Boaz's Slum

The morning of Day 2 in India, we traveled to the slum where Boaz lived from birth until he was 15 years old. Although 90% of the slum has been demolished and the (former) residents have been pushed out of the city, the shanty he lived in remains as well as the temple across the narrow alley. Outside the cement walls of the slum was a busy street, full of vendors and traffic and noise, women and children sitting on the sidewalk. It reeked of excrement.

I was hesitant to enter. Boaz had told us how the narrow streets would be packed with people, but when we entered, it was quiet and peaceful, even, compared to outside. There were many fewer residents, which obviously explains the lack of people. I felt strange entering this community unannounced, a large group of people who clearly were not locals.

Boaz led the way through the alley until we met some people and reached his old house and the temple. They let us into the temple to see. There was a large statue and altar. We took our shoes off to enter. The people were excited to show us. A young woman gave some of us girls bindis, the red dot on the forehead that is a blessing of a Hindu god. I wasn't sure I wanted to be blessed by any god who ordains inequality, but the women had hospitable intentions. Later Boaz told us that when he was a child, there were all night prayer vigils when women would go in and be possessed by spirits. Their voices would get low, almost like a man's voice, and they would tell people things like who should marry whom.

We walked further until we came to the part that had been destroyed. It was just dirt and rubble. We walked across the street to a hospital and a women's medical school. We talked to some students there, but were shooed away by the administration because we didn't have permission to be talking to her students, so we went back to the slum.

On our way out, we met the family who lives were Boaz lived. They let us come in and see it. They've expanded the house, so now it has four rooms instead of two. We talked there and all crammed into their bedroom to sit while we waited for the chai to be made. When it was ready, we sat on the ground in the temple and drank the chai and ate some food (I can't remember what it's called).

Contrast # 1: The administration of the school kicked us out, but the people of slum welcomed us and fed us, though they have very little.

And that was just the morning...