Day 5 – My welcome to the Biryani capital of India… Hyderabad!

Trinket salesman...  courtesy of B.H.

I arrived in Hyderabad late on August 12 (Day 4 of the India adventure) and was fortunate enough to have been welcomed at the airport by my soon-to-be predecessor. He has been incredibly helpful in coordinating everything and I honestly don’t know that I could have done it without him. As I have come to find in India, “this takes time” is one of the most common phrases whenever you try to get anything done. At any rate, it has been quite a learning process for me thus far as the red tape in India makes the U.S. bureaucracy look like a playground!

I spent a good part of the day getting settled into my (future) house. It’s a lovely 3-story building that by Indian standards is pretty sweet. There are bugs to deal with, but that’s pretty typical here. Fortunately, we have electric tennis rackets to show some love to the mosquitoes! The ants are a bit annoying as they seem to show up out of nowhere. I did happen across a couple geckos the other day—one in the first-floor kitchen and another in the third-floor entertainment room. They may not be paying rent, but I’m told they do help keep the insect population under control, so they’re welcome guests.

Okay, so my first full-day in Hyderabad was pretty interesting as the neighboring village had a Hindu festival celebrating some snake god. It was rather eye-opening for a guy who’s really only read about idol worship. I couldn’t help but notice all the beautiful people in their colorful clothes who are such clear evidence of our being made in the image of God. My friend took so many wonderful pictures of them. It was really incredible seeing their faces light up with smiles. As many of them are so poor, seeing their happiness is such a blessing for someone who materially has so much more wealth. Of course there was the occasional trinket peddler who tried with all his will to sell you something you’d never be interested in buying or maybe he’s just testing your nerves. You see the desperate side of humanity when confronted with people who struggle even to find their next meal. It is heartbreaking to feel such an overwhelming need and not know how to respond. If God calls me to care for the poor and needy, what does that look like when I’m surrounded by the poor and needy? I am continually reminded of Mark’s words describing Jesus, ironically enough as He was speaking to a rich, young man. He says that Jesus “looking at him, loved him.” I long to express that love as Jesus did and show care, compassion, and concern for the people God brings into my life. I know each person and situation is unique, but I really yearn to have the courage to love as Jesus did. No preconditions, no reservations, no fear, just perfect love.

As my mind is swirling with these thoughts, I’m still trying to process what I’m seeing. People walking around a tree surrounded by little wooden snakes, stopping momentarily to pray. What’s going on? I don’t understand. Then a friendly young man asks us if we want to go in the temple. I’m not sure at this point if that’s a good idea. I think of the living God and the glory He deserves being given to gods made by human hands. Am I honoring the true God by entering this temple? Will they try to force me to observe some idolatrous ritual? What do I do? We finally decide to enter and I pray for courage to stand firm in the face of any idolatry… What I see as we enter breaks my heart. There are many small snake statues and in this dark, damp, dreary place there are different shrines set up for various gods. People stand in lines to worship these icons who in their man-made form somehow represent deities. People pay their respects and offer their praise… As my mind is racing, I am reminded that God will not give His glory to another. And then back to reality as our guides whisk us over to another “sacred” place. More people lined up for worship. This time it’s a room with yet another god who is trapped in the confines of the space where he was placed. A man gestures for us to make some sort of bow of allegiance, but we ignore the request. Right behind us people are holding coins against the open hands of a female goddess. My best guess is that they hope for a blessing that might come if the goddess accepts their offering. Then we pass thru a small room with a four-sided statue onto which people are pouring milk. The milk runs down onto the floor and our bare feet cannot avoid it as we make our way around yet another lifeless god. At this point I am thankful that my sense of smell has been significantly hampered in recent months due to allergies or something. I’m not sure my stomach could have handled the foulness of that place… I might have offered my stomach contents to that god. Not that he or she would have cared much anyway. We finally step back outside and sunlight is a welcome relief. I’m glad I saw all that I did, but the plumes of spiritual darkness were as thick as the night. The light is refreshing and so are the beautiful creatures God has made in His image. We make our way back to the car and I’m pestered one last time by a trinket peddler. This guy will not leave me alone. He’s trying to sell me something like those little horns kids blow into at a birthday party. They roll up when they lose air and then expand as they’re filled with air. I think they’re called blow-outs or party horns or something like that. Ironically, not only did he offer me something I would never buy, but I also didn’t have any money. Well, he didn’t get it until I emptied my pockets and showed him. That’s all it took and he finally decided to leave me alone.

On the way back to the house, we stopped near a park in our driver’s neighborhood. There were millions of little kids playing! Well, it is India and while it did seem like a lot of kids, it probably really was more like 30. Anyway, we got out of the car and they swarmed us. My buddy had his camera and after he took a few pics, everyone wanted their picture taken and I mean everybody! It was great! The only problem was that as soon as we showed up the kids stopped going on the rides and I think the owner didn’t appreciate us cutting into his profits. I felt like a celebrity as we departed with great fanfare. As we got into the car, the kids enthusiastically began offering their hands for me to shake. It was one of the few times in India that I felt like people actually cared more about me than about my money. It truly was a beautiful experience and thus far has been the highlight of my short time here.

That evening, we went out to eat at a fairly fancy Indian restaurant and I got to make a number of friends. Most of them are ex-pats, so it’s really nice to have a little American posse who are fun to hang out with. At dinner, I wasn’t exactly Mr. Excitement or anything because I was pretty tired from all the traveling and the sightseeing in Delhi. It was great to make some friends who will no doubt be good to hang out with in the future!