Velemegna Good News Society Hospital

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Something about India

From Insight Guide India

Until 1947, the nations of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India were all a single political entity: India. A very fertile land — whose river topsoil is renewed annually through summer monsoons — its history is closely linked to its ecology and high agricultural yield. A visitor to the northern region of Karnataka, the location of Velemegna, cannot fail to appreciate the wondrous array of fruits, nuts and vegetables grown locally.

India's earliest known urban settlements date back to around 2500 B.C. and spread north and northwestward from the Indus river valley. Towns were well planned, with streets crossing one another at 90º angles, sewage systems and public buildings.

Initial migrations into India of tribal peoples, probably from northeastern Iran and the Caspian Sea, began around 1500 B.C. The following age, the Vedic Age (named from the earliest Hindu scriptures, the four Vedas) spanned several centuries. Society developed along caste lines, dividing fairer-skinned newcomers from darker-skinned slaves. Rulers came to be grouped into the Brahmana (priests), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (merchants/traders) and Shudra (agriculturalists). Initially open and flexible, this caste system later became dependant upon birth with change from one level to another very difficult. Their language, Sanskrit, was Indo-European, and without an initial script, knowledge was passed orally through memorization.

Prosperity provided considerable leisure time, which was often used to meditate on spiritual matters, such as the relationship of one's life to the universe. This was later to develop into the doctrine of Karma in which one's deeds in a past life determine his or her status in the next. It was a strong deterrent to protest against oppression, since misery was both punishment for past deeds and, if born well, a means to ensure a better life to come.

The discovery of iron around 1000 B.C. led to the manufacture of axes to clear forests and ploughs to prepare land for agricultural purposes. With land at a premium and its ownership a sign of wealth, society became further divided into rich and poor. In the 6th century B.C., two men — Mahavira (founder of Jainism) and Buddha — sought answers to the question of why there was so much suffering in life, and both arrived at the same conclusion: Man could free himself from greed and suffering by living a moderate, balanced, life based on non-violence, abstinence, truthfulness and meditation.

In time, organized power was needed to resolve conflicts arising between the "haves" and "have-nots." These gave rise to states and then vast empires, such as the Magadha Empire ruled by the Maurya dynasty Emperor Ashoka from 269 to 232 B.C. In addition to its agrarian economy, the Mauryan state acquired income through gambling houses, brothels and the manufacture of handicrafts.

The Mauryan empire did not long survive Ashoka and was conquered by a variety of invaders mainly from Central Asia. South India was divided into several states and trade relations were established with distant Rome (who paid in gold for such exotic imports as spices, textiles and birds) and with Java, Sumatra and Bali in present-day Indonesia. In Malabar (present-day Kerala), Christianity, and later Islam, were introduced.

The second great Indian empire, the Gupta Empire, emerged in the 4th century A.D. and lasted over two centuries. Hinduism reasserted itself against heretical sects that had sprung up and the caste system became much more rigid, creating a group of people below the rank of the lowest caste, the "untouchables," who were treated as sub-human. An Indian astronomer who argued that the earth revolved around the sun was ignored but not persecuted. During the Gupta Age, trade declined and less money was in circulation, thus making land the primary source of private and state income. Impressive works of irrigation and innovative wheel designs that brought new lands under cultivation for new crops required an outlay of capital to implement. So, the gap between rich and poor served widened. Caste laws excluded some from holding land, and rulers appropriated even larger land revenues.

The beginning of the 13th century saw a new wave of invaders from Central Asia into North India, professing a different religion: Islam. These invaders stayed, and in 1206 established a new state, the Delhi Sultanate. Over the next 320 years, six succeeding dynasties controlled its throne. Centralization of administrative control over revenue reached its climax under the sultans of Delhi and approximately 6% of state revenue was given to in charity. Unlike feudal Europe, here the land belonged to the peasants and officials could only collect revenue. Tensions between Muslims (officials) and Hindus (running the day-to-day collection machinery) were inevitable.

During the 14th century, the spinning wheel was first encountered in India in, and paper and gunpowder arrived. But a much smaller and weaken Sultanate became pray for plunderers, again from Central Asia.

Under the reign of Akbar, grandson of Chingiss Khan (founder of the Mughal Empire), basic institutions and policies of the empire were framed. To attain stability for his kingdom, Akbar wisely recruited indigenous rulers, the most powerful being the Rajputs or Rajasthan, several of whose daughters became Akbar's wives. Loyal Rajputs were accorded great honors; those who rebelled were dealt with ruthlessly. Although illiterate, and him a Muslim, Akbar's interest in intellectual discussions on religious matters led him to call assemblies of theologians of various religions, including Christians, to exchange ideas with him. His new capital of Agra reflected exquisite Islamic and Hindu architecture. Akbar's grandson, Shah Jahan, commissioned the building of India's most famous monument to love, the Taj Mahal. Overall, the Mughal Empire and its successive rulers showed a keen interest in cultural matters, from poetry to metaphysics.

