Quick Note on the Bombay Bomb blasts - I'm fine
Just a quick note... there were some bomb blasts in Bombay (Mumbai) which is about 3 hours away.
I am here, safe and sound in Pune, no problems.
Bombay has had problems like this on and off probably related to Jammu and Kashmir troubles. So this sort of thing will continue I am sure. BUT Pune is safe and all is well here.
A Walking tour of Pune, Rakhi, International Mixing, a close call with the Police and Lord Krishna's birthday
Overview
Whew, time is moving. Classes take up about 3 or 4 hours a day but effectively tie up 9am to 3pm. I am healthy, been working out, lost a few kilos thanks to my morning jogs with Bobo and a tiny bit more restraint shown in my eating habits.
Festivals come and go, really interesting things happen everyday but I am so tried at the end of the day, that I am not finding time to update. Suffice it to say that all is well. And now some detailes...
Walking tour of Pune
A few weeks ago, I had an idea. I was looking at my Pune map and I decided to walk around Pune - a city of maybe 3 million people or so. My plan was ambitous, Bobo decided he would join me, and then we convinced 3 new students from Germany, 1 from Bangladesh, 1 other friend from Germany, and 1 from Bombay to come along. We didn't walk more than 15 kilometers maximum, but it was a shock to the senses of the ladies from Germany who had just arrived in India and had never been exposed to the sights and sounds of an in-you-face country like India. It took us all day, we walked around, ate good Indian junk food, visited a Hindu temple, watched a herd of water buffalos clog up the main road at a major intersection and it was Friendship day so some stranger came and tied friendship bracelets around our wrists. We were quite a sight and really attracted a lot of attention - the German ladies are from 5'8" to 5'10" and two of them had blonde hair. For Bobo and myself and Kukhie (Bangladesh) it was a really nice walk along the bustling streets of Pune. For the German girls, it was VERY tiring, and I even took one of them home early and then returned to catch up with the group. It was very apparent that after 9 months, I too am becoming desensitized to what would previously have shocked me. So I hope that I don't overestimate what my Mom can handle when she come in November! :)
Univeristy Update
This semester I am taking 7 classes (3 too many!) but will be weeding out some of them soon.
Basically, my schedule puts me in 3 health science classes, 1 anthropology class and one Defense and Security Studies course. I may sporatically attend some other ones but I won't officially enroll in them. And because I was really a part of the Sociology dept last semester, I am going to be helping to plan their party for the new students even though I have no Sociology classes this time.
Last week, I went to the Anthropology dept's "Freshers" Party (for new students). These parties basically consist of games to break the ice, lots of individual song singing and a little dancing. A little uncomfy, but okay. Some of the students had amazing voices. For my part, I wailed off a little " Oh Suzanna" on my harmonica. Short and sweet. Next time I will sing the song, then play the harmonica to make it last longer.
Rakhi
This holiday comes around National Friendship Day and goes way back - several hundred years I believe. On this day, Indian sisters tie a small, often nicely decorated, bracelet around their brothers wrists, do a small pooja (prayer) and the brother has to give a gift to his sister. Basically, any woman can tie any man with Rakhi. If done, this means that the man has to protect her as a sister. You can see the wonderful opportunity this is for women who want to send a strong and clear STOP signal to a man who is pursuing her. If you are tied Rakhi by a girl, that means you are only a brother to her, nothing else, so cool your jets. But normally Rakhi is tied from real sister to brother, or between close friends.
So i have two new sisters and one who is on the way - she has been meaning to tie me for a week but we keep missing each other. One of my new sisters did a full pooja with a coconut, butter lamp, lemon, a few rupees and some tikka (red paint) and rice for my forehead. I'll put a picture on the
website. CLICK on the India Photos Link.
Police close call!
