Monday, July 27, 2009
A Train Story
So I was on my way back to Lucknow from Varanasi with a few of my school mates when we realized that our ticket for the overnight sleeper car didn't tell us which car we were in, nor which cabin. We also learned that "2 AC" is better than "first class" who knew? But anyhow, we found a conductor who looked us up on the manifest and said you're in this car, Cabin A. We went to cabin A, but it was occupied. This is not particularly crazy - except for the fact that it was occupied by three Soldiers carrying very large and impressive looking rifles and a fourth man Bound and Chained to the bed.. So we went back to the conductor and told him that there were policemen in our cabin, and he non-chalantly told us to tell them to move. We tried to explain that there was a guy chained to a bed, but I think that was beyond our language skills, but we nevertheless got him to go tell the policemen and their prisoner to move. They moved. WE travelled. all's well that end's well. But in "2AC" you get a clean pillow and a sheet - in "first class" you get nothing and have to sleep on a stinky vinyl bed that probably hasn't been cleaned in years and smells like the body odor of a prisoner who is currently being shipped across India by train for who knows what reason. Good times.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Farmers from Haryana
(another post from Allen)
UPDATED (7/20): link to article on NPR where Secretary of State Clinton talks about cultural differences between the US and India
So yesterday I met some guys staying in the room next to ours at the guest house. I met four of them, the other was asleep, and I soon found out that the other 5 were out walking around. Once a year, they pile into a van and take off for a week to travel around. They are all from the same village in Haryana, about 80 km from Chandigargh and 350km from Pakistan. They were all very nice and tried very hard to push whiskey on me, but I politely refused. They were actually quite shocked by this, because I think they thought that Americans do nothing but drink and fornicate.
I found their questions about America to be extremely open and sincere, and frankly blunt in ways that we would never talk to strangers. Most of their questions I was able to explain using the logic that just as Hindi movies are not like real life American movies are also not like real life. People in Delhi don't spontaneously burst into choreographed dance numbers, and people in America don't fight evil robots from the future. Movies and real life are different. That said, here's a taste of the kind of point blank questions they were asking and my answers.
"Do women in America all wear tiny clothes all the time?" No. they don't. They dress normally and do normal things.
"Do Americans have sex all the time?" No. They work. They have families. They live normal lives.
"Are you married?" Yes.
"How many girlfriends do you have?" I just told you I was married.
"Yes, but girlfriends? Do you have Indian girlfriends?" No. I am married. I just told you that.
You can sort of see where the conversation was going. Things that for us would seem tremendously awkward were to them perfectly normal to speak about openly.
(Here is a link to an NPR article where Secretary of State Clinton fielded similar questions. Here response was: "If Hollywood and Bollywood were how we all lived our lives, that would surprise me. And yet it's often the way our cultures are conveyed, isn't it?" she said. "People watching a Bollywood movie in some other part of Asia think everybody in India is beautiful, and they have dramatic lives and happy endings. And if you were to watch American TV and our movies, you think we don't wear clothes and we spend a lot of time fighting each other.")
The oldest was 39, he has 5 children. 4 girls and a boy. The boy is the youngest. The next oldest farmer had 2 children, one girl and one boy. The boy is the youngest. Notice the pattern yet? It seems that most folks here just keep having kids until they get a boy and then they stop. If they get a boy on the first try they might go for a second child, but that seems rare. Having girls is bad luck. WTF, right?
So I sort of knew this already, and asked each of them if the boy was the youngest and wasn't surprised by their answers. I also asked why their wives weren't with them, to which they replied that their wives don't leave the village - as if that was an obvious statement of fact. Once a year or so, their wives might go to a neighboring village to visit their parents and brothers, but they won't go travelling around like these men do...
I also asked if they drink whiskey at home, to which there was a resounding NO. "If we did, our fathers and wives and brothers would beat us". It seems like this is their annual, leave town go get drunk and make an ass out of yourself trip where no one will know you and report to your family about what you have done and then go back home to being a respectable member of society again.....
Kind of crazy. With 10 of them in that tiny room, it seemed as if they were taking turns as to who could sleep. When the other five came back, Lars and I left, because there wasn’t room for 10 people to be in that room, let alone 12 and the "changing of the guard" seemed mildly complicated.
