The Beauty of Ooty

This past weekend we took a trip up the mountains to the hill station of Ooty! With its rolling hills covered in tea plants and cool mountain breeze, Ooty offers a beautiful respite from the heat of Coimbatore.

Shaina, Chrissie, Kelly, and Amber enjoy the beauty of Ooty

Right from the start, we knew this trip would be an adventure when just 1 hour into the trip we blew a tire. No big deal, just a chance to get some cold drinks and snacks at a local shop before pressing on. Just as we started heading up the mountains on the switch-backs, another tire popped! While the driver headed back down the mountain to get another tire, we took advantage of the time to have a nice picnic lunch…until a curious monkey showed up. We learned a very important lesson that day: never feed a monkey, because they will always want to come back for more and may bring their friends! We spent the next hour on high alert for monkeys with piles of rocks lined up to keep them at bay!

Lydia tryingto read by the side of the road with a pile of rocks ready for battle against the monkeys

Our local trips serve a variety of purposes: one of the main things is to expose students to different opportunities to work abroad and to learn about what is being done in India. We had the opportunity to visit Freedom Firm which is a branch off of International Justice Mission (IJM) that aims to Rescue, Restore, and bring Justice for women who are trapped in the sex trade. We met some of the young women and saw their beautiful handicrafts-from earrings to necklaces to bracelets. Another day we learned about Sister’s International that works to grow confident young women that will be the leaders of tomorrow. We also visited Hebron- a world famous international school, a tea factory where we learned how tea is processed, and a traditional Toda village to see how they live.

Enjoying a fresh cup of chai at the tea factory

Another highlight was our camping trip to Avalanche which is located deep in the forest right on the edge of a lake. After an hour hike into camp, we were rewarded with a spectacular view and the peace and beauty of nature all around us. During the day we had the chance to repel (for some it was their first time-how cool to say your first time repelling was in India?!) go kayaking, and just rest and relax in hammocks. In the evening we enjoyed a campfire and a night hike to see the brilliant stars before snuggling under piles of blankets in our tents.

Hiking out of camp: spotted a tiger track in the dust!

Chrissie, Lydia, and Shaina get ready to repel down the side of a waterfall

For more pictures: visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IndiaStudiesProgram

Ooty, Ooty, Ooty!

The Nilgiri Hills

There are many reasons that we love Ooty, but one of them is that we feel a little bit like we're walking through scenes from the Sound of Music when we're up there.

Ooty is one of India's several hill stations, towns established by the British as vacation homes in the mountains for the cooler temperatures. It almost felt like fall as we used blankets for the first time this semester and built a few bonfires to cozy up next to!

The hairpin turns might make you nervous, but the views are definitely worth it!

As picturesque as it is, Ooty has a lot more to offer than just its views. Our first stop was Freedom Firm, an organization dedicated to rescuing girls out of prostitution in India. Rodney, who works there, sat down to tell us about the process that their investigators go through to find and then rescue girls. They partner with local authorities and advocate for these girls in the courts, but beyond the policy side, Freedom Firm also work to rehabilitate these girls. In the Nilgiris, the organization provides basic classes, horse therapy and vocational training. The students were inspired and challenged by these girls' journeys and the unique problems that are encountered in doing this work in the Indian context.

At Freedom Firm learning about sex trafficking in India. 

The Ooty region is also famous for its wildlife sanctuary and reserves, so we took advantage of the opportunity to go on a safari ride through Mudumalai. We were eager to see what animals are running around in the mountains and were lucky enough to spot wild peacocks, gauer, deer and even several elephants! Students were also eager to see a tiger, but despite scouring the landscape from our jeep windows none were to be found. Maybe next time?

Monkey family in Mudumalai!

We then spent time at a tea estate where we saw the process of making tea from "pluck to cup". Our group had the opportunity to see how tea leaves are dried, rolled, oxidized and processed to produce the different grades and qualities of teas that we love to drink.

At the tea factory learning about how tea is made.

Then we were able to follow the process back to the plant and see how the tea workers pluck the leaves in the field. It was such an informative experience and our group came away from it with a different perspective on tea.

Students learning how to pluck tea.

