PERSPECTIVE

This morning I was feeling a bit inconvenienced as I was heating water on the gas cook top to take a bucket bath and wash my hair.  Then I remember the women I have seen carrying water on their heads home for the days use.
 

Could we have a hot water heater in the bathroom?  Yes, if we want to pay for the instillation in our rental home.  We plan to leave in a few weeks.  In Gujarat it is very hot most of the year and a hot water heater is not needed.  Now it is in the 80s F and the water tank on the rood does not heat up that much.

Today I am grateful for running water in my home and a gas cook top I can use to heat it instead of an open fire using cow chips for fuel.  LivingIndia does put things into perspective.

AN ACCIDENTAL MEDICAL VACATION

We are spending the winter in Bharuch Gujarat, population 150,000.  Bharuch is the oldest city in Gujarat and the second-oldest city in India. Her history goes back 8000 years.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharuch

We wound up here quite by accident.  After a month long tour of Rajasthan we planned to see a few ancient historical places in Gujarat and Maharashtra and then on to Goa for the winter.  Our route took us through Bharuch, home to Ram’s second sister’s grandchildren. Bharuch has the perfect winter weather and good infrastructure.  Here there are no rolling blackouts.  We were EXHAUSTED from our constant travel.  We found a nice furnished rental in the same complex that the family resides.  I am enjoying our stay and getting to know them.

It turns out that this area has very good medical care.  At my urging Ram had his hearing checked and purchased hearing aids.  Oh happy day, I no longer have to shout!  He also began having vision problems.  Our family arranged a visit to an excellent eye clinic.  Turns out, he has bilateral cataracts and a deteriorating retina in his left eye.  He had the cataracts removed via laser surgery.  His retina is being treated with eye drops and oral medication.  It should improve some and will not deteriorate any further. 

During his work up one of the doctors asked if I wanted to get rid of my eye glasses.  She said I am too old for Lasik but if I had developing cataracts, I could have the same surgery as Ram.   If I did not, she would not recommend it.  I never thought I would be happy with the news that I do in fact have developing cataracts, 1%.  My surgery is planned in a week or so.  After my surgery they say I will see better than I am able to see with my glasses.  I however will need glasses to read.  Sounds like a win win situation for me.  Right now I am dealing with Ram’s complicated eye drop regime.  His Doctor said that he uses oral and topical antibiotic regime that most doctors do not use just as an extra precaution.  I am glad that I will not have to wait until my cataract surgery becomes medically necessary under the insurance guidelines in the USA.  My doctor told me it is actually better to remove the cataract early on. The surgery is easier with less chance of complications.

The cost of Ram’s surgery was $800.00 per eye.  This includes all the diagnostic work up, medications, post-surgery eyewear and follow up doctor visits.  His hearing aids ran $500.00 for the pair.  He did choose the larger and less costly behind the ear hearing aid simply because it was easer to handle than the small in your ear type.  I do not know the cost of my surgery.  I have not had the complete work up yet.  That will determine the type of intraocular lenses I need and that will determine to cost of the surgery

I never cease to be amazed.  The Creator, God always puts us in the place that we need to be.  At the same time we meet the people we need to help us or that we need to help along our pathway.

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Image courtesy of  http://dmytry.com/

IndiaLiving has given me a different perspective. My live is peaceful. Without the continuous bombardment of television commercials and programming I have discovered the less stuff I have, the happier I have become. I removed myself from politics and the rat race of the world and made some discoveries through reading and reflection. I guess you could say I have detached.

My understanding of God has changed.  God is good, Pure Love, Pure Light incapable of creating evil. God is not a judgemental or a punishing God.  Because He did not want to impose His will on man, He gave us free will.  It is man who has created evil in this world.

I have learned that country, political party, skin-color and gender do not define me. That is not who I am. I am a soul. Genesis 1:27- God created man in his own image. I am a part of what some call God, Pure Energy, Source, the Great I Am. I am a soul encased in a human body, having a human experience.  My soul chose to incarnate into this body called Cindy to learn the lessons that I need to learn and to have experiences I need to have in order to achieve Perfection.  Perfection is to let go of ego and to love unconditionally. Not easy by any means.

Knowing that we choose the life we are living and choose to endure certain experiences makes forgiveness a litter easier. If I am abused in this life, perhaps I was the abuser my previous life.  I need to learn both sides of the issue in order  to forgive and love unconditionally. I no longer am concerned about world events or outcomes. No matter what happens to my body or my world, the real me, who I really am, soul will continue. I will never die. My God, Source of all Creation is Pure, Radiant, and loves unconditionally. The I Am that I Am is not a judgemental angry God ready to punish us for our sins. Having given us free will, He expects nothing from us. He is a Loving God with Infinite Patience and Understanding.  He loves us unconditionally without judgement.  I will never be doomed to hell for committing a sin.  I will simply endure reincarnations until I get it right.  If I commit evil during this lifetime, my next life will not be pleasant.

