Hands in Friendship Held
This land, in spite of language
Long ago imposed, and now entirely yours
Gone native, is like the past
Another place where difference is the rule
Exotic foreign otherwise
And so for us who visit
Adjusting can be hard
The many daily culture shocks
A puzzle, bringing stress
But also sudden, bolt from blue
A rush of sheer delight
As gorgeous perfumed jasmine flowers
Are pinned, with love, to deck our hair
Or taste of local cooking
Taught by mother carefully to daughter
Our tradition you say proudly
Like your culture ancient with deep roots
But most of all the gift you give
Of friendship from the heart
Untainted still and pure
Sophistication not yet come
To village Indian life
So love declared with smiles
And hugs, and hands in friendship held
All ages mixed no shame
No need for ‘cool’
We take a trip to earlier times
A voyage to the past
Before modernity was born
An age of innocence
And blessed we are time-traveling thus
A world away, enchanted in this land
This land, in spite of language
Long ago imposed, and now entirely yours
Gone native, is like the past
Another place where difference is the rule
Exotic foreign otherwise
And so for us who visit
Adjusting can be hard
The many daily culture shocks
A puzzle, bringing stress
But also sudden, bolt from blue
A rush of sheer delight
As gorgeous perfumed jasmine flowers
Are pinned, with love, to deck our hair
Or taste of local cooking
Taught by mother carefully to daughter
Our tradition you say proudly
Like your culture ancient with deep roots
But most of all the gift you give
Of friendship from the heart
Untainted still and pure
Sophistication not yet come
To village Indian life
So love declared with smiles
And hugs, and hands in friendship held
All ages mixed no shame
No need for ‘cool’
We take a trip to earlier times
A voyage to the past
Before modernity was born
An age of innocence
And blessed we are time-traveling thus
A world away, enchanted in this land
1st February 2010, en route Bangalore to Goa, for my fellow travelers, B, P, M and A
Sally, this is wonderful to read. You are so skilled at standing back and painting the whole of an emotional landscape, not just the brightly lit close-up bits - which in this case must sometimes be the stress, shock and incomprehension of aliens in a vast and unfamiliar land/culture. Yet you always manage to discern the flowers by your wayside, and to celebrate them. God bless your loving eyes, that see with such humanity!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Jenny. The connecting with a humanity is what is so very powerful out here, because of the relationships we have but also because of the naive and direct way our friends here behave. Such a privilege we have to be part of this and to have this experience- a real blessing.
ReplyDeleteOoh just found this wonderful poem here as well. I just though how amazing to capture the essence of all that kept coming through in your blogg in a poem when I first read it. I know it is what defines you, you are such a people person but in this poem you acknowledge it so beautifully in others. A meeting of hearts.
ReplyDeleteI read this again and again Sally. I'm so, so grateful that you are able to 'discern the flowers by your wayside' and even happier that you help me to do the same through your words.It's sometimes hard to see beyond the many daily culture shocks when you are in the thick of it but you do it every time. Thank you.
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