The 17th century experienced an "invasion" of a different sort. Europeans came to gain enlightenment, grow rich, or simply to have a look around. England, France, the Netherlands and Denmark offered charters to companies to establish trading outposts in India for the exportation of textiles, indigo and other items. Spices from Kerala had attracted the attention of the Portuguese as early as 1498, and by the beginning of the 16th century, they had established their colony in Goa. Competition among nations to acquire finished Indian goods was fierce and trade was in the Indian sellers’ favor. European items such as woollens and clocks were of little interest to Indians, so purchases had to be made primarily in silver and gold.

For those in the privileged ruling class, 17th century India was one of prosperity and great potential. Languages other than classical Sanskrit and Tamil (such as Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Telugu and Kannada — spoken in Karnataka and Bidar) acquired distinct identities, and there were pockets of Muslims (mostly Sunni) amidst a still predominantly Hindu population. In Kerala, Christians were a customary sight, while Buddhism had practically ceased to exist in any significant numbers. In the 15th to 17th centuries, a new sect appeared in the Punjab. Sikhs, blending Islam and Hinduism, denounced the caste system and emphasized social equality.

By 1707, the Mughal Empire was beginning to crumble, inviting further foreign invasions. No longer able to rely on the Mughal Empire to protect them, European companies began to fend for themselves, recruiting their own small armies and using superior European weapons. In time, they sold their services to the highest bidder, acquiring a foothold in the political operations of several states. English victories over both its European rival, France, and indigenous Indian rulers paved the way for its nearly two hundred year rule.

Through a policy of "Permanent Settlement," the British created a class that held its vast lands permanently so long as it paid revenues to the state. The peasants were at their mercy. The East India Company was closely supervised by the British Parliament (many of whose members were personally involved in the Company's enterprises), but the revenues it brought in from India were such that few restraints were placed on its activities.

The exchange of textiles between Britain and India was to play a pivotal role in both nation's economies throughout the 19th century — to England's advantage. But it was in the areas of civil administration and the notion of the rule of law that Britain had its most profound and positive effect on India. Customs such as sati (a widow burning herself on the funeral pyre of her husband) and infanticide of female children were rooted out, and while many Indian intellectuals and social reformers applauded these efforts, major changes were resented in different locales.

The uprising of 1857 started when the East India Company's army commanders ordered Indian sepoys to bite the cartridges before putting them into their rifles. A rumor that these were greased with the fat of cows and pigs offended both Hindu and Muslim sepoys and served to light the fire of growing discontentment. Rebellion spread to townsmen and peasants in other parts of India, but the landed aristocracy created through Permanent Settlement remained loyal to England. Eighteen months later, the bloody uprising ended, and although defeated, Hindus and Muslims had been united against a common foe. If the British were to remain in power they would have to implement in India the policy already put into practice in Ireland — "divide and rule." Muslims were pitted against Hindus, the army was reorganized with a greater number of British officers, and the highest posts in most administrative departments were reserved for British subjects.

The effects of the Industrial Age were felt in India from textiles to the manufacture of iron and steel. But patronage was extended by the British government to British-owned not Indian-owned industries, and a new method of protest against alien rule was championed – using British laws and policies on India's behalf. British-trained Indian lawyers were to play a crucial role in this new movement toward Indian liberation.

In 1885, the Indian National Congress (INC) was formed. By the early 20th century, a moderate wing (seeking gradual reform within the structure of law and government) and an extremist wing (prepared to use violence) began to appear. When an order was issued in 1905 to partition Bengal, both factions opposed it. In this new battle, a new weapon (also learned from the Irish) was implemented — the boycott of British goods. Spreading from Calcutta, the movement included peaceful strikes and acts of terrorism and was met with unprecedented repression from the British. In 1906 the Muslim League was founded, standing up in support of partition, demanding special concessions for Muslims, and often antagonistic to the INC.

A practicing lawyer, Mohandas Gandhi had lived in South Africa, where he had organized Indian victims of apartheid to wage non-violent protest, and was already well known when he returned to India in 1915. Traveling through various regions, he saw for himself the immense poverty and degradation suffered by the masses, and from the start waged a moral protest against oppression by defying unjust laws and willingly taking the punishment, even when it meant prison. Inspired by Gandhi's example, people throughout India — Hindu and Muslim — joined his movement. His one inviolable condition was that "civil disobedience" must always be completely peaceful. For the British, this was an altogether new form of protest, which they did not know how to handle.