I went to see a Hindi movie last week and after the movie i was out in front of the theatre (the same theatre where I got a parking and no-license ticket earlier that week). I said goodnight to my friends, and with Sonal (one of my best Indian girl friends here) I was just beginning to leave when I looked over and saw the same traffic cop who nailed be just days before. It was just like in Matrix:Reload when Agent Smith approached Neo in slow motion. Our eyes met, and he said "Colin, Colin," in a loud voice... - he remembered my name even!! - "Colin, License!" He was approaching quickly, not much time to think. I looked right at him as i was inching forward... and I said "License hai!" which means litterally that there is a license, implying that I have a license. As I said this, I could see he was going to come over and grab the keys from my motorcycle, switching it off and leaving me at the mercy of him and his corrupt cronies. He was right next to me and with no time to think, in a split second, I depressed the clutch, and layed on the trottle and zoooommm, I took off , heart racing like crazy. Whew Close one.
The next day, as scheduled, I picked up my renewed license and now am safe again. Just in case though, I will try to get a permanent license to preclude any future license problems. I dont' feel too bad about running from the guy though. There were lots of other people milling around and he singled out me because he wanted to make a quick rupee.
Hostel Life
Hostel life is good. Working with the International Centre, I finally got a caterer to deliver dinners to the hostel, mess style. The food is decent and filling and only 18 rupees a meal. So far, we have 30 students who are regulars and we hope to get 20 more to join in time.
A few nights ago, I came back to the university with Bobo and we went to the International Ladies Hostel next door. We walked in and discovered a group of Indonesian students finishing their dinner. They offered us food - Tempeh, fried rice, egg rolls - wonderful. I just wanted to clean my spoon so i went to the kitchen and was waylayed by a group of about 9 Sudanese friends who were having homemade, typical Sudanese sweets. They wouldn't take no for an answer so I had my dessert, then back to Indonesian food for dinner as it was explained to be what is done on Independence Day in Indonesia. - pillow fights while standing on a plank over a water, tug of war, and best of all, a tall wooden pole is greesed with oil and a prize is put on top -maybe 6 meters up. Groups form human pyramids to get the prize at the top. If you fall you're out. Wow! And they say that this is done all over the country, in every big neighborhood. And accompanying the event is a potluck organized by the ladies. What a great community activity.
Last night ws a special one. All over the city, Lord Krishna's birthday was celebrated. Krishna was a mischievious child and used to always steal yogurt. So, on his birthday, traditionally a small pot of yogurt is hung from a line, from 3 to 10 meters above the ground. At night, human pyramids are formed to reach the top and break the clay pot with a stick. Nowadays, the pot contains some money or a suprise and the biggest celebration in the city last night raised the pot 15 meters up (45 feet!) and the winning group won 150,000 rupees! (over $3000). Last night I went to a Rotary meeting where a group of Maharashtrian women performed a series of 80 (yes, 8--0) different dances that tell the life of a woman from infancy through old age. They perfomed for over and hour straight. It was amazing. After the event, I was given a small stick and called up on stage to break the small clay pot that had been hanging there all day. I gave it a good, solid wack and really shattered it. Great feeling. I don't know the exact name of the holiday (Krishnas's birthday) and I know very little about the significance, but smashing that clay pot made the crowd really happy so I didn't ask questions.
And still, i have not said much about Nepal... will do this soon :)
This is good enough for now though.
International Student Festival, ANOTHER Indian man tries his hand!, the Second Semester, and Police Problems
Well, it happened again. But first, let me mention the very cool international students festival I went to last night. Each semester, Symbiosis - a very large chain of Indian schools, some ranging from school age up to MBA programs- holds a
festival. They have many, many students from North Africa, the Middle east, and South and Southeast Asia. I missed the food festival, but the dance competition was excellent. Bhutan, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Mauritious, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Yemen and Oman participated. It was fantastic. They all wore their traditional dress as they performed typical dance or performed a skit. It was such amaznig energy to see so many international students coming together. Great stuff.
