Explosions, orphans and bikes

Explosions
Well it's a new year. In America the new year is welcomed by fireworks, falling balls and the consumption of alcohol. In India it is much the same, however, there is one big difference. In America the fireworks are all about the lights and colors. A loud noise usually accompanies the lights and colors, however, the main attraction is the light and color.

It's not the same in India. In India it's all about the noise. The louder the better. Sometimes lights are present, but mostly everyone is there for the 'bang'.

I didn't know this. So it's understandable that I was startled when something exploded next door. My first though was terrorist or something melodramatic like that. My second thought was exploded vehicle. Finally my third thought was "What the hell?"

It was simply India's way of celebrating 2009. All night they celebrated, climaxing at midnight with a massive explosion that shook the house.

The celebration wasn't just limited to explosions. All over Cochin there were people dancing in the streets. They had stereos and boom boxes. They were drunk, sober and high. Parades marched by, followed by trucks with shrines to Jesus and Mother Mary (Fort Cochin is very, very Catholic). It was amazing. People called out to me and my mom. It was truly a celebration.

Orphans
The next morning we woke up early. We were going to go to Mother Theresa's orphanage. We had seen a flier encouraging people to bring gifts and money. We went the day before and they told us to come and help feed the mentally disabled children. We took a rickshaw (a motorized tricycle much like a taxi but cooler and cheaper) to the orphanage. A rickshaw ride costs 30 rupees (about 60 cents). We arrived at 8:15.

They didn't seem terribly thrilled to see us, which is understandable. They are working all the time and seeing some rich white foreigners waltz in and offer help must seem kind of like a bad joke. They had us push some of the children around in wheelchairs. Both my mom and I felt like complete idiots. What were we doing here trying to help? The amount of suffering is vast and incomprehensible to us soft Westerners. We stayed with it though. We pushed the children (all girls) around talking to them and saying prayers out loud. For a while they didn't respond. They just sat there. But slowly and surely they began to come alive. Laughing and mumbling with us.

There was one girl called Avanti (or something we couldn't quite catch what she said). She had some sort of leprosy. Her skin was cracked and peeling. The area around her eyes were red and inflamed. Her hair was short and patchy. You could see skin peeling off her scalp. She was the kind of girl that you see in National Geographic articles about leprosy. She wasn't mentally disabled or anything like that. She was very very shy (Imagine getting self-conscious about pimples). Eventually though she began to open up. She mostly played with and talked to my mom, however, I interacted with her too. She was very very sweet. We raced matchbox cars together. Looking at her I could see the real little girl there. She is scarred for life. She will always be a leper (unless there is a cure but I'm sure it is expensive and she has nothing). But that beautiful little girl is there.

There is another thing about these little girls. They are all terribly sick in some way or another. There lives are already harder than most. And then, on top of it all, they have no mamas. They don't have anyone to hold them. They don't have anyone to love them more than anything else in the world.

The sisters care and do the best they can. They do better than anyone else could. But there are too many little boys and girls in the world without mamas. They can't be a mama to all of the little orphans in the world. They have to spread their love and attention out. They have to make it last.

Tomorrow we will go again and play with the little girls.

Bikes
On a lighter note everyone here rides bicycles. For those of you who don't know this makes me very very happy. I love bikes. However, these bikes aren't the bikes you see in America. Or maybe you did see them in America, but you probably saw them there 25 years ago. I have posted a photo of a bike. The photo is a pretty fair representation of the average state of Cochin's bike population. There are some nice ones, but not many. I haven't seen a single road bike. That is because the roads here don't lend themselves to 28'' slicks. If you tried riding on one of those you would kill yourself. No, Indian roads demand wide knobby tires and quick reflexes. Driving in India is Crazy! There are road rules and even the occasional sign, however, they are all optional. Yes, the law is you should ride on the left side of the road (India is weird like Britain) but that doesn't mean you shouldn't also ride on the right side and down the middle, too. So far I haven't seen any accidents. It all flows together somehow. Cars, pedestrians, cows, goats, rickshaws and buses all dodge each other in an insane kind of dance. Tonight I think I will rent a bicycle and join the dance.