10/14/10

Today was the exciting culmination of the 40^th Anniversary celebration. The first thing I did when we got to the school where we were going to assemble was shake hands with the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was standing around shaking hands with people (mostly bishops, to be honest) and I just went up to him and shook hands. He's very friendly and had a nice firm handshake.

We processed along a couple of city streets to the Cathedral, where the festivities were held in a tent outside. It was unbelievably hot and the service lasted 4 hrs. But it was interesting and there were a couple of exciting moments. One was when the Archbishop preached – he has a great preaching voice and his message was very affirming to the CNI. Then, Alwan Masih called on the heads of the church to give a message to the CNI and when he got to the Presbyterian Church, he called on me! I had no idea that I was going to be asked to speak. Grace, Lois and Jimmy said I did well and had a nice message and I think I was reasonably coherent.

There was picture-taking afterwards and one little girl, Yashika Daniel, who we had been talking to during the conference took a bunch of pictures of us. She's 9 years old, the daughter of a pastor and extremely adorable. She took a shine to Grace and followed her around the conference.

Afterward we went to lunch at the hotel where the rest of the international guests were staying and had a nice lunch. Grace, Lois and I were waiting in the lobby for our ride back to the hotel when who should come along, but the Archbishop of Canterbury! He came over to us, shook our hands and chatted with us for a couple of minutes. He's really very nice and quite down to earth. Not at all intimidating for someone who more than one person told us is in line for the throne.

When we finally did get our car, the driver, Dinesh, tried to speak English and I tried to speak Hindi. We both agreed that we spoke “thoda thoda” (a little) English and Hindi. We managed to make it to the hotel with a little detour due to misunderstanding and some translation on the part of one of the CNI officials. When we got there, we had another little misunderstanding because we wanted to give Dinesh a tip, but he didn't understand that that's what we were trying to do. As we talked (as we tried to give him the money and he kept giving it back), a crowd formed and there was much discussion about the situation. There was one man who spoke a little more English than the others and we explained what we were trying to do. He told us that it wasn't expected, that we didn't have to do it, and we finally relented.

All in all, a pretty exciting day. Now on to Delhi!

Reflection: It’s a Cooperative Venture

One of the things I love about Indian culture is that it’s a cooperative venture (see: Driving). If you need help, or just look like you need help, there is always someone to come to your assistance. Whether it’s getting directions or trying to figure out the ATM machine, a crowd will form. There will be lots of talking back and forth, arguing about the best solution to the problem, but the atmosphere is convivial. Everyone takes a position and after much discussion, a consensus is reached. There might be a majority opinion and a minority opinion, but the conversation goes on until something is agreed upon. This way, your problem becomes a community venture and the visitor feels supported and a part of the community.