Arrival in Patna

Thursday 06/19/2014

After another 8 hour flight we finally arrived on Indian soil. Immigration and customs was a breeze so we had plenty of time in the airport to get some food and check in for our next flight from Delhi to Patna.

When we got off the plane and picked up our bags, we walked out of the airport and spotted Uncle Jack immediately and he saw us. With a quick handshake and a few exchanged words, he showed us to the car that he had brought. At first, I thought he was going to drive us which I was really impressed by (and slightly afraid about) but it turned out he had someone who worked at his school pick us up. (I later learned that he still drives a motorcycle which he has had since 1973. All the other fathers claimed that it is the oldest motorbike in the city and possible even the whole state).

The drive from the airport was eye-widening. There were bicycles and small autorickshaws everywhere and the rules of the road were certainly more like guidelines. Car horns are used to say “get out of the way” or “I'm right behind/next to you” or “you crossed in front of me and that's no problem but I want you to know I didn't like it very much” or in many cases for no discernible reason at all. They are used much more liberally than in America but thankfully the horn itself if far quieter and less annoying than American ones so all in all driving is a pretty good time. And as Uncle Jack told us while crossing a bustling street, “no one is trying to kill you”

We arrived at the school, St. Xaviers, which is a walled, very large, plot of land that has a couple 4-story school buildings and a residence hall. Uncle Jack told us a little bit about the history of the school. I don't remember all of the details but the jist is that it began as a Jesuit mission back in the 1920s. It was not widely accepted at the time because of the lack of religious freedoms in the area, and the naivete of the Fathers about Indian culture. Eventually it was taken over by a guy who very much knew the culture and who had been a part of different Jesuit schools around the country. Based on the success of those other schools, the British asked this guy if he would start a school at the mission in Patna. They created a Catholic boarding school that accepted people from all around Bihar and even as far as Jaipur and Nepal. They were so successful with the school that they were asked to start another school in Jaipur and one in Nepal. Eventually the school added more buildings and stopped being a boarding school so that they could service the community and now they have over a thousand students from Pre-K through High School and are extremely well respected by the locals. (School is out for the rest of this week so we haven't seen any kids running around).

Uncle Jack showed us to our rooms which each have beds, a desk, and a bath room with a shower which was far nicer than I expected. We were able to shower off and take a break and then Leslie and I decided to explore the grounds a little bit.

My bedroom

The main corridor connecting mine and Leslie's rooms to the dining hall

Uncle jack came out and told us a bunch of stories about his time here in India. I won't go into all the details but I will briefly retell one story that I really liked.

The Ganges river is a large and sacred river that runs through the northern part of India. Although extremely polluted it is known to give life to the region since the people rely on its waters. The river originates from a glacier in a spot known as “Gaumukh” in the North Central part of India. Gaumukh is an extremely sacred place (as is just about everywhere for one reason or another according to Uncle Jack). Many years ago, Jack and a friend from the missionary decided to travel up there during an off-school period. When others heard that he was going they asked him to bring something sacred back to them and he agreed.

They arrived at the closest bus stop to Gaumukh which was still 12 miles walking distance to the source. Uncle Jack's companion had gotten ill on the travel there and did not want to walk that distance for risk of getting pneumonia. They stayed at a lodge near the bus stop and Uncle Jack met another couple who was going to hire a guide and so he tagged along to split the cost. They set off the next day and arrived at the source of the Ganges around 3pm. Looking for something sacred to bring back he came across some people selling little brass pots. He bought one and filled it up with water from the mouth of the river but not before he blessed it. Holy water in hand and the day slipping by, they decided to start heading back. Uncle Jack arrived to his companion 4 hours later than they had planned at around 1030 at night. The companion asked “well what happened, how was the glacier” Uncle Jack said “It was great, I blessed all of the Northern India!”

I'm not sure why I like that story so much but I think it shows a lot about who my Uncle is. His final quote was not one of pious salvation for those people living near the Ganges, nor did he believe the blessing would actually do anything but he was just pleased at the idea of it and not to mention the beautiful mountain hike he was able to go on.

 We then had dinner along with a bunch of the fathers at the school. The food was delicious and there was a surprising amount of alcohol. Uncle Jack told us there was some sort of party going on that I believe was unrelated to our arrival. We shared a kingfisher with our uncle, heard some more stories and went to bed.