Residency

Hey there,

So, this makes for Entry 6 in one night. My shoulders are aching, my throat is dry--but I told you it was going to be a marathon! For once, I am writing an entry about some things that occurred TODAY, not things that happened a month ago. (Rebel I am…)
There’s this concept of “residency” that I find quite interesting, and especially today it’s been on my mind. For example, I can’t call Ithaca home, but I remember when it became my residency, when I realized I had favorite restaurants, coffee shops, places to study…when I would run into people on the streets, on the way to Collegetown, or back from the library. And in those moments it hits you: I live here. How I define myself is kind of wrapped up in this place…huh.
So today, more than a month after coming here, I have fully acknowledged that I am currently a resident in Chandigarh. In India...
Here’s a short description of the day:
8:00 AM Wake up, take the beloved bucket shower, change, pack my bag, eat something, or grab something to eat (mmm…mangoes, papayas, bananas, lychee, pears…you get the idea)
8:30 AM Reply some e-mails and try uploading photos onto the computer, only to be entirely frustrated by how long it takes
9:16 AM Start walking to the bus stop, which takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on how fast I want to walk, etc.
9:28 AM Bus arrives—and the drivers know me! Usually you get on, and tell the ticket guy where you’re going, and he issues you the ticket. Now, every morning, ticket man and I say hi, and he knows exactly which ticket to issue without me even saying a word (Residency Evidence 1). I usually sit directly behind the driver, as its one of the official “For Ladies” seats—it’s only been around for about a year, that buses have the first few rows just for women, to make them feel safer in a place where women in the past have been known to feel threatened and harassed. Today, I read Catcher in the Rye—almost done. Somehow I almost went through my entire academic career without reading it...

9:55 AM (ish) Bibha, one of the women I work with, usually gets on the bus at this stop, and we sit together and talk about various topics (and she recently taught me how to fold little boats out of the bus tickets)
10:20 AM Arrive in Ramdarbar, either stay there or walk to Hallo Majra (10 minute walk)—today we visited two of SURYA’s creches, or day care centers…so today we interviewed some women, but mostly I played with 1-2 year olds all day…(!!!)
2:00 PM Offered orange soda, bread pakora, and samosas at one of the SURYA staff members’ place—discuss arranged marriage, which has become a daily topic of conversation during and after we run interviews for the survey
2:45 PM Finish early due to some mix-ups in finding women for the survey—I take the bus to the bus station to purchase tickets to go to Delhi tomorrow
2:52 PM (ish) As I’m riding on the bus, completely oblivious of where I am, I spot my friend Nithin, another intern, on the street! I scream out his name, and he waves. (Residency Evidence 2)
3:00 PM I get off the bus at the station, and run into one of my co-workers, Ramesh, on the street! We have some small time and chat out my most recent trip to Jaipur (Residency Evidence 3)
3:20 PM Tickets for Delhi are purchased. This in and of itself is somewhat miraculous. I accomplish this feat with minimal complication (Residency Evidence 4)
3:30 PM I call for an auto, and bargain it down to a somewhat reasonable price. A few minutes later, an old woman gets on, and begins to talk to me in rapid Hindi as we drive along, until I make it clear I have very little Hindi speaking ability—but we still manage to share where we live, what I’m doing in India, complain about traffic, and she even offers me a drink from her water bottle, but I show her that I have my own bottle of panee. When she gets off, before me, we wave goodbye like old friends (Residency Evidence 5)
4:00 PM Catch up with other interns who are sitting around, bask in the cool breeze of the momentary rain and enjoy the cut in electricity
5:00 PM Fall asleep after reading—nice one hour nap with the fan on full-blast
6:00 PM Make plans for this weekend’s trip to Agra
6:45 PM Begin making dinner, make dinner, do the dishes, contemplate why some ants are bigger than others...
8:00 PM Begin blogging marathon, followed by chatting with Matan (who is ONLY 2.5 hours behind me--time is incredible)
1:36 AM Feel my bed calling my name…and that’s from 2 floors away…

I reside here…
Wow.

Camels. Rocks. Chandi.

