India travel seminar: Religious and cultural diversities

BY COLLEEN EARP

Greetings from Delhi! Our first 48 hours on the ground in India have been a whirlwind. We¹ve been welcomed to church, explored the Red Fort, wandered through a busy market, and climbed the stairs up to the Jama Masjid. We practiced yoga (spoiler alert: fellow student Jayme Babczak did a headstand for the first time!) and visited the Raj Ghat (Mahatma Gandhi Memorial).

In all of these places, I have noticed the incredible diversity. I know better than to assume a city or country will have all one kind of people; still, I’m awestruck by the great variety of appearances and dress and language. We’ve seen styles reflecting Christian, Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu traditions, as well as modern fashion tastes without overt religious affiliation; such an array of colors, shapes, and designs.

These religious and cultural diversities play out through food, too. While we’re just beginning to scratch the surface of the complicated and sometimes difficult relationships among faith traditions in India, it seems there is some sense of forbearance present: there are vegetarian options everywhere we go, and we’ve hardly seen beef (forbidden in Hindu tradition) or pork (not allowed in Islamic tradition) offerings. It has been fairly easy to find food for the different tastes and dietary needs of our group.

We are eating well, and have plenty of beautiful things to see and notice constantly. As we ring in the new year 10.5 hours ahead of our seminary community, we wish you a 2019 full of the same!

Colleen Earp is a Master of Divinity student at Union Presbyterian Seminary.