We also talked about movies and tv shows. They all really like American Action movies and professional wrestling. They were quite disappointed that the only wrestlers we were able to name were Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and "The Rock". None of which are actively wrestling nowadays..... They also really like the discovery channel show "Man vs. Wild".
Anyhow, it was really great practice for my Hindi. Lars took a bunch of pictures that I hope will soon be on his blog (and maybe ours too). Once the picture taking got started, it kept going for quite some time. They were pretty into it and from the pictures you'd either think that we were Photoshopped into them or that we had been best friends for years. It was kind of funny.
UPDATED (7/20): link to article on NPR where Secretary of State Clinton talks about cultural differences between the US and India
So yesterday I met some guys staying in the room next to ours at the guest house. I met four of them, the other was asleep, and I soon found out that the other 5 were out walking around. Once a year, they pile into a van and take off for a week to travel around. They are all from the same village in Haryana, about 80 km from Chandigargh and 350km from Pakistan. They were all very nice and tried very hard to push whiskey on me, but I politely refused. They were actually quite shocked by this, because I think they thought that Americans do nothing but drink and fornicate.
I found their questions about America to be extremely open and sincere, and frankly blunt in ways that we would never talk to strangers. Most of their questions I was able to explain using the logic that just as Hindi movies are not like real life American movies are also not like real life. People in Delhi don't spontaneously burst into choreographed dance numbers, and people in America don't fight evil robots from the future. Movies and real life are different. That said, here's a taste of the kind of point blank questions they were asking and my answers.
"Do women in America all wear tiny clothes all the time?" No. they don't. They dress normally and do normal things.
"Do Americans have sex all the time?" No. They work. They have families. They live normal lives.
"Are you married?" Yes.
"How many girlfriends do you have?" I just told you I was married.
"Yes, but girlfriends? Do you have Indian girlfriends?" No. I am married. I just told you that.
You can sort of see where the conversation was going. Things that for us would seem tremendously awkward were to them perfectly normal to speak about openly.
(Here is a link to an NPR article where Secretary of State Clinton fielded similar questions. Here response was: "If Hollywood and Bollywood were how we all lived our lives, that would surprise me. And yet it's often the way our cultures are conveyed, isn't it?" she said. "People watching a Bollywood movie in some other part of Asia think everybody in India is beautiful, and they have dramatic lives and happy endings. And if you were to watch American TV and our movies, you think we don't wear clothes and we spend a lot of time fighting each other.")
The oldest was 39, he has 5 children. 4 girls and a boy. The boy is the youngest. The next oldest farmer had 2 children, one girl and one boy. The boy is the youngest. Notice the pattern yet? It seems that most folks here just keep having kids until they get a boy and then they stop. If they get a boy on the first try they might go for a second child, but that seems rare. Having girls is bad luck. WTF, right?
So I sort of knew this already, and asked each of them if the boy was the youngest and wasn't surprised by their answers. I also asked why their wives weren't with them, to which they replied that their wives don't leave the village - as if that was an obvious statement of fact. Once a year or so, their wives might go to a neighboring village to visit their parents and brothers, but they won't go travelling around like these men do...
I also asked if they drink whiskey at home, to which there was a resounding NO. "If we did, our fathers and wives and brothers would beat us". It seems like this is their annual, leave town go get drunk and make an ass out of yourself trip where no one will know you and report to your family about what you have done and then go back home to being a respectable member of society again.....
Kind of crazy. With 10 of them in that tiny room, it seemed as if they were taking turns as to who could sleep. When the other five came back, Lars and I left, because there wasn’t room for 10 people to be in that room, let alone 12 and the "changing of the guard" seemed mildly complicated.
We also talked about movies and tv shows. They all really like American Action movies and professional wrestling. They were quite disappointed that the only wrestlers we were able to name were Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and "The Rock". None of which are actively wrestling nowadays..... They also really like the discovery channel show "Man vs. Wild".
Anyhow, it was really great practice for my Hindi. Lars took a bunch of pictures that I hope will soon be on his blog (and maybe ours too). Once the picture taking got started, it kept going for quite some time. They were pretty into it and from the pictures you'd either think that we were Photoshopped into them or that we had been best friends for years. It was kind of funny.
