Let’s Get On The Road
Talking about the terrible traffic in Indian cities is the cue for an eye roll, inevitable cliches and stale stories. But honestly! The urge to regale friends with tales from the streets is irresistible. So I'm sorry, but buckle up! Transport is a thrill. The city roads are more Grand Theft Auto than Driving Miss Daisy. The taxi in front has a decal that reads 'my cab is safe' - says who? Not his passengers I’m guessing as he hurtles recklessly by. We ride in autos - tuk tuks in the rest of India but autos here in Hyderabad. This city is our home and where the largest of the Indian ecclesias is based. Our driver this morning careers through the mayhem of commuters, glaring and shrilly chastising anyone in his way while gabbling non stop on his phone. That glare, perfected by all drivers, is a lovely chilling mix of contempt and rebuke. They can keep eye contact for a surprising length of time, leaving you in no doubt of your inadequacies. Despite his belligerence and (fairly) good natured road rage, I’m reassured by the sticker on our cab that informs riders that he loves his mum and dad. He strikes up a conversation and we said we came from England. He is delighted that he can now talk cricket and regales us with the stats in the Indian Premier League. The IPL is widely regarded as the most popular and lucrative cricket league in the world and lots of foreign cricketers play here in India during the winter season. He fondly imagines New Zealand and England are the same place. It is a lame stereotype to think all Indians are crazy about cricket. But they mostly are. At least all the taxi drivers.
Today we are off to Darsarapalli, the small Christadelphian-run community of adults with leprosy who live full time in a compound an hour and a half north of the city. WCF supports the work here. It is one of our favourite places in all India. Brother Prakash from the Hyderabad ecclesia remembers driving all round the state with Sister Sarah Galbraith, searching for land to build a small set of houses where lepers in real physical hardship could live a quiet and peaceful life. Local leaders were interested in the investment until they heard who would be living there and then they changed their tune and said a firm no. Eventually a remote piece of land was found by the government and a dirt road was built up to the plot several kilometres from the main drag. The solitary hyenas howled with the hooting owls and quick foxes made the nights come alive with their calls as work began. Darsarapalli was opened in 1995 with 15 patients. The facility can look after 21 residents. According to government information, leprosy has been eradicated in India. But in 2024 there were 180,000 new cases diagnosed and the attitude of hostility and the continuing ignorance of the disease is still widespread. A life of begging, segregation, rejection and of being misunderstood still faces lepers.
Darsarapalli is hunkered down on a small piece of flat ground surrounded by the huge prehistoric rock formations of the Deccan plateau. Sit awhile with me under the fruit trees, by leafy shady shrubs, walk round the vegetable gardens and follow the roaming chickens. Freshly painted tiny homes with tin roofs have a living room and a basic kitchen slab shelf, there is a central cooking area and washrooms. Tom Sawyer and Aunt Polly would be happy with the whitewashing. After bible readings and lots of chatting we were served a vegetable curry for lunch - beans from the garden that the residents look after. The accompanying pickle was too crazy spicy for me so my neighbouring companion deftly scooped it off my plate with her hand and called it her lucky day. We hiked up through the scrub and prickly plants to a high boulder plateau where you can see for miles over the fields below. With the sun beating down we balance precariously at the edge of the rocks for group photos. Someone lobs into the conversation that there are python and vipers in the undergrowth. I'm poorly shod in flip flops and just hope I can run faster than some else. The residents at the moment are a mixture of believers and men and women of other local religions. But all join in the singing, the prayers, the bible readings, the Sunday activities. They can see the love of Jesus shown every day in acts of kindness and care - from laundry to counselling, from healthcare to a quiet hour of companionship. WCF's core beliefs in the wondrous value of a life where the grace of God informs all we do and say are all around here amongst the rocks and dusty fields. This is the love of Christ in action in this place. Isaiah writes "I have made you and I will carry you, will sustain you and I will rescue you" 46:4.