When my body, known as Cindy dies; the real me, soul energy will become free once again. Other more advanced souls will help me to review my human life experience. Together we will determine what life lessons I learned and what future life experiences I need to continue to grow towards enlightenment. After a rest and reflection, I will choose to reincarnate again to continue my education. As I increase my understanding and perfection; at some point I will no longer need to reincarnate. As an Enlightened Soul, I will be able to help other souls to continue on their journey toward enlightenment. I will grow closer to and become more like the Divine Source, Creator of all.

Did I have to come to India to gain this understanding? No. This is where I happened to unplug from the constant mind control of the TV and began to read and seek answers to the questions I have had for a long time.  Do I have all the answers? No.  Is my path the path you must take? No.  You must discover your own.  Just as there are many roads to your city, town or village, there are many roads to the I Am.

RAM HAS HIS DRIVER'S LICENSE

Ram, after four months finally has his Indian driver’s license.  During the process he asked for a traffic rules manual.  There is none.  After many trips to Haldwani and a lengthy time consuming process, he was given a learners permit.  He was told to return to the RTO (Regional Traffic Office) after one month to get his regular driver’s license.  He did.  At that time he was given another form to fill out.  It was complicated and confusing.  He wound up hiring an agent to assist him.  Two days later he returned to the RTO with the completed form and fee.  There was no written test.  The RTO officer asked him where his car was.  Ram pointed to it.  The officer asked him to bring it around to the front of the office.  This area was a congested jumble of parked vehicles of all types and sizes.  There were no marked parking spaces and no designated traffic path.  Drivers in vehicles with honking horns and pedestrians were trying to get into and out of this area.  Ram asked his driver to bring the car around.  THAT WAS THE TEST!!  Ram was given documentation stating he was a qualified driver and told his driver’s license would arrive in the mail.  It did five days days later.

This is the link to the unofficial driving rules in India.  It is funny and very true.

http://learningindia.in/the-unwritten-rules-of-driving-in-india/

WATER WOES

Living in India often makes me appreciate things I took for granted in the United States.  Tap water is one of them.  Turn on the water tap and clean water flows.  This is not necessarily so in India.

India has a water crisis.  Most of India’s lakes, rivers and ground water are contaminated. There are many causes: poor infrastructure, unregulated industry, unmanaged garbage and untreated sewage. More than one half of Indian households have no toilets. Water scarcity is another problem. This is cause by poor water management and a burgeoning population.

Patna.  Sadly this is not an exception

One would not expect to have to order a tanker of water in the middle of the monsoon.  However, it turns out in our neighbourhood a heavy rain causes sand to build up in the water pipes.  When this happens the water is simply shut off and the sand settles.  In a few days it is turned on again.  If we are lucky, we have enough water in our water storage tank that is below our house and will not have to order a water tanker.  This storage tank supplies our cottage and three others.  Last year this was not a problem. We were the only continuously occupied cottage.  This year the cottage above us was turned into a construction shack and home for the dozen or so construction workers.  Needless to say they go through the water faster than we do.  Whoever is more desperate for water orders and pays for the tanker.  If we wind up paying, we deduct the cost from our monthly rent.  Occasionally there is a dispute in the neighbourhood.  Someone will block the water supply line for spite.  Usually it doesn't take long to figure out where the blockage is and fix it.  The supply line is also located near the road and is not buried in places.  It often breaks when heavy trucks or buses run over it.

This water tanker is pumping water into our water storage tank below our cottage.  From there it is pumped up into the smaller black water storage tanks on the roof.  The pipes on the road behind the tanker are water supply lines.

This hose is feeding water from the tanker into the large storage tank below our cottage.

Large water storage tank located below our cottage.

Every morning we turn on the water pump to pump the water stored below up into the smaller storage tank on the roof. We know the roof tank is full when we hear the water overflowing.  This is difficult to hear during a hard rain.  Water is wasted when our neighbours or we forget to turn  the pump off.  We use this water for all of our water needs.  Monkeys often remove the cover from this tank.  I hate to think about how filthy the water could become.  Bird and monkey poop come to mind.  We boil then filter water used for cooking and drinking.   Ram had the lid replaced and wired shut.

KAMLA IS BACK

                                                                     

One of the first things we did after we settled in this area was to hire domestic help.  Kamla was the first.  After hearing about our family’s difficulties with domestic help and according to blogs I've read, I was lucky to find Kamila.  She worked well with little supervision and always had a smile and laughed a lot.  Months later she changed.  She became argumentative and somewhat difficult.  She also looked like she did not feel well.  We sent her to our Doctor.  It turned out she was pregnant.  The Doctor told her she could not do heavy work and walking over the mountain to work was not advised.  We had to let her go.  That is when we hired Madhu.

