Indian Standard Time (18.1.09)

Our first meeting with Indian Standard Time (IST) was in England. Jeni dropped us off at Gloucester bus station in plenty of time but the bus was 40 minutes late, we were so relieved to see it! Take off from Heathrow was delayed by another 40 minutes. Arrival in Hyderabad was on time though, but one of our bags was on Indian Standard Time, and had missed the plane and didn’t get to Dornakal until over a week later. At the very new Rajiv Ghandi airport we had a real Indian welcome. As we walked out of the arrival lounge there were 2 smiling faces holding up a sign for us. We were driven from Hyderabad to Dornakal, about 5 hours travel, including a breakfast stop through some marvellous scenery. But there seems to be no rules of the road, traffic was chaotic in the towns but no collisions.

In Dornakal we were given a lovely large guest room in the Diocese Junior College Boy’s Hostel, cool, and with its own en suite facilities, but no sink! The fitting of a flush cistern to the toilet was done in a day or two. The boys in the hostel were friendly and helpful, they liked to practice their English, especially ‘What is your name?’ and ‘How are you?’ We also learnt a little Telegu, the local language, ‘Vandanalu’ (thank you) and ‘Baganara/Bagananu’ (how are you/I am well). There we met Helen Colson a teacher from King’s School, and together visited schools and hostels. In the Epiphany Cathedral Compound at Dornakal there are 5 schools and 8 children’s hostels. We helped with some teaching and played games & sang to the children.

Bishop Devamani, a very active and energetic bishop, with 74 pastorates, he is closely involved in the projects across his Diocese. He is passionately interested in the care and education of the children, both in the Compound Hostels and in the many schools run by the Church of South India in his area. He attended a total of 30 Christmas ‘Functions’ where staff and children put on cultural activities and Christmas plays, food is also provided. As we don’t have Bishop Devamani’s stamina it was fortunate that most of the Functions had already taken place before we arrived. As the Bishop is so involved, he seldom gets away on time and so the next function is delayed. Indian Standard Time begins. The first ‘Function’ we were invited to was due to start at about 6.00pm, but the Bishop had been delayed by earlier business and didn’t arrive until after 9.00, food wasn’t served until 11.00pm. Jane was given a beautiful sari by the Women’s Fellowship, but it took a lot of learning how to wear it correctly.

We visited Khammam, a local town about the size of Gloucester, and the outbound local train was almost on time, but the long distance return express train was on Indian Standard Time and came in over ½ hour late. Morning prayers we were told were held in the Cathedral at 9.00am each morning, we were dubious as the Cathedral was being re-roofed and re-painted inside and out ready for Christmas and the rededication service by Bishop Michael; true to form, Indian Standard Time happened, and each morning we joined the Diocesan Staff in the Bishop’s Chapel at 9.30 –ish. The Christmas Day service began at 4.00am and ended with wonderful greetings at 7.00. Later on Christmas day, on English Time, we were able to talk to both Amanda and Nicola by Hotmail Conference.

Changing to Indian food took a little time. We are not given the mouth-blowing curries that some people thought we might, but even a mild curry for breakfast does wake you up! Despite wanting to eat with the boys, we were served our meals in our room; perhaps the boy’s meals would have contained far too many chillies for our stomachs. We both had clothes made for us, Jane a Salwar Kamise and Paul, 2 shirts and 2 pairs of trousers, which were to be ready for Christmas, but again Indian Standard Time happened and the clothes arrived for New Year. Despite the lack of haste, everybody is so kind and generous to us, it is no bother. During Christmas we received many invitations to spend time with extended families. We now have more than enough clothes, to ensure that we won’t have too much space in our luggage for the return journey. The picture below shows us with Christopher, our hostel superintendant, decked out in his Christmas best, Jane in her new Sari, and Paul’s new shirt.We have settled in well. The people we meet are so welcoming and friendly that we feel very privileged. The climate is pleasant, with morning to evening sunshine and day time temperatures of 25 C. and a pleasant 18 C. at night. The countryside is very fertile, with chillies, cotton, rice, lentils and peanuts. It is much greener than we expected and Dornakal is a thriving town, very unlike the ghost town environment we expected. We have moved to Khammam and are staying at the St. Mary’s Polio Girl’s Hostel since the start of January, but we will tell you about that next month.