Day 67, Oct. 16


The tricky thing about taking night trains is that it makes for oddly planned days before and after. There wasn’t much going on n Eluru after the World of Hope folks left. This ct offered me a rare ‘easy’ day and a good chance to sit down and really talk deeply with priests and others. Thus, I could start to interiorize what I as seeing and hearing. It also gave me a chance to work out the false impressions I had begun to form. It’s interesting how communication works. I was in India 2 months before the World of Hope people arrived. During our rides from one project to the other we talked. Many times I heard an opinion or conclusion that was incorrect. Each one of them I too had thought and had to dismiss as wrong. No, I was catching others making the same mistakes. I intervened at those times (charitably, I hope) and my impressions were mostly right. This confirmed that I needed to check all my ‘facts’ carefully. Meeting the twain, if it’s possible, is still very difficult.
My lower berth sleeping accommodation, I found on entering the train, had been commandeered by a family leaving me with an upper further on down. I could have made a stink; but I decided not to. Now, I would have an experience of what sleeping high as well as fast wo8uld be like. It wasn’t bad – even the getting up to go to the latrine at 2:00 am.
The hard part was the train was due in at 3:50 am. I hoped it would be an hour late. Oh, no! I came in at 3:23 am. I had not made contact with anyone who was going to meet me. So, I picked up my bag, got to the exit, found a cabbie who would take me to Loyola for a price that people had told me was reasonable, and arrived at the residence before 4:00. In act, I was asleep in bed before then.
I got up when my body told me and took a shower. It was cold but delightful. Eluru’s shower was nowhere as good and the commode did not flush completely. A good bathroom makes a big difference. By that time it was 7:15. Two priests were at my door ready to take me to the Jesuit mission about two hours away. One of them, Fr. Martin, let it out (by mistake) tht he was at the station waiting for me since 1:00 am to 4:00. Ouch!!
We went to Kuppayanallur. From the direction signs on the highway, I figured it was in the Chingleput Diocese not far from where I spent a few lovely days. I asked and was correct.
The school and 700 or so students were anxiously waiting for us. They were all assembled. Then, it happened yet again. I was told my part was to hand out awards the children (all of them poor) had earned by doing far better than average on the quarterly exams given by the government. Besides, it was the eve of the Feast of Diwalli. Then, I noticed the same clues I had discerned twice before. I was on the program as the main speaker for the feast and the rewards. The whole event was in English. So, I used the time consumed with praying and singing and student addresses to think up a speech. I did, indeed, come up with something and proceeded to change it when I got to the mike. The students seemed to smile at the right time during the first two sentences. So, I continued receiving applause at times. When I sat down, the principal translated my talk into Tamil. It was longer and the reactions louder. The faculty told me I did well. The kids’ enthusiasm told me, thankfully, they were right. I rarely had such those feelings in Tennessee except for children’s Mass. There is a difference between reactions in the U.S. and those in India. Or, the difference is explained by the poverty of the children in India.
We had dinner with the faculty where there were congratulations all around. Then we drove around the area observing the typical village the school was built near. It was pointed out to me tht the houses had no doors. They had nothing worth stealing inside. Besides, they welcomed everyone to come in. It sounded to me like a post-grad class on the “I come to the door and knock” passage in Revelation. If we had no doors, Christ would be automatically inside with us. Our closed doors make Jesus have to knock.
The Jesuits sure do things first class and build ride in the children for themselves and their school. I judge there is a place for them in any diocesan plan for evangelization. Both see education as the way to change society for the better and improve the church.
We got back to Chennai about 4:00pm. Waiting for us was Dr. Anthony. On my first stay in Chennai I stayed at his parents’ house in the room on the roof. He had come to take me out for supper. He drove me to his home, picked up Jenny, his new wife, and we set out for dinner.
Why did the day seem so long? At any rate, I was tired and beginning to feel symptoms repeating my miseries of a month or so ago. Nevertheless, it is a way to loose the weight I hoped to lose on this trip. Everywhere I went in India, people treated me the same way Italians treat me. They love, they welcome, and they feed. All the above are offers you can’t refuse.