We were also able to visit two tribes that live in the Nilgiri Hills - the Toda and the Kurumba tribes. Our group enjoyed mingling with them and had time and space to ask questions about their lives and customs. The experience caused our students to examine how the government interacts with people even the remote rural areas of India and gain an appreciation on their traditional way of life.

Kelly at the Toda village wearing a shawl with traditional embroidery. 

Other highlights from the weekend included teaching our BACAS staff the joys of s'mores, exploring the botanical garden, and enjoying the homemade chocolates that the town is famous for!

ISP and some of our wonderful BACAS staff. Enjoying the Nilgiris!

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Photos taken by Randy Cronk

Visit our facebook page to see a student re-creation of the monkey family above and for more photos!

In Pictures: Toda and Kurumba Tribal Village

Walking out to the temple in the hills

This past weekend on our trip to the hills, we were able to visit several different tribal villages in the Nilgiri mountains. Our first visit was to a Toda village, where we learned about the Toda’s reverence for the buffalo, whose milk provided sustenance (and could be made into ghee, a staple of Indian cooking as well as daily and spiritual life!)

Todas are a hill tribe and live in the beautiful, green Nilgiris.

Looking at the Toda temple and asking questions of our Toda tour guide.

Buffalo milk products were used as currency, in exchange for grains, tools and medical services.

Another Toda temple. This one has buffalo horns painted on the door.

Our Toda tour guide shared a little bit about the Toda’s worship of nature with us as well as some of the rituals surrounding their temples. Anyone can choose to become and be a priest in the Toda’s religious tradition. Though considered Hindu, the Toda’s religion is uniquely different from a traditional understanding of Hinduism.

Embroidery

Toda women are famous for their intricate, beautiful embroidery, typically done on white cotton fabric using black and red woolen threads. Historically, the women only made shawls to keep warm in the chilly Niligri climate. Now, through partnership with various para-church organizations and non-governmental organizations, the women embroider bags, placemats, table runners and wall hangings as both a way to preserve their culture and earn some income.

A Toda woman working on embroidery. The designs are always geometric and always inspired by nature.

Sunday, we visited a Kurumba village on the border of Tamil Nadu and the neighboring state of Kerala. The Kurumba people traditionally live in thick forests.

Asking questions of the elder

While with the Kurumbas, we asked questions about culture, traditions and religion of one of the village elders, who told us he was at least sixty years old, but probably older, though he couldn’t say for sure!

The village elder we spoke with

Some of the women in the village then taught members of our group some of their traditional dance steps while three men formed a small band of two drums and a wooden horn and played for us.

A drummer drums while another elder looks on

Being informed that the villagers would like to teach our group a few dance steps

Dancing with the women of the village

We then shared loaves of bread and jam with the villagers and learned a few words in their language, which is a mixture of both Malayalam, the language of the state of Kerala, and Kannada, the language of the state of Karnataka.

Jake gettin' down with his bad self

Looks a little like the hokey pokey, no?

Celiz, Becky and Jamie laugh as they stumble over words in the Kurumba language

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To see more photos of our weekend trip, visit our Facebook album here.

In Sum: Weekend in the Nilgiris!

Our trip to Ooty and the surrounding Nilgiri Mountains this past weekend was fun, refreshing and an adventure on numerous counts. Leaving from our apartments at 6 am, we hopped in several Jeeps and made our way up into the beautiful, green hills.

Beautiful green hills!

We stopped in Ooty just for breakfast and a quick visit to a Toda tribal village, where we were able to see several Toda temples and ask some questions about the Toda’s religion and culture.

Toda village in the Nilgiris

We then continued back down the mountain to the wildlife and tiger reserve at Mudhumalai, and our students had incredibly high hopes for an opportunity to ride an elephant! We went to a camp for elephants at the reserve and watched the elephants there being fed, and saw lots of monkeys, warthogs and a few elephants.

ISPeas on safari!

Sunday, we visited a tea estate and another village of tribal people, this group belonging to the Kurumba tribe. We asked questions, observed (and participated in!) a traditional dance and shared a snack of bread and jam with them before hopping back into the Jeeps and venturing back down the mountain to Coimbatore.

Some of the members of our group listening to our tour guide at the tea estate

This week, we’ll post more in detail about the tea plantation, our experiences in the tribal villages and our wildlife safari. Stay tuned!

Elephant!