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Adventures in Hindustan

a travel blog by Drie

I'm studying abroad in INDIA! This is to keep you all updated (and hopefully entertained) about my adventures in this awesome country. I hope to read your responses and comments.
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madness descends

Jodhpur, India

3/10/08
Day 6…
We got sick and went mad. Actually partially true… Dillan had stomach trouble in the morning, while Amy and I went jogging again. But in the afternoon illness—fever and stomach—hit Sarah and I and we were probably a little delirious. We watched Rang De Basante (famous Bollywood film), which was interesting after having seen the Legend of Bhagat Singh since it essentially parallels that story, and then two episodes of Heroes. Then we laughed to tears about the ridiculousness of our situation.
Earlier in the day we had gone for a little while to attend a training session offered by GRAVIS for a new health initiative being tested by the government. Of course, the proceedings were conducted in Marabati and Dillan (still sick) wasn’t there which meant we hadn’t a chance in hell of understanding what was going on. We felt like a distraction more than attendees as all the women stopped paying attention to Giriji lecturing up front in favor of staring at us. The situation then progressed to what has become a usual pattern in these types of situations. Women—or children or men it matters little—wearing brightly colored outfits and veils over their eyes crowd about us and begin asking questions we haven’t a clue how to answer (or understand). They are much more touchy than any American would be comfortable with and have even lifted our shirts several times, or mildly slapped to try to get our attention. This generally digresses into them pointing to our stomachs or breasts as a way of asking whether we have children or are married. When it is explained that we are not, they laugh heartily. They then point to their jewelry and our very jewelry-less earlobes…and wrists and noses and fingers and ankles and toes and upper arms.

Why don’t you have jewelry? You don’t have jewelry? Do you even have earholes? Yes. Do you even have nose holes? No. Laugh heartily. Such short hair. Yes. Why? It’s hot here. Laugh heartily. No children? No. No husband? Why? We’re students. Blank stare.

After only twenty minutes of these situations, we are generally too exhausted to continue and have to retreat back to our fort and hide our shameful earlobes.


permalink written by  Drie on March 10, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
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raining desert

Jodhpur, India

3/11/08
Day 7…first full week completed. We woke to the very peculiar sensation of humidity and the sound of pattering rain and thunder. It was raining! Off-season and in the middle of the desert it was cloudy and raining. I can’t explain how bizarre it felt under the circumstances.
But even more bizarre than rain in the desert was this: we did something. Let me repeat that, we did something. Giriji came over midmorning and announced that the jeeps were coming today (to drop off people for training) and that they would take us to Jelu (a village nearby) where several GRAVIS projects are in process.
So we hopped in the back of a jeep with Arunji and we were off. Well, actually we were told we would leave and be back before lunch, while it ended up being we ate lunch and then left: a classic example of Indian timing. But then we were off. We went into Jelu and to a little building with several posters, some books and a bag of USA millet. This was the information center where GRAVIS has a representative and where people can come and look up things from moon cycles, animal care, to home delivery care and AIDS.
Next we drove a bit more and stopped at a woman’s house. They told us she was in a self-help group. She had had a shop. Now she didn’t have it, she might again in the future. She made pots. Her husband worked in the mine. They had financial troubles. GRAVIS had helped. They had to close shop… GRAVIS would help. The story was very confusing even after Dillan asked a number of questions in Hindi.
We went further out and saw a small rock dam and the agricultural area behind it. It seems the agricultural water projects are designed to prevent water from running off too fast. A man came over, greeted us, and invited us to tea at their home. This was composed of several buildings, three for the goats, and one for the humans. As we waited for the tea, awkwardly making conversation, Arunji told them how I was a ‘painter’ bahut accha hai. This bit of gossip arose from him seeing several of the sketches I had drawn in boredom in ‘fort gravi.’ The result was the very sweet man with a gigantic bushy mustache asking me to draw a flower…on their wall. Yep, they pointed to empty blank white walls, and told me to draw a flower on it. Then a stub of a pencil was produced and so I drew it, adding a signature for good measure.

