India: Temples and Tourist Mode!

I just returned home from a lovely 3.5 weeks in India. Overall, it was a really great mix of working hard and having experiences, with a really great group of people.

Our first academies are opening in the state of Andhra Pradesh, on the east coast of India. Vijayawada, a city right in the middle of the state, is where our office is located here. Our academies range from about 7 hours by public transportation north of Vijayawada, to about 6 hours south of the city. Its quite a spread.

Andhra Pradesh outlined in red. (Source)

With Vijayawada right in the middle, along the Krishna River. (Source)

After we awoke from our slumber in that glorious Hyderabad Airport sleepcave, Amelia, Jess and I boarded our final (and shortest!) flight to Vijayawada. We touched down at their tiny airport and were immediately met by Rakesh, a member of our admin team (and general rock star) and couriered to our lovely fifth floor apartment. Without a doubt this has the coolest view of any Bridge housing, haha.

Vijayawada airport is pocket sized.

The first of many beautiful panoramic shots of Vijayawada.

We were sharing the house with a variety of staff members, including:

• Jawahar (an absolutely incredible trainer that joined us after working for Teach for India)
• Pallavi, Asra, and Sandeep (current Teach for India Fellows who came to do an internship with us over their break between school years)
• Deryn (former Boston Fellow Extraordinaire, lover of India, writer of curriculum)
• Charles (current MBA student and long-time ed reformer/Bridge supporter who came to do a mini-internship with us focusing on training operations)

The corporate apartment was pretty full, but it was such a great group of people that you couldn't complain. Lots of deep conversations and laughter. And, it is definitely worth mentioning that we were taken care of better in India than any operating country I've ever been to. Jawahar always made sure we were happy and full of absolutely phenomenal Indian food. Over the next few days we went back and forth to our office downtown, meeting with various staff members and getting the rest of training ready. Amelia and the teacher training team had several people working together, but I was going solo on Academy Manager training. Due to some slight customs-related hiccups (are there any other kind?) we decided to push training back a week, which gave me some more time to finalise content (which I very much appreciated). It's always interesting to see the different cultures of the different offices we have around the world and India was no exception. It was great to get to know a lot of new people who are passionate about the mission and excited to get started.

First day at the office selfie.
Rakesh, me, Amelia, Jess

Auto-ing around, as you do.

Sunset from the roof of our building.

The whole city is various shades of pastel colours. So pretty.

Peeking down at a local street vendor from the rooftop.

On Sunday morning Rakesh and the interns organised a trip for us to go visit a beach on the Bay of Bengal at sunrise, stop by the town where Rakesh grew up, and then visit a famous temple our way home. We woke up at 4am for the hour and a half trip out to Machilipatnam, a coastal town in the far east of Andhra Pradesh. Apparently the town was a huge trading port, since it is on the ocean at the mouth of a major river that cuts into the interior of the state. The word machili means fish, while patnam means settlement, so its easy to see how the town got its name. Unfortunately our cabs were a touch late, which threw off the perfectly scheduled timing that would have been required for us to actually make it in time to see the sunrise, but it was still absolutely beautiful. I couldn't believe how many people were on the beach so early - we arrived between 5:30am and 6:00am and there were a ton of people. It was really surprising...until I realised that with every minute that went by the temperature crawled up a little higher. By the time we left it was in the upper 90s and we were pretty drenched with sweat.

Sunrise from the car NEAR the beach.

Giant fish gate? Yes, please.

Hullo.

Giant fish selfies are the best selfies.
Amelia, Jess, Me, Charles

Pictures of pictures. So meta.

Beautiful beach morning.

Love that warm morning light.

Lots of people out in the warm surf.

KWABS.

You had to stand really still, because as soon as you moved these guys disappeared into their tunnels.

They were much a pretty bright red.

Especially against the sand.

Gathering together for a chat in the sea.

Pallavi and Asra sharing an early morning moment.

Walk to work.

Totally unplanned, unposed photo of Charles at sea. #KIPPcovermodel

Modelling competition, haha.

Love the riot of colours in India. 

Beautiful.

Rakesh on a horse. Naturally.

Just your average morning.

This little girl ran up to me on the beach and shyly said "Madam! Snap please!" 
and this was the pose she struck for the photo, haha. Love it. All the women 
wore their sarees into the water, which just felt so dangerous. 
That's a lot of waterlogged fabric to get trapped in.

Our India team members are selfie professionals.
Front: Pallavi, Aelia, Jess
Back: Me, Rakesh, Charles, Sandeep, Aliya (Rakesh's wife and member of our finance team), Asra

After departing the beach we headed to grab some breakfast in downtown Machilipatnam. This is the first place I saw the gold men, which I crazily never got a photo of. Local politicians - Members of Parliament, governors, etc - often pay to have golden statues of themselves erected in medians and roundabouts, or along the side of the road. It is crazy and kind of hilarious. The roads are dotted with these shiny gold lifesize replicas of men in suits (apparently in one town there's also a famous one of a woman holding her handbag). So random. After breakfast, we headed to the neighbourhood where Rakesh grew up, first to visit the church where his late father was the pastor (and he was born in a building on the compound) and then to his mother's house. While there we chatted and snacked on these crazy mangoes I've never heard of before. They are significantly smaller than a regular mango, and still green when ripe. Instead of slicing them, you squeeze them into a pulp and then just cut the top off and squeeze the mangoey goodness into your mouth. It's like nature's Go-gurt. A perfect little package of deliciousness.  Once we finished snacking and talking, we piled back in our cars to head to Mangalagiri to visit a temple there.

