India impressions

From journal entries that I had jotted down during my time in India, I attempt to pull together some reflections. Just as has been my experience with travel in the past, I feel that I have traveled deeper inside my own character and identity (and how it is represented in the context of the common human experience) than the physical distance represented by my travels. My individuality, being defined by how it observes and relates to those around me, illuminates commonalities of those who seem different on the surface (because they live in such different circumstances than my usual surroundings), eventually creating a resonance that reaffirms our shared journey and life experience. Rebekah Snyder shares this view in her short statement entitled, Coffee:

“They see that I’m in love with the world, and assume I have a desire to travel it. But I’m okay with loving the world from right here.

I don’t live for places. I don’t live for things. I don’t live for experiences.

Because I live for people.

I live for the moments when they come alive. I live for the times they open their hearts and I see who they really are beneath all the fluff.”

I echo Rebekah’s perspective and add that I also live for the spaces and times where I can see and continue to define my calling and identity as it is represented in the common human experience.

The weekend after my return to Manali at 6,726ft elevation (2,050m), I was invited on a 3 day trek to Brighu Lake at 13,894ft elevation (4,235m) with an anesthetist from the hospital, PE teacher from the school, and two medical students from New Zealand.

The first day’s hike brought us up in elevation a bit over a kilometer above Manali to the basecamp. This is the view from our tent site. Our lungs certainly felt the thinning of oxygen during the hike down and back up from meals in the lower dining tent.

Spectacular sunset view. 

Vine, one of the anesthetists at the hospital, carried his speakers up to basecamp to supply us with music at basecamp. He’s known as the Operating Theater’s DJ and says music is always playing when he is home.

The sun rises as we catch a quick breakfast before a full day of trekking.

Herdsmen live on these steep inclines for much of the summer months to watch and raise sheep and goats entrusted to them by their villages.

We take frequent rests to enjoy the view and catch our breath in the increasingly thin air. 

There is no official guideposts en route to Lake Brighu so guides often accompany hikers.

Past the “tree line” past which few plants grow taller than several inches, steeply rolling hills and scattered stones abound.

Goats graze on the fairly scarce vegetation. I wonder if they enjoy the phenomenal views when not nibbling.

Finally reaching our destination, Lake Brighu. I am glad that our friends forewarned us that it was a fairly small lake, lest our efforts to trek up steep inclines at nearly 14,00 feet didn’t feel rewarded. What almost looks like the mouth of a volcano is now a sacred lake of the sage or guru, Brighu. The oracles (those who serve as prophets, consultants, and often healers…they’re actually traditionally from the lower castes in Hindi culture) carry stone statues of the villages deities to visit (and perhaps sanctify) the lake. Fortunately, enough, the gods usually demand to visit the lake between spring and fall. Some trek to the lake as a form of pilgrimage and dip into it several times for a blessing. Women are discouraged to do so, particularly if they are menstruating (which would desecrate the sacredness of the lake).

If the lake itself wasn’t enough to merit the trekking adventure and expenditure of energy, the view certainly is.

Our perseverant team at the lake’s mouth.

The camp packed us lunches for the trek, the traditional potato flatbread and mango pickle with a side of mango nectar and banana (most of us ate our chocolate bar on the way up). The guide of our team sometimes brings students from the Day Star school on this trek as part of the PE curriculum.

Rosie and Emily enjoy trekking in New Zealand but are glad to explore different terrain/elevation while in India.

The expansive view makes one feel fairly insignificant and vulnerable. Considering how demanding breathing is at this elevation, I’m not sure one could outrun or defend oneself against any threatening animal.

The continuum of melting glaciers with rivers they produce is very clear. For locals, their recession and lack of replenishment is also clear. During our time visiting villages north of Manali, we passed the largest glacier in South Asia named Bara Shingri, which is also receding. Last year, Manali only received several brief snows and may deplete its low snow stores from last year faster than usual. I suspect that climate change is not necessarily any more an urgent issue than in places where the evidence is not so stark, unless there is a cohort of informed and inspired individuals raising awareness of the changes and their implications on both local and global scales.

It was fun to slide down a glacier during part of our journey back down from Lake Brighu. During early spring, some hike up specifically to ski down the snow-covered slopes.

This sunny meadow doesn’t quite convey the effort one must take to breath to compensate for lower concentrations of oxygen. Starting a fire at higher elevations is a challenge for this reason.

Trekking down slopes is a bit easier than climbing them (because oxygen concentration is increasing rather than decreasing) but still requires skill to avoid tripping and toppling down and excretion of a unique set of muscles/joints. We take stretch and rest breaks on the way down.

