incredible india

never a country that's so rich
colors,
sounds,
smells

a week in the life

I thought i wasn't spending much time outside. That was true. But going out was definitely not the best idea. I was exhausted for most of the week. Part of it was the yoga. Talk about 1 hour of yoga every morning, then another half an hour of biking to office, biking back at 8 p.m., going out till 11 p.m., ok, not at all that late, but 7 1/2 or 8 hours of sleep was not enough.
Did a bunch of cool things though. Saw Darpana's opening season show. The show was just fine, but all the dancers were beautiful. Went to St. Xavier's to see a documentary on religions, which was just ok. Met up with Anna to go to this cafe/shop, the fair price, co-op type. It was nice and all but i'm not into, a.k.a. cynical about that kind of place, though i can't really explain why.

Sunday, worked half-day in the office. Then was taken to see this well, yes, a well to store water. I wasn't too excited about the plan at first, but it turned out to be a masterpiece. Too bad i don't have the photos yet. Met some cool guys, not sure if we'll cross each other again. But one of them falls into the category of guys that i have history with: short, foreigner (this is relative), not staying here for long, not exactly in my field (as if i had one), and white. But can tell Anna and i have some similar tastes or intuitions lol.
Anyway, she's an all-around nice girl, that's definitely an underestimation, but i can't really find the word. Trying to think who she reminds me of.

Just talked with Sarah and got the slides she prepared on my behalf for the Freeman dinner. It was the sweetest thing ever. On one of them, i was so fucking high (as in HIGH) on Foss Hill but i guess no one'd be able to guess. And that was some wicked photoshop she did on this photo. Just Love It. I'm supposed to be shopping and bargaining at a bazaar lol.

Lord Ganesha's Day

Every day i read the news about street celebrations and yet never got a glimpse of it, quite unsurprising, since my route comprises of going to the office from Mr. J's house at 10 a.m. and going back at around 8:30 p.m. and it takes 2-5 minutes each way, depends on whether i walk or go by car.

But finally, got to see it in close-up, and it was also the final day of the festival. Indians did live up to their tradition of being crazy dancers. It was a lot of people. (a lot as in A -- LOT, even by indian standard). And also got to see the immersion of Ganesha, which was actually scary. The paper reported 3000 idols immersed in Ahmedabad alone, including 800 in big size. Imagine all of them diluted into the river which is not even that big and which flows right through the city, cutting it into two.

But maybe even though all of the idols are made of plaster and painted with chemical paints, it's in the end nothing compared to the waste released directly from all the factories along the river. Nothing compared to all the fuel burnt when i take the plane to cross the world.

Just Read: The First Promise

The rural life in West Bengal in the tide of colonialism. Descriptions of customs, traditions (child marriage, puja, etc.) the women and their roles, how they change and are changed. the transition, the uncertainty and the inevitable. the fundamental part of identity that is challenged and that is bound to change (caste, e.g.)

Women are oppressed (and this goes for many other groups) certainly not only because men are sexist. A sexist society nurtures a sexist mentality in both men and women, so women can certainly be oppressive to themselves. They have to find the empowerment to break through. Liberation doesn't lie in the hands or at the mercy of the sexists.

Just Read: The Hungry Tide

I don't like the two foreground protagonists (if such a notion exists), but the book offers a beautiful, rich, and humane depiction (or documentation?) of Sunderban, where the relationship between human and nature reaches both extremes: symbiosis and enemy. Meticulously researched like a comprehensive anthropological work that covers everything related to the locale: environment, folk tradition, history.

outsourcing

I was first introduced to India's home helper industry in Kolkata. After the dinner at Tora's, i offered to help and was told not to worry, someone would come in in the morning to take care of it. As it turned out, there were three of them. They'd come in twice every day, each time for about 2, 3 hours: wash, clean, cook. Since Kolkata is an expensive city, a maid earns about Rs. 6 per month per family. Working for 8 families, that'd earn her Rs. 4800.

My boss also has a "maid" cum "office girl." From a conversation i had with this super sweet girl (actually, it was in broken english through another employee) i learned that she's 25, has two kids who live with her parents (in-law?) in Surat, about 200 kms away. She comes back there the first day of each month to see them. She's been working here for more than a year. Now she earns Rs. 1947 for her 8-6 work schedule.

I found my apartment yesterday (finally!). The rent costs Rs. 2000, with electricity and other expenses, it comes up to Rs. 3000. My roommate (Daina) and I are splitting the Rs. 400/month pay to our maid. The thought of cleaning our own house and washing our own clothes seems very alien here.

Anyway, the apartment is spacious. It's on the 4th floor, and Daina's room has a beautiful view of the river. It's 2 minutes walk from the Darpana school, next door to which is a little cafe, seems like an artsy neighborhood to me.

Can't say how grateful i am to Daina. She didn't want to sublet it to my at first, but then she got my text and couldn't say no. She said she understands how hard it is to find a place here. She herself spent 7, 8 months to land this one.
Not only that, this place is a real luxury to me, after having seen the girl hostel: 20 girls on one floor, 3-4 people in one tiny room, shared bath and toilet. And it costs Rs. 1350. The other place that i asked was a flat with 2 other girls, but the room is tiny, and it costs Rs. 4000, just rent, nothing else included. Ridiculous!

breast

yay! everyone's fav topic.

Vietnamese: small, mostly As and smaller. Seems to have been so forever and i haven't seen much change in the past 10 years or so despite our diet heading into a new path. And for stupid reasons, we are still so embarrassed about it and can't embrace it as part of our figure and feature.

