Good morning my fellow readers. Greetings from Bangalore, India! Did you ever have that feeling that even
though you are away from your family you still have that same relationship with
the people you are staying with, wherever you may be. So my story today is how a Sari, a typical
outfit of an Indian woman, has created a closer bond amongst the boys, Mary,
and the other staff here at REDS. Who
would think that clothing could spark such closer relationship with others? Well I didn’t think it would, but little did
I know that it will make the bond closer between the boys, Mary, and I.
Mary had
sent two of the boys to get me from my room to tell me that she wanted to speak
to me. Mary is called “Ama” or mother by
the boys here. She is the cook for the
boys, but she is also the mother figure for these children. The boys came to knocking at my front door
saying “Ama wants to see you.” I didn’t
know what to expect because she has never called for me before. I walked over to the kitchen, where she was
cooking, and she grabbed my hand and led me to a little door right around the
corner of the kitchen.
That little
room was her house. It looked like a
studio and there were three people living there: her husband, her son, and herself. In that room I noticed that there were
bracelets, powder, hair brush, flower lei, and a rich red sari hanging from her
line right above her bed. She told me to
turn around and she brushed my hair, braided it, and pinned the fresh flower on
the back of my hair. It reminded me of
my own mother when she would fix my hair and placed powder on my face. She was like my own mother here in
India.
She then
closed the door of her room and told me to put on this clothing. I did exactly as what she told me to do and
she started to wrap this rich red sari around me. She does it in such a smooth way that I was
just so amazed by everything. I didn’t
know that such clothing could turn any woman into a beautiful Indian
woman. She ran her fingers through the
clothing to smooth the creases and in about 20 minutes, I became an Indian
woman. What amazed me is that she placed
this powder on my forehead and everyone said that I looked exactly like an
Indian woman from the North.
I walked
around the compound in my sari, rocking it wherever I go, and the boys smiled
at me. They then come to me and said
“You look like Indian woman” and even Ravi Paul, the welding teacher said that
I looked like an Indian woman from the north like the state of Jarkhand. A woman from Hawaii that came to India for
the first time is complimented by saying that she looked like an Indian woman
from the North was very nice to hear. It
was easy to blend into the community and that also made it easier to create a
relationship with the boys.
Little did
I know that a Sari was going to help me create a stronger bond with the boys
and the rest of the Marianist community here in India. All the cultural difference that I have
experienced so far here in India, I will bring with me wherever I go.
Love always,
<3Kristeme
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