumpy roads, we saw some beautiful country- side and were thankful that we were able to take the trip. We traveled to about 8,000 ft. and drove through a tea producing area. We will never drink tea again without thinking about the man hours it must take to make us a good brew of tea. The plants stretched on for miles and miles (oops, kilometers & kilometers) and nothing is done by machine. At the time we drove through, the weather was cold and drizzly and we didn't see many people working, but we certainly can imagine the intensive labor involved.

We also drove through a game park and saw various wild animals (through the car windows). We enjoyed seeing elephants and peacocks, wild boar, monkeys, even three camels with men riding them, and Marie shocked one of the seminary students by telling him that we even saw a tiger. His mouth flew wide open and his eyes got huge. Then she told him that she saw it on a road sign and he was flabbergasted that she had so completely fooled him. We all had a good laugh.

Our return trip started at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, and as we were creeping through the crazy traffic of the city of Bangalore at the end of the day, we asked Ken how far we had gone. He said that we had traveled about 180 miles (one way). We traveled 10 hours to go 180 miles, and it took longer to return because of the busy streets on Saturday evening in Bangalore. Let me see...isn't that an average of about 18 mph? Whew, were we ever tired! Ken and Mary seemed to take it just fine (which made us feel like extreme wimps). I guess they truly are seasoned missionaries!

Sounds of India

As I have been working in our home, I have been struck again and again by the great variety of sounds that fill our days here in India. Not the sounds of cars and sirens and boom boxes, but sounds of people selling their wares or animals making their unique noises outside our windows. I will try to share some of those sounds as I remember them, or as they occur while I'm typing so you can sense the amazing uniqueness of India.

