Hooray for infrastructure

On Thursday we went to Sarnath, the “birthplace of Buddhism,” where Buddha gave his first speech after enlightenment, his discourse on the Four Noble Truths. Although we got to see the site of this event, we went to Sarnath for other reasons. In this city there is also a school that was founded by an Italian man, a friend of Kamla’s and Loknath‘s. The teachers at the ashram school are all graduates of this school and they use the same teaching methods. One of Valentino’s approaches is to bring the students inward. They do yoga and meditation every morning, and there are moments of meditation throughout the day. It seems to be quite effective and the students were impressive. In addition to learning English, they have also begun to learn Italian. After only four months of study they were able to carry on a basic conversation with the Italians from the ashram. Not bad.

Equally impressive, or maybe it just left quite the impression, was the bus ride to and from the school. Two buses transported all of the students from the ashram school, some of their parents, the teachers, staff, and volunteers. This does not mean that there was one seat for each body; often there were three or four people in a 2-seat row. It was a bumpy ride and in both directions kids were throwing up left and right. Madonna. Sarnath is 13 kilometers from Varanasi. The ride there took about 45 minutes, but the ride back took two and a half hours! The bus driver took the “bypass,” bypassing what I’m not sure. The way to the ashram? Perhaps they did this on purpose as they were getting paid extra for each hour after 3 p.m. Also, this ride didn’t include door-to-door service as the buses couldn’t reach the ashram because of the roads. The whole gang had to walk or get a ride about a half a mile on either end. Picture a group of schoolchildren weaving in and out of rickshaws, cows and buffalo, cars and motorcycles. Crazy. Yet somehow we all made it there and back. What an adventure.

It usually takes me a day or so to process what I experience here. Some things are just so bizarre that while they are going on it’s hard for me not to judge through my western eyes. Just today, for example, as I was waiting for Kamla to run an errand, I saw a woman “taking out the trash,” which meant just tossing it out the window onto the street. That was in one direction. In the other was a boy about 4 or 5 years old squatting and doing his business on a pile of rubble, some of which he then used to clean himself afterwards, right there out in the open. What I know and what the reality is here are two completely different things, so it’s challenging on many levels.


Waiting for the bus.


The Italian take on the Tibetan prayer flag. Valentino is a Buddhist and actually knows the Dalai Lama, who has visited and given his blessing to the school.


They cooked us an amazing lunch at the school. Here one of the young men prepares a chutney.