wmjs.com - India, Fall 2003

Quizzical Looks, Ascetics, and Bricks

Sat, 08 Nov 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday Afternoon I went for a nice walk to the Karnataka/Tamil Nadu Border. There are a couple of small villages on the way, and one medium village called Gundapulam. On the way out, three people offered me a motorcycle ride. I accepted the first offer, but got off after about a kilometer. My added weight was too much for the little bike to handle. Was it generosity or curiosity that motivated these people? Would they offer any villager a ride or just foreigners? Would they offer a city person a ride? City people probably stand out almost as much as foreigners.

People always look at me quizzically, even in Bangalore. I don’t like the attention, though I suppose it’s understandable Everyone notices what is different and unexpected, and as a foreigner I fit those qualifications for many people. What bothers me is my inability to communicate in Kannada. I am a little ashamed of being in a country and not even studying the language. Anyway, my usual response to quizzical looks is to smile. Most people return the smile, but being out and about is still somewhat daunting.

All's Well That's in the Well

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Had such a good time at Navadarshanam on Wednesday that I decided to return. I arrived this morning and will stay through Sunday, or perhaps Monday. Hopefully I’ll get some work done. Right now I am sitting in a well about three meters in diameter and fifteen meters deep. It’s constructed of stone blocks without mortar except for the top five layers. A stone staircase spirals down the sides into the deep. Perched with my laptop about a meter above water-level, I imagine that I am exploring the ruins of an ancient castle (exploring ruins with a laptop?). If the water is down approximately four meters from the top and each stair is sixty centimeters long, twenty centimeters wide, and twelve centimeters deep, what is the total surface area of the well and stairway?

An Organic Farm Outside of Bangalore, India

Wed, 05 Nov 2003 00:00:32 +0000

In a small bamboo grove on an organic farm. One of the more beautiful places I’ve been in India. Beautiful not only in observable beauty, but also in intriguing beauty. The solar-power arrays, the apparatus to siphon off methane from cow manure that also produces grade-A compost. The organic cops, the hands-off/nature-on approach to farming, the emphasis on cultivating spirituality along with cops. I like it.

For all its shortcomings, and it has a number of them, Friends World is giving me a very unique education. The school is a perfect match for me: lots of individual attention, lectures by experts and visionaries, visits to the field, learning in the real world--not only the classroom world. And freedom to pursue what one is interested in. Freedom to design ones course.

Peck on the Cheek

Tue, 04 Nov 2003 00:00:00 +0000

War. Just saw a powerful movie about war in Sri Lanka. It’s called Peck on the Cheek I don’t know much about the war in Sri Lanka, but all wars, whatever their specifics, cause misery.

I feel a need to see war firsthand. Not to fight in a war, but to see a war. To talk with the soldiers of each side. To see the wounded of each side. I think that maybe firsthand experience is necessary to understand war. But can war ever be understood? I wonder what is behind this desire… Possibly the romance of being in a war zone? Why is that romantic?

I had a thought about next semester: I could study in a Zen monastery. I’d study Tamil, History of Buddhism, Buddhism and Christianity, Liberation Theology, Meditation, and Peace and Buddhism. Then, in Latin America, I could do further studies in Liberation Theology and maybe even do a senior thesis comparing and contrasting Liberation Theology in Latin America and India.

My Birthday!

Tue, 28 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Well, today is my birthday. I think that I will have fun tonight and sleep in tomorrow. They gave me a card with a crossword puzzle. Miriam worked hard on it. I felt very appreciated! It’s also Courtney’s birthday.

Marauding Elephants

Mon, 27 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0000

It was a wonderful day; we had a fieldtrip to a nearby village where we hiked, took pictures, ate, and heard about (but did not see) wild elephants… We just got back now--I took a shower, developed my pinhole-camera pictures, and escaped to eat. Right now I am at “the lawn‿ the hotel’s outside restaurant. It is, well, a lawn. In the center there is a thirty-foot brick pillar topped with a god who is trying to spear a dragon that shimmying up the side. There are about twenty tables, generously spaced and illuminated by lion-witch-and-wardrobe type lamps. The tall trees that encircle the lawn make it an elegant, private space. It’s cool and the food is good. It’s the perfect place to write.

Bitchfest

Sat, 25 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

At Shanti Ashram right now. Feeling frustrated with how this field trip has gone. But before I write my frustration, let me name the good parts.

On Wednesday afternoon, we visited two of the schools supported by the Ashram. It nice to be in the villages and see the people, especially the children. I cannot help but love children; they make me aware of my paternal that are dying to get out . I will wait though, I don’t need a baby just yet. I think the morning session was about human rights, but I don‘t remember. It was the first time this year that I completely zoned out. Perhaps the crossword puzzle I was working on had something to do with it.

Crazy Ideas!

Thu, 23 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

Crazy Idea:

Sometime this morning, during the lecture on human development, I had a crazy idea: I can run for state representatives in 2004. The crazy part is that I just might win! I am good at public speaking, and I can say exactly what I think because I don’t have any interest groups to please and I have nothing to loose politically. I’ll think more about this.

