Political Exile

Last week I was visiting the Loyola Teacher Training Institute in one village Krishnankuppum. To have a college level institution in a village is one thing amazing in itself. The fact that this school turns out students with the highest ranks in the district creates that much more credibility. I had met with the director at the Pongol Holiday function and he invited me back to visit the school which unbelievably actually happened. I observed classes, wrote and received letters from the students, and talked about future developments. Always in India, everything boils down to money. The financial obstacle is the most prominent in any interaction with an organization or school to a beggar or performer on the street. I had a good experience and then decided to continue my time with this director, Dalit Arockidoss. We went to Chennai for some political experience and most importantly, one meeting uniting many of the Christian Educational and Political movements in Tamil Nadu. By this point in my journey, most of my time has been spent with priests, sisters or in Christian institutions, so I was hesitant, but this experience seemed interesting to me because Dalit Arockidoss is basically against most interpretations of Christianity and he wants to educate people to use religion in a positive not desperate or dependent way. He has a let it be how it will be philosophy. So I joined this excursion through the Dalit Christian Liberation Movement (DCLM). I attended one small meeting with only the DCLM, about 10 members, standing on a road alongside a fence by a Christian church and school. There were no rooms available for us contrary to what we had expected. This meeting relocated to another church led by a local bishop and then about 40 people filtered in within one hour. Only one woman attended, she is a minister. We were the only two female participants. I found the discussion interesting, but achieving one platform to unite with a political party still seemed like an impossible task, this was largely caste related. Afterwards the DCLM went to BSP parties clubhouse where I began my political exile. Without pages of detail, the BSP wants to unite all castes and people through politics, but they have given many seats to high caste rich people so they are exhibiting some corruption. In the UP there is a Dalit woman who is the CM and a BSP representative. She wants to gain power in TN. Having a Dalit acting as CM is a great provocative way to battle oppression, but through her activities, she now has more crows that most other politicans and CM's. Thus the corruption continues as people still don't respect her because she is a Dalit which is why she has not succeded in becoming the CM of TN. The DCLM wanted to get some seats through the party to contest in the election and my presence was equivalent to foreign money so I went for a walk and took a nap in the car. The following two days included related events at the BSP clubhouse and attempts to get the paperwork for one of 40 seats with the party. Each time I took a necessary nap in the car. Late nights of political discussions and venting with huge afternoon meals at hotels (restaurants) in political force of 10-20 people was definitely worth sleeping fewer hours. The final day in Chennai the DMK Chief Minister Karunanidhi was coming to their headquarters and I became a foreign press agent in the lineup that was organized to welcome him. Karunanidhi is 87 years old, ridin' a wheel chair and has just been released from the hospital. He always wears dark expensive sunglasses. I was woken abruptly and rushed from the car to join the masses. Still in a slight daze I placed my own $3 sunglasses on and hobbled after Dalit Arockidoss to the crowd. Immediately my bag was searched and three security guards had surrounded me. We crossed the center from one side to the other and a guard pulled me away from Dalit Arockidoss. Oh NO!! I thought, but abruptly I was forced into the small grouping of 5 women watched by a pushy woman in a lilac chury. I managed to snap one photo of Karunanidhi's arm and the rest just the masses of men wearing white. People rushed the car and Dalit Arockidoss suggested I do the same, so I slipped behind a hut and through a gate to join the news crews. Immediately a guard told me I was not allowed to take photos. Only me, next to the crowd of 20 photographers and videographers was given this command. A small man in a bell hop uniform told me to follow him to take some photos and I glanced at the security guard and did, but there were too many people to have even a fighting chance, so i retreated , joined Arockidoss and wiped my sweaty brow. What Arockidoss says is definitely true the whiter you are the more corrupt you are.