The Kerala Exchange
October, 2007
Issue Number Two
In Kerala, every day is a surprise. Surprise!There is another college strike today. Surprise! It’s a torrential downpour during the dry season. Surprise! No power or running water today. Surprise! You’re leading a two-hour class and it starts in three minutes. I’m learning a whole new way to be flexible. This culture has instilled in me something that is really true in all cultures – life cannot be trusted to behave.
Though I’ve continued regularly with some of the programs that I mentioned last month (choir rehearsals and interaction with students young and old), October was the month of side-projects. In the beginning of the month I accompanied a group of youths (ages 14-19) on a weekend retreat. These kids were from the Mar Thoma Church, a reformed outgrowth of the Syrian Orthodox Church, which is a unique export of Kerala. I was asked to join them because; you guessed it, they wanted me to lead the singing portions of their camp. Never mind the fact that out of the 30 kids I only recognized two of the faces, I was excited to join in for the ride. The site was located a couple hours from Kottayam town,
so we had to take a bus - we took a public bus actually. How do I describe public buses? Have you ever seen that picture of eight or nine college dudes all smashed into a phone booth? It’s kind of like that, only horizontal and accelerating at 40 to 50 Mph. It’s also exciting
watching thirty people expulse themselves from the bus while strangers help hurl the bags, speakers and musical instruments out of the windows to “catchers” below.
Long story short, I had a great weekend and met a lot of really enjoyable people. I also saw a very large python (in a cage). Keeping with the meeting random church people theme, I spent five days at a “Kerala Pastor’s and
Christian Workers Conference” early in the month. The main speakers, strangely, were Americans, but the true joy of the conference was meeting pastors (Achens) from every corner of Kerala. I heard about pastoral life from the chilly foothills of the Western Ghat Mountains to the impoverished urban slums in the state’s capital, Trivandrum. I also met some young volunteers from various states in the north of India (where Malayalam is not spoken.) We compared our experiences as outsiders in Kerala. Was it better, in my case, to be a foreigner and have everyone recognize you as such? Or was it better, in their case, to be an outsider and have everyone assume you’re local? We finally settled on some common ground, the Malayalam language is really hard to pronounce, no matter who you are.
At the conference they screened a documentary that was called India Untouched. It was an interfaith, interstate, look at the continuing caste related struggles throughout India. It showed that not only Hindus, but Muslims and Christians continue to face discrimination based on caste. I found the portion of the movie set in Kerala to be of particular interest. Everyone they interviewed said, “There is no caste problem left in Kerala”or “We have eradicated caste,” etc. The next shot was of a boarding
school clearly divided along caste lines, with the low caste children forced to do the menial chores while the high caste children played freely. Even in my short time here I can count numerous occasions when people have told me, with complete sincerity, that there is no caste problem in Kerala. I’ve been fortunate this month to have some really enlightening interactions with members of the dalit (oppressed) community. You can read more about those experiences in “Thursdays with Christopher Achen.”
On a side-note about side-projects, I also visited the original burial place of Vasco de Gama in Cochin (before he was returned to Lisbon) and
began playing in nightly badminton games which have been happening uninterrupted for over 30 years! The excitement never stops, and neither
should your letters, e-mails and warm wishes. Thanks again for all of your support.
Election reflection
The process of announcing a new Catholic Pope is a strange one; it involves multiple colors of smoke and very old men. I would place the posting of the results for the C.M.S. College student government on that same level in terms of oddity. On the top floor of the Physics department a special committee counts the ballots by hand. Each result is carefully
written out on piece of paper and hurled out of the window. Everyone sprints to the piece of paper, someone grabs it, shouts out the results, and every member of the elect’s party runs and screams and grabs and jumps and dances in support. This process continues on for a couple of hours until all the positions have been named, then the victorious party
processes out of the gates into the city, waving flags and shouting slogans.
Meanwhile, a veritable battalion of cops armed with helmets and batons look on in case a rival political faction decides to cause trouble. There was no trouble this year, but school was cancelled the following day as a precautionary measure. I have additional photos of the elections and a video of the victory march posted on my album and blog respectively.
Thursdays with Christopher Achen
Christopher Achen is a pastor in the C.S.I. (Church of South India)
and a member of the dalit community. At present he travels five hours twice a week to receive dialysis treatment. As a result, work on his doctoral thesis (concering dalit Christians in central Kerala) and his work in the church have come to a grinding halt. His role as teacher and his role as student have been put on hold. But since I met him by chance one month ago, he has become an important teacher to me.
It all began one day when a surprise strike on campus instantly
cleared my schedule. One of the graduate students, Albin, approached me and said “I have to go fix Christopher Achen’s computer, you are coming with me?” I wasn't sure if that was an offer or a command, but I decided I should probably go with him.
While Albin repaired the ailing computer, Achen and I engaged in
general “get to know you” subjects, you know, the effects of capitalism on an agrarian society, the plight of unemployment in Kerala and the
dilemmas facing of the church today. Though initially I was reluctant to follow Albin on his errand, when he finished his work I found that I didn’t want to leave – this Christopher Achen had some truly fascinating insights about important issues in Kerala today.
"Mid-sentence he paused, let out a brief, punchy laugh and stated very matter-of-factly, 'Jesus has escaped the church."
Ever since that first meeting I’ve been visiting Achen every Thursday
afternoon. I go Thursday because his treatments are on Tuesday and Friday, and Thursday is a solid in-between day. I go in the afternoon because that’s when Kochamma (his wife) makes the most splendid Chai (tea) I think I’ve ever had.
Every week, Achen unfolds the story of his life a little more. He
tells me about his struggles to receive higher education despite
discouragement from the synod. He tells me about protest marches to the Bishop’s house demanding fair representation for dalits in the clergy (this agitation actually got results). He tells me about the disproportionate aid allotted to the already wealthy congregations instead of to the poorest congregations who deal with crumbling churches and dilapidated parsonages.
Last Thursday he left me with an image that I will not soon forget.
Mid-sentence he paused, let out a brief, punchy laugh and stated very matter-of-factly, “Jesus has escaped the church.” It actually had the same cadence as, “Elvis has left the building.” He paused, I laughed. We both continued in open laughter - I mean, just picture it. Jesus, utterly frustrated, hopping off the cross, busting right out through the stained glass depiction of the last supper, and fleeing with Godly speed down the gravel path. I’m not sure about the theological implications of this image, but the point is valid. If the church looks to Jesus as its model for behavior, some of the behavior it has shown would scare the bejeezus out of Jesus. Christopher Achen is my guide through this dark side of the Church, but he is also my encourager in the hope that remains in this ancient organization.
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