So Chandigarh, though miraculously beautiful and clean and green for Indian standards, is not much of a tourist hotspot--but it is noted for one major claim to fame: the Rock Garden. I liked it a lot, but not everyone did (since it actually gets quite a bit of hype--and some find it to be a letdown). It's a sculpture garden spread over 40 acres, completely built of industrial & home waste and thrown-away items.
I have just written 4 blog entries, so I am opting for an easy out and using Wikipedia:
"The most powerful aspect of the gardens is that - thousands of animal or humanoid figures made out of discarded materials, which stand in rigid rows like silent static armies. It’s a series of interconnected rocky grottoes, walkways and landscaped waterfalls. All this demonstrates how urban and industrial waste can be fruitfully recycled and used in creative pursuit."
Rock on. (heh, I'm so clever...)

Very photo-op kind of spot.

Nithin and Jatinder perplexed.

Nithin and Jatinder even more perplexed.

Our day in Chandigarh included a visit to the High Court. And then we got chased down and spent a night in the slammer...:)

This is taken from my room!! A camel is going down my street!! Jatinder and I actually rode one at the Rock Garden, but I like this one more, so it's representing camels. In India. And in general.

Snaps.

Just some favorites from a recent day of work, walking around parts of Hallo Majra, looking for women to talk to. Again, its the colors that strike me, but also how many children are also always in sight, playing or in the corners. See if you can spot them all :)

One of the women that works for SURYA, Sony, is 22 and runs "tuitions" for kids--pretty much like tutoring. We went to her house, and these kids started giggling as soon as they saw me, asking "How are you?" and all the phrases they knew. And they kept saying, "Didi! *hindi hindi* snaps! *hindi hindi*" They love getting to see their own photos, like all the children we've come across, so they were asking me, the "older sister" to take more pictures of them.

"How very Life of Pi of you..."

On June 25, a bunch of us interns went to Pondicherry, a 3 hour bus ride from Chennai (of which I stood the entire time, which was very nice meditation for me…), to catch the tailend of AIESEC India’s June National Conference. Over 300 AIESEC members from, I believe, 15 cities in India were there, to discuss solely AIESEC work. It was a fantastic time, I loved meeting so many of the other interns in India, from every part of the world imaginable. The members, the @ers, were awesome, so full of energy and passion and excitement. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to a national conference, and it wasn’t enough. :) There’s a very palpable buzz when everyone comes together, so much chatter and sharing and mixing, and I learned a lot about the way a different AIESEC country functions, how it works, what their conferences mean to them and the realization of their goals…

It’s incredibly competitive in India, in terms of raising traineeships and bringing in exchange participants, and building contacts and securing investors—so far from what the US does and how it functions. I’m so glad I got that experience, even only for a couple days, because I feel like I have a much more rounded perception of what AIESEC means, as the global organization that it is.

My favorite part was spending so much time with AIESEC Chandigarh, even though they are constantly downstairs in the @Office; I really, really enjoyed traveling with them, going to the beach, having amazing food, talking @...they had a HUGE group, almost 30! Manveer, the Local Community President and a genuinely awesome guy, managed to organize such a huge group, with impeccable organization, patience, and good humor. That takes skill.
They take such good care of us interns, and JNC really made that clear. There’s not much more to say, except I’ve made some incredible friends in the past month, and I am so, so glad that I am not leaving any time soon…(ok, a month. It's all relative!)

Besides the conference, we took full advantage of the beach. I have to say I prefer Tel Aviv and Hong Kong to the one we saw, in terms of cleanliness and general freedom and comfort, but still…the water is the water, and especially when it’s over 100 degrees…not much else matters. I was raised by the mountains, and don't get me wrong, I love them and I miss them. But there is something about a huge expanse of water that is so powerful and poignant and still so peaceful. (No, I did not intend for that mad alliteration, but it's still nice, no?)

Plus we got fresh coconut juice, though it was more exciting in theory than in practice…

As a former French colony, the architecture and cuisine definitely reflects that. We found a couple of lovely French restaurants and cafes, and Sander, our European representative, was in some state of bliss because of it. Le Dupleix was the gorgeous hotel where we had breakfast--probably the most stylish bathroom I have ever seen at a hotel, for the record.

Lots of beautiful flowers and trees as well...I especially like how they look against the clean, solid colors of the painted walls.