Another Idea:

A lobbying group comprised of former exchange students! What would the agenda of these people be? International Exposure, of course. WHO has been a foreign-exchange student. Clinton-Oxford. Many people from all around the world are educated in the USA.

Tragically Beautiful

Tue, 21 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

I’m at Shanti Ashram. Shanti means peace. An ashram is kind of like a kibbutz in that it’s a place for living in community--sharing chores, meals, etc. Often ashrams center around yoga, but Shanti Ashram is more focused on social-justice and development work. Shanti Asharam is in Coimbatore, in the province of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is southeast of Karnataka where Bangalore is located.

I am going to keep a photo-journal to document the time that I spend here. Each day I will take an exposure to add to the photo-journal. My approach to photography will also be decidedly low-tech. I am going to make a pin-hole camera. The exposures that I’ll make will be on photographic paper, so I’ll have a paper negative. Then, I will scan the negative to make a digital print.

Night Before I Leave

Sun, 19 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

I am all ready to go on the field trip tomorrow. If Premi’s driver comes, we will leave for the train station at 5:30 AM. Otherwise, we’ll have to leave at 4:45 AM to hail an Auto-Rickshaw. That’s the thing about traveling--it breaks routine. Positive attitude! I’ll have fun.

I am still wavering on whether or not to come back to India next semester… I am getting better at not worrying about that decision though. Whatever happens, happens.

Ranjit and Poetry

Sat, 18 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

I met with my advisor today and yesterday. I haven’t written much about him though, have I? It’s not that he is unimportant; actually, he’s probably the most important person for me in India. His name is Ranjit. He is not the advisor that I mentioned earlier in my journal. He doesn’t advise many students, but Geetha saw that we were a great match after talking with me for a while, so she set us up.

In one of the books he loaned me, his name was spelled with an h: Ranjith. I prefer this incorrect spelling though, it makes his name gentler. He is a gentle person.

These are the books he loaned (I don’t have them all in front of me & I don’t know all of the authors):

Homestay: First Night

Fri, 10 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

First night of my home-stay. I am staying with friends of Premi. Their names: Dilip & Shagufa their children: Adil & Shahdil. They are quick to say that they are “a very anglicized family,“ and that I won’t get a “typical Indian experience‿ with them. However, though their “anglicized‿ family is not typical , I’m sure certainly isn’t atypical either. It is nice to see an Indian family from the inside.

Dilip works for a firm that sources products for companies like world market. Shagufa trains people to answer phones in a call center, and how to understand and be understood by North Americans. Her clients are DELL and Microsoft, among others. Adil studies industrial engineering. Shahdil and his uncle have a headhunting firm.

Time Flies

Fri, 10 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

October 10, can you believe it? There are only 21 more days in October plus 30 days in November + 1 day in December of classes = 52 days of classes (including intermediate weekends). Then there are 4 days until the portfolio is due plus 14 days until I leave the country = 18 days of not-classes. So, I have a total of 70 more days in India! I’ve been here 30 days in September plus 10 days in October = 40 days. Time flies.

Time flies and I am getting further behind. It’s still difficult to defeat my perfectionism; I spend way more time writing papers than necessary. That is my chief concern. I also spend more time the is needed on journal entries, which I edit and proofread a number of times. I must learn to spit papers out. And, I must learn to journal efficiently.

A Talk With Geetha

Thu, 09 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

Today I had a good talk with Geetha. I mentioned my difficulties adjusting to the culture and my uncertainties about what to study & whether or not to stay one or two semesters. The long and short of what she said about this was: It's too soon to decide. See what interests you in the Area Studies class, and take it from there. Also, regarding adapting to India: You're right, it is very difficult. Give it time, you'll get it. It was a helpful talk.

Then we had a long talk about the history of Christianity in India. Geetha, a Christian herself, is very knowledgeable about this topic. There are a few different groups of Christians in India. The oldest Christians are claim to be descendents of Apostle "Doubting" Thomas. Most of them are in Kerala, a province in Southwestern India. Many Catholic communities are in the former Portuguese colony of Goa--about half-way up the West Cost. And then there are a myriad of protestant Christians. One is the CSI, the Church of South India. In 1947, when the British left, all the missionaries got together and started denomination.

Kicked Out of Church

Sun, 05 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

I got in at 10:00 last night--exceptionally late for me. Liz and I went for a “pizza‿ that wholly deserved the quotation marks I encased it in. The mosquitoes didn’t let me sleep. At 5:30 I groggily arose to go mosquito hunting. They tend to park on dark surfaces like my backpack and black pants. I never manage to kill many, so I don’t know why I bother. Then, when I do manage a kill, I get blood all over the white walls. This means that I only kill the mosquitoes who, after gorging their selves on my blood, are too lethargic to flee. Accordingly, my hunting escapades are more vengeance than prevention.