YUM!

Rickshaw Ride in Vellore, India

Two (wo)Men Down, A Cyclone and The Banyan

Okay, so today our group total was four people, including Marjorie. Two wo(men) down, one wo(man) up. Today we visited The Banyan, an NGO that serves homeless women with serious mental illnesses. It is one of a few organizations that addresses this need. The location of the community was the village of Kovalam. It was a peaceful one-hour ride from Chennai, even among the looming storm, cyclone Laila. We arrived this morning and were greeted by a very friendly bunch of residents to the background music of a local Indian soap opera. We all felt overwhelmed by our celebrity status as they each wanted to shake our hands.

Our fabulous guide for the day was Miss Kiruthika. She is a social worker who has been with the Banyan for 10 months. More info about the Banyan can be found at: http://www.thebanyan.org/. Mrs. Kiruthika is in charge of pretty much everything at the PC ("Protected community" where the women live) and it is amazing to think of how she is practically able to run this center with a staff of only 10. She does everything from keep the women inside when it rains to dealing with emergency episodes overnight. She refers to the doctors and participates collaboratively in their care. In addition, there are four health care workers who take care of the women's health needs at the center. The only training they receive is at the center but they are able to deliver medications and care for the hygiene and personal needs of the women. It is truly impressive how calm and well-run the entire environment is. The women living there participate in their own care by cooking and doing chores  and small taks that are appropriate for their functional status. They are reimbursed for their work as an incentive. This location appeared to be a wonderful sanctuary where the women were able to be themselves and have their needs addressed. This safe place is also so inspiring because of the normalization of mental illness. Kiruthika does not speak of the women as people with problems, rather she addresses all of their functional aspects and told us stories about the ladies as if they were completely normal and merely had different sorts of needs. For example, she told us of a lady that liked to go out all of the time. Kiruthika explained her story in a way that did not make wandering seem abnormal. Rather she said that going out was allowed so long as the women fulfilled their tasks., and their whereabouts known. The environment itself helped to normalize behaviors such as wandering. We found this very unique.

Next stop: The Banyan's Community Mental Health Project, where Davakir (coordinator of The Banyan's hospital and OPD) introduced us to the comprehensive inpatient and outpatient facilities. Here, Marjorie and Davakir delight in the baskets that are handmade by the patients and then sold at local shops...

Ferdinand and his friend take shelter from the storm.

Cyclone Laila brought MASSIVE waves to the coast (although we were tempted to take the pictured boat out for a spin, we elected to stay cozy in the car, listening to current Tamil pop hits)

Saree Night with Mrs. Shirley

Monday night found us playing dress-up at Mrs. Shirley's house. She outfitted each of us with a saree from her colorful wardrobe with matching bangles, earrings and necklaces. We really needed guidance from an expert because navigating the 6 meters of silky fabric would have resulted in a tangled mess of nursing students! Our proper Indian outfits were completed with bright-red lipstick bindis.

* Trivia question #1: Where did Caitlin purchase this beautiful yellow saree? (Hint: please see prior blog posts for the answer)

The New Nursing School at CMC!

On our last full of day in Vellore, we had the pleasure of a guided tour of the new nursing school, which they are planning on moving into over the next few months. The space is absolutely gorgeous and very well thought out, down to the 't'. Dean Rosaline and Mrs. Shirley were giddy with excitement as they showed us their new chapel, offices, classrooms, gardens.

Weekend with Aparna's Family: Good People - May 15-16

Friday night, we said goodbye to Carla who was heading back to Penn for graduation. Bon Voyage! Aparna's mom came for a visit and after visiting the golden temple in Vellore, she suggested we come back to Bengaluru to stay with her family.  With the promise of amazing sights and better weather we abandoned our loose plans in hot and sticky Vellore and travelled four hours west to Bengaluru.  We stayed at Aparna's auntie and uncle's lovely house where we were fed delicious food and spicy chai tea until we were stuffed.... and then we were fed some more.  At the end of the weekend we all left a few pounds heavier... and happier ;)

On Saturday we drove to Mysore to see the famous Mysore Palace.  Our first stop was the grand  Lalitha Palace for lunch in the sky blue dining room. 

We then travelled up to 1062m to the top of Chamundi Hill to see the Sri Chamundeswari Temple. The temple was awe-inspiring, but the monkeys were what really held our attention! They seemed think they owned the temple territory.

 We finally made it to the palace in the late afternoon and met up with Geetha - another one of Aparna's aunties.  She continued the family tradition of spoiling us and showed us around Mysore Palace and then took us out for coffee.  The palace is one of India's grandest buildings by far.  It was built by an English architect in 1912 after the original Sandalwood Palace was destroyed by fire.  The architecture is a combination of Hindu, Muslim and Edwardian architecture dominated by colorful tiles, stained glass and intricately carved doors.  It is, as Lonely Planet describes, "undoubtedly over the top".  Unfortunately interior photos are forbidden, but enjoy the shots of the exterior - it is especially spectacular when lit up at night for half an hour once a week.  What luck that we happened to be there to see it lit!

On Sunday morning we took a relaxed walk around Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, guided by Aparna's Uncle. The gardens were built in 1760 by Sultan Haider Ali and are filled with very old trees from around the world and was a peaceful respite for all.

Good Eats!

We were honored to be invited to dinner at Dean Rosaline's house with her family.  The meal was delicious and it was so nice to be treated to a homecooked meal. 

Here is a smattering of some of the other rich, local fare we've indulged in.

Treated to chaat by Aparna's cousins in Bengaluru - thanks Savitha & Janaki!

Treated to breakfast by Aparna's uncle after our walk through the public garden.

Breakfast at Aparna's family's house:

Jack fruit on the street of Mysore

Lunch at Lalitha Palace, on our way to Mysore