The sheep and goats tend to cluster and seem to enjoy finding shelter as well when resting.

A bit more sore and sun-burnt, our team continues down the slopes. A university student whose classmates forfeited the summit joined our cohort.

Returning to basecamp in mid-afternoon, I noted a large bird on the pine. It would be a treat to see the mountains from their vantage point (though I’ve heard enough accident stories associated with paragliding that I’ll pass on the simulation). 

Passing through a village towards Manali after the third day’s hike form basecamp, a friend of our guide invited us to enjoy his fish spa. The Doctor Fish is reported to remove dead skin cells by it suction. I passed on the experience but was glad to take photos of our tired but refreshed team.

These two quotes from a compilation of letters may offer the balance of individuality and community that I seek in any endeavor, particularly while traveling:

"Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow."

Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007)

"Love is a seeking for a way of life; the way that cannot be followed alone; the resonance of all spiritual and physical things.

Art is both love and friendship, and understanding; the desire to give. It is not charity, which is the giving of things, it is more than kindness which is the giving of self. It is both the taking and giving of beauty."

1936, legendary landscape photographer Ansel Adams

Acknowledging and learning to respect my need for solitary reflection within a densely populated country, I’ve wondered how this relates to my spirituality and found Richard Rohr’s reflections helpful in considering a balance:

“Our religion is neither solely detachment nor solely attachment; it's a dance between the two. It's neither entirely isolation, as symbolized by the desert, nor is it complete engagement, as symbolized by the city. Jesus moves back and forth between desert and city. In the city, he feels himself losing perspective, love, and center; so Jesus goes out to the desert to discover the real again. And when Jesus is in the desert, his passionate union with the Father drives him back to the pain of the city.

The transformative dance between attachment and detachment is sometimes called the Third Way. It is the middle way between fight and flight, as Walter Wink describes it. Some prefer to take on the world: to fight it, to change it, fix it, and rearrange it. Others deny there is a problem at all; it suits their needs as it is. "Everything is beautiful," they say and look the other way. Both instincts avoid holding the tension, the pain, and the essentially tragic nature of human existence.

The contemplative stance is the Third Way. We stand in the middle, neither taking the world on from another power position nor denying it for fear of the pain it will bring. We hold the dark side of reality and the pain of the world until it transforms us, knowing that we are both complicit in the evil and can participate in wholeness and holiness. Once we can stand in that third spacious way, neither directly fighting nor denying and fleeing, we are in the place of grace out of which genuine newness can come. This is where creativity and new forms of life and healing emerge.”

Especially as I settle into my new home and dental residency program schedule, this Third Way is a perspective I hope to keep in mind. 

Old Manali is a small historic portion of the city which is a magnet for trekkers and tourists. It is connected to the main city by a nature path. My roommate Anne, a medical student from Holland, notes that our line-up is by decreasing height.

The girls try to find some festive jewelry in Old Manali in preparation for a wedding reception on the hospital campus to which all staff/volunteers were invited. 

Hand-crafted pendants

Old Manali, besides its tourist/downtown district, is still home to native communities in which one can secure a home stay alternative to staying at a hotel. 

The group of homes in Old Manali created space for a volleyball court, which reportedly gets used each evening by locals and visitors alike.

Old Manali village architecture and the animals certainly make it look historic.

The rotating medical students and three teacher volunteers from Louisiana are festively ready for the wedding reception. 

Indian weddings typically last several days and host whole villages. The young lady in this wedding party grew up in the hospital campus complex. 

A tent was rigged up and decorated in the school court. 

Dr. TaeHee with Sophia, a friend who has been working in Delhi for the past 20 years and was visiting in Manali during her week off. 

The first order of business after the bride and groom arrived at the reception was to cut the cake. The pastor led this endeavor as that which represents their unity. We had soda and cake while watching several dances/songs (with increasing volume and intensity of the performances). The wedding reception culminated with a buffet style traditional dinner and ice cream with continued music/dancing and greeting the couple.  