French: have to say i'm not quite sure since i was there for only 6 months and it was cold most of the time so despite their fashionableness, people bundled up (in black or grey) so it was hard to judge. I'd say mostly As and Bs, look quite proportional to their shape.

American: huge. I've seen guys in Vietnam goggled their eyes out at Bs. In the U.S. Bs and Cs are such a common sight. Ds are fewer, but you still see them around.

Indian: have the most beautiful breasts that i've ever seen, no matter what size they are, from the skinniest to the chubbiest.

A side note: In the U.S, i wear an XS, sometimes an S, hate that feeling when i go shopping and find that every top and dress looks weird on me because of the bubble that my breast can't fill in.
In France, I wear an S, clothes generally don't have that breast "pocket" and plus, once i wear bras, my breasts have better shape so they fit better. However, my American friends had a lot of trouble finding something that gave their breasts enough space to breath.
In VN, I wear an M or an L (!?!?!) And sometimes, I ind things that would look like a binder on me, even when I've taken off my bras. Crazy. And have to keep in mind that my breasts are super small, like a typical Vietnamese.

from Kolkata to Ahmedabad

In Kolkata, the women don't seem to care about the scorching sun and the suffocating dust, such a fresh switch from the Vietnamese with our own "hijab" (only eyes shown), and the Singaporean who seek refuge under awnings.
In Ahmedabad, women also wear "hijab" though all of them are clearly not Muslim. I was surprised and my first thought was maybe these girls just wanted to avoid stares on the street by covering up. And how ignorant i was. They have the same concern and came up with almost the same solution as Vietnamese. I have to give them credit because their scarfs look so much more elegant than our ninja masks, but maybe not protective (read hard-core) enough to our standard.

internet cafe registration

Full name, Full address, ID/Passport number, and Phone number. For God's fucking sake!

Just read: The Inheritance of Loss

a novel exploring extremely complex and intertwined issues: interethnic relationship, nationalism, immigration, uprising, globalization, the making of history, etc. in a series of everyday stories. It seems straightforward enough, but the perspicacity could hardly come from someone who hasn't spent time in another part of the world, seeing another angle of the apple. Immigrants, or just people who move in general, do have that opportunity of stringing together the pieces.

In light of the ongoing Jammu-Kashmir upheaval and the Georgia-South Ossetia controversial break, it brought back the questions that I've stuck with for a long time: How can you know that your acts are of your true desire and not of a mob mentality? That they are a dedication to the cause and not an abuse of the cause? When you've already been part of the whirlwind, how can you cut yourself off, take a step aside to see which way it's going? What's the difference between a personal revenge and a public punishment? Can either be justified?

the Kolkata experience

- The second time that everyone around me is eyeing me without discreet because of my physical difference. The first time was in Algeria. Except that this time the boys aren't murmuring or screaming "Chinoise" to my face. And except that this time sellers and service workers of all types are trying to get more rupees out of me. Uhm, I'm probably biased. They try to do that to everyone inexperienced, Indians and non-Indians alike.

- Surprisingly low number of non South Asians on the street. First count: first day, 2 East Asian looking persons. Second count: second day, while roaming around the downtown area, some East Asians, some whites.

- Rickshaw, bus, tram, metro, auto, auto, rickshaw: that's how i got around the first day. I think i've put my butt on every single kind of public transport here. And one reason why you shouldn't expose too much of your flesh here is that it IS crowded, well except on the rickshaw.

In one of these auto-rickshaws, about 1.2 m in width, I once found myself with 1 high school boy plus 5 full-sized Indian adults, by which I mean people whose body girth is 1.5 to 2.5 times bigger than mine.

- Coming here after having retrained myself in Vietnam for + 2 months, I was still in total shock at the driving mentality. Autos dodge to the right, sway back to the left. The drivers here can certainly compete with their Algerian or Vietnamese counterparts; and I suspect that they'd win. Sometimes you find, only a few meters in front of your auto, hundreds of vehicles all rushing toward you. Another time, the back edge of a huge bus only half a span from your thigh.
Another scenario: inside a tunnel, cramped with cars and autos and buses, all within a few milimeters from each other, ALL HONKING, for no reasons, just like a fashion thing to do.

s'inquieter

Ahmedabad in shock after blasts

This is the city i'm going to for next semester. The organization i'll be working for focus their effort exactly on this kind of problem: the tension between the hindu and the muslim communities. Yes, i'm fascinated by their work and that's why i chose to work for them. But, to be honest, i'm scared, not sure if i'll be able to deal with all the complexity of the situation, and also for my own security. Except that i'm not saying any of these things to my parents lest they be worried.
That's how it is in my family. We deal with problems by ourselves because we don't want to trouble others. My parents try to encourage my sister and me to confide in them and consult with them, especially since we're away most of the time, but they always do exactly the opposite. This has been going on for so long that now i've ended up with this habit: either i don't talk about the problem, or i'd make it lighter and put on a bold front. This helps in another way since my parents don't seem to understand that i can be happy with my choice and be worried about what it might lead to at the same time. Like, i've been really stressed out about finding a job in Vietnam after i graduate. Let's face it, a degree in sociology doesn't mean much here. And all the NGO jobs i've been checking out requires years and years of experience which i don't have. I'm not at all confident that i'll be able to live out my idealistic life. My parents don't need to know this: they've always talked about why i should regret not majoring in something like economics. No, mom and dad.

On a different note, kinda related to the first news:
Israeli force kill two Palestinians on the West Bank city of Nablus; Islamic Jihad threatens retaliation
I almost stayed there as well, at An-Najah university where they had the camp. I don't think this even made to the headlines, a trite story probably.