Trip to Madrasa

Most of us think of Hinduism when we think of religions in India (although the Hindu will tell you it's not a religion, but rather a philosophy and way of life). About 82% of the population practice Hinduism. India also has the second largest Muslim population in the world, after Indonesia (about 110 million). One of our lecturers said that for the most part, the Indians follow a very "soft" version of Islam, Sufi Islam. Many of the Bollywood stars are Muslim, as well as many of the classical singers. We were able to visit a Madrasa (School of Islamic Theology) in Delhi. The teachers and students were very welcoming and loved seeing the pictures I brought of my school, students and family. This particular school is a boarding school and we enjoyed getting to do "teacher talk" with the teachers and visiting student classrooms. (all pics) We also visited Jamia Millia Islamia (a university) where the president of the school met with us. He was very proud that of the 15,000 students at the school, 55% are Muslim and 50% are female. The school is open to students of any religion or nationality. Female literacy is a problem in India and he was excited that they have a large female population in a higher institution. I found it interesting that teachers are required to teach each class in Urdu, Hindi and English. Exams are also given in all three languages. We had a couple of lectures in the afternoon - one stressed how India embraces and respects its diversity of culture, a theme we seem to hear over and over. Our last session had representatives from Judaism, Sikh, Bahai, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. They gave short talks and fielded questions from the group. We moved from here to a large tent that had been set up (reminded me of a big wedding reception hoopla) for our "official" welcome and dinner of Indian dishes. It was interesting having the Sikh gentleman at our table for dinner and talking with him. Briefly, the next day was finishing up lectures and our time in Delhi for now. We heard about topics ranging from challenges facing India today to textiles in India. This morning we hopped on a plane and are now in Pune. This city is on the plateau, close to the mountains that run along the western side of India. Monsoons have come, so there are puddles everywhere. With the clouds, it feels like it might be in the low 90s or upper 80's. After the last few days of 104-106, we may freeze to death!