Puja Ceremony and Meeting Vapi Rotary!

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Hello again! A little update:

I've recently had the opportunity to be formally introduced to many members of the Vapi Riverside Rotary Club, during the Interact Club installation ceremony for the upcoming year. Interact clubs are a subset of Rotary International, and are designed to promote leadership and service to middle and high school aged youth. They are found around the world, just like Rotary clubs, and they are a popular high school extracurricular option for kids here, especially if they have parents who participate in Rotary.
The two Interact Clubs sponsored by Rotary Vapi Riverside

Each year, there is an installation ceremony for new officers and members of these clubs. This year, the installation was also where I met many members of Rotary for the first time, and had the flag exchange ceremony. This is one of the Rotary's many symbolic gestures, where I, as an exchange student, present my sponsor club banner (Ithaca Noon) to the President of my host club (Vapi Riverside), and I receive their banner in return to bring back home.


The flag ceremony

I had a great time at the event, especially because I got to meet so many new people. One of the main things I've noticed so far in my time here is how welcoming people are (it's a key word; whenever someone asks me if I like India, my response is always "YES! Everyone here is so welcoming!"). This was made very clear to me after the event, because after every conversation, people said "Come to our home to have dinner with us!". Rotary is a very connected community here, and this was clear to me during my first experience meeting everyone.


Youth Exchange program of Vapi Riverside (including Sophie, a short term exchange student from Germany, leaving this week)

Further evidence of the tightly-knit Vapi Rotary community came when I had the opportunity to go to my host family's puja ceremony for the opening of their new factory. A puja ceremony is performed often during new beginnings, especially during the opening of businesses. The ceremony serves to welcome the god being worshiped into the space and bless the endeavors of the participants. Many guests came to the ceremony, including relatives and family friends (many of them Rotary members).  It was amazing to be there and experience! I wore my first Indian outfit, as my host mom and sister and I all went shopping the day before, in order to prepare for the event.


My host mom and I, in front of the factory


Posing with some of the flowers my host family received as gifts from the ceremony


Near the end of the puja


The idol of the god; the images can be explained ina general sense by this: Jain Puja

Today, we had the day off from school because a past Prime Minister if India, Atal Vajpayee, passed away yesterday. India is currently mourning his loss as an important leader, and many schools and institutions are closed. Watching the news coverage was very interesting to see, as thousands of people marched in the streets of Delhi with his funeral procession. I got to experience a sad but meaningful look at Indian history today.

Tomorrow, I will get up at 5:00 am to head to Vadodora for the first orientation! It will be my first time traveling outside of Vapi, and my first time meeting all of the exchange students. Because I am the only long-term exchange student in my city, I am very, very excited to finally meet everyone. I'll soon write more about how the experience goes :)

Comments

  1. superpainfighter4evaAugust 18, 2018 at 7:04 AM

    Exciting times! What a great experience and I love your dress (forgot what it is called).
    Mary Sheppard

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Madeline TurnerAugust 18, 2018 at 9:29 AM

      I believe it is called a kurti! It was amazing to wear 😊

      Delete
  2. Catherine Schenck-Yglesias, MHSAugust 19, 2018 at 8:45 AM

    http://www.rotaractbeirut.org/ must be one of the Interact clubs that you mention here. On their site, they mention that the first Rotaract club started in 1968 in North Carolina - and now there are linkages between local clubs around the world - neat :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Madeline TurnerAugust 19, 2018 at 10:46 AM

      Rotaract clubs are for a slightly older demographic than interact— usually college aged, while interact tends to be more high school. I may hopefully have the chance to get involved in a rotaract club here! They both provide a great opportunity to get involved in the community.

      Delete
  3. UnknownAugust 31, 2018 at 4:34 AM

    Thanks for sharing and putting the links in you narratives. Very helpful and insighrfui.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Madeline TurnerSeptember 16, 2018 at 6:52 AM

      Thank you! I want everything to be informative if possible :) Hopefully it provides more perspective for my experiences!

      Delete

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