I had pre-booked a train ticket from Kottayam to Vellore in advance, and the trip certain began eventfully. Remind me to always double check the times on my tickets to anything... I missed my train on Friday night because I thought it was 10:30 rather than 8:30. Facepalm. Anyway, after I returned to my room very frazzled and irritated, I managed to find another train that would leave at 5:30 the next morning. I had to jump through some hoops, like switching trains in Kochi, but other than that, everything ended up going well. The train journey ended at 6:30 pm on Saturday, when I arrived at my destination.
I was picked up by Ben, who drove me back to his house, showing me the town as we went. It was certainly different than Kerala: much less wet and rockier, with more stark poverty coexisting with better infrastructure (like a divided highway). That night, I enjoyed my first meal at the Venkatesan house, the first of many good ones! All of their food is fresh: fruit and vegetables from the market, fish from the fish delivery man, bread from the bread delivery man, milk from the milk man.... you get the idea...there are lots of delivery men. The amazing thing is that all this grocery delivery doesn't cost anything extra. It's simply something grocery vendors will do to get your business. Man, I wish we had that! I would never have to go to the grocery store, and I would get so much more fresh food... Ah, well I guess a man can dream...
As I was saying the hospitality was great, the food was wonderful, and I was shown a lot of kindness. Sunday morning, I visited their church in Vellore, and met lots of friendly people. For lunch, we had an Indian favorite of mine: Biriyani, homemade by Ben and Viji's son Paul. Paul and his family visited for lunch that afternoon, and I had a blast playing with their three little girls: ages 3, 6, and 8.
The girls had about as much energy as you could imagine, and they had a great time calling me names, comparing our skin colors, and singing songs for me. One highlight was that Indians often call their elders "Uncle" or "Auntie", so I became an instant "Uncle." That was pretty great.
That night, I went to choir practice with Viji at Christian Medical College in Vellore. The Venkatesans both studied and later worked there and so have a lot of connections to the institution. CMC is a great place. Its objective is to basically train doctors and medical personnel who see their work more as ministry than money-making. For over a hundred years, it's held to this mission. I was really encouraged and blessed by singing with their choir and attending their chapel service. Fantastic place.
Monday, I had some more blessings. I saw the CMC Hospital, one of the top hospitals in India, all founded over 100 years ago as the vision of an American woman doctor who saw a need for basic healthcare in India. I also traveled with Viji to several villages where she works with a ministry that does several things for the benefit of the villagers: providing day care/preschool for small children, providing employment for local women by marketing their handmade jewelry, and by providing tutoring for children and encouraging them in their schoolwork.
I really enjoyed seeing the children in the two villages and being welcomed by the very hospitable villagers. I sang and played guitar for them, listened to them sing, acted as a photographer for all the pictures they kept posing for, and was shown around their village. This was a side of India I hadn't yet seen. Intellectually, I knew that this India existed, but it's something entirely different to see it firsthand. It sounds cliche, but their joy and friendliness was remarkable in the face of their circumstances. "Blessed are the poor," without a doubt, and blessed are those rich people who get to experience even a tiny portion of their their blessing.
In conclusion, my visit to Vellore was a great one; definitely a highlight of my entire trip to India!
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