Cricket and Synagogue

Some of you may be wondering, why has Jordan waited so long to continue documenting his voyages from India. Well, as strange as this may sound, school has started to get busy. It’s Midterms time and I don’t have too much time to waste on any of you (except my mommy of course). I know yall missed me. Sometimes I miss me too. So where was I? Oh right, I slept more sitting on a chair than lying. We start driving back to Delhi to catch our flight. We got to Delhi by 11 and went straight to the Akshardham.
The Akshardham is a huge temple that looks like it could have been built in the 16c. The difference is that it was built in 2000. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars constructing it and truly did an amazing job. It is not, for some reason or another, not become a huge tourist attraction, but it is, according to the Guinness book of world records, the largest Hindu temple in the world. Supposedly there is an amazing boat ride around the complex, unfortunately our fake tour guide failed to explain that to us. No cameras are allowed in so I couldn’t snap any photo’s, but I’d recommend looking it up online—it’s a heck of a sight.
From there the tour guide took us to Humayun’s Tomb. We weren’t supposed to go to this sight, but I asked because I had seen so many pictures and it looked so cool. It didn’t let me down, and it was probably my fav. sight in India. The first Mugul emperor, Barbar, is buried in a modest structure on the grounds and his son, Humayun, is buried in a massive building. It is red sand stone and incorporates many of the same features of the Taj. The inside is much more impressive than the taj, and the outside is not as clean/ perfect so it really gives you a sense of how old it is. The entire complex is massive and is filled with countless tombs for anyone from Humayun’s servants to his wives to the architects and engineers who built his tomb.
We will fast forward through lunch and a quick trip to the market because it was relatively uneventful. I bring you now to the airport as we prepare to fly from Delhi to Hyderabad to stay at my friend Neha’s grandmother. We get to the airport 6 hours before our flight because of confusion with the tour company. The airport is gorgeous so this is no big deal. We shop, eat pizza hut, load pictures and have a merry time. 5 hours pass and it is time to board the flight. We all meet by the gate. Wait, where are Cameron and Amira? Looks like the 2 of them are missing. “Final boarding for the Kingfisher flight to Hyderbad” sounds, still no sight of them. They call them over the loudspeaker, still no response. At this point we are nervous about there whereabouts; I think Pakistani ninjas have kidnapped them, but that doesn’t seem to be a common concern. Eventually, when the second call over the loudspeaker yields no response the airport security runs through the terminal searching frantically for them. They were out to dinner and had lost track of time. I kid you not. Not even a little. Seriously, I wish I was kidding, but I’m not. Eventually we all make it on to the flight (barely) and arrive in Hyderabad where we are greeted by Neha and her grandparents. It’s already 11 pm so we go to her apartment, get settled in her guest house, get a little henna tattoo and get ready for one of the greatest days of our lives.
We woke up and by 7 am were on our way. Our first stop was the Birla Mandir. Birla Mandir is a common name for a Hindu Temple and various ones can be found throughout India. This one was gorgeous marble, and is known as one of the prettiest ones in the whole country. Unfortunately, like at some other modern temples, cameras are not allowed. The temple is built into a mountain and has views of the entire city. We went into the central prayer hall and a priest greeted us and taught us some of their rituals. Though we didn’t fully participate it was interesting to observe Neha and her grandmother who often attend this temple.
After we were through we continued to a traditional Indian restaurants for Dosa’s. Even as I grew tired of Indian food this was on that I remained fond of. It is like a crepe’ with onions, potatoes and peas or whatever you really want (I just got onions). You dip it in some diff. hot sauces and enjoy. People say the Masala Dosa is the best kind, I just got the simple one and mine was better. Trust me, I’m a doctor.
From there we continued to the Bengle shop but stopped along the way to see a Buddha statue located in the middle of the water. Sprouting like the statue of liberty this statue symbolized the serenity and peace of mind that Buddhists develop. Though I was thoroughly enjoying my time at the bengle shop I explored a bit with the tour guide to kill some time. First we saw the charminar. Char means four and minar means minarets in Arabic. The charminar was built to pray for the end of the black plague and is right next to the Mecca Masjid, the largest mosque in Hyderabad.
Since I was traveling with a number of girls (I do not believe they deserve to be called women) the half hour of touring was not enough, and they still had plenty more bengles to buy. I got a somossa (not a mimosa) which is some food that was pretty good, yet still had 30 minutes to spare. Obviously, there was only one thing left to do: find some children and have them teach me to play cricket. So, I found two nice young kids, Age?  About 7 or 8 so I yelled to the cabby yo home smell ya later. They were adorable and, using my water bottle as a bat, broken bengles as bases, and some pebbles as the ball we played ball for a good half hour. Finally the girls were close to done and we were able finally get outta there.
From there we went to my friend Neha’s grandmothers (Nani-g) women’s college. Nani-g runs four charitable organizations but this is her fav. one. She donates $7,000 a month to this charity alone. Upon arrival we ate a quick meal, briefly toured the campus, and then, to our surprise, spoke to all of the students. There were 600 women aged 18-20. Talk about surrounded by water without a drop to drink. All of the girls are Indian former street kids or orphans who are now receiving a free JC education. We spoke to them about the value of education and the promise that it provides. She had a big sign made and it was ridiculously formal. It was really nice and beautiful. Not gonna lie, a little uncomfortable being one of two guys in the room of 600+ people, but I got over that…quickly.
We stayed at the college for a couple of hours and we didn’t leave until 5 or 6 pm. By that time I really only had two goals remaining: get my flag and get a cricket jersey. Well, once again the girls wanted to go shopping. Luckily, however, this time there was a nearby market that wasn’t so boring. As the girls shopped for their Indian clothing I got some cools crafts and my cricket jersey at a little market. Though I didn’t find a flag, later on that night Nani-g’s helper brought me a perfect one.
After dinner we were all pretty much exhausted so we just threw on some TV and passed out. A great day in Hyderabad had come to a close, and it was time to go to Cochin (Karala).
We got up at 4 and headed to the airport to catch our 7 am flight. It was nice because we got into Cochin by 10 and I was back at the ship by 11. As I was getting on my friend Danny was getting off and heading to “Jew Town.” Perfect. I through my stuff down and went with him and his friend Peyton. We started by going out to lunch and then headed to Jew town. Cochin was the center of Indian Jewry. Cochin Jews now make up 1% of Israel’s population and 7 (people not percentage) of Cochin’s. What’s left are a few street signs, one book store, one ridiculously overpriced Judaica store (Sarah’s) and a bunch of street vendors. The shul is still in existence but didn’t open until 3 so we went out and toured Cochin’s back alleys before coming back. The shul was small but beautiful. Cameras weren’t allowed so I was only able to snap some pictures on my camera. It was sphardic style; it had a balcony for women and the bimah in the center. It is now only a museum, but when they have a minyan (e.g. some high holidays/ Israelis bringing children for Bar-Mitzvah’s) they’ll reopen it. It was the perfect way to end India.
Well, we headed back to the ship and called it a country. And what a country it was. So unique yetso confused. Such poverty living aside such richness. Hindus and Muslims living peacefully side by side; Hindus and Muslims at each other’s throats. In India everything changes depending on the way you look at it. There are no truths, only vantage points.
Sorry if the end of this blog seems a bit rushed…midterms; you know how it is….PS-I’ll be in Mauritius in 7 hours…Peace out cub scouts