Friday, July 17, 2009
On Host Families and Hill Stations (Nanital)
It's been awhile, so I thought I'd give you some updates.
So I have totally come full circle on my host family. They went from being scared of me to genuinely loving and caring for me in ways that I am so lucky to have. No one else on this program seems to have a living situation with people who are as nice, as generous, and obviously caring about their guests. It's really kind of crazy, but I totally love them now and think that they are among the sweetest people I have met in India.
I like them so much, that when they cleared out one of the other rooms in the house and extended an invitation for another student to come from our program - I immediately suggested that Lars move in - and he has. And he is great. We have a lot of fun. It helps that we are both on the same level in Urdu, so we are working on the same homework assignments and otherwise encourage each other to practice/work, etc.
An example of how cool my family is, is that for the 5 day mid-term break, Lars and I decided to go to a hill station where we could actually spend time outside without melting. before going, they insisted on driving us to the train station (at midnight). Uncle-ji waited with us on the platform for about an hour meeting some of the other students in the program and even picked up one of our traveling companions on the way.... Aunti-ji insisted on sending me off with lots of snacks and food for the train. She even gave me some herbal stuff mixed up in water that helps with upset stomachs. -- The other day, the doxycycline anti-malarial that i have been taking didn't sit particularly well and she gave me a small cup of this stuff and it worked wonders!
I guess it's sort of a combination of all these little things. they want to know that we like the food, they want to know that we are comfortable - and generally are very kind, generous, and helpful.
So now we are in Nanital - a hill station. It was built by the British at some point in the past and has lots of boarding schools and remnants of missionaries and other British dwellings. I can understand why they would have moved up here. It is quite tolerable weather wise. It feels more like Nepal than India.
The town is very much a tourist town - but fortunately, the vast majority of the tourists are Indian. So it doesn't have that overly European feel to it. It's actually kind of fun to hang out with Indians who are on vacation. They rent pedal powered boats and cruise around the lake, or go on walks. there is a big flat empty area in the center of town called "the flats" in the 1880's there was an earthquake or a fire or something and whatever the British built there got destroyed. They decided not to build anything there as a memorial to whatever was there before. The net result is that in this very mountainous area, where flat land is limited, there is a big area for cricket, football, and even basketball courts. The area is full of children and teenagers playing all the time. I just wanted to add to this that the soccer field is gravel. If you ever thought slide tackling looked painful, you never saw it happen on a gravel field. Lars and I have gotten in a few fun games of basketball with the locals and have also enjoyed sitting under the trees near the courts and placing bets on how many layups the little kids will make during their layup drills.... We went to the video arcade and played a rigorous 2 rupee game of Super Mario Bros. 3....
Yesterday morning, we took a cable car to the top of the mountain and then hiked along the ridge line for a few hours. We found some temples, some people set up by the side of the road with telescopes which you could rent for 5 rupees to look around the valley. And perhaps best of all, we found a spot on the road where there didn't appear to be anyone for miles and we could just sit and listen to birds chirping and look at trees. It was a good walk. Later that afternoon, before basketball, we were doing some homework by the b-ball courts and everyone around us was very interested. We are learning how to use Imperfect participles, so I would read out a sentence in English and then we would all try and figure out how to say it in Urdu and then I'd look up the answer. Generally speaking I think the locals and other Indian tourists are completely surprised when we speak Urdu.... One cute family sat down near us, and their children (ages 4 and 6?) came over and touched our feet, which is the ultimate sign of respect in India. It was too cute for words - it almost made me tear up a bit.
The other thing that's nice hear is that the hustling seems to be set on Low rather than high. people approach me constantly asking if I want to go horseback riding or boat riding or whatever, but when I say no thank you - they just walk away. Even the beggars aren't as persistent as they are in other parts of India. Generally speaking, I'd say it's a nice place. Laid back. Today is looking rainy and drizzly, so we have decided to split up and go study all day - to limit the amount of English we speak. It should be good....
As for our other traveling companions, there are 4 undergraduates from our class who came with us - but I am so glad that Lars and I got a different hotel. It's nice to meet up with them for dinner or meals, but getting a group of 6 people to collectively do anything is just way too much - and frankly they are just on a totally different wavelength than we are. I think it helps my sanity a lot that Lars is also in his 30's and married. We are both in very similar situations in that regard.....Most of the other folks in our program are either undergrads or recent graduates and are usually in their early 20s. One guy is actually only 19.... I'm so glad to be removed from that drama.
