Judge's Court

We started our day with yoga on the balcony of Judge's Court. Morgan led us through a few poses, and I showed off my tree pose. After breakfast, the local historian (and our tour guide) led us on a two hour tour of Garli, a nearby heritage village over a century old. We visited several beautiful village homes and even received prashad (sweet offering) from a woman within a local Hindu temple dedicated to Hanuman. Our guide's pride in his village was both heartwarming and contagious. The other people we spoke with shared a similar love for their village. After lunch back at Judges Court, Thomas showed off his badminton skills. Only Morgan had a shot at keeping up because the rest of us could barely hit the birdie over the net! Then Thomas had a surprise for us; we got to milk cows - or at least try to...It's a lot harder than it looks. Later, we returned to the local village to practice our bargaining skills. Alison, Caroline, and I tasted the most delicious samosas. At dinner that night, we were treated to another surprise: bagpipers! This talent and the instruments has been passed down the generations by gurus since the British colonial time. During our down time today, we had story time to unwind. Ms. Buko and Ms. Archibald read us excerpts from The Life of Pi. The novel relates to the theme of religious pluralism that we've been discussing. Pi, the main character, delves even deeper into pluralism. After educating himself about his diverse religious surroundings while growing up in India, Pi falls in love with Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam; he begins practicing all three religions at once. The story continues but all in all, The Life of Pi reflects a vital lesson that we've learned in India; we've learned that with education and empathy, we can work towards resolving problems like poverty, religious intolerance, violence, among many others.

 -Rachel