Within the context of these inner/outer journeys, I recall the inspiration and reality checks from working in the medical camps: The overwhelming majesty of the natural beauty, witnessing and celebrating lasting evidence of ministry from centuries past, being challenged by and appreciating extremely spiritually aware communities and team members, appreciating the preservation of rich culture and tradition...all juxtaposed with the hardships of low-resource settings for daily life (construction workers on the sides of cliffs without ear/eye/mouth protection, critical shortages of water and electricity in remote communities, difficulty with maintaining healthcare services because of dishonest and absent government-appointed clinicians, difficulty truly reaching each home with preventive and primary care, and not being able to move beyond a patchwork-style of healthcare towards rendering high-quality comprehensive care. Cultural differences that stretched my understanding and experience of the region included nearly unconditional respect for authority/seniority, paternalistic medicine, and the legacy of colonialism seen imprinted on the practices of Christianity and Hinduism (and the Tibetan exile for Buddhism).

Throughout these settings, I was given opportunity to develop genuine friendships among colleagues, formal and functional roles within the hospital, an overall sense of belonging within the hospital campus congregation (particularly at the communion and baptism), as well as space to reflect independently.

Visiting a historic castle, we were reminded in its temple that shoes ought be taken off…I’m not sure if all leather (or animal-made products) are discouraged from the place of Hindu worship. 

The balcony of the castle’s residence showcases original hand-carved patterns, now restored and renovated into a hotel.

Enjoying the balcony view with medical students from New Zealand.

This temple is shaped in the original pattern that is more traditional than modern Hindu temples.

Statues and plaques from the historic castle are maintained on the museum grounds. 

The castle campus includes a temple. 

A peddler’s bike showcases his fare. I wonder how nervous he feels driving all those loosely fastened sharp objects…we saw him valiantly make the descent to a neighboring village, offering his products throughout the day. 

In the same village as the castle, we visited a museum of a Russian artist who adopted many Hindu practices and lived in India for much of his life, establishing an art and research institute whose legacy continues today.

Considering the current uneasy condition of the roads around Negar, I wondered how Roerich managed to use his fancy car in his day (maybe he didn’t use it much…hence the fancy garage).

We toured Roerich’s ornate yard and art studio.

Stone plaques from the castle are maintained as part of Roerich’s art institute. 

We stopped for a meal at a diner near the river. 

Truly riverside dining. The whole area will become submerged in water as the monsoons come next month. 

The restaurant’s establishment caught my eye as it shared my birth year. It was very well maintained and renovated considering its age.

The same riverside diner sported quirky signs, one of which I thought was particularly convincing. 

The road association of the region also has creative signs, encouraging safety behind the wheel.

I’m glad to have had the chance to observe Dr. Riya and Dr. TaeHee in the hospital dental clinic.

Listing of all staff doctors at the hospital.

I enjoyed shadowing in the Operating Theater, watching 4 gall bladder removals (one by laproscopy and others open), a hernia repair, a hydrocele removal, a varicose vein stripping procedure, a cesarean livery, and the removal of an abdominal cyst. Pretty good variety for a general surgery department.

Exploratory abdominal surgery to find out what mass has been projecting from this lady found an ovarian cyst needing excision.

The removed ovarian cyst certainly did not grow overnight to the size of a small baby.

Collaboration with the Antenatal Care department for several days out of the week allowed for opportunity to provide oral hygiene instructions and tooth brushes/paste to each expecting mother attending her prenatal visit. 

Usha, the social worker on staff, explains dental disease and health to the expectant mothers.

Dr. TaeHee explains the changes in oral health that pregnancy brings about and when prevention and treatment are most appropriate.

We visited a Buddhist Monastery boarding school where the principle gave us a warm welcome.

The school houses and educates around 300 children from the northern regions we visited during the camps as well as children around Manali. Many of the families to which the children belong are Tibetan.

The kids eat lunch on soft mats, likely characteristic of their Tibetan tradition.

The Buddhist influence is evident in practical aspects of the school’s infrastructure. Children are encouraged to stay clean and healthy as a holistic part of their spirituality.

Dr. Tae Hee noted that the kids’ oral hygiene had improved significantly since the last time she visited several years ago. The nurse who assisted us with the day has ensured that the children know the benefits of routinely cleaning teeth well.

Nearly 300 of the kids’ teeth were checked and fluoride was applied. 

Once we finished all the childrens’ check-up and treatments, holding up the principle an hour past her workday, she honored us in Tibetan tradition with white scarves and gifted us tote bags with the school’s emblem.

I enjoyed sharing a meal with Sophia, who has worked for about 20 years with an NGO in Delhi that is involved with supporting families of HIV-affected individuals. HIV status is legally confidential and concealed from any kind of record-keeping in India. Expectant women are required to be tested and counseled if a positive reading exists but the hospital is not allowed no notate in any way on their chart that this condition exists. I imagine that this heightened level of stigma makes prevention, treatment, and support of afflicted individuals and their families a challenge. 

