Descent - Family Roots

You might recall that this pilgrimage had three parts: 1) Lutheran Partners..., 2) Bethania Kids, 3) family roots. I've come full circle now and am back in Tiruvannamalai, where it pretty much all began. Last night, I finished the ancestry portion of my pilgrimage. On Thursday, my driver and I left Madurai and drove 6 hours to Kanchipuram, the "silk city." Time was limited, so I only hit one shop, and only for an hour. Probably a good thing, wallet-wise. Prem Anand, the son of the pastor who now lives in the bungalow my grandfather built in Barugur, met me there, along with two of his friends. He lives in Chennai, but took a bus out to meet me. Prem has been a great help with itinerary and lodging plans, and it was wonderful to finally meet him. One of his friends is from an influential, well-known family. I'm not exactly sure how this shakes out, but I think his grandfather was a high-ranking minister in the state of Tamil Nadu, and I believe his father is with the Tamil Nadu government, too. For this reason, we had privileged access to the temple, going to the head of the queues and getting into places where others are not allowed (a little embarrassing). I was also able to take photos where cameras are technically forbidden. When they saw Parventhan coming, with a tall white "dignitary" in tow, they just parted and let us right through. Afterwards, we went to Parventhan's home, where I got "shawled" (more on that later) and saw his recent wedding photos. [Dear LPGM friends: Remember that moustached dignitary we saw on all those billboards? This guy knows him well, and he was at the wedding!] It was a fast, furious and exciting temple visit, and I loved it. My only complaint is that the elephant was reluctant to bless me. Maybe he knows I'm a Christian, even though Prem, Parventhan, and Chandrakumar told the temple attendants I am Hindu.

VELLORE
Exhausted, we drove on to Vellore, approximately another hour away. The hotel said they only had me booked for one night. I could've moved to a non-A/C room for the second night, but the place was not in the greatest shape anyway (dirty, mosquitos) so with one quick call to Prem, I was set me up for the second night in a lovely government-run hotel in Krishnagiri, which was more convenient anyway. In Vellore on Thursday, I saw the Tamil Nadu government museum - dusty but interesting - and then walked around the Vellore Fort. It was very hot and sticky today.

AMBUR
We then went on to Ambur, where my grandfather was a chaplain for awhile at Bethesda Hospital and taught at the teacher training school, also on the IELC (India Evangelical Lutheran Church) compound, along with a school for the deaf and other schools, and two churches - one built in 1966 with very progressive architecture. My guide at Ambur was the feisty Dr. Alice Brauer, who knew my mom's family and has been serving there for many years, currently in community development. Alice is, well, let's just say she's "blunt" - and she wouldn't mind me telling you that. She speaks her mind and offends people along the way, but I was somewhat prepared for that. I only gave her about 40 minutes notice that I was coming and am sure I'll never hear the end of that. I thought I could just view the compound and hospital on my own. At the last minute, thanks to Prem, I called her and she rose to the occasion. She gave me a grand whirlwind tour and boldly walked right into the house where my grandparents lived. It's now used for nurses training. All of mom's siblings were born at the hospital in Ambur.

VANIYAMBADI
I had some time left in the day before having to move on, so stopped at the "optional" Vaniyambadi, where Concordia Press is, and where Dan Burow's father was stationed. Dan is a fellow Mount Olivite and a retired pastor. I wanted to be able to tell him I stopped there. [Dan, I stopped there.] My impromptu visit threw the folks at Vaniyambadi into a tizzy. I made them lead me through the weedy hillside to find the grave of the small Kretzmann missionary boy who, Mom remembers, died in 1936. She visited him when he was sick, and she says it was the saddest funeral she and her friend Betty had ever been to. The grave was hidden behind a huge cactus and was unkempt, but we cleared the weeds away enough to get a good photo. In the chapel at the Press building, I found a harmonium and played it for the staff. Granddad was for several years the editor of the Tamil Satya Satshi, the Tamil Lutheran Witness.


