Children, Women and Men
I have spent close to 2 months here in India. In the next couple of days I will arrive at the Sri Ram Ashram/Orphanage and Sri Ram Vidya Mandir (a school for local children) founded by Baba Hari Dass. I wanted to share what I have experienced in regards to children specifically. To do so, I think it is easiest to write out what I have seen in list form, rather than paragraph. This list is by no means exhaustive and it is in no order. It arises from my thoughts and memories, mostly images in my mind.
The Babas and the toddler. You can see the Baba that is closest is waving to me, as I watched them for a long time. The Baba in the distance, near the bench is with the toddler.
A father feeding his infant child with his hands in front of the door to his house
A mother passing her son off to his father after stepping off of a bus
A mother making room for her son to move past her to get a seat at the window
Children sitting on a pile of rocks on the side of the road while their parents did road construction.
A child holding a water bottle to his mouth, spilling it and the father taking it from his hands.
Children walking around in the sand/dirt while their parents brought bricks up flights of stairs to build walls in a new hotel.
A child standing on the floor in between the legs of his father on a scooty
A woman breastfeeding her child in a shop while taking with other women
A child sitting beside his mom while she sold plastic water bottles to hold water from Ma Ganga
A mother approaching me to say her daughter thinks we look alike and can we take a selfie
A father turning the whistle around so his daughter can blow into in from the right direction to make a sound
Two Babas playing hide and seek with a toddler on the ghat next to Ma Ganga
A man running downstairs and outside to get the kite stuck in the tree
A father sitting with his child, rubbing her back while she coughed at the doctors office
A father bringing his son water after he threw up from the bumpy bus ride
A father lifting his bare bottomed child up in to the air and laughing
A father picking up his son who was in tears because the ride at the mall ended
An eleven day old baby wrapped in blankets next to a fire surrounded by his mom, grandma, aunties and cousins who were all laughing
An auntie telling her niece, no, to not touch the matches and the fire, and the child watching the auntie to see if she would do something if she did touch the fire
A child sitting with her father at his shop/cart playing with paper
An older girl telling her younger brother to come, to move out of the way from the cow
Children approaching me, asking me to purchase flowers and if I had American money
Families playing on the playground in the city
A child chasing his flip flop as it floated down a diversion stream
A mother placing a pfd (personal floatation device) on her child before a boat ride
A child approaching a Hanuman statue and kissing it
A child hiding behind his mom when a monkey approached him
A brother pushing his sister in a swinging chair while his brother moved around in a walker
A mother holding her child while sitting on the steps asking for food
A mother sitting outside of a bakery wiping the face of a child
A child sitting in his mothers lap in a full car
Children playing cricket
Children playing a game where you toss a rock forward, walk to it and then toss it back to the next one in line
Children singing “jingle bells” on Christmas Eve while playing a game that involved clasping hands to form a barrier of sorts and then jumping over it
Children flying kites
These children are are playing tag while waiting for their kite to be retrieved…. it landed in a tree.
In light, full of gratitude and a lot of love,
HUGS
Sara