After a trip in the market, we pass Manali’s Buddhist temple.

Prayer rocks at a Buddhist shrine.

A poster explains how to utilize the prayer wheels as part of worship in the temple.

Buddhist prayer flags and white scarves cover a container filled with small structures that look like mini stupas at the periphery of the Buddhist Monastery.

The church of the hospital campus officiated a baptism and communion. Attending the service and others made me wonder how the legacy of colonial Christianity blended with traditional customs to create the style of worship of congregations.

Going on rounds with the doctors and medical students, I got a sense of the kinds of conditions with which people seek hospital care (and the unique  constraints and opportunities of the hospital to provide it). 

Each workday at the hospital begins with song, reading of a Bible verse/passage, prayer, and any pertinent announcements. Singing the occasional English song and humming along on the Hindi songs, I found this quote from the hymnal interesting when considering the way worship is done in the diverse culture: “Religions are man’s search for God; the Gospel is God’s search for man. There are many religions but one Gospel”—E. Stanley Johns. 

Our morning departure from Kulu Valley was met with clear skies.

The ornate Delhi airport accommodated my 15 hr layover.

10 hours into the layover, the girls and I decided that a sampling of donuts for dinner was not off limits.

Descending into Dulles airport in VA, I was happy to see the mountains I grew up around in the distance. It was bittersweet to leave VA for the Midwest, but I look forward to settling down in my new home.

During my journey home, I was glad that Jungle Book was a movie that was available on the plane and think that the song "Bear necessities" might relate to a discussion on how well-fitting one ought to feel in a setting of work/service…there are a set of key essentials to life (those I would like to think are sufficient for comfortable living and thriving) but in the end, Maugli chooses a life he can "fall in love with" as the blogger Rebekah describes. But I full well acknowledge that love is in greater part commitment rather than chasing some kind of effervescent response to stimuli/surroundings. The Vow, another airplane movie, suggests this kind of commitment when a woman with a brain injury acknowledges the deep commitment her husband honors despite her memory loss and she chooses to attempt re-discovering the life she had with such a man of integrity. The new version of Cinderella quoted her mother’s advice "Be kind, be courageous, and all will be well." When she confesses her lowly status and asks if she will be accepted for who she really is, the prince responds that he also needs acceptance as an apprentice merely learning his trade (the humility of the prince is a new modern twist but represents each of us doing what is within our reach to the best of our ability). Imagine was a brief film about a blind man who was very skilled in navigating the world and was tasked with teaching a group of blind children and a woman in a monastery. His teaching style is very innovative and pushes the limits of safety/convention for this population. He convinces them all that they live near a harbor and can smell the sea near hear the boats. When a boy dies by train accident, he is dismissed and is "uncovered" as a liar as the town is completely landlocked. While all are disappointed, they later return to imagining what could be beyond their enclosed lives. The film is an interesting perspective on life as being the perceived reality which we build for ourselves rather than the actual reality. With this in mind, I wonder if seeing everything through the eyes of the now-not-yet kingdom (looking for its life seeping through humanity's best efforts of concealing its evidence and transformational power) is the perspective we must have in mind when committing to partnering in bring that Kingdom transformation about in whatever comfortable or foreign setting. Perhaps we should feel as foreigners (or blind men) to all else other than those glimpses of the Kingdom, committing our hearts and setting our sights on it alone.

Though I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience in the Himalayan region, I am content to return to my home country to pursue residency training. I’ll resist the nagging questions of whether I will return to Asia (and when/for how long) and try to exchange that kind of anxious response to my experience with a peace that promises to guard my heart and my path. A portion of the film Risen that I saw on the plane showed a similar ambience of the disciples as the Roman soldiers chased after them. The Roman seeker in their midst asks if they’re scared of being killed, to which they respond, “not anymore.” He submits but urges, “Then fear the death of that with which you’ve been entrusted.” Heeding these wise words as I begin a rigorous 3 years of scholarly and clinical development, I hope to continue utilizing the opportunities I’m granted for the purposes for which they’ve been entrusted unto me.

Three days of orientation into my residency programs in Geriatric & Special Needs Dentistry and Dental Public Health, I already have several online trainings/assignments to complete as well as an exam for the coming week for which to study. It will be a busy 3 years to come! The Dean of the College of Dentistry, Dean Johnsen, welcomed all graduate students and residents into a "culture of rigor and respect," encouraging us to work hard, play on a team, support one another, and always do our very best...Now to rise to meet these opportunities!