Greetings!
On January 12 our group made a wonderful visit to a Dalit village a few hours from Pondicherry. Arriving at the village, our group of students was pleasantly surprised with the very warm welcome we received from the villagers. All of the women in our group received beautiful flowers in their hair and assortments of colorful bangle bracelets. The men were also greeted with a special ceremony in which white cloths were wrapped around their shoulders. On our foreheads and necks, all of us received a red mark, a traditional symbol of welcome and blessings in India. It's safe to say that we and the villagers had mutual levels of excitement for the day, as we were there to take part in the Pongal Festival (known as Makar Sankrati in another south Indian state, Karnataka), a four-day celebration of thanksgiving for the year's harvest in India!
Our day kicked off with watching the village women cook pongal, a sweet porridge-like dish eaten as part of the celebration. As the food cooked and the water boiled over the handmade pots, villagers began to clap and cheer, as this marked the beginning of the festival! Later, we got to taste the dish— it was delicious!
The rest of the day was filled with lots of fun, laughter, and excitement. The other festivities began with some of the women villagers performing a traditional circle dance for us, which we also all got to join in on. Next, we watched the men villagers as well of some of our own brave men play a traditional game similar to tag, but much more aggressive. It was quite funny to see some of our students get into it. We also partook in a game where one person was blindfolded and had to navigate themselves towards a hanging target and try and hit it with a long stick they were carrying. While nobody hit it, many of us were super close! We also got to spend time mingling with the villagers, men, women, and children. Many of us were excited to interact with the children especially, as we hadn't had much of a chance to do so in the villages we'd visited prior. We found it a bit funny to see how eager they were to take "selfies" with us, but they were full of smiles, energy, and enthusiasm.
{Shown is the hanging pot students tried to hit in the second game}
Towards the end of the day, we gathered all together as a group to have a brief discussion. A few professors from a local college were there to moderate and translate the conversations between the two languages (English and Tamil). As our group has been reading many articles on the role of marriage and treatment of women in India, it was very interesting and enlightening to hear the professors speak on the importance of moving towards a gender equal society and the training the villagers had been going through on giving women more empowerment in their community. One professor also touched on the problem of alcoholism among men, which we had previously read about, and reiterated how important it is to raise awareness and prevent this issue, as it is a cause of many forms of gender inequality and abuse. It was really wonderful to see the villagers react in agreement to these statements, and witness how both men and women had already begun to work towards a more inclusive society to women.
Our day ended with an amazing meal prepared by the villagers, which we ate on banana tree leaves—a first for many of us! We said our goodbyes with lots of hugs and well wishes for a happy Pongal to the people many of us had felt we'd built friendships with even in the short span of a few hours. While we were sad to leave, I think we all left with full hearts and lots of hope for the future progress of the village community. It was an experience many of us will cherish forever and can't wait to share with all of those at home.
On January 12 our group made a wonderful visit to a Dalit village a few hours from Pondicherry. Arriving at the village, our group of students was pleasantly surprised with the very warm welcome we received from the villagers. All of the women in our group received beautiful flowers in their hair and assortments of colorful bangle bracelets. The men were also greeted with a special ceremony in which white cloths were wrapped around their shoulders. On our foreheads and necks, all of us received a red mark, a traditional symbol of welcome and blessings in India. It's safe to say that we and the villagers had mutual levels of excitement for the day, as we were there to take part in the Pongal Festival (known as Makar Sankrati in another south Indian state, Karnataka), a four-day celebration of thanksgiving for the year's harvest in India!
{Our group being welcomed by the villagers}
Our day kicked off with watching the village women cook pongal, a sweet porridge-like dish eaten as part of the celebration. As the food cooked and the water boiled over the handmade pots, villagers began to clap and cheer, as this marked the beginning of the festival! Later, we got to taste the dish— it was delicious!
{Village women cooking pongal}
The rest of the day was filled with lots of fun, laughter, and excitement. The other festivities began with some of the women villagers performing a traditional circle dance for us, which we also all got to join in on. Next, we watched the men villagers as well of some of our own brave men play a traditional game similar to tag, but much more aggressive. It was quite funny to see some of our students get into it. We also partook in a game where one person was blindfolded and had to navigate themselves towards a hanging target and try and hit it with a long stick they were carrying. While nobody hit it, many of us were super close! We also got to spend time mingling with the villagers, men, women, and children. Many of us were excited to interact with the children especially, as we hadn't had much of a chance to do so in the villages we'd visited prior. We found it a bit funny to see how eager they were to take "selfies" with us, but they were full of smiles, energy, and enthusiasm.
{Shown is the hanging pot students tried to hit in the second game}
Towards the end of the day, we gathered all together as a group to have a brief discussion. A few professors from a local college were there to moderate and translate the conversations between the two languages (English and Tamil). As our group has been reading many articles on the role of marriage and treatment of women in India, it was very interesting and enlightening to hear the professors speak on the importance of moving towards a gender equal society and the training the villagers had been going through on giving women more empowerment in their community. One professor also touched on the problem of alcoholism among men, which we had previously read about, and reiterated how important it is to raise awareness and prevent this issue, as it is a cause of many forms of gender inequality and abuse. It was really wonderful to see the villagers react in agreement to these statements, and witness how both men and women had already begun to work towards a more inclusive society to women.
{Fish, rice, sambar, and various salads prepared by villagers}
