From Brahma to Buddha, Fall 2009

Incredibly, our three weeks in Jaipur are coming to a close. It has been a whirlwind experience - daily lectures, field trips, Hindi lessons and ISP meetings ... phew! How have we managed to accomplish so much? It feels like we have been here for months!

On Monday, each of our students made presentations/performances from their Indepedent Study Projects. The leader team was blown away by the depth and breadth of the presentations. This is one of the mos gratifying moments for a leader - to see the students take learning into their own hands, make the most of it, and then share it with the group.

Annie began the presentations with an explanation of her personal connection to the ancient practice of Yoga. She then taught the group the Sun Salutation, a series of yoga asanas (postures) designed to balance both the physical and elemental body. Emilie followed with a talk on different dance traditions in India, from Bollywood to Classical style. She then performed two beautiful dances, the first in the Bollywood style, and the second in the classical style. Indian classical dance relates storytelling through movement, and Emilie then explained the symbolism of her dance.

Andrew and Nora led a joint discussion on jewelry design and jewelry making, and led a short class in design. They had all of us create sketches of jewelry, and then commented on each piece - from the structural integrity to the design elements. Hannah then took the stage, and performed a famous song from a well-known Bollywood film, sang it entirely in Hindi, and then translated it for us.

Nate followed with a series of three traditional ragas on the sitar, as well as a fusion song her wrote himself. It was amazing to see his comfort and fluidity with an instrument he had only first laid eyes on three weeks ago! For the final presentation, Raul brought the group to Tagore Hospital, where has has been volunteeting daily. Raul gave us a full tour of the hospital, led a discussion on the privatization of Indian health care, and introduced us to both the hospital staff and several patients with whom he had made friendships.

The students all put a tremendous amount of heart and soul into these projects, and it was a complete joy on our behalf to witness the fruits of their efforts. Again, readers, you should all be very proud of the accomplishments of Team India - and still not even half way into the trip!

Tomorrow (Thursday) we say goodbye to Jaipur and leave for Bikaner, a Rajasthani desert town on the ancient silk route. In Bikaner, in between visits to forts and palaces hundreds of years old, we will volunteer with the Ajit Foundation, a local NGO which runs programs for underprivileged children. More from the group soon!

Photos from the ISP presentations on their way this evening ... !

Jackie Dennis
Program Director