PS - Lars has a blog about his experience here that has WAY more pictures on it than mine does. I would highly recommend skimming through it, and/or subscribing to it if you are interested. We've done a lot together, so a lot of his pictures represent my experiences here too:
www.lucknowlars.wordpress.com
When I get back to Lucknow I'll try to get some pictures up too....
AND please! drop me a line letting me know how you are doing. I really like that.
So I have totally come full circle on my host family. They went from being scared of me to genuinely loving and caring for me in ways that I am so lucky to have. No one else on this program seems to have a living situation with people who are as nice, as generous, and obviously caring about their guests. It's really kind of crazy, but I totally love them now and think that they are among the sweetest people I have met in India.
I like them so much, that when they cleared out one of the other rooms in the house and extended an invitation for another student to come from our program - I immediately suggested that Lars move in - and he has. And he is great. We have a lot of fun. It helps that we are both on the same level in Urdu, so we are working on the same homework assignments and otherwise encourage each other to practice/work, etc.
An example of how cool my family is, is that for the 5 day mid-term break, Lars and I decided to go to a hill station where we could actually spend time outside without melting. before going, they insisted on driving us to the train station (at midnight). Uncle-ji waited with us on the platform for about an hour meeting some of the other students in the program and even picked up one of our traveling companions on the way.... Aunti-ji insisted on sending me off with lots of snacks and food for the train. She even gave me some herbal stuff mixed up in water that helps with upset stomachs. -- The other day, the doxycycline anti-malarial that i have been taking didn't sit particularly well and she gave me a small cup of this stuff and it worked wonders!
I guess it's sort of a combination of all these little things. they want to know that we like the food, they want to know that we are comfortable - and generally are very kind, generous, and helpful.
So now we are in Nanital - a hill station. It was built by the British at some point in the past and has lots of boarding schools and remnants of missionaries and other British dwellings. I can understand why they would have moved up here. It is quite tolerable weather wise. It feels more like Nepal than India.
The town is very much a tourist town - but fortunately, the vast majority of the tourists are Indian. So it doesn't have that overly European feel to it. It's actually kind of fun to hang out with Indians who are on vacation. They rent pedal powered boats and cruise around the lake, or go on walks. there is a big flat empty area in the center of town called "the flats" in the 1880's there was an earthquake or a fire or something and whatever the British built there got destroyed. They decided not to build anything there as a memorial to whatever was there before. The net result is that in this very mountainous area, where flat land is limited, there is a big area for cricket, football, and even basketball courts. The area is full of children and teenagers playing all the time. I just wanted to add to this that the soccer field is gravel. If you ever thought slide tackling looked painful, you never saw it happen on a gravel field. Lars and I have gotten in a few fun games of basketball with the locals and have also enjoyed sitting under the trees near the courts and placing bets on how many layups the little kids will make during their layup drills.... We went to the video arcade and played a rigorous 2 rupee game of Super Mario Bros. 3....
Yesterday morning, we took a cable car to the top of the mountain and then hiked along the ridge line for a few hours. We found some temples, some people set up by the side of the road with telescopes which you could rent for 5 rupees to look around the valley. And perhaps best of all, we found a spot on the road where there didn't appear to be anyone for miles and we could just sit and listen to birds chirping and look at trees. It was a good walk. Later that afternoon, before basketball, we were doing some homework by the b-ball courts and everyone around us was very interested. We are learning how to use Imperfect participles, so I would read out a sentence in English and then we would all try and figure out how to say it in Urdu and then I'd look up the answer. Generally speaking I think the locals and other Indian tourists are completely surprised when we speak Urdu.... One cute family sat down near us, and their children (ages 4 and 6?) came over and touched our feet, which is the ultimate sign of respect in India. It was too cute for words - it almost made me tear up a bit.
The other thing that's nice hear is that the hustling seems to be set on Low rather than high. people approach me constantly asking if I want to go horseback riding or boat riding or whatever, but when I say no thank you - they just walk away. Even the beggars aren't as persistent as they are in other parts of India. Generally speaking, I'd say it's a nice place. Laid back. Today is looking rainy and drizzly, so we have decided to split up and go study all day - to limit the amount of English we speak. It should be good....