Psssss-clunk,.....psssss-clunk,.....psssss-clunk - the early morning sound of a pressure cooker as someone upstairs makes breakfast. Pressure cookers here don't jiggle to let off steam gradually, they suddenly let it off all at once. The first time I used a pressure cooker here, I literally ran from the kitchen thinking that the cooker was going to blow up! NO KIDDING!
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Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang - the LOUD ringing of a dinner bell at 8:00 a.m. signals the arrival of the garbage man. That bell makes us jump up from whatever we are doing to run for our trash. We often chuckle at how easily we have been trained - just like Pavlov's dogs!
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Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang - the same bell sound at 3:00 p.m. signals the arrival of the ice cream man. I have often wondered why the garbage man and the ice cream man have chosen to use the same sound. It makes me think the ice cream may be a bit unappetizing!
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A ladies voice calling out her wares around 8:00 a.m. is usually the lady who sells greens. Her voice and call is unique so I recognize her while she's still a block away and again I go running if I need something. I've discovered that I can get just about any type of greens (except lettuce) from the basket that she carries on the top of her head. She wraps a towel into a flattened ball, puts it on her head for protection, and sets the basket up on her head. Then she walks briskly down the street with the basket balanced on her head and her hands swinging freely despite the fact that the basket is at least twice as wide as she is. What a balancing act!
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A new sound that I have never heard before just made me jump up and run to the window. It was a man selling idols...black and ugly. A big Hindu festival is starting soon and he's selling his wares in the neighborhood with the hope of cashing in on the holiday.
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Beautiful music signals the arrival of a man selling flutes. He has at least fifty tied to the end of a pole that he carries in the crook of his arm with the flutes all pointing heavenward. The whole works sort of looks like a chimney sweeps brush. He plays a flute to show what beautiful music can be made with them (although I'm sure I would not sound so good). I would love to have him standy by my door and play for a while!
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A loud marching drum signaled the arrival of two fellows dressed in black who were begging for money so they could go on pilgrimage. Apparently begging for the funds needed for pilgrimage is part of the whole process. Even if they have the money, a requirement for them to go on their pilgrimage is that they have begged for the funds. I guess it's the humbling process that matters.
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Papieers...papieeers...papieeers...a boy rides by on a bicycle with stacks of newspapers on the back. The unique thing about it is that he's not delivering them, he's asking for our old papers. He than either sells them or uses them himself to make a variety of items.
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The bellow of cows as they pass by grazing...the cluck of hen and chicks and the arrogant crow of a rooster...the bleating of goats as their goat herder leads them around the house and through the fields (and the laundry). I (Marie) had fun with a rooster recently. It was early morning and chickens and chicks and one rooster were close by the house. So I started clucking like a chicken and the rooster's head immediately came way up in the air, he stuck his chest out as far as he could and started strutting, looking for this new 'chick'. He looked and looked and looked and finally out of frustration, he climbed up on a pile of rocks and started crowing as if to say..."okay, I know you're there so come out come out wherever you are. Look at me, I'm the best...come join my harem!" It was very funny! After it was all over though, I began to think that perhaps a missionary acting like that on the field was a sign that she might be losing it. What do you think?
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Twice a day...at noon and 5:00 p.m., a word I can't write is called out to signal the arrival of the vegetable cart. The men are calling out the word "vegetables" in the local language. Although I can't understand them, I have learned to recognize their sound and often at just the time I need them, they pass by. If I need something and am quick enough (they walk fast to have the needed momentum and sometimes don't slow down), I can usually find it on their carts. Tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, squash of several varieties, onions, lime...you name it and it may be there! Very handy!
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The constant sound of construction. Of course the sounds are different here because most of the work is manual. The only major mechanical thing we've seen is the cement mixer. Everything else is accomplished by the sweat of the brow and some hand-held electric saws (for cutting granite or marble). Even when the cement is mixed in the mixer, the people manually carry the concrete in flat pans on their heads to the place it is to be dumped. Lately we've been hearing the sound of men cutting rebar which is used to reinforce concrete. One man holds a hard, pointed piece of metal (like a wedge) and another man hits it over and over again with a mallet until it's cut. All day long, these men wack at rebar. What a job!
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On Sunday mornings we have often awakened to the sound of people on the construction site fighting. One woman in particular must be very difficult for most of the folks who work so closely together to deal with. We often look out the window and see people standing by watching as this woman has it out with one of the fellows. The watchers don't get involved, but they're right there listening to it all. We've heard that the construction workers do a lot of drinking at night so by Sunday morning she probably feels pretty miserable and makes everyone else feel that way too!
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Putt...putt...putt...An auto-rickshaw is passing by. A wobbly, three-wheeler that can hold three adults wiggles and jiggles down the roads and threatens to tip over at the first possible chance. But for the skill of the drivers, they probably would because the roads are so bumpy and full of holes. Some of the autos even have radios and the passengers are grandly serenaded by the latest theatre music as they go putt putting down the road. Actually, it's quite fun if it's not raining or the dirt isn't blowing around too badly.
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Swoosh...Motorcycles pass by constantly. People here call them bikes and the slower one-speed models are called scooters. They have become a major mode of transportation here in Bangalore. We are very impressed that we have seldom heard any as loud as they seem to have to be in the States. They usually quietly whiz by and almost before you know they're around, they're gone. It's a necessary means of transportation, not a noisy sports vehicle and sometimes two or even three adults are loaded on one "bike". Most of them come with shields over the wheels so the ladies don't get the fabric of their sari's or salwar kamiz's caught in them.
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Tweet -- tweet -- t-w-e-e-t -- the night watchman is somewhere in the area. A self-proclaimed watchman walks around the neighborhoods during the night, blowing a whistle to scare away the bad guys. We don't know if he actually does scare anyone, but he certainly wakes us up during the night. Our thinking is that when he blows his whistle the "bad buy" can run and hide before the watchman gets there and then when he passes, Mr. Burglar can come out of hiding and go about his business.
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Someone calling/singing over a loudspeaker at 5:00 a.m. and then at various times throughout the day is the sound of the Muslim call to prayer. We are convinced that the Muslims invented Karaokee on a grand scale! If you click on the picture to the left it will enlarge and you can see the speakers that amplify the sound. We have used their call to worship as a reminder to pray for them and we trust that God will hear and answer our prayers as we hold them up before Him. Please join us as we pray for the Muslim & Hindu population in India and throughout the world!
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Oops, there is another voice and sound that I have never heard before and I've discovered that it's a man with a round stone on a fragile, collapsible, metal stand that he carries on his back. This particular man has kitchen knives hanging from his wheel and I know that he is the area knife sharpener with his wet-stone that he packs with him so he can work his trade.
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Putt...putt....putt...putt...BANG! A tractor pulling an empty water tank has just hit the bump outside our house. These men drive by with full loads of water for the people working on construction sites or for people who's wells have gone dry. When the tank is empty, I think they take great glee in going full speed ahead over the bumps. It makes quite a racket and we're thankful that they don't drive through in the middle of the night!
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KaBOOM...KaBOOM...KaBOOM! On Fridays the men on the military base right behind our house practice shooting their cannons. Sometimes I'm just "thrilled" to learn that they have positioned their cannons right behind our house and the repercussions from the firing actually make me feel like I'm inside a big bass drum. They shoot between 5 to 10 times and then they must reload. They wait just long enough for me to forget they're out there and then they shoot a series again and I yelp with fright each time they start firing. It's rather daunting and definitely not a good time to be writing a letter. The paper would have scribbles all over it.
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CLANK - One day I heard that noise (just one time) and thought it sounded like the door knocker. So I made my way to the back door...no one there. Then I looked out my front door...no one there. I walked away and again the knocker went. I went back to the front door and looked out...no one there. A second time I walked away and the door knocker made a single clank again. A bit frustrated, I decided I was going to look out a different window to get a broader view. To my surprise I discovered a Hindu 'holy man' who was knocking and quickly stepping out of view so the unsuspecting housekeeper would open the door and be too intimidated to say 'no' to his begging. I am so thankful that I listened to the still small voice of the Lord and didn't just rush to open the door like I sometimes do. As I gazed at him through the window, I was rather horrified to see what looked like a man possessed. If I had opened the door and gazed into those eyes, I might have screamed. As it was, he saw me and I shook my head to indicated that my answer was 'no' and he went on his way...foiled! I pray that somehow God will set that man and men like him free from the evil that now grips him/them!
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Sam often experiences a sound that is totally different than anything Marie hears because his time is spent at the seminary. He deals with the noise of a movie theatre right next door to the seminary and the crowds that get very rowdy when a new movie has been released. They gather and start pounding on the metal gates of the theatre, long before the movie is to begin. The professors have to try to teach through the noise of people shouting at the top of their lungs and banging as loud and hard as they can. Here in India, the movie going growd is a noisy and obnoxious (and often violent) bunch and they make it very difficult for the teachers and students alike. When the movie actually starts, the volume is so loud that people outside the theatre can hear every word and the music that's played. The poor students have to put up with this day after day from early morning until late at night. Pray that they will be able to study and get their sleep. Praise God, it only happens when a new movie is released (which is often enough)!
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So there you have just a few of the sounds that we hear throughout our days and nights. We hope the above has enabled you to experience a bit of India with us.