Grabbing some food at a local restaurant in Machilipatnam.

Delicious, puffy breakfast noms.

Telugu bible at Rakesh's family church.

Off to visit Rakesh's mom.

Love these tropical flowers.

Squeezy mangoes!

I mean of COURSE we need another selfie. This one also includes Rakesh's mom and brother in the background.

On the road we stopped for some famous badam paalu/kheer, 
a mix of almonds, spices, and iced milk.

As I drank this, I thought "well I'm certainly going to get sick from this" but I didn't! I didn't get sick the whole 
time I was in India. Traveler stomach for the win!

After driving about two hours, we arrived in Mangalagiri, which is located about 20 minutes inland of Vijayawada. The Lakshmi-Narasimha Temple is located about 3/4 of the way up the side of an "elephant shaped mountain" that is actually a volcano that overlooks Mangalagiri. Though, by "elephant shaped" I can only assume they mean "vaguely rounded" as there are no ears or trunk. We entered the compound through an ornate, pale yellow gate. Our driver let out the gas, our car speeding up the switchbacks that lead to the temple. Of course it is one lane. Of course you just lay on the horn when approaching blind curves and hope for the best.

Once at the top, there were people and cars and motorbikes and autorickshaws, all jockeying for position and pressing against one another. By this point, around 2:00pm, the heat was oppressive. It molded itself to you the moment you stepped out of your air conditioned car -- a thick blanket of incense, burning trash, jasmine (from the tightly fisted braids of women making their way to the temple), and the general spicy pungence of sweat...all woven together with sheer humidity.

Moments after disembarking our car, Rakesh told us that we had to take our shoes off and leave them in the car. So I peeled off my shoes and socks, still damp from the wave that snuck up on me just after sunrise when I was too distracted taking a photo of a riotously coloured saree against the gray ocean, and my feet hit the searing pavement for the roughly 50m.

Every rock feels like a brand. You can feel your soles burning.

Upon entering the temple we wove through stalls selling all manner of offerings and made our way to the front table. I peeled off 100 rupees and handed them to Pallavi, who purchased a few gifts for the gods, and then sighed when she looked at the line snaking its way around metal barriers. I couldn't help but think that this looked a bit more like a roller coaster than a place of worship. When she asked me for 50 more rupees, I shrugged and handed it over, only to find out we had just purchased the Hindu equivalent of a Disney World Fast Pass, and we are now able to enter an exclusive line that bypasses just about everyone else. I couldn't help but blush a little bit as I walked past all the pious people, shifting their weight from one foot to the other as their line barely shuffled forward. A middle schooler with tight, neat loops of braids asked me where I was from and we made some small talk. She's surprised to learn that yes, even those of us from America are interested in visiting temples.

Stalls of offerings at the temple.

Stairway to the gods.

Our line stopped just before the room where the idol sits, and Pallavi answered my questions about what is about to happen in hushed tones. First, we made an offering - sugar crystals and fresh basil for its cleansing properties. These got handed over to a religious brother swathed in an orange sarong, who distributed them around a statue of a goddess no taller than my knees. By afternoon, piles of basil covered her past her chest, only her head and hands peeking out from the green. For this small devotion, Pallavi rewarded me with a spot of turmeric on my forehead.

Rock sugar and basil.

Posing after the ritual was complete.

The line continued around several barriers into a room no bigger than a closet - dark and crowded, with sticky floors. Two new priests efficiently corraled our entire group of 9 into the tight space, and handed the two men in the front metal urns filled with jaggery juice. (Jaggery, you learn later, is a semi-solid mass of unrefined sugar, which is still held together with molasses. This is mixed with water to form a sweet juice.) 

If local legends are to be believed, this murky liquid is what protects the city below, what keeps the volcano from erupting.

Three small cups were ladled out, and poured into the open mouth of the golden idol depicting Narasimha, an avatar of Vishnu - the preserver and protector. Narasimha has the body of a man and the head and claws of a lion, and its into his fanged mouth that the jaggery juice is poured. They say that if you put in more than three cups he spits it back out, but we aren't given the chance to try...there are many people in line, we have to keep moving. You can, however, hear the liquid from each cup burble down into the opening, and imagine that it continues straight down into the belly of the volcano, calming the heat that causes eruption.

As we stepped out of the room, our still tender feet stick to the floor, suctioning with every step out towards the antechamber where we had the opportunity to sip on some of the leftover jaggery juice - thick and sweet - and absolve some of your past sins. Once clean, we emerged back into the vestibule of the temple, confident that Mangalagiri would live to see another volcano free day thanks to our small act.

