Hi everyone! This is Krishna or ‘Krishna teacher’ according to my students and people of Bajipura. I can’t believe it’s already been two months since I came to Bajipura. Everyone is so welcoming here; it feels like I am at home. People of this village are always so active. Everyday there is some sort of festivity going on. The part that I love the most is, everyone knowing who I am and where I live so I never get lost in the village. Because I am a native Gujarati, it was easier for me to communicate with people and make friends. I had a very smooth start until I got sick for a few weeks, but I am better now and back in action. I love teaching here. I teach 7th, 8th and 11th standard in Gujarati medium, and 6th and 7th in English medium. My 8th standard has four sections; each consists of 70 or more students. At first I was nervous about the class size, but over time I got use to it. Children are always keen to learn. My co-teachers, Hansaben and Mukeshbhai are also very helpful. So far I am really enjoying my time here as a Full-time teacher.
Religious practices in Bajipura
Ever since I came to Bajipura, I have been really interested in learning about various religious practices. Hinduism seems to be the most prominent faith practiced here, but Christianity, Jainism and Islam are also practiced by many. So far I have discovered three Hindu temples, a Jain temple, and a mosque. I have yet to learn about the Christian, Jain and the Mulism practices, but I have been able to spend some time in the three Hindu temples. There is a Hindu temple right across from our house of Goddess ‘Amba.’ Amba resides on a tiger. She is the Goddess of power and strength. The second temple is of God ‘Shiva.’ Shiva is one of the three main Hindu Gods. The third temple has idols of many major Hindu Gods and Goddesses such as, Rama with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, Krishna with His beloved Radha, and Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) with God Narayan.
Right now Hindus are celebrating their holy month called Shravan where all Gods and Goddesses are worshipped. At the Shiva temple in Bajipura people pray every evening during 6:00P.M. to 7:00P.M. A special priest has come from Bihar to perform the rituals for this holy month. Every morning, he makes 100 Lingas (Lingas are representation of Shiva) out of mud and throughout the day people come and pray to them. After the evening prayer, the priest takes these special Lingas and disperses them in the river. I have been to many of the evening prayers so far, and as a Hindu this has been a very spiritual experience for me. Also, a lot of my students come and pray during these evening prayers so I get a chance to see them outside of school. After the prayers, my students, other Children of the town, and I play local games. I am currently collecting data for my short film/s on the Shravan rituals. I will write more on the rituals at Shiva temple after the holy month is over.
Solar Eclipse or Surya Grahan
Yes! I got to see the solar eclipse. It was a very cloudy morning, but I got to see the sudden darkness. Right before the eclipse started, an announcement was made at the mosque. The mosque is right behind our house so I could hear the announcement clearly. Within few seconds of the announcement, the sky started getting darker. I could see people turning on their vehicles headlights because they couldn’t see. All of a sudden, it got really dark. It felt like it was the middle of the night. Few minutes later, it started getting bright again. I got a chance to film this sudden change from my window.
In Hinduism, the eclipses; whether solar or lunar, are treated very differently. During the eclipse people pray. They often sit on the floor, away from all their materialistic belongings. After the eclipse, one is considered polluted so he/she must shower. After showering Hindus go to the local temple and pray. In my case, it was a very unsual experience. After my shower, I went to the Amba temple across the street from my house. A bathing ritual was going to be performed for Goddess Amba. Gods/Goddesses also have to be cleansed after the eclipse. Before the ritual people were cleaning the temple. The idols of Hindu deities are always dressed in new clothes and ornaments. For this bathing ritual, they had to first empty the temple and then undress the deity (the deity was not naked as there were clothes already painted on the idol but the sari that was wrapped on the idol was removed). For the bathing ritual, three types of liquids were brought in. One was water mixed with saffron. The other was milk and yogurt mixed with sugar, and the last one was plain water. Pots of these liquids were brought to the temple earlier that morning. In this ceremony, the liquid is poured on the idol to clean it. After the bath the idol is wiped with a clean cloth, and the floor gets washed while the deity gets dressed in another sari and ornaments.
This was the most touching, prestigious and most memorable experience of my life. I got a chance to bathe the Goddess myself. I was asked to climb next to the deity and pour all three liquids on her. I was asked to rub each liquid as we rub soap on our body when we shower. I touched the idol. It felt like I was chosen to do this that day. I went to the temple to film the after eclipse activities, but with an hour of footage, I got the experience of a lifetime. I don’t think I can ever forget this solar eclipse.
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