Recently, Ram happened to see Kamla during one of his morning walks.  She wanted to come back to work with us.  Ram explained we already had Madhu working for us.  A couple of weeks later Kamla came to see me.  She again asked to come back to work.  She almost cried when I told her it was not possible.  Madhu is working for us.  She left.  I almost cried.  I could tell she really needed the work.  I felt I could not fire Madhu without good reason.

 Not long after Kamla’s visit, Madhu had more and more family emergencies.  She was gone more than she was here.  One day Madhu told me she had to go to Haldwani to see her brother and would not come to work the next day.  She did not call or show up for three days.  She did not answer her phone.  When she did finally show up we fired her.  Because of Kamla’s previous argumentative ways we were hesitant to have her work for us again.  We decided to give it a try.   Kamla came back the same day we let Madhu go!

Kamla’s story has slowly come out.  She has been through a lot.  She had emergency neuro surgery.  It started with a head ache that became worse and worse.  From what she and her husband have said it sounds like she had a brain tumor removed.  That could also account for her personality change that we saw last year.  She also lost her baby.  The doctors told her husband she had a one percent chance to survive.  Everyone was trying to prepare for the worst.  She spent twenty four days in the ICU.  The surgery cost one lakh or $1667.00 USD.  That is a lot of money here.  Her entire village rallied around her.  Not only did they manage to raise the money but they cared for her three children so her husband could be with her.  Kamla told me that she prayed that she could come back to work for us.  To be an answer to ones prayer tugs at my hart and seems like an awesome responsibility.

Kamla’s sweet smiling personality is back.  It seems difficult for her to multitask.  It takes her longer to do household tasks.  I don’t care.  I am glad to have her back. 

DOMESTIC HELP, A MIXED BLESSING

Domestic help here in India is almost a necessity. Because of dusty agriculture, construction and road dirt, the home environment gets dirty very quickly. Floors must be swept and wet moped daily. Most households do not have washing machines and dryers. Food preparation is labor intensive. Frozen foods, packaged foods and mixes are not widely used. This is especially true in rural areas. Domestic labor is inexpensive and available. Sometimes I find it more convenient to send someone to the market. If one has money one is expected to employ household help. This supports poor families.  Many households, especially those with children, employ several servants including a driver.

I have found that domestic help is trying at times. Madhu, my cook/ housekeeper is usually very good. She is a mature married woman with a grown family. Unfortunately her parents are no longer living. She is the eldest girl in her family. Therefore, according to Indian custom, when a family member is sick she must care for them. She has two daughters that are to be married soon. The weddings and all the planning are her responsibility.  Weddings transpire over three days.  Madhu will not always available to us. She still expects to get paid. This is reasonable to a point. When she works, she works seven days a week. We encouraged her to take a set day off each week. She does not want to do that. This is the norm for this area.

Madhu’s brother was hit by a motorcycle resulting in a broken leg.  He needs surgery. The hospital wants 35000 rupees up front before they will do the surgery. We wound up giving Madhu two months cash advance on her salary. This we gladly did. Her family came up with the rest. Unfortunately hr brother is not married. It falls to Madhu to care for him. She has gone for a month and arranged for her sister-in-law, Supna to work in her place. Supna’s reputation has preceded her. She is well known in the area. We hear that she has been fired by several households because they could not put up with her work habits and attitude. This has proven true. Supna is argumentative. She states there are things she won’t do, ironing being one. We informed her is expected do the same tasks as Madhu.  She will work the same hours and receive the same salary as Madhu.

Evidently, Supna complained to Madhu that we require her to do too much work. Madhu sent her daughter, Poonam to help Supna. They will share the money. Supna is still not happy. She keeps telling me, “This is Poonam’s job and that is Poonam’s job.” Now there's more discord in my house. Madhu works well without direction and does a good job with no argument. I must tell these girls when and how to do everything. I find it necessary to follow closely behind them to make sure they have done what I asked. Supna especially tries to cut corners and is argumentative. I don’t know which is worse, doing everything myself or going behind Supna and having her to do something over three times.

I told Ram I can do without Supna. If Poonam will do the rest of the household chores, I can manage the cooking. Anyway, Supna's cooking is not that good.  He has already explored that option. Poonam will not come here by herself. She is afraid of the monkeys that she will encounter on the way. It sounds like Poonam does not want to work either. It is going to be a long month. I am close to firing Supna.  If Poonam does not want to work by herself so be it.  I want my peaceful home back.