Dillan with villager and a plow

The whole excursion was not so much a field visit as a field tour, and took maybe two hours. It was fun, but then we came back and had no purpose again. Began watching Heroes episodes on my computer to keep entertained.


permalink written by  Drie on March 11, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
tagged Draw
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beyond madness

Jodhpur, India

3/13/08
Day 8…
We’ve lost our sense of humor. In India this is as good as a death sentence for the experience. Living here is much like living in a beautiful prison, a prison with friendly but unintelligible prison guards. Sarah has been reading excerpts of the prisoner of war camp experience at Dreden in world war two, as Kurt Vonnegut detailed it in Slaughter House Five. We are drawing similarities between the conditions, our behavior and emotional degradation to that of the soldiers. The same frustration, the dissatisfaction and ill-health from the same few foods at every meal (here it is roti, cabbage, potato, and dal), the same torpor. Inactivity, you see, leads to indolence. We sleep more and more, eat and bathe less. We laze about and half-heartedly attempt to brush off the flies. And this only after eight days! Inactivity combined with no purpose is deadly.
We called Rimaji today asking for out. Our goal: a move to the GRAVIS office within the bustle of the city of Jodhpur. Perhaps a place with proper resources will at least allow us to do research, have some project while allowing movement about a city and food diversity. Cross you fingers!

permalink written by  Drie on March 13, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
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next edition

Jodhpur, India

So all you waiting with baited breath...things are better now. We figured out a project and more importantly spent three days in the city. But back to the wilderness again for the week because we ben to a town (for dad's benefit).
So to found out how this all occured your gonna have to wait with baited breath (or no bait is ok too).
For those at Will Rice, YEAH SWEEP!!!! I wish I were there to cheer you on.

permalink written by  Drie on March 15, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
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can you take the heat

Jodhpur, India

3/19/08

Snapshot: Can you take the heat?
I think we are finally coming to understand what is Indian heat. The last couple days each prove hotter than the last. Mornings remain cool, a tribute of the desert that when the sun disappears the sand releases the heat with only a quick farewell. But once the sun returns at 7:30 AM the temperature jumps and the earth begins to gather heat again. By the time late afternoon slides by the temperature outside has been reaching 104° F (about 33° C) in the shade. While our carefully sun-deprived and thick-walled rooms slowly climb into the 90’s° F.
It has become our habit to be active from 6:30 AM until an 1 or 2 PM after which we retreat into our darkened rooms, turn on the fan (if the electricity is blessing us) and lay about, slow movements taking precedence. In this kind of heat sluggish motion becomes necessary, and everything obeys this edict except the flies who take advantage of their prey’s lethargy it make their own living. I do this until I can stand it no longer and take a bucket shower with the blessedly cool ground water. Sweat-free skin and wet hair lower my temperature for at least an hour. If you can make it until six the worst is over as the sun begins to sink over the dunes and the wind sweeps in. By ten in the evening the temperature is pleasant and the rooms have given up most of the horrible stored up energy stuff as well. You can move about at normal speed once more. Until the sun rises the again… I’m beginning to the merits of nocturnal living.


On the GRAVIS front there is little to report. We called Rima yesterday to come to right understanding about the situation but she refused to remove us until GRAVIS stated outright that they had no projects for us. This is unlikely to happen, and meanwhile the main office has obviously been pressured enough to instruct the field staff here to take us on field visits as much as possible. This means we have taken two field tours in two days. Today we even had forewarning and a bit of an explanation before leaving: Giriji explained GRAVIS’ self-help groups and how they operate! Although this is an appreciated improvement I think the overall situation is taking a large toll on the other girls, especially as the language gap between Dillan (usually our only interpreter) and the rest of us grows. I find Dillan and I have come to an understanding and my own hindi is improving enough that I don’t have to ask interpretation of every sentence. Unfortunately, if two of my companions go mad, it won’t be long before I follow suite.
Having lost much of my blinding anger with the coming the intense heat, I’m still stuck with horribly confounding decision of what to do. Should we throw a fit and insisting on leaving (despite having done that a little bit already)? Should we wait it out and go on a weeklong vacation without other alterations? Could we survive the latter choice? Should I merely take off and travel with my dad? Shall I view this as a learning experience or a horrible waste of my precious time abroad?


permalink written by  Drie on March 19, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
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Holi festival

Jodhpur, India

3/20/08
Sanpshot: Holi Smoke!

