on the streets

My first weekend spent here in Jaipur. As whenever I suddenly have much free time, I feel antsy like I should be out doing something…But I really can think of to do useful now is study or read. Hmm..
Special musing/bitching for the day: are Indians friendly people? I just can’t say that Indians are particularly friendly. Of course all my musings here are blatant generalizations. A billion people cannot be all friendly or unfriendly. But in general I don’t find Indians to be especially kind, accepting or hospitable. In fact many--at least to me--are rude, deceitful, cold or disdainful. Of course, much of the ill-will I gather towards them comes from a disgust of how men in the street tend to treat me, which is a sort of an unfair basis of evaluation. Maybe their friendly to each other, maybe I’d be more welcomed if I wasn’t a woman doing what is socially unacceptable for a woman to do. But, on the other hand, this kind of behavior makes it damn hard for me to trust or experience goodwill toward many people. Treatment I’ve gotten on the street includes-- “hello! Hello!” “Come here!” “Why don’t like Indians…talk to me!” “Hello! Fuck me! Sex me, sex me!” “Schhhhh schhhh!” You say bug off and it goads them on into following and badgering you. There’s also the charming feature of kids throwing rocks or bopping me on the head, even groping me. People lie, heckle and badger us. They stare blatantly, often-ludely, at you. Its hard to speak to any local man without suspecting ill intentions. There are exceptions. Mitaji is possibly the sweetest woman I’ve ever met. Rimaji is stately and kind. Renuji and her husband were generous, helpful and welcoming. But these have been the exceptions.
There are unique and positive sides of the general character sketch too. Indians tend to be forward, outgoing, honest, funny, audacious, even charming. They are proud of their culture and have strong values—there’s something positive about characteristic even if I don’t agree with the values. But while this makes them a people fascinating to me, they haven’t become dear to me.

On Friday I returned from the Internet and was invited to play Housie. I watched Dil Chahta Hai in the evening—even more spectacular than I remember. On Saturday, after an awkward lunch with Sunita, I went to old city with Aarthi to shop. I bought another kurta top and a silk scarf. Aarthi bought ship-load of jewelry. It was very interesting walking around with a person of Indian descent and seeing how it did and did not change how were treated. Aarthi speaks a little Hindi though not fluently, and she looks Indian but touristy (and traveling with a white person). Bargaining dynamics shifted subtlety; people were pushier talking to her but less blatantly rude.
We finished off the day with a Dominoes pizza dinner with Alisha and a MacDonalds Sunday to top it off. What a fantastic fast-food American dinner. Had a couple pleasant moments with Sunitaji when I returned and began to watch Lakshya until Emma returned late in the evening.
Today, I have lazed about, writing my paper, listening to Dil music and watching the rest of Lakshya. Then we all watched Lakshya together in Auntiji’s room. Turned out to be a very intense and actually quite good war movie. Was it a bonding experience? Almost.

written by  Drie on February 28, 2008 from Jaipur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
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