Bonnie learns how to make Chipati
We are back at home base (Delhi) and are frantically packing our bikes and bags for the next leg of our trip. Another country, another stamp. We are off to Nepal today. Land of the mighty Himalaya, church ground to devout Buddhists, and home for next month. I have had Nepal on my mind since I went to Alaska in 2004. I sat next to a world traveling couple who ranted and raved about the majestic beauty. I am very excited.
Our journey to our first organic farm begins 10 days ago...
Day 1: Biked Delhi to Rhotak (20 miles)
We are celebrities. The locals ride beside us and want to know why 3 Americans would be biking on these roads. Nevertheless, they ask to take pictures of us along the way and we even end up in a newspaper.
We arrive to town at a gas station looking for a place to rest for the night. Upon asking locals for a nearby hotel, the manager of the gas station, Kaptan, asks us if we would like to use his office for the night. We graciously accept, and are treated with hospitality that I couldn't expect from a close relative. Despite broken English, the man shows us around town (his Judo school and a local dance recital), buys us vegetables, and makes us dinner. He was very interested in us and our story and enjoys our company.
Later on we are taken out to see the Agriculture University and bought 3 kg of sweets from Kaptan's brother, Deepak. Deepak insists that we stay with him on our way back from the farm and has set up a person to meet us in the next city for accommodations and a meal. Wow.
Day 2: Biked Rhotak to Hirsar (60 miles)
We get up early, eat a quick breakfast, and are sent off to continue our journey by all the friends we have made at the gas station. We meet up with Rajinder, a pHD student of agricultural economics and leader of an organic agriculture activist group, that takes us to dinner and sets up a meeting with fellow colleague , Nirender, a journalist for the India Times. Again, we are insisted to come back and stay with the family for a good organically cooked vegan meal. Wow.
Day 3: Biked Hirsar to Sirsa (60 miles)
We make good time and decide to ask a woman if we could use her court yard as refuge from the traffic and curious Indians in order to boil some water and make a quick noodle lunch. The woman not only insists that we use her kitchen, but has her day labor help us prepare the meal and lets us sit in her dining room. We are called by Rajinder (pHD student) and told that a lunch has been arranged for us with some people in his activist group. Ironically, the students knew the people we were having lunch with, and came over with a journalist. Newspaper #2.
After being misquoted a few times, we continue biking to the farm. We arrive, are welcomed into the home. The immediate family consists of Harpal, a passionate hippie organic farmer that has seen the world and has been through it all, Surrinder, his wife who studied Botany in the UK and who met Harpal on their wedding night and their son, Jaspal, a 27 year old image of Harpal. We are left to clean up while the family meets with their master. Their master, also a family member, visits Sirsa once a year for a very large satsang of 200,000+ people.
On the Farm
We sit in the first row of the satsang the next morning. Women on one side, men on the other. A rush of Sikhs pile in and sit cross legged to sing and listen to the sermon. Being on my own spiritual journey, this was like hitting the lottery for me. All around me are women with beautifully covered heads.
Bonnie and I quickly learn a woman's role on the farm. Surrinder, the woman of the house, is sick and things are somewhat in upheaval. We are asked to help it the kitchen. We are not to help on the farm and mostly are pulled to the kitchen when organic agriculture is being spoken about. Being the only person in the group that has a food agriculture background, this upsets me, but only for a few minutes. I am in a new country with different traditions and different cultures. I am not in America anymore, and I need to let that go. I gladly offer to help in the kitchen and try to learn as much as possible. There is so much work an Indian woman must do. I feel empathy for Surrinder and wish to see that she is appreciated more.
We go out to the fields and I see what the men do. It is hard work, no doubt. I understand why the women must take care of the things at home to make this microcosm function, but still, I wish her to be appreciated more. Imagine being a botany student in the UK, having an arranged marriage, and spending day and night tending to others. I guess that's what happens when you have a family though - farm or city.
We are again interviewed for 2 newspapers and the local news. Bonnie and I are asked to flank Jamey for the shooting and are asked very little.
We take Surrinder on a bike ride one evening, and she laughs. I feel happy. Don't get me wrong, I am sure she is appreciated. It's just a little culture shock. I disagree that Mother's Day is a Hallmark holiday.
I meet Jaspal's cousin, Cub, a 29 year old farmer who received his masters in Political Science and immediately feel comfortable. Not once did I hold back from asking questions about religion, culture, traditions from the family, but with Cab, I was able to really understand. I asked him about arranged marriage and he put it very simply. Your family decides who will be best suited to take care of you and the family and who can adjust to the family life (being on a farm or on a city). If it's the wish of the family, the couple will meet a few times (usually with others) and will marry shorty after. It is the duty of the man to make the woman as comfortable as possible since it is her that is moving away from her family and her life, to be with his. Since they must be together forever, they try to be happy and try to make each other happy. I, of course, prefer love marriages, but I can see the value in arranged. When the going gets tough, we tend to move on to something brighter. As Thick Naht Hahn eloquently puts it, if scientists can't determine what a speck of dust is, how can we think that we know the ins and out of our partner?
My first experience as an Indian WWOOFer was very eye opening. I am excited for Nepal.
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