Happy Makara Sankranthi! And the Search for Sarees

The saree is one of the most elegant and graceful garments made for the female figure.  The ~six-yard long fabric wraps and drapes in just the right places to compliment a woman’s curves and contours.  Every saree looks unique and is intricately crafted. The women of India emerge from the dusty brown and red rubble background in such bright colors and delicate stitching, complimented with bangles upon bangles on their arms, clinking as they walk.  The sarees flow smoothly around their forms as they walk.  A woman from one caste looks just as beautiful as a woman from another.  There does not seem to be the pressure to have an idealistic thin figure, and every woman looks equally gorgeous and comfortable in her saree. 

My roommate Veena and I had a mission yesterday:  Find sarees to wear to the inaugural ball.  Help was needed from her extended family, living in the city.  Her “uncle,” actually her cousin’s husband’s father, picked us up and drove us to their home in Hyderabad for a home-cooked traditional South Indian meal.  We were filled to the brim and then some, guiltily turning away the third and fourth helpings out of fear of bursting.  All the while we watched videos of her cousin’s wedding and looked through the three photo albums chronicling the event.  Indian hospitality is unparalleled.  And they sure do love their weddings.

Her aunt and uncle then took us to a saree shop after lunch, where hundreds of the garments were thrown at us by men standing on a bed.  It was all very overwhelming, but I tried to be a bit decisive, and settled on a green saree with purple borders and a loopy gold pattern woven into it.  Hopefully Veena can help me wrap it and pin it so it doesn’t fall off halfway through the night.  After our purchase, we made our way to this very smelly lake of what I think is sewage/runoff water and not actual lake water on the other side of Banjara Hills. 

Since yesterday was a Hindu holiday celebrating the harvest, known as Makara Sankranthi, we knew there would be some sort of festival there.  If you have read the book the Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, you will know about the kite-flying festivals that take place on Indian holidays.  Veena’s uncle drove us to the lake where the huge stone statue of Buddha stands in the middle (fun fact- it’s one of the largest Buddha statues in the world, and when they were transporting it to the middle of the lake the boat sank to the bottom and it stayed there for like 2 years), and we watched the mayhem of the kite competitions. The sky was littered with kites, some lazily floating from side to side, others ready to strike at any moment.  A young boy next to us tugged and pulled and managed to easily loop his kite around the string of an older man’s kite, and dragged it right into his hands.  The older man was not very happy, and quickly went to reclaim his fallen kite from the boy. Children were running around excitedly, with brightly colored kites in their hands, and I was tempted to go for a camel ride.  After experiencing the kite festival, her family took us back to their home for tea.  On our way, Veena’s aunt got out of the car to go speak with one of their neighbors.  Minutes later, she returns to the house with the neighborhood tailor, to take our measurements for the saree blouses!  Once again, I must say that Indian hospitality just blows me away.  

Some Good Days

1/9

Today just about everything seemed to work in my favor, with the only exception of my gastrointestinal tract’s recent failure to cope with a certain special something in my diet.  I started the day off with some lovely yoga as the sun came up, instructed by two funny older gentlemen who contradict each other constantly and cause us much confusion.  I do need some good pants for yoga, however, because the ones I’ve been wearing have an ever-growing hole in the crotch.  And that’s not okay. 

After yoga I stopped at the library to see if the Internet was actually working, and it was! I then biked back to the guest house for breakfast, and made it just in time.  A few friends and I went back to the functioning library to plan our upcoming excursion to the Ajunta and Ellora caves in a couple of weeks.   After biking back (I probably bike about 6 miles a day getting around campus), and handing in our forms, I had my first WARM shower!  I removed the band aids from my poor toes, a wound from when I swerved stupidly into the curb, and I don’t seem to be getting disgustingly infected or anything, so that’s good. 

After a glorious nap, my friends and I headed to Banjara Hills for this advertised French jazz quartet, which turned out to be FREE with an open bar.  The show was fantastic, featuring an excellent accordion player and French lyrics.  While waiting for the show to begin, some of my other friends met a woman who offered us tickets to Hyderabad’s Obama Inauguration Ball on the 20^th.  We get to dress up in saris and celebrate a moment to be described to our children... in India!

 

1/10

After all of the excitement of yesterday, I took it pretty easy today and slept in, and did a lot of reading.  We did decide to see another Bollywood movie, though this one wasn’t as good- it was more of a chick-flick.  The best part was getting Dominos beforehand, to give ourselves a greasy bit of home.  After getting our hands on some American food, we sat down to enjoy our meal when a small boy began blowing large birthday horn- one of those that unrolls as you blow into it, only his had three rolls and was a bit loud and obnoxious, but nothing that we couldn’t handle after coming in from the street.   As we gazed at him, kind of wishing that he would stop, the ceiling tiles above his head gave way and a scrambling monkey clung to dear life and managed to squirm back into the ceiling.  As it ran across the other tiles, they sagged under its weight.  The fallen tiles missed the boy and the other people standing in line by inches.  The workers cleared the mess quickly, and one of them took a photo with his cameraphone.  Otherwise, nobody seemed too disturbed by the occurrence.  Only in India can a monkey fall through the ceiling and not one person screams.