In 1929, the INC demanded complete independence for India, adopting a resolution on January 26, 1930 — later to be known as Republic Day. In an effort to solve the growing problem, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act in 1935, proposing a bicameral legislature for India, consisting of some representatives nominated by princes and the remainder elected by the 14% of Indians given the right to vote. Britain’s decline as a world power following WWII coupled with growing support in England for India’s demand for independence signaled a loosening of authority within the army and bureaucracy in India.

In 1940, the Muslim League demanded a separate independent state to be called Pakistan, and in 1946 violent clashes broke out between Hindus and Muslims. By 1947, Britain had made the decision to grant freedom to India, with the creation of the new state of Pakistan, comprising two regions — one in the west and the other, separated by nearly 1,300 miles of Indian Territory, in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Following the announcement, large numbers of Muslims (in Hindu regions) and Hindus (in Muslim regions) began to emigrate. Many Sikhs from the Punjab, which was to be cut in two, moved into India, and many of the migrants were murdered by religious extremists as they crossed the borders.

At midnight on August 15, 1947, India gained her freedom.

Susan Rybarchyk’s article in Womanalive magazine Oct’06 issue

Susan Rybarchyk

A Passage to India

I had no expectations going to India. I went to see firsthand the work being done by Velemegna Good News Society Hospital in Bidar, which my parents and I had supported since 1982. I had been invited many times, but circumstances never seemed right. Circumstances have a way of determining destiny, and while non-Christians might say "go with the flow," I prefer the phrase via con Dios...go with God.

In April 2005, my best friend suffered a heart attack. She had gone with her husband to the Mayo Clinic for tests and we had spoken by phone upon her arrival. She was optimistic and upbeat. That night, she died in her sleep. She was 58. So was I. We planned on growing old together. Whatever the variables in my life, this was fixed. Suddenly, I could see nothing in my future. Nothing. What if I died tomorrow? Would I have done all that God had planned for me?

Then an e-mail arrived from Dr. Sybil Meshramkar, Director of Velemegna. "Come stay with me as long as you want," it read. This invitation I would accept. But I had no medical training; how could I be of use? "You can tell Bible stories, can't you?" Sybil replied.

So began months of preparation: saving money, getting vaccinations and an Indian visa, vacating my apartment, putting everything into storage, donating my car to charity, arranging for bills to be paid, re-writing my Will. I didn't know when, or if, I would return.

One month before my scheduled departure, a tooth fractured. Then I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. My blood sugar was 238! Did some power on earth not want me to go? The tooth was pulled and after ten days, through diet and exercise, I had reduced my bloodsugar to 87 (and have kept it under 100 ever since). If some power didn't want me in India, a greater power apparently did.

In January 2006, I flew to London, and from there to Mumbai and Hyderabad, where Sybil met me. Her mother, Dr. Sushila Salins, had been my dear friend for twenty years, but she and her husband, Christy, were in heaven now and the hospital they had established in one of the poorest areas of their native India was being run by their elder daughter. Sybil and I had never met, yet we embraced as old friends.

Bidar was three hours away by car, so we arrived quite late. I might have slept better had my bed been less hard and dozens of stray dogs hadn't kept howling outside my window. That, I soon discovered, was quiet compared to the noise of late night Muslim wedding receptions and Muslim "revival meetings" at the nearby function hall, complete with pounding drums and megaphones.

I arrived the weekend preceding an "eye camp" sponsored by a secular German organization. Indians were collected from surrounding villages, evaluated on Monday, operated on the following day, and kept a second night for follow-up exams. Beds were available, but many preferred to sleep on the floor in a large area outside my room. They had brought food and blankets, and sometimes-family members, treating the camp as a kind of "holiday." Sunglasses provided after surgeries were snapped up like diamonds.

By camp's end, one hundred people had got their sight restored or improved, most of them operated on by Sybil.

The Germans had asked her to forego morning devotionals lest patients felt obliged to attend. They were told, politely but firmly, that Velemegna's Christian staff began each workday with hymn singing and a Bible message. No one was required to attend but no would be turned away who wanted to come. Dozens of Indians took part, Hindus, Sikhs, Lambada women ("gypsies"), even a few Muslims. For many, it was their first — and possibly only —opportunity to hear the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

My first few days were spent gathering information for the Velemegna website the Germans had designed. In the evenings, when not accompanying Sybil to someone's house for a birthday celebration, christening or other gathering, I would go to the children's hostel to tell Bible stories. Simon, one of the local pastors, translated my English into Kannada, the local language, and the children greeted us with broad smiles and eager handshakes. Indian children are delightfully friendly.