The Hindu holiday Holi is this weekend. It’s the second biggest (if your interested the first is Dewalli) holiday in India and celebrates the coming of Spring (the mean Spring taken with a grain of salt since it could more accurately mean the coming of blinding-heat season). A encyclopedia will tell that Holi celebrated with the throwing of powdered colors in the street. But I can tell you now that, in addition this one day celebration, Holi shares with Christmas a season. Everyone takes off work for several days and goes home to their family and friends. The week before is an upbeat with preparation for big day.
At Gagari there is one peculiar custom we learned about. Before Holi the people here collect panfulls of cow dung, mix it with sand, and redo their floors made of the stuff. Today, having already collected the shit, we will be able to witness the smearing of the stuff onto the hardened shit below.


sita smears cow poo on her patio

Last night was another festivity in which we felt more inclined to partake. A special dinner was given: we got the more expensive vegetable of peas along with potato and cabbage, yoghurt curry, and store-bought mithai (a milk and honey based sweet) instead of the homemade molasses bits. Afterward, our GRAVIS fieldworkers gathered in the community room with a zylophone-keyboard, baby-cymbols, and a drum. As the power came on and off they played Indian tunes sang, and watched as the little girl Puja, age five, outdanced in the circle.

While I copiously avoided dancing too much, the whole night was definitely improved by the presence of Prem, another blessing of Holi- his mom Shanti lives here. I had also got the pleasure of hitting balls cricket style, bowled by him. When one hit threw it over the fence, he simply leaped over it to fetch, grinning that darling grin. On that score Rao also astonished with his acrobatics by climbing a wall using a tiny water pipe to fetch the ball that went onto the roof.


permalink written by  Drie on March 20, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
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Holi cow! (last pun I promise)

Jodhpur, India

Holi Holiday,

What a holiday! I told you about preparation for the big event in the country. Preparation in the city was a bit more active and a bit less productive. Two days before the big day, the street bizaars were chalk full of stands selling heaps of colored powder in bags, small water-gun shooters (with coca-cola stickers and hot bollywood actors on them), as well as little bundles of ripe wheat (I think it represents fertility of spring). Many people apparently couldn't wait to start using all this stuff and so we began seeing men with bright pink faces, cows with bright pink splashes, and kids with bright pink everything long befiore the official events should begin.
We also got hit with water balloons on the way back from dinner a whole day in advance. Friendly people on the street told us we had best stay inside on the big day or we would "look like monkeys." If by this they meant dangerous, then I agree. It seems that kids and women do most of their playing the day before because on Holi day the men drink home-brewed alcohol, opium lassis, and feel that even their normal restraint towards women (not much to begin with) doesn't apply for the festival.
The night before Holi revealed loud Holi-themed pop songs being blasted from god knows were and constant drumming. The morning was rather less exciting than we thought (judging from our safe haven on the top of our hotel roof). But by miday things were picking up and we decided we could risk 'playing holi' right outside the hotel with hotel staff.
And it actually went better than we thought. WE got completely powdered by the hotel owner's little girl (cute) and politely powdered by the hotel staff (sweet) for a whole minute or so before guys from across street came over and the thing progressed to a grope fest (not so swell). We stepped back inside after that.
I think I looked less like a monkey and more like a rainbow raccoon. When I took down my hair the crusted stuff allowed it to defy gravity and I looked like rainbow cavewoman. Pictures are soon to come.


holi looks


amy holi face


robin holi faced (and eared)

Our group shower, in colored clothes and all, was equally fun even if it did involve scrubbing off much of my skin.

Happy holi to you all and easter too!! (for those whom it applies)


permalink written by  Drie on March 22, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
tagged HoliCowSmear
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Krishna manifests himself in mysterious ways...there's a pool involved

