We’ve been spending a lot of time on foot here in Mussoorie/Landour, walking at least 15km a day typically. Partly this is by necessity – feet are still the most efficient form of transportation on these steep slopes! And partly it is by design, as we are getting closer to the time of our week-long trek in the higher mountains and the acclimatization is crucial.
But we’ve also had some great learning experiences. We’ve listened to amazing guest speakers who have helped us understand wildlife conservation and rural economic development in a bigger context, such as Dr. Sajel Worah, head of the Worldwide Fund for Wildlife in India. She explained the nuances of ecotourism, working with the government to support local sustainable development, and the importance of preparing rural youth for opportunities so that they do not have to leave their homes in the mountains. Her vim and wisdom left our group in awe and inspired.
One afternoon we met Mr. Ansari, the Hindi teacher at Woodstock School and the father of Saif and Shoab, GC’25 graduates. He gave us a brief history of the Mussoorie area, and taught us some about three religions here in India by visiting their houses of worship: a gurdwara (Sikhism), a mosque (Islam), and a Jain temple (Jainism). All of these, plus a Hindu temple, were within about 100 yards of each other in one neighborhood, and are a great illustration that religious tolerance and neighborly bonds are at least as strong within India as the religious intolerance that we read about in Western media. We were struck with the similarities and differences of these faiths.
And we spent six hours one day hiking down into the valley on the backside of the ridge, and then back up. This allowed us to see a bit about mountain village life, and also was an in-the-muscles reminder about how steep these mountains are!
Finally, we’ve spent some time reflecting on what we are learning about culture, both our own and India’s, during this trip. Mrs. Sommers led a “gallery walk” activity where we thought about four topics:
- Our observations about Indian culture – what was striking us in the first week?
- Questions emerging for us about what or why is happening in Indian culture
- Comparing and contrasting our home/family cultures to that we’ve been experiencing in India
- What we’ve learned about ourselves so far
It’s clear we’ve been learning a lot, emotionally as well as intellectually. To preserve and encourage some of that sense of growth, we wrote letters to ourselves that we’ll receive after our trip to the Taj Mahal at the end of the term.