At night, I would stand in my tiny washroom; pour hot water from a bucket over myself, suds up, then rinse off. I never felt so clean, and was soon sleeping like a baby under the mosquito netting I probably didn't need any more than the 14 (!) bottles of insect repellant I had brought along. I came to enjoy being serenaded by drummers and dogs and missed them when the nights were still.

Food posed no problem. Meals were mainly vegetarian, prepared from scratch with locally grown ingredients like okra, onions, spinach, and beetroot purchased fresh daily by Sybil's indispensable housekeeper, Sheila, from the nearby market. Had I known that no one in Bidar sold sugar-free soda, I would have brought Diet Coke instead of all that bug spray! (Loo paper was also at a premium.)

Sybil had cautioned that a visit to the blind school might be sad, for unlike the children's hostel, it receives no government funding and can offer little to students. But with Simon at hand, I climbed into a three-wheeled rickshaw and sallied forth. While students, ranging in age from around seven to fifteen, sat cross-legged on the bare floor singing, their teacher, a young blind man named Daleep, played songs he had composed on the electronic keyboard. It was lovely, and I was eager to return. After my second visit, however, I lay on my bed weeping. "Is there nothing I can do to help?" I prayed. When an answer came, I could hardly wait to take action.

Simon and I met Daleep at the music store, where Daleep sampled several harmonium (keyboard with bellows at back), tabla (India drums), tambourines and cymbals to select the best for his students. The following Sunday I was invited to hear two older students play the instruments and watch as one younger boy gave it a try. They thanked me for my gifts and before departing prayed for me, promising to remember "Susie" in their prayers. I remember them too and thank God for the great joy they gave me!

When none of Velemegna's staff took up my offer of help with English, Sybil made attendance at an afternoon class compulsory. They grumbled at first, but the class was soon well-attended and fun for students and teacher alike. I understood English better as I taught it to them, and learned a few words in Kannada: "Nanu egah uttah mettabeku." "I want to eat now."

They called me "Susie Auntie" which — instead of making me feel old — made me feel loved.

In addition to its eye work and pregnancy services, Velemegna supports a leprosy colony, providing medical care and land for farming marketable crops such as sugar cane, almonds, mangos and rice. When honoured for service to the community, Sybil's response is always the same. She gives credit to her parents and the glory to God.

Supported by two brothers and a sister, Sybil has done a remarkable job. But "success" has come at a price. With the best of intentions, her parents had arranged her marriage to a man who wants no part of Velemegna and has chosen instead to work as a pediatrician in another state. Until recently, they have battled over who will — and how to — raise their nine-year old son. And there is another child to consider — a two year old girl Sybil rescued at birth when her mother left her to die. Sybil's husband has no wish to raise her as his own. He wants his wife and son at his side in Kerala. Sybil wants to help the people of Bidar...and save her marriage. As things stand, she cannot do both.

Staff problems also arise. Doctors commit to help, then go elsewhere or fail to perform adequately, leaving Sybil to do as many as forty cataract surgeries a day.

On Valentine's Day, 24-year old Ravi proposed to Sheila and she accepted. They were both Christians and in love; it was a good match. Despite Sheila being four years older, Ravi's parents had approved. Sheila's mother not only refused but summoned her brothers from Bangalore to take Sheila away from the only home she has known for years. The couple considered eloping, but when the uncles threatened Ravi's parents and younger sister with bodily harm, Ravi had no choice but withdraw his proposal. Efforts failed to change the mother's mind, and eventually Sheila was "escorted" to an unknown location in Bangalore, her pockets secretly stuffed with cash for a possible later escape. Ravi is determined to find her. Sybil is trying to help. Sheila's mother — who professes to be a Christian — sees nothing wrong in what she’s done!

I arrived in India with no expectations. I left knowing how to eat with my fingers and drink without the glass touching my lips, to accommodate the rat, which occasionally shared my room and lizards scurrying up walls. I discovered that Indians say "yes" shaking their heads from side-to-side and find it hard to talk at all with their heads still.

A young Muslim woman asked if I was married. When I said "no," she asked why. I asked instead if she was married, and when she said "yes," I asked her why. She responded: "compulsory." I pointed at myself and responded: "not compulsory." Even beneath a long, black burka, I could see her smile.

We come to our Faith as daughters, mothers, spinsters, wives, widows, divorcees and sisters. We see Christ through American, British and Indian eyes and wrap Him in the clothes of our culture and era. But He is the same everywhere throughout time. I lost my best friend last year and don't have children, grandkids and a husband to grow old with. But I have seen Christ at work in hearts and lives in India. I am grateful and content.

P.S. Ravi managed to elope with Sheila and now she is pregnant and very happily married.

Contact:
info@velemegna.org