After classes start and I get into an actual routine, I will be writing more themed posts instead of updates/run-throughs of what I did on a particular day.  Check out the photos to the right, also!  I hope everyone is well! :)

Final Catch-up

Entry from 1/5, hopefully my last out-of-date and incoherent post:

One of my favorite parts of the guest house is that we have full reign of the entire building.  I have been in the habit of going up to the roof to reflect and watch the sun slowly disappear in to the smog below it, burning a hot tangerine edge to all of its surrounding clouds.  The chemicals and toxins make sunsets just a little bit more interesting.  I like sitting up here and absorbing all of the foreign smells, sounds, and sights.  There is constant banging and truck engines growling and people shouting from the perpetual construction going on a hundred feet to my left.  The scaffolding is made of sticks and large metal wires shoot into the sky instead of iron support beams.  There is ongoing construction EVERYWHERE- in the slums, in the city, on our campus, everywhere.  There is usually a smell of burning, as people seem to just light fires wherever they want.  Occasionally I think it might be a tactic to cleaning up trash when enough of it piles up in a given area.  Then there's the occasional whiff of sewage, or the delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen.  From the roof I can look around and see rocks, power lines, and rolling hills for miles.  Our campus is a good 15 miles out of the City, and it feels much more rural.  Hyderabad is known for its "mushroom rocks," which are large round-ish boulders, often placed in such a way that they look like giants picked them up and balanced them on their edges on larger rocks.  They pile up precariously and get in the way of the various construction sites, resulting in large dynamite blasts to break them apart.  At least that's what I think those noises are.. 

Yesterday we met with our language tutors and they taught us how to navigate the bus routes- which was very intimidating considering none of the stops have signs or are announced, and depending on how crowded the bus is, you may not even be able to see out of the windows to get your bearing.  But they cost about 2 cents…  I think the 216/217 go from our campus to Koti, and the 8’s go to Charminar.  Beyond that, I don’t remember much.  We made stops in Medhiputnam, Abids, and Koti, followed by viewing a wild Indian Bollywood film, Gaghini.  It was basically a remake of the American film, memento, only in mostly chronological order and with a happy ending.  The acting was good, but there were definitely a few things I missed because it was in Hindi.  (The dance sequences are easy to understand.. they are ridiculously over-the-top and hilarious.)  The best part of the movie was listening to the crowd cheer and whistle when the main character, played by the famous Amir Kahn, took off his shirt to reveal his 8-pack abs and stab his enemies in the gut.  The crowd also went wild when he kissed his lover on the cheek- very scandalous for Bollywood standards!

It was interesting to see the westernization of the dress and even the movie themes and special effects- but most of all how “white” all of the major movie stars look and dress in comparison to the average Indian person.  This phenomenon is seen across cultures, and I would assume affects the body-image of the youth of a given people.  

Today was the first day of shopping for classes, and it is causing me much anxiety.  There is not much of a system here- at all.  Course times change constantly, and professors don’t show up to class.  Apparently the classes won’t really start for a couple of weeks because the students take time at the end of their break to celebrate a few more holidays before returning to school.  I had to fight my way into an art class, and I am losing hope that I’ll be able to obtain any of the credits I was hoping for.  The experience alone is fascinating, and I plan to visit the Psychology center, the first one established in the country, to see if there is anything I can do or learn there.

Beginnings of a Birthday and New Year's Day

(Notes from previously recorded entries, prior to internet access)

Jan 2

 

Today is my 21s birthday!  India is a great place to be- regardless of the birthday’s cultural significance.  The past few days have been surreal.  We have been on so many amazing adventures without even leaving Hyderabad.  Our orientation has included a wonderful dinner in the city at Southern Spice with authentic Andhra style in Banjara Hills for New Years, followed by cheering on the roof of our house watching the fireworks.  The people in the slum behind our house were cheering with us, and it was a very unifying and special way to enter the new year.  We experienced our first blackout at exactly midnight. 

On New Year’s Day, we took a bus tour past monuments in the “old city” of Hyderabad like the state legislature, police headquarters, museums, and other important structures.  We made a stop in the old city to see a famous mosque, MeccaMasjid, Chowmohalla Palace, Charminar, and 500-year-old Mughal tombs, followed by a trip to the top of Golconda fort.  At the mosque I was wacked multiple times by a man with peacock feathers and then expected to pay for the experience.  Charminar was neat, but we basically ran past it swept up in the crowds of people rushing around.  My favorite part was the tombs- they are comparable to the pyramids as far as cultural significance and grandeur.  Kings built the tombs for themselves, their wives, and their doctors.  The tombs themselves look like huge domes with pointy tops and the acoustics inside were planned for chanting within.  We wandered inside one, and as we stood listening in awe to the man chanting in the corner, someone stole our friend Keiko’s shoes from outside where we were supposed to have removed them out of respect.  She was a little disappointed, but wandered in socks for most of the time after that until sandals could be found.  My camera batteries died as soon as I stepped into the park, so I decided to sketch what I saw instead- a very good idea!  I remember things so much better if I draw them, and I was really able to examine the architecture better, and feel like I got to know the shapes and curves of the structures more intimately.  I am looking forward to examining this new world through an artistic and psychological lens, and portraying it in my impending painting class!