And what better way to celebrate saving the town than by taking a million photos overlooking it??

Steps down towards Mangalagiri.

Gonna use this photo Jess snapped as our next album cover.
Bottom to Top: Asra, Pallavi, Aliya, Sandeep, Rakesh, Charles, Me

So pretty.

Nearby Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Temple.

Mangalagiri

Striking a pose with the city we just saved.

While taking photos, a mother came up and thrust her baby towards us. We smiled and said sure we would take 
a photo with her daughter...as long as we could also have a copy. I call this "Amelia and Meaghan's 
Lesbian Adoption Brochure Photo".

Soon enough it was time to grab some food and head home for a bit of work and relaxation before the week. Monday was a good start to the week - first we had a delicious breakfast at a restaurant called TFL: The Food Lounge just by our office, and the day ended with a celebration of Pallavi's birthday, during which we had cake (with a CRAZY AWESOME candle that spun and sang) and saw the latest Avengers movie in 3D for like $1.20 per ticket. Insanity.

Delish.

The ride to the movies. Traffic in Vijaywada pretty tame for India!

Uhhh that candle is AMAZING. As is Deryn's face.

These spicy fried okra bits and daal were some common 
delicious staples of our meals.

Breakfast, omnomnom.

Totally normal way to get around, haha. Tiny pic stolen from Charles.

On Thursday we went out and checked out our training site. SO NICE. We were able to negotiate a great rate at an old resort, which is probably the nicest place I've ever trained. Really beautiful. 

Gardens outside the main building.

Our housing. Gorgeous!

And such comfy rooms!

Can't beat the views from our floor.

And just to top things off, OUTDOOR MOVIE SCREENING AREA.

On the way home we stopped at Vijayawada's most famous temple, the Kanakadurga Temple. People travel from all over to visit this temple, which plays an important role in Hindu mythology. I've now heard two completely different stories about how and why this temple came to be and I'll share my favourite of the two, haha.

Long ago there were two lovers: Shiva, the god of destruction, and his wife Parvati. An incarnation of Parvati was born to earth in the form of a princess named Sati. Sati grew up feeling that she was meant to be with Shiva, who was at that point living an aesthetic in the Himalayas. Her father scorned this idea, of his high born daughter associating with a poor person who was known to live in graveyards, but eventually Sati gave up all of her worldly possessions and went to join Shiva. 

Very much in love, they lived together for a time, until one day Sati heard that her father was throwing a huge party and had invited "basically everyone in the world except Sati and Shiva." Sati was incensed - how dare her father not invite them? Shiva advised her to just let it go, but she couldn't, and she decided she would just show up at the party anyway, in spite of her father.

Once she arrived, her father publicly mocked Shiva, in front of all of their guests. Sati defended him, but her father was relentless. In a last ditch effort to show her devotion to her husband, Sati set herself on fire, committing suicide. Because she was the incarnation of a goddess, this threw the world off balance. Shiva felt the imbalance, and came to the palace where he found his wife dead and burnt. Beside himself, he lifted her into his arms and began to dance. His anger fueled him, and the dance grew faster. The balance of the world slipped even further off center, as the god of destruction let lose his anger and despair. Natural disasters began occurring, and demons spun off him and began to wreck havoc on the world. No one knew what to do.

The other gods, however, knew they had to act. They sent Vishnu, the preserver, to settle Shiva down. He used his spinning chakra (a blade) to cut Sati's body into many pieces, and when Shiva had nothing left to hold and mourn his destructive dance ended. The pieces of Sati's body fell to the earth, where over the following years, temples were built around each one.

Today these temples remain very holy places. Each one holds a different body piece - the one in Vijayawada is Sati/Parvati's left hand. People travel from far and wide to visit and watch the religious ceremonies.

When we arrived we were rushed through the ticket purchasing process, and told to hurry when we had to backtrack to drop off our phones and cameras in storage lockers near the entrance. We weren't sure why we were being rushed, until we realised that we had arrived just in time to watch the sunset service. Ornate metal lamps were lit and moved in circles around the statue of the goddess. Then the lamps were brought out, and devotees were given an opportunity to cleanse themselves with the head and light. It was really beautiful. Loud gongs and drums went off around us for the duration of the ceremony, and I spent a lot of time taking in the beautiful architecture and paintings around the altar. It was a very cool experience.

After the ceremony was over, we were blessed, and set free to go take in the sweeping views of Vijayawada from the other side of the temple. Apparently we were doubly lucky - first that we wandered in and just the right time to witness the ceremony, and second that we were there on a weekday when short lines allowed much faster and better access. It was kind of perfect.

Vijayawada, with the Krishna river on the right.

Temple overlooking the city.

This tower was so intricately and delicately decorated. Gorgeous.

The main altar lies below the golden tower

Really lovely against the dark green hills.

Huge neon ohm symbol on the mountainside near the temple.

Nightfall.

The next few days were uneventful, except Amelia left on Thursday, and Jess on Friday. On Friday evening, the rest of us headed to the training site where we would spend the next 2.5 weeks preparing our new teachers and Academy Managers to take over their brand new academies. More on that in the next entry!