Last night my friend Shiba from Uganda headed back home after 2 years in India. So after the festival, I picked up a hitchhiker at the university gate and gave him a ride inside the campus. He immediately put his left hand on my upper thigh. No biggee. I see Indian guys doing this all the time. BUT, slowly slowly, as we chatted, his hand moved to my
inner thigh and kept going!!! So, I had to purposefully pick up his hand and place it back on the outside of my leg where it belonged. Maybe it was an accident... NO IT WASN"T because the schumck did it again!!! I said "Äram se" (calm down) as a reflex, and moved his hand again. Still, was this really happening? So i dropped him off at a crossroads and he had the nerve to give me a hug goodnight. Men don't hug men here unless they are close friends. unbelieveable. So I was pissed off. I pulled up in front of Shiba's hostel, and recapped the story to two other foreigners - one of Uganda, the other of Kenya. The Kenyan said this is precisely why he and his friends don't give ride to random Indian men... only to school age kids who are harmless.
Apparently the undoubtedly repressed gay population here is happy to make a move on what they perceive as the more liberal locals (ie., the foreign students). It's pretty ridiculous. But it's pretty funny too. If you can't laugh if off then it'll just drag you down. Haha.
So the
second semester has begun. I am currently taking 6 courses, one of which i will probably drop to make my schedule less crazy. I've got 4 Health Science classes: Community Nutrition, Concept of Health, Epidemiology and Demography. In Anthropology, I have a related course - Medical Anthropology (also called Health, Culture and Society).
In the Politics Dept. I have "Theory of International Politics"and in the Defense and Secuirty Studies Dept. i'll begin �nternational Relations" tomorrow (no jokes please about "International Relations"with the Indian (oh, and the one Nepali man) who have come on to me).
Health Science is my parent department. This years classes of first year students is about 35 strong. 2 men, 33 women. I have a renewed motivation to really focus on health science this semester ;)
TODAY was interesting. To bed late. up for 9am class. Dad called and we had a great talk. After class all the Indian students sat around and ate chicken while I abstained b/c 1) I'm a vegetarian, and 2) I wasn't hungry. Major role reversal as soooo many Indians are veg too. Chai with a few of them at the open canteen. Met one of the girls from Health science - Sona - and a friend of hers. Chatted for a while with them. Met the Bengali girls( my friends) in the Sociology dept, then had a long talk with a new Anthro student and gave her a ride to teh new multiplex cinema where I was going to get tickets for a movie tonight. I bought the tickets and came back to find my front tire locked and a policeman pointing to the
"No Parking" signs that I mad missed. A parking ticket is 100 rupees. My expired learners license cost me another 300. He took my keys. I called a rotarian friend on the phone for advice. This same friend was already in the process of helping me get a new license. He spoke to the officer on the phone. He knew the officers boss and maybe this helped a little (ie., maybe it dissuated the officer to not over-extort me). I insisted on a receipt (to keep him from just accepting a reduced fine as a bribe) He drove me to the main office and all the way he bugged me to just pay him a few hundred as a bribe. I'd rather pay more and not support that crap. So at the office I paid the 400. I was asked to pay 700, but as the final ticket was issued, 400 was all i had to pay. Good thing I only had 500 in my wallet as they would have taken 700 if it had been there. I offered to go to the bank and get the extra 200, but in the end, they only took 400, and i got an official receipt.
Went and got a haircut. Then off to the Hero Honda office to give my signature to get that drivers license I have been working on... swerved around 2
cows who had plopped down in the middle of the road.
On the way back, 3
camels, 2 of them with young riders, came at me and I swerved around them as well... not dangerous, just funny. The front page of the Times of India 2 days ago showed the rear end of a large elephant as the animal and its rider crossed a major bridge in Delhi. A new law requires that all "pachyderms" (sp?) must wear relectors by night so the elephant had some red and orange relectors strung out on its butt, around the base of the tail. Hilarious photo.
And I STILL have not said more than a few words about NEPAL! I will get to that soon.
It's official, my mom comes here in November or 20 days. Yeehaww! It's gonna be awesome mom!
Oh, and the dysentary only lasted a day. The medications worked great and I'm back on an exercise regimen to keep off the kilos Indian food creates on your belly.
Have to run!