Our last morning there, we got up at 4:30 am to watch the sunrise over the ocean. It was hilarious, as in we were rushing, running, to catch it in time. But we were there plenty early, and had a headstart for the rest of the day. In addition to seeing the sunrise, we did various awesome things, like visit an ashram, drink chai, eat amazing croissants, and SEE AN ELEPHANT. Even better...I GOT BLESSED BY AN ELEPHANT! I'm sorry, but that moment was so lifechanging, I can't even begin describing it here. It will eventually get an entry of its own...

Just because, you know, we're young, and happy, and IN INDIA...yippee!!

One of my professors showed us a photo of something like this from her travels in India--there is still a problem with female foeticide and infanticide, so campaigns and posters are made and distributed in the hopes of changing public opinion...and social beliefs that males are of higher value than girl children.

I LOVED the 43 hour journey back to Chandigarh: a 3 hour bus from Pondi to Chennai, then a 36 hour train from Chennai to Delhi, and then another 4 hours to Chandigarh by bus. Trains are just sweet. Everyone in one small space together, so much conversation and joking and fun, learning how to say really useful phrases in Portugese (gostoso...), Bahasa (ganteng...), and Dutch (lekker...), LOTS of chai and cookies and samosas and veg briyani and folding paper cranes and looking out the window and sleeping on sleeper bunks (for me, these things are always easy, perks of being able to fall asleep anywhere...and being short). I have loads of photos from the ride, but these next two I chose because they show the extreme divide in India that is so obvious, and still so disturbing. You see the same lush green in both, but one is covered in trash, the other with none at all...it's an illustration of the huge challenges that face this country in terms of poverty and waste, and yet how it could be if there were the right resources and attention to improve these conditions.

And so we returned back to the north--the country is too big, too overflowing with sights, places, things to do, people to meet...for one trip. Someday, I'll have to make it for India Trip Part II...

30 Hours in Chennai...The Last Time I Saw My Waist.

The saga continues…

On the morning of June 26^th, I took a wicked (I’m not from Boston, true, but this word seems incredibly fitting at the moment, ok? WAIT, close enough--I was born on Cape Cod. I definitely have rights to say wicked...) early flight from Delhi to Chennai. At the Delhi Airport, I met up with some @ friends, Sander and Ganda (Holland and Indonesia, respectively, though these guys, as declared last night at dinner, are self-entitled brothers—lots of love here!), Kirsi and Kristina (Finland and Canada). We arrived in Chennai by 10 am, I think, and promptly found our way to the Tamil Nadu tourism counter for some advice on sights and lodging. I loved that Kristina was kind of dancing to her own tune as she sat there, and the tourism man commented on her happy state of being, and she asked him to “Shake it” and “Show your stuff!”

From there, we took a cab and got our first glimpses of Chennai—big city for sure, not anything too remarkable, but definitely still a cool place (like I said, I’m a sucker for the cities…). This shot was just one taken from the taxi. We found the hotel and crashed, in the way that has become quite standard for our weekend trips.
AKA: How-many-people-can-you-fit-in-one-room-to-pay-the-least-amount-of-money.
It’s a fun game, try it out sometime. (Below, L to R: Kirsi, Ganda, Kristina, me and Sander, obviously Ganda and Kristina look best, hands down.)

After lunch (which was AWESOME--don't worry, it's going to show in a future blog entry...), we met up at the Tamil Nadu Tourism Complex with my friends Mitch and Amy, both went to CU Boulder last year—Mitch and I taught together in China last summer (along with our other buddy Teju).

This is me and Mitch and Amy. In a really random moment. We were waiting for our tour bus, and some Indian guy comes up to us and says, "Children, can you please do me a favor? Please?" Well, first off, children? And secondly, a favor? Kind of sketch. Anyways, it ended up with us posing in a "tourist-friendly auto," while a photographer took shots of us for future promo materials for Tamil Nadu tourism. SWEET, our celebrity status in India has been cemented.

Mitch, Amy and Teju are all spending this summer in Chennai, building and developing an NGO called The Shared Element (link on the right), which is incredibly impressive, innovative, and VERY exciting. Please do take a look at their blog or website, both I’ve included, if you’re interested in the development work they’re helping intitiate in rural villages in Southern India.
Shoutout: you guys are too amazing for your own good. And I can’t wait to see you three tomorrow with , for our weekend trip to the Taj Mahal!!! AHHH!!

ANYWAYS. All of us decided to go on one of those ½ day tours, and it was pretty funny. Our tourguide had rather, um, special English and really liked to yell at us to “Go! Go! Move! 5 minutes only!!” But, hey, I have no qualms about being a tourist—especially when we usually only really get the weekends to bask in its glory. Our stops:

1. Fort Museum-neat relics of British Rule

2. National Museum-beautiful bronze collection of Hindu sculptures

3. Valluvar Kottam, constructed in the memory of Thiruvalluvar, the classical Tamil poet and saint. It's constructed to look like a temple chariot, which is pretty neat. (below)

4. SNAKE PARK--we saw so many snakes and crocs and TURTLES! I mean, it's not a turtle park. But I have a weakness for turtles, especially cute ones...cute ones that sit around ponds in little groups.

5. Kapaleeswarar Temple, which was one of the most memorable experiences I've had in India to date. I met a great newlywed couple who was also on the tour, the wife's name is Monika, though I've forgotten the husband's. When we started walking around the temple, they very naturally began telling me things about Hinduism, and I was eager to listen and had tons of questions. When we reached one part, the middle section of the temple, there's a sign that reads, "No Non-Hindus Allowed"--at this point, I just told them I'd see them later and I thought we'd part at the entrance to the inner area of worship. But Monika was very adamant that I go in with them. I was a bit uncomfortable about doing it, and resisted for a while, but she said that she, as a Hindu, knew that such signs were posted to prevent desecration, not to prevent all people from experiencing the temple fully. She said to me, "Hinduism accepts all people, of all religions. And this temple welcomes all people to worship in it, whichever way they choose." So in the end, I did go in with them. They just told me to be quiet, as I could pass as a Hindu since my Asian appearance could also be taken as East Indian...so as to not cause further problems. I did initially feel a little guilty about it, but soon that dissipated when we entered...
It was so incredible, such a feeling of serenity and peace and calm, quite unlike any temple or place of worship I've ever been to. The air smelled sweetly of incense and there were traces of smoke everywhere, floating around in swirls (or it felt that way!), seen only by candlelight. The fire reflected off all the golden and bronze sculptures of gods and goddesses, wrapped in bits and pieces of brightly colored cloth, arranged in rows and rows with offerings of fruit and flowers laid before them. There was the soothing sound of repeating mantras, cut in once in a while with the ringing of bells, quiet shuffling of bare feet on the stone floor. The priests stood together, 2 or 3 of them, and you went up to them and bowed (for lack of a better phrase--or the correct one), and they bestowed upon you jasmine flowers or fruit and the tikka mark, a smudge of red powder or white ash.
It is hard to describe that moment, but I did feel like I was experiencing some other world, or even a different state of being. I was near speechless when we came out in the fresh air, and all I could do was thank Monika and her husband for giving me such an unforgettable experience. It's truly understanding part of culture in a way you thought you would never get to--with people who are so enthusiastic about sharing it with you. No doubt India knows how to do this so well--the people here just never, ever stop including you, teaching you, bringing you into their lives and giving and showing you as much as they can. Monika and her husband were happy that I appreciated it so much, and I still feel like I didn't fully convey what it meant to me.
From there, we actually left the tour group and walked to the home of Teju's family members to meet him there. I hadn't seen Tej for almost a year, which is RIDICULOUS, because it felt like no time had passed whatsoever...that it had been only weeks since we were in China, staying late and talking about anything and everything, climbing up the great wall (or, is it The Great Wall?), eating delicious bao zi by the side of the street, hanging with Mitch and the other guys...

Dinner was fantastic (Tej and I shared a dessert called, "The Last Time You Saw Your Waist"--no joke! And honestly, you really don't care about anything, let alone your waist, when you're in such creamy, brownie'd chocolate bliss), then everyone hung out for a little bit before the rest of them went back to the hotel. I decided to stay with Tej, Mitch and Amy. And I think we slept at 5:30 am or something, after hours of talking and playing LINK, a game we invented that involves a tennis ball and (awww, so PLC!) teamwork, laughing and sharing and catching up. Teju has some wonderful cousins that I also got to meet--again, Indian hospitality is...beyond belief. They dropped me off at the bus station, where the Pondicherry episode begins!

(Ahh!! I am so psyched to see them again...good thing "again" in this case means "tomorrow"!)