Six Hours, Three Different Temples

Stardate 64498.5

23:13 - The vast presence of different religions in India surprises me. Growing up in a country that prides itself on being a place to worship as you please, I have always felt that the U.S. could accept any religion and respect its followers. Yet in India, differences in religion are facts of life, not just a small characteristic. Today, we visited jest three of the major religious sites in Delhi: The Lotus Temple, Akshardham Temple, Gurdwara Shri Bangla Sahib.

The Lotus Temple created by the Baha'i faith rises up as a large marble lotus surrounded by nine pools.  We entered the temple in silence and immediately felt the meditating mood wash over us. Encircling the cold marble floors of the temple with my bare feet, I stopped by a window to see another temple rising out of the Delhi fog, the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Temple (Hindu).  I reflected on the idea of sitting inside a religious site in the U.S. and seeing another church/temple/mosque through a window. In College Station, we have Church Street, which has multiple Christian Churches; but Church Street only contains different sects within Christianity not other faiths. As I put on my shoes, I couldn't help realize that I have never really come across a truly diverse religious society.

Our next destination was the magnificent Akshardham Temple built to honor a deceased guru. The Akshardham Temple compares to the many of the cathedrals of Europe with every inch of marble carved and its towering domes. Again shoe-less, I traveled around admiring the carved lotuses and elephants and came upon a side ceremony. A priest of the temple took me in and explained the ceremony. He told me about his Hindu faith and how they have expanded around the world.  He told me about the temple they built in Houston. Upon further clarification, he showed me the address in Sugar Land, Tx. I have been to this temple; in fact, it was the first way I was exposed to Hinduism. Thousands of miles away and we found a connection despite being a part of a ceremony totally foreign to me.

The Sikh Gurdwara Shri Bangla Sahib was our final destination and last occasion to take off our shoes. Different from the shininess of the other two sites, the Sikh Gurdwara had a unique feel to it.  We sat on the side as they sang. I watched as the local Sikhs traveled clockwise around the temple. This temple seemed used. All of the business men, housewives, toddlers with little turbans and children following behind gave the impression that the public used this space as more than just a symbol of their religion, but the working part of their faith.  As part of their complex, the Sikhs had a small tent set up to serve food to any one passing by, especially the multitude of homeless people living near by. This temple reminded me of my own Catholic Church at home with its dim lights and passion for social services. We were told that even the Sikh Prime Minister works a shift at the temple.

In the U.S., we have all three of these religions present, but not vocal. Despite our freedom of religion, I would argue that we do not have religious diversity. We have one major religion with other religions operating on the parameter. In India, many religions exist and almost balance each other. Even though Hinduism has the most followers, it does not hold the majority. As we in the U.S. move towards accepting more immigrants with different religions, we should take India's example into account and not fear the decentralization of our 'culture' or national 'identity'.  We should celebrate this decentralization and trust in our faith that freedom of religion will take us forward.

Financing a Dream

Stardate 64495.6 

20:08 IST - As our first outing in India, we visited the workshop and home of a recipient of microfinance services. The purpose of microfinace services is to offer the poorest a way to borrow and save money.  In normal situations, banks make clients offer up collateral for a loan or have a minimums balance to open a savings account.  However, the poor do not have the collateral or the minimum amount in order to do business with the banks. Over 60% of Indians do not have a bank account; therefore, they cannot obtain these financial services.  Companies and NGOs, such as Basix, help deliver these services.  In many cases, the poor only need loans of a few hundred dollars to make their goals a reality.  These small investments in their futures make huge returns in the form of more income and better, more sustainable livelihoods.
Our small, tired from jet-lag and famished group traveled about an hour to another part of New Dehli where we came to a place where our small complaints were not warranted.  Roughly 20 Americans huddled into a small workshop in a smaller neighborhood in New Dehli.  We watched and listened as 5 women told us about their experiences with their loans and businesses. The owner of this particular workshop space served as an informal leader of the group to explain her whole process.  Rinky is a 26 year-old women of New Dehli who had taken out a loan to buy sewing machines. With a 10,000 Rupee loan (roughly $250), Rinky could buy four sewing machines to start her business of re-purposing old jeans from the US into pants worn by Indians.  At a profit margin of 2 rupee per jeans, she began growing her business and now employs four people.  Rinky expanded her business to now have roughly 6 sewing machines and a machine to put elastic in the waist band.  Her new plans to expand include moving into a new living space in a nicer neighborhood to separate her workshop from her home for which she has already taken out a small home loan for.  Besides microloans, Rinky and her husband have been able to purchase small forms of health insurance to cover their hospital visits.  Also, Rinky pays into two pension plans: one for her and another for her husband. This 400 rupee contribution makes 10% interest and will be delivered to them when they are 58 years old.  Orphaned at a young age, started working at the age of eight, and finished the 10th year of school, Rinky never imagined that her and her husband would be able to obtain this type of success. With a thriving sewing business and her husband's cd business, she can support her younger siblings and help support her husband's family.

Although microfinance allows recipients to pursue their dreams on their own, it is not a cure for the rampant amounts of poverty in India and across the globe.  Basix attempts to provide other services such as pension and savings plans, education, and insurance.  The idea behind this multilateral approach focuses on the need to continually help the recipients to continually reinvest in themselves and grow out of poverty.