Mini Update

Just a mini update as I think my internet at the hotel is about to expire. We arrived in Mumbai this morning around 7 after taking the midnight train from Baroda. It was a bit of an interesting experience, though not too bad. Later I'll be able to put up a picture I took in the cabin. Unfortunately I didn't get to sleep much, but it was nice to have bunks. Not sure what today holds...everyone is currently recuperating from the train ride and freshening up. I will leave you with this though...the cutest puppies ever from the heritage walk in Ahmedabad. 

The past few days have been a bit weird, but then again I'm speaking as if I have some idea of "normal" here in India. 

The Land Use Plan for Auroville

On Monday I attended a lecture by about the utopian society know as Auroville. The talk was given by  Lalit Kishor Bhati, a planner-architect that lives within the community. Located near the Southern tip of India, this sustainable, idealistic community focuses on integrated planning and holistic development. A particular emphasis is placed on the unity of humanity, importance of sustainability, and education as the center of development. I found the idea of this society fascinating, though I'm not sure I'd want to live there for more than a year...I definitely would like to visit though. Unfortunately it's extremely far away from our itinerary locations, so I don't think I'll get to visit. If you're interested, here's more information: http://www.auroville.org/.

Non-violence through dance

After the Auroville lecture, I spent the day in Chharanagar with the "Social Infrastructure" group, doing several interviews, which were fairly informative and rather successful. That night, we attended a play at Darpan Theatre by Mallika Sarabhai (http://darpanaacademy.blogspot.com/). The focus of the performance was "Non-violence through art/dance." Although I had no idea what to expect, I was impressed by the concise, yet powerful message that was sent through a series of unique, yet connected stories of how different individuals have protested injustice and violence. We also saw some of the Budhan Theatre guys at the performance, which was exciting, since we don't usually see them outside of Chharanagar. 

Puppy outside of Vidyapith

On Wednesday, we went to Gujarat Vidyapith University (I believe a school that Gandhi started) to talk to some people who study different tribes in India. It was somewhat successful, but fairly time intensive for the amount of information I actually got out of it. This might be lame, but I think the picture of this puppy might be the best thing I got out of the visit. After the discussion and museum tour, the eight of us who are going to Mumbai next week went to purchase tickets at the train station, which was an interesting experience; I probably should have taken a photo of the experience. All I'll say for now though is, the 7 hour train ride from Baroda to Mumbai is going to be interesting. 

Vendor that Tad and I ate at last night in Manek Chok

I talked previously about Khadia and the pols after going on the Heritage Walk. Unfortunately today is our last day in Khadia and the Old City, which I'm pretty bummed about. After we return from Mumbai, we'll be staying at a hotel in the New City. The plus is that we'll be much closer to CEPT, but I'm really going to miss the density of the Old City and the availability of shops and street vendors around every corner. I'm also going to miss the Mehta family; they've been so welcoming, hospitable, and helpful to us as we're discovering this part of India. This morning was the last yoga session on the roof, which is a little more sad now than it was at 7:30 this morning.

I think that most Westerners would probably find a
"McVeggie" sign that says 'I bet you can't resist me'
at least mildly humorous.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned the Indian-ized McDonald's that they have here, but it's definitely something I have to touch on. Because no one eats beef here, there are obviously no hamburgers here, which entirely redefines most McDonald's experiences. So far from what I've had, the fries and the McChicken are about the same; I can't really speak for the rest of the menu. I suppose the ice cream is about the same as well. Last night Tad and I had a wonderful new ice cream experience at a street vendor. It's called Kulfi, which is essentially a dense, round, slightly salted ice cream. It was, of course, wonderful!

Kulfi, my new favorite!

So as we head out tomorrow, I feel like I'm tossing out most of the adjustments that I've just accomplished, which is kind of a bummer, but I'm excited to see more new things. Plus, we'll be coming back to Ahmedabad for a few weeks again after this minor field trip, before we head to Nepal.

A day of Corb & Kahn

Mill Association building grounds

On Tad's birthday, last Thursday, we went to go see Le Corbusier's Mill Association building. I'm not a huge Corbusier fan, but I really did enjoy the building. We also found out at the end that we weren't supposed to be taking pictures...whoops. 

Louis Kahn's IIM

After that, we went to the IIM campus, part of which was designed by Louis Kahn. Getting through the gate was more or less equivalent to airport security and took about five times as long, but it's India...so I'm not surprised...and we got in eventually. From the beginning on this one we knew that we weren't allowed to take photos, but the campus was so spectacular I had to sneak a few, which was pretty difficult given the security guards posted around every corner. The new part of the campus was designed by a different architect, although I don't remember who. I definitely liked the Kahn portion better though. 

"Portobello Fajitas"

After the day of architecture, we ate at a restaurant where I ordered "portobello fajitas." As you can see...the dish I received wasn't quite what I was expecting. In fact, there were no mushrooms involved with the whole deal period. It was actually pretty good though!

A few short notes on a few things I’ve been thinking about

Common room in the Heritage House

The Translators: Observations on India and Haiti

The Theatre guys helping Tad map out the community

Tad's Birthday at Chharanagar

I’ve noticed, both in my experiences in India and Haiti, that while you are trying to speak to others, be it the people of the village in Haiti or the Chharas in India, a relationship is developed not necessarily with the