HMI Final Presentations - 10/30/17

Hello, this is Rachael. Today was our final presentations for our Religions of India course at HMI. First this morning, we had devotions, which are a daily practice at HMI. Our group led devotions today so Prof. Ripley spoke about travel and pilgrimage, and then several of us sang Blessing, arrangement of an Irish Christian blessing which has become a favorite of the St. Olaf choirs. Next, we had a talk by one of our beloved hosts, Shribala, on how to continue interfaith dialogue in our lives after leaving HMI. After that, we began a long day of presentations. Our three Indian classmates presented first, discussing their final papers on peace as practiced by various religious groups, on the role of women in different religions, and on how interfaith dialogue should be carried out in our everyday lives. Then our group began a twenty-part series on the religions of India, sharing our individual research presentations on the history, practices, rituals, ethics, etc. of Hinduism, Islam, Sihkism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and Christianity. It was a lot of material and a very intense late morning through early evening. I think that, had it not been for our lunch break and regular tea breaks, my hand would have cramped up from all that note-taking. By the time we finished, there was just enough time for a 20min power nap before dinner. After dinner, I began preparing to leave HMI, doing laundry and catching up on journals, while others enjoyed a halloween movie. Tomorrow is our last day here and, though we're not looking forward to packing and catching our early morning flight, we've learned a lot about the diversity of India in culture, food, etc. so we're looking forward to visiting new regions and experiencing all that each new place has to offer.