Jodhpur, India

Snapshot: the road from hell to heaven has a pool at the end
Hello all,

I am glad to report that my Indian adventure has turned rather from a sordid affair to summer breeze. I am now established at the blind school: my new NGO internship begins. And while the school itself has no projects planned for us, it does have the resources for us to create our own. So we are. Sarah and I will be working to establish a penpal exchange between blind students in the US and the blind students here at Netraheen Vikas Sansthan school. One teacher there speaks English; a young woman named Vaneja. I declare my first real Indian friend in her, as she chats, and is delighted to go out, and show us the best places to shop, eat and be entertained, often taking us there in her car! Even more spectacular, we are able to discuss with her in great depth regarding life, the universe and everything (sorry, just read so long and thanks for all the fish). I find her life fascinating: she is a middle class Indian that has declared her choice to work and intention not to marry. If only you understood how unusual this is!
Today, Vaneja drove us out to a hearing impaired school run by an NGO. Both these schools are really quite impressive with sound teaching techniques, polite and honest children, and maintained facilities. The hearing impaired school has a sound-proof room and a computer program that uses visual images to help the children know what kind of sound they speaking into the recorder.
Afterward we went over to her friend’s house where we were served our third complimentary meal of the day, second complimentary tea, and shown pictures of the family and learned about the importance of ‘exams,’ which are taking place right now and essentially determine a persons future career. Afterward, Vaneja took us to india’s equivalent of Target. Glorious—food, clothes, toiletries, furniture and appliances all in one place.
Just to add to the irony of my journey from hell’s alley to Jodhpur’s rich neighborhoods on a Indian bus, we decided to get a month long pass to use a fancy hotel’s pool within walking distance of our guest home. So now each afternoon we walk over in our sticky hot state, dive into the pool and work out in the cold water as long we like. We even have another adorable friend in the pool attendant, Surat, who loves us because I swim better than average and we speak tora tora Hindi. Today he told us we are like his little sisters and gave us two goggles to borrow because he noticed our eyes were getting red. After a swim we take real showers in the hotel bathroom. And the final cherry on top is that the pool is always empty but for ourselves and Surat and must be cleaned and freshened at least once a day! If India could deliver me a few cooler nights or an air conditioner my life would be one sweet gulab jamun.
I think perhaps that the plane of existence between a poor rural Indian villager and me is just too great a divide to bridge and I should be satisfied with the more real relationships I can realistically establish with wealthy, modern Indians. Within days I am establish more meaningful relationships than I could ever hope to in a place like Gagari. It’s a very unromantic view of the human condition, but perhaps one I can deal with.


permalink written by  Drie on March 27, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
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weekly schedule in India...when youre a glutin

Jodhpur, India

hello,

Welcome to my weekly schedule highlights:
Monday: First day back at 'work.' Send off a few emails and take a few administrative details into account. Sit in the one air conditioned room in the blind school and discuss dating habits in US and India with our Indian friend. Then its off to the swimming pool.
Tuesdays: After a swim in the pool we buy glasses of sugar cane juice. It is freshly squeezed in front of us by running giant sticks of sugarcane through an arcaic mechanical press, generally aided by a man pushing the cane through on one side and another pulling on the other.
Wednesday: After a relaxing swim we go to the sweets shop and buy a kilo of gulab jamun, rasgula, laddoo, milk and nut based sweets soaked in honey..mmmm. They pack them all up neatly in unique sweets-boxes. Sometimes a bag of mitri too, a tasty cracker like snack. Ask me about it some time and I will take you to town (if you live in Houston that is)
Thursday: First go swimming then knitting/crocheting time. Both yarn and needles are super cheap here. So we create all sorts things that would kill me from heat exhaustion if I attempted to wear them here.
Friday: After an afternoon swim or alternatively a lassi. We sit in plastic chairs and wait as a dozen carrots are run through blender and I am served a macanya lassi...the contents of which are entirely unknown to me. WE then go to dinner with our mates in for the weekend from gagari. If they aren't around we go to a bollywood movie.
Weekend: the world is our stage (after the daily swim of course).
Somewhere in there we also go site-seeing and shopping with our friend Vaneja and shrink away in a puddle of our own sweat.

Did I mention its hot here?

permalink written by  Drie on March 31, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
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it aint about lucky charms

Jodhpur, India

snapshot: Its India auspicious

Below I have compiled a very incomplete list of the many auspicions and inauspicions here in the jewel of the crown.

-Coal eyeliner on babies wards off the evil eye and the ill-will of those jealous of their beauty and vitality. Worth the charcoal irritation...not sure?
-The bride's henna that is smeared or faded will lead to a unfullfilling marriage. Yep, its the henna not the fact that they havent met the guy before.
- if money is waved around the bride-groom's head and then thrown onto the ground it will suck up all the ill-will directed against them.
-Eatting only cold food on the Thanda festival will keep Jupiter happy and prevent from getting the measles
-Drinking liquid with your meal will cause indigestion...I think its worth it
-Eating a popsicle will give you a cold...even in 105 degree heat
-A truck that keeps a black fuzzy ball on the back on its bumper will ward off the evil eye on the road. Whether it does equally well for the bus speeding the other way is unclear.
-No fruit at night or your stomach will be upset. 15 gulab jamun? A ok.
-A god idol will get hot and therefore angry, but dousing it in soy oil will keep him cool. I think that would make me hotter...
-Don't cut hair on Tuesdays. This one is definitely observed, I couldnt find a salon open on that day.
-A woman who gives money to the blind will marry a very handsome man
-yoghurt will counteract the ill effects of ghee
-cow dung is a disinfectant
-the color indigo is a natural bug repellent

and my personal favorite
- eating off the lid of pan will prevent you from ever getting married

Cheers!

permalink written by  Drie on April 1, 2008 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan
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