As for our other traveling companions, there are 4 undergraduates from our class who came with us - but I am so glad that Lars and I got a different hotel. It's nice to meet up with them for dinner or meals, but getting a group of 6 people to collectively do anything is just way too much - and frankly they are just on a totally different wavelength than we are. I think it helps my sanity a lot that Lars is also in his 30's and married. We are both in very similar situations in that regard.....Most of the other folks in our program are either undergrads or recent graduates and are usually in their early 20s. One guy is actually only 19.... I'm so glad to be removed from that drama.
PS - Lars has a blog about his experience here that has WAY more pictures on it than mine does. I would highly recommend skimming through it, and/or subscribing to it if you are interested. We've done a lot together, so a lot of his pictures represent my experiences here too:
www.lucknowlars.wordpress.com
When I get back to Lucknow I'll try to get some pictures up too....
AND please! drop me a line letting me know how you are doing. I really like that.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Laughter Yoga
Last week, one of the guys at the Institute introduced everyone to "Laughter Yoga" - basically suggesting that the body receives the same benefits from fake laughter as it does from real laughter. The stale air in your abdomen gets forced out and fresh air comes in, better circulation, excercise, etc. But also, once you spend a few minutes with a group of people fake laughing, pretty soon you start actually laughing, and sometimes those boundaries get amusingly blurred. It also kind of reminded me of all the silly warm up excercises I did in theater classes in High School and college.... I thought it was tons of fun - but I guess I'm just one of those people who likes laughing.
I'd recommend it to anyone. apparently it's always free and there are groups all over the world.... more info at this website that I have never read:
http://www.laughteryoga.org/
I'd recommend it to anyone. apparently it's always free and there are groups all over the world.... more info at this website that I have never read:
http://www.laughteryoga.org/
News channel
The news at 10 pm plays the old school rhythm of the telegraph machine, the one you imagine in your head playing right before the announcer would say "This just in..." Here, the same beat is played on Tabla. And it sounds awesome.
I will try to get a recording soon....
I will try to get a recording soon....
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The internet knows I am in India
I recently noticed that now the advertisements I see online know that I am here. Facebook now asks me to take quizzes about Bollywood stars and Google wants me to learn more about cricket. I don't think it is the subject of my posts that has triggered them, but rather my IP address.
Despite the Internet being global, it still targets people based on where they are. Soon, I expect this targeting to become even more regional and site specific...
crazy, eh?
Despite the Internet being global, it still targets people based on where they are. Soon, I expect this targeting to become even more regional and site specific...
crazy, eh?
Gym.
So My host brother and I joined the gym across the street. Great decision. Apparently, it is one of the fancy gyms because it has air conditioning and was expensive... But like all businesses in India, it is amazingly over staffed. SO, joining the gym also means having a personal trainer. Basically several extremely fit young men offering instructions to the folks there. there were maybe 8 people working out and 4 trainers assisting them when I was there this morning....
I have decided that I probalby won't have this kind of attention in awhile, so I am taking advantage of it and learning how to lift weights. It was only slightly demoralizing that for most machines I had to use them without putting the pin in at all (the pin that holds the weights in place. But hey, you gotta start somewhere right?
We've been twice in a row now, and I really like it. I feel like when I get to school I have more energy than I would otherwise - so hopefully I will be able to kepe it up. and for those of you wondering what an expensive gym in India costs with A/C and a personal trainer - $50 for two months. In some ways India is really a fantastic place. Oh and a massage (which I have yet to try, is only $3....)
me.
I have decided that I probalby won't have this kind of attention in awhile, so I am taking advantage of it and learning how to lift weights. It was only slightly demoralizing that for most machines I had to use them without putting the pin in at all (the pin that holds the weights in place. But hey, you gotta start somewhere right?
We've been twice in a row now, and I really like it. I feel like when I get to school I have more energy than I would otherwise - so hopefully I will be able to kepe it up. and for those of you wondering what an expensive gym in India costs with A/C and a personal trainer - $50 for two months. In some ways India is really a fantastic place. Oh and a massage (which I have yet to try, is only $3....)
me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)