Accomodations, Orientations

Notes from previously recorded entries, prior to internet access:

From Dec 31:

There is so much room and open space in the new building that has been built for us international students in the Study in India Program (SIP).  We moved in recently, to this palace tucked about 2km from central campus.  There is still a bit of a sterile feeling to the building, even as pieces of furniture trickle in.  The last guest house was very homey, so hopefully we can break this new place in well during our stay here.  Overall, our accommodations and privileges which we receive as foreign students are overwhelming and do register a certain amount of guilt.  The other university students must harbor some at least some animosity towards our royal treatment.  However, it is very nice to be settled in and unpacked finally.  I am sharing a room with a wonderful girl from southern California who is actually of Indian descent and has family in other areas of India, particularly Chennai.  Her name is Veena, and she is sweet- I know we will get along just fine.  

 

Out of our window you can see the decrepit, temporary homes of the workers who are building the surrounding structures and who probably built our new guest house in their bare feet with their bare hands.  Their houses are constructed with tarps and branches and other found materials, and I presume that they are migrant workers, men and women, taking their families from one construction site to another.  Above their small, temporary neighborhood stands a large pink paper lantern in the shape of a star- probably about five feet wide.  I do not know its significance, but it lights their area at night, and I can only guess that they feel warmer when they look up at it, as I see it as something special. 

This morning we attended a fantastic lecture about womens’ movements from one of the activists herself- Dr. Rama Melkote.  She was fascinating to listen to, and she spoke of how women in India have come so far from the beginnings of their movement in the 60s and many strides have been made in the areas of dowry-related deaths/suicides, rape, and Parliamentary representation (still being debated).

Oh! And it’s New Years Eve today!  I do not think we will be able to celebrate much, especially since I am sure everyone is on high alert following the recent events in Mumbai, but I think we’ll still have fun. 

 

Early Impressions, quick notes

Here are my initial observations/reactions from when I first arrived in India:

(I am posting prior entries that I recorded before being able to get to the internet)

I arrived yesterday at 5 in the morning.  It was the longest day of my life.  We saw the sun rise twice- once in London and then in Hyderabad.  It is all a bit overwhelming at this point, but everyone on the trip seems very nice.  They make me feel much more comfortable being here, although my goal is to remain out of my comfort zone as much as possible. 

It’s unbelievable how well we are treated as Americans.  The Indian hospitality is almost uncomfortably subservient, although obviously very appreciated.  At our guest house we are cooked and served delicious meals from scratch and we can’t even clear our own dishes. 

We had a ten-minute romp in the local city, Hitech City, which was incredibly intimidating.  People everywhere, cars everywhere, and we stuck out like sore thumbs and earned stares from every passerby.  Ten minutes was a great big baby step into this radically different environment, a brief and progressive transition from yesterday’s calm campus tour. 

This evening we got the amazing privilege to have a renouned Indian fusion band, Unity, play for us.  The music was magical..moving, and beautiful!  The sitar is a fascinating instrument with about 80 strings, and the tabla is this bongo-like drum played with the fingers very quickly and with many ranges in tones and beats.

Tomorrow we get to register with the police and then go shopping at a nice Indian department store where the program will buy us traditional clothing.. so we can “fit in” a little better.  It’ll be a start!

Apologies!

My fellow students and I have been learning the gift of patience. We have not had internet since 2008! We are promised that it will happen when it happens, and that they are doing their best. That is kind of the way things work here, between the lack of schedules and professors not coming to class on the first day. I do not mind the peacefulness of an unplugged, less fast-paced lifestyle, but I wish I could communicate with my family and friends about all of the amazing adventures I have had in the past week, and ensure everyone that I am safe and sound and happy! I also hope in turn that things are going well back in the US.

I only have ten minutes before my Hindi class, so here are a few quick highlights:

- first autorickshaw ride- on my birthday. Anyone who drives in India has a deathwish.
- monkeys, peacocks, cattle, wild dogs, gigantic bats, and various other creatures roam the campus .
- we have covered most of the tourist hot spots in the city (Charminar, Mosques, Tombs, Forts, etc).
-the colors are fantastic, bright and beautiful.
-the food. oh my god.
-(I haven't even gotten TOO sick yet!)

I have to go to class, but I will try to make it to the library more often until our net's back up.
Miss you all!!