BARUGUR
Several miles ahead lay Barugur, where Grampa supervised the building of the bungalow - and, I'm told by the folks there, a nearby road, which I saw later! The first thing you see when you reach the turn into the grounds is a large building with huge lettering that says "REV. NAUMAN STAGE." The Indians love their monuments and plaques. If it was built by human hands and if any money was involved, t's got an inscription of some sort! Spellings are very fluid here, so thus the misspelling of Naumann. Elsewhere on the grounds I later saw the "Missionary Rev. Nauman Park." There is too much to say here about the Barugur visit, but suffice to say that



Rev. Herbert Anandaraj and his wife were thrilled to have me visit. Rev. Herbert had Grandpa as a his Bible teacher - 7:30 a.m., he says. They live in the central part of the house. I took a lot of pictures. And yes, Mom, the bathtub is there but has fallen into disuse. Everything's painted green! That bright industrial green that was used so often in the old days. The IELC campus here contains an elementary school, higher secondary school (goes not just to 10th standard, but to 12th), a school for the blind (which Grandpa started, Mom says), and a school for the mentally retarded, which is the lingo still used here (and I'm told is making a comeback in the states). I was especially impressed with the blind school and with the school for the mentally retarded. The latter fills a great void. - It is one of the few schools in Tamil Nadu that serves mentally handicapped children and makes a bold statement to the community about the value of educating these children. They are trained in basic life skills and are taught skills that will lead to some kind of work when they leave the school. The headmaster of the blind school is a dedicated and gentle man who you can tell runs a tight ship. The buildings, which he helped to design/build( I think that's what he said), look wonderful - spacious, clean and organized. All of the teachers for these "private" schools are paid by the government, and some funds come from World Vision, but they are in dire need of more help. These two schools impressed me greatly, and I hope to do something to further awareness about them.

VENGATTISAMUTARUM
Another host for this portion of the trip was the evangelist, Mr. Arivanandrum, who also corresponds with my mother and sister. He is full of fervor and love and was eager to tell me stories about Grandpa. He speaks very good English and has a great sense of humor. He guided the tour of the nearby village school which Gramps started for children of low-caste families. At that time it was huge issue amongst the missionaries and residents in that part of the world. The church in Vengattisamutarum is Redeemer Lutheran Church. I met two former teachers and a former student (all very old now). On our trek to the village, we passed a temple (falling into ruins) that I was told is from the 13th century. I asked if I could take a look. The director of the blind school ventured in with me. It's abandoned - looks exactly like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. The carvings are exquisite. In these temples, by the way, each huge pillar is carved - intriquitely - out of a single piece of granite. I was warned about scorpions, so didn't venture into the inner sanctum, where the god's statue would have been kept.

Back in Barugur, I met for sometime with some of the local church leaders (all men, which is disappointing). I also learned that there has been a schism and a new congregation is being formed. Although the Lutheran churches in India - Arcot Lutheran Church, IELC, others - have certainly not cornered the market on disagreements and infighting, it is way too prevalent here. The love of money is, of course, at the root of the evil, as are disputes about land ownership and concerns about prestige. People in India are really into position. If they have degrees or titles, they use them. The Arcot Lutheran Church, with which Lutheran Partners in Global Ministry is in close relationship, was started by Danes who felt that the church should truly be caste-less. Ironically, because of this, they themselves became outcasts. Most or all of the LPGM homes and schools are therefore in the very poor or outer-lying areas.

The pastor lamented to me about the lack of musical training for pastors and the lack of musicians to lead. I laughed and said, "What makes you thing things are different in our country?" They are singing songs in Tamil, which is good, but would like to do music that has more substance. Many still remember and like the Lutheran tunes for the Ordinary of the liturgy. They like them, and they work well, but the hymnbooks give very little guidance on how to sing the music or where to find the tunes. Maybe some kind of musical exchange study program between U.S. Lutheran colleges or seminaries and the Nagercoil seminary is in order?

tabla

harmonium