Mark Tully was asked one how he stood the poverty in India.
He answered that he didn’t have to stand it, it was the poor who had to put up
with it. This is the only sensible way to face down the guilt which can creep
up on you as you sweep past those whose lives are fettered by the need to earn
their paltry 100 rupees a day when you have thousands of rupees to spend on
just a fortnight. Conscience stalks you all the time in India and our
consciences should have been heavier than most. We were encouraging people to
use up the planet’s resources to visit one of the poorest places in the
developing world cocooned in the luxury we probably did not experience at home.
How did we appear to the people we met on our journeys? Did
they resent the fact that, as previous colonial masters, we were coming back to
see the results of our handiwork? It seemed not. Everywhere we went we were
greeted with curiosity and no animosity. Well, accepting that I did not
actually repress anyone a hundred years ago, why should I be blamed? We were
often told that the English gave India its two most worthwhile things, the
railways and education. This might have been stretching a point in Kerala, but
we had left the already liberal education system in good shape. The Civil
Service was also beloved of Indians with its clearly defined routes into
prosperity and its jobs for life.
On reflection, did I resent the super-rich who had taken
over the London I used to live in, the Russians and Chinese, who bought homes
and visited them rarely, if at all? I did not. On the rare occasions on which I
rubbed shoulders with those with substantially more resources than myself I
found them wanting in their intellectual and spiritual lives. Accepting that I
was a complete snob, I was happy to play the game with those who wanted to
travel to India in a sanitised, smell-free, voyeuristic bubble. I was more sympathetic
towards those who wanted the India experience but who were worried about their
own reaction to the descriptions of poverty they had heard from others. Not
giving to beggars is a sound principal wherever you go in India. There are
levels of exploitation and downright badness in Indian society which are hard
to grapple with. Orphanages open up at the beginning of the tourist season and
close at the end of it, tour groups being shown the wonderful work which is
being done with street children who are then back on the street.
Most tour operators have charities which their clients can
donate to and we had contacts with an orphanage in Tamil Nadu which was
struggling to establish itself. We visited and were overwhelmed by the love and
care given to the children. They were all focussed on one thing, to get an
education so that they could help their struggling families. Few of the
children had lost both parents, most being taken to the home because their
parents, or mostly parent, could not afford to keep them any longer. Here were
children with disabilities, whose parents were alcoholic or disabled
themselves, children whose previous lives had left them scarred and afraid, and
we saw children who helped each other, were happy and fed, and who were totally
aware of the advantages they were being offered. Krishnamurti and Elsie gave
themselves totally to the care of their fifty-strong brood, both money and time
and a great deal of love. We were humbled by the visit. There was not a lot we
could do apart from try to divert some money their way, little enough for them
confronted by a big new building project.
Their work is still going strong. Visit their web site at http://www.hapsi.co.uk/index.html
or the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/awakemercyhomedgl?fref=ts
and of course send them money. You can be sure that every penny will go where it needs to, to the education and care of the children.
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