Sri Ram Ashram - Summary

Imagine the homeless children on the streets of India. No clothes... flies on them... begging for food... the 6 year-old daughter taking care of her 1-year-old sister... no time for fun, no time for a childhood... begging for money and food... and passing the day. If they're lucky (or unlucky?)... they survive till adulthood.

Being at the Sri Ram Ashram for 4-5 days... we were realy able to see the true potential of these homeless orphaned children. It's incredible.

We stayed at the Sri Ram Ashram (about 10 km outside of Haridwar) for 4-5 days. I initially heard about the Sri Ram Ashram (www.sriramfoundation.org) from a newspaper article back in California. A few high school kids were gathering school supplies to take to the ashram, which houses about 50-60 orphans. The Ashram was founded about 15 years ago upon the vision of Baba Hari Dass (google him for more info), a silent monk (he been silent for the last 55 years). Babaji now lives in Santa Cruz, California, at the Mount Madonna Center for 10 months of the year. There, is his main ashram. A few of his American devotees from there moved to India many years ago, and now run the Sri Ram Ashram. Rashmi-didi is the main person there. The ashram serves as an orphanage, they also run a school next to the ashram for about 500-600 students (75% rural), and are in the works of starting a medical center.

We didn't know too much about the place when we contacted them... I had read the newpaper article, and checked out the website. I knew that there was a Western influence on the place, but I didn't know that it was actually run by an American. Initially, I wasn't so sure about what things would be like there... having very little information... but it was time to jump in head-first.

They have a staff that is there full-time, and they have reallly created a family atmosphere. All the children there treat each other like brother and sister... this includes protecting each other... and includes the petty fights that siblings have. =) They call their care-takers "mummy". The presence at the Ashram is female-dominated. About 2/3 of the children are female, and the staff of care-takers are mostly female as well. There's one "Sir" that lives at the Ashram who acts as a "father-figure", and also teaches math at the high school. They also have two "dada's" at the ashram, who are retired and followers of Babaji. They spend their retired days at the ashram. It still seems like they have some male role-models lacking there. The Sir-ji is strict and doesn't outwardly show his affection for the kids, nor does he seem to playfully interact with the kids very much. But, he is also their teacher and father figure, and has to maintain these various roles. Overall, the loving family feeling can really be felt.

The children there are spoiled to a certain degree, as there are many foreign visitors and a good amount of foreign money that comes into the place. Every year, for two months, Babaji comes with a lot of followers from the U.S. and stays at the ashram... this is the favorite time for the kids, as they get all sorts of goodies, and are shown a lot of love!

The kids are a lot of fun, and love interacting with the visitors. =) It was great practicing our Hindi with them... kids are very forgiving of our many Hindi gaffes. =P Sampat played cricket with them a few times... I actually got in a game of basketball!!! They have a hoop up, but don't really know how to play... other than "put the ball in the hoop"... and the hoop is in the grass, so you can't really dribble. Regardless, I organized a little game of 4-on-4... haha, it was good times. Other playful interactions we had with the kids was a lot of running around and chasing after them... a little singing and dancing... and a lot of time spent on learning their names.

Everyday, after school, from 4:30 to 6 PM, they have "tution"... so we would help them with their homework and stuff... we mostly could only help in math... but that's also what they needed the most help in, so it worked out. =)

And of course... there was the teaching experience which I wrote extensively about in a previous blog. The school that they run... seems to be run in the same fashion as most of the gov't. and private schools in India. Which means... basically, it needs a little help so that the kids learn to critically think more, and learn to think "outside the box". They're having a cross-cultural teaching workshop... where some people are coming from the U.S., so it looks like they're making steps in that direction.

It was difficult for us to gauge the spirituality level of the ashram. It was obviously founded on a spiritual basis, and the daily schedule (see sameersampat.blogspot.com for description of schdule, and you can check out pictures on ofoto) includes prayers and yoga, but other than that, there doesn't seem to be any deeper spiritual learning or discussion. This can be seen as a positive, as it lets the children grow-up a little more naturally... if one takes an interest in things spiritual, then fine... and if one doesn't, then that's fine as well. But, it also could be a negative, as it seems like nothing is really done to even probe that part of the child. Sameer and I really couldn't gauge the "spiritualness" of Rashmi-didi and the staff as well. However, they have completely dedicated their life to this, so it must be there... but it isn't something they show outwardly.

We made a little adventure out of going to the surrounding villages of the area. A couple of the older kids at the ashram, Bhachendra and Arvind, took us on bikes to visit the villages of Shyaampur (Hindu residents) and Sholanpur (mostly Muslim residents). Kids from these areas go to the Sri Ram school. The bike-riding was quite an adventure... The last time I rode a bike was the last time I was in India... basically, I'm not too skilled. My heart was beating a little fast as I TRIED avoiding people, cows, babies, bushes, trees, rocks, potholes, etc. At times, we were going through grass and shrubs as tall as me... with the pathway being about 4 inches wide! I took a couple of falls... and the feet were all scracthed up, etc... but it was good times! =) The gham is close to the Eastern bank of the Ganga, so we headed to the Ganga, as well. Almost all the people of these villages are farmers (we didn't really directly talk to the villages, we just asked Bhachendra questions and he answered them). It seems like most of these people own their own small piece of farmland, and are not "workers" from some rich land-owner. Some of the familes have side-businesses... "dukaans", tailoring, haircut, etc. This area doesn't really have any history of Hindu-Muslim tension... yet there are still two separate villages. The kids of these, villages, though, go to the same school (the Ashram) school, so that's good to hear. I wonder what the future holds.

The most memborable aspect of the Ashram for me... is all the kids. They have that spark and enthusiasm for life. Rashsmi-didi told us some of their stories... one girl was found around the age of 1.5 with cigarette burns and bruises all over her body... the doctors and everyone thought she wouldn't survive. But, she survived and now has many opportunities in front of her. Many of the kids came from Uttarkashi.. as back in 1991 there was an earthquake. These kids lost their parents, and ended up at the ashram.

One of the kids, Narayan saw Sameer and I doing Surya Namaskar each morning. The night before we left, he asked to learn. So, the next morning, he woke up extra early (they already wake up around 5:30 am!), to learn Surya Namaskar from us.. it was pretty sweet... the kid is probably about 9 years old.

One of the main projects that they're starting up now is this "medical center'. They have already built the building and bought the equipment... and now are just waiting for volunteers. I believe there are a group of retired doctors from the US who are going to be coming out here, soon. There may be volunteer opportunities for medical students, medical graduates, current doctors, and retired doctors. The only contact information that I have for anyone interested is Rashmi-didi's email address --> rashmisra@yahoo.com.

They don't plan on expanding and opening a new "orhpanage", and the current orphanage, they believe... is near capactiy. So, the expansion in more about more services for the oprhans and surrounding villages. However, they may have other plans that we don't know about.

If there's pertinent information that I've left out, that probably should be included in here... let me know.