Lessons from India Pt. 2

I've just come home from my final day of class before I head off to my internship in a small village about 2 hours away from Jaipur. This marks the half way point of our program and in some ways I'm really excited to get out in the field, while at the same time it's going to be hard to face everything without the safety net of being surrounded by other Americans. My internship will be working on teaching village women how to build solar panels and then helping install them in their rural villages to be used for electricity in the home and to power their wells that are increasing in depth yearly (currently they are around 800 feet deep). I also will be working with water resources and well and drilling technology as well as helping develop new teaching methods that will incorporate their social traditions into the practices so they feel more comfortable with the new technology. I'm mighty excited about that! Before I head off on that adventure, my roommate Shiveta and I are leaving on Saturday for an extended visit to her grandparent's textile village in Punjab. We'll be visiting the Golden temple which is the largest Sikh temple in the world, watching the crazy ceremony that takes place nightly at the border crossing between Pakistan and India (the village we're going to is about 80 km from the border), doing some shopping, helping make Indian sweets for the upcoming holiday, and just chilling until taking the train back next week Thursday. I sadly must say good bye to my host family who I've grown to adore and then will be leaving next week Saturday for my internship.

I'm going to miss mommi-ji and her amazing cooking a lot!

That being said, there might not be another blog post for a week or more until I get settled into my new place. I do have a cell phone and love receiving calls (it doesn't cost me anything to receive them) if you would like to keep in touch. In the mean while, I'll be keeping my parents and Nathan updated on the status of my adventures so check with them if you are wondering.


Anyways.... On to the lessons from India:

Sometimes it is better to just not ask….

I’ve learned to stop trying to justify people’s actions around here because they will never make sense. Our host dad sings a song to the potted banana tree on our balcony every morning. Every Thursday he feeds a roti, a piece of sugar cane, and a small handful of raw yellow lentils to a street cow. I questioned him about this one day and he replied plainly: “because the astrologer told me to”. Unlike America where stores all have “no shoes, no shirt, no service” policies, here you are required to remove your shoes before entering a store, even a grocery. So yes, I do plod around barefoot between the rows of shampoo, noodles, and raisins during my visits to the grocery to pick up biscuits for chai time. Speaking of chai (and in my case either cups of mint tea or milk with sugar and cardamom), boiling hot cups of it are consumed three times a day, even in 100+ degree weather. My host mother has to have a pearl touch her skin at all times to help keep a leveled head. Before Shiveta and I came to India, mommi-ji and our host dad brought mustard oil daily to the Ganesha temple in hopes that we would have an enjoyable time with their family. Little children under the age of five wear heavy black eyeliner to make them look “ugly” so the evil spirit won’t be attracted to them. If you tell someone their little child is adorable or cute, the family freaks out and will blame you for anything wrong that happens to the child because evil spirits, known here as “the evil eye”, are now drawn to them. Instead, you can smile and make googly eyes but any mention of how wonderful they are brings almost panic. Perhaps you could call people here highly superstitious, but I think these oddities are more so a way to stay connected with their traditions in a world where modernity is fast approaching. It’s really enjoyable for me to watch as the people around me amalgamate thousand year old practices with the workings of a globalized world. People still bring their 2009 Mercedes complete with dual control air conditioning and mp3 players to the Ganesha temple to be covered in flowers and blessed by the elephant headed god on a daily basis. I think even in a more “modern” world, the people here, at least the ones I have come in contact with in Jaipur, will continue to find justification for their ancient traditions. Although they’re really quite odd at times, the traditions provide such a unique coloration to India that I really hadn’t expected to come across and I’ve come to enjoy them. Bring on the banana tree serenades!

Animals are smarter in India

There’s a pair of sparrows making a nest on the light fixture above our dinning room table. Whereas in America the birds that become accidentally trapped inside a house freak out, smash into windows, and basically have to be escorted out the door less they have a heart attack from being inside a human enclosure, birds here fly freely in and out the doors and windows.

Bird!

Our host family finds the fact that my real family keeps a pet bird in a cage to be beyond bizarre as there are always two or more little birds flitting somewhere around our apartment. On top of being free, my host family doesn’t have to feed them, and surprisingly I haven’t seen a single piece of bird poo anywhere: “you keep bird in cage?” “Yes we do, his name is Yoshi” “Oooh Yoshi be dumb bird to live in cage”…. “Yeah you’re probably right”

Gecko living in the dinning room

There is always an excuse to have a parade

India is over the top in many ways. Weddings are times to show off the money you have (or lack but are able to still borrow in manners way beyond your means) to your family, friends, neighbors, neighbors’ extended family, neighbors’ extended family’s friends, and neighbors’ extended family’s friends’ neighbor and their class of students from America. I’ve had the awkward pleasure of attending three weddings since coming to India.

Awkward required photo with the random bride and groom who I didn't know at all (they look thrilled don't they?) Host dad in center, Akshara on left.

February is definitely the popular month for weddings and there are no qualms held with randomly showing up at a wedding where you only vaguely know the bride and groom through a long chain of odd relations. India lacks the concept of a party crasher, so random appearances are welcomed and smiled upon if you can come up with some abstract way you’re connected with the family – “ah yes, the bride is my host dad’s mother’s sister-in-law’s brother’s daughter” which is actually the way I was connected to the 3rd wedding we attended.

"wedding crashers" with their ice cream at the third wedding

Bride at the second wedding completely draped in gold

Besides those weddings, I’ve had the pleasure (and sometimes experienced anti-pleasure when they choose to march at 3:30am) of witnessing almost every wedding held in Jaipur process past my balcony window on their way to and from the Ganesha temple. As talked about previously, Ganesha is the remover of obstacles and therefore should be consulted before doing any thing new, setting out on a journey, purchasing a new car, having a child, and of course before getting married. Because of this, the husband-to-be sits atop a horse

Groom riding a horse into the wedding

(or camel or elephant if you have more money) heading to and from the Ganesha temple before the actual ceremony takes place. He is flanked on either side by all his relatives carrying massive lanterns and dancing wildly to the music played by the marching band leading the procession. There are very specific auspicious days (reference previous statement about sometimes it’s better to just not ask why) when it’s best to be married. One of them was February 26th which the newspaper reported 900 weddings took place. Although I didn’t witness all 900, the entire day from 4:30am onwards was filled with parade like frenzy outside my window. There was marching band after marching band, and I had to carefully maneuver myself around elephant droppings, camels wearing ornate outfits, tuba players, and long strands of lights crisscrossing the road draped from various trees and poles in order to make my way to school.

Indians lack the ability to feel bad if their singing is terrible. Instead of recognizing this common occurrence by hiding their inabilities, they instead project their voices through microphones for the entire neighborhood to hear at all hours of the day and night. I have a video I took the other day at 2am of the “house party” going on across the street for a funeral but again, the internet is currently too slow for me to upload. For this one, they stayed up the entire night singing songs they made up on the spot with the accompaniment of a very loud electric organ and tabla drum. After listening to their out of tune howling until 5am, they finished up the party with, you guessed it, a parade. They hired out a marching band to blast peppy music as the deceased’s family and friends walked towards the temple. The only thing I can think to compare this to is a New Orleans jazz funeral only with Indian influenced marching band music (think Sousa in a sari).

And just for extra enjoyment, a few random pictures because all my videos won't load which would have made this post a lot more awesome, trust me!

Bangle shopping

Random sight seeing with Shiveta's Grandparents and our Mommi-ji around Jaipur

Our host dad's furniture store. He was completely beaming when he showed us(he's in the doorway)

Much love to you all!