Madurai, Classical Evening

July 22, 2013

We arrived safely in hot and steamy Madurai( about 87 degrees) still cool by India's standards.   Our transport was a Bombardier Q400, about a 40 seater.  Our hotel is basic, the kind I am used too.  Those of you who have been jealous of my luxury accommodations can rest easy this week.  We aren't roughing it by any means and the laundry rates are great, so we will all have clean clothes. I am going to enjoy exploring Madurai.  It is very Hindu; temples everywhere, gods and goddesses on windows, storefronts,hallways.  We are also going to be spending a lot of time in schools interacting with students and teachers.  That opportunity is a big highlight of this program.  As you read this also remember to have varied car horns beeping and blaring away in your head.

India's identity is very unique.  Each State and region has so many differences from the one we've been in before.  At the conclusion of our program we will be asked to describe Indian identity and to share our perspective on the similarities and differences we have discovered. Our new director for Madurai says that she is always surprised by the responses visiting teachers and scholars share.  At the Wagha Border we definitely had a sense of Indian pride as we celebrated on the Hindustan side of the border with our cheers, chants, singing and dancing.  I've shared insights I've gathered along the way about collective pride and identity.  The differences, a lot like American regions but with much more complexity.  For example, there are sixteen spoken and written languages in India, at least twenty-four more spoken languages, and again that many forms of vernacular.  Add that to the many religions which often take on different characteristics, regional food, dance and customs and you see the dilemma.  Describing India is a challenge, perhaps an impossibility.  I am not even sure the people of India can do that themselves.  Globalization is creeping in as you can see from McDonald's and Coca Cola in every city.  Indians worry about identity being blotted out, I don't think that will happen. There is a strong desire to keep traditions alive.

We've been prepped for our school visits in Madurai.  This is described as an orthodox conservative area and there are many taboo subjects.  Teachers are viewed as gurus (gods), and apparently the order of importance here is mother, father, teacher and then god.  Fortunately that is not the outlook at home, too big a "bill to fill".  The education is based on order, regimentation and rote memorization. Education is important and one child in every family from Madurai is apparently living in the USA. 

Most of our day was travel and orientation but our evening transported us to another world.  We were guided to a patio where the palm trees were swaying, jasmine wafting on the breeze. We were treated to an evening of classical drumming and singing from the Vedas and then stories told through music and dance from the Vedas.  Professors were the gurus and the drummers for example must take four-hundred or more hours of training with the guru, one lesson an week and four hours of practice a day to become professional. The Mridhangam is the South Indian percussion instrument similar to the Tabla.  The guru has recently earned a PhD in this instrument.  This is why globalization won't win in terms of heritage.  American and probably British and other universities are teamed up with Indian universities to develop these PhD programs to keep the culture alive.   We seem to meet three PhD's a day here, and they are experts in their crafts and subject areas.  It was a great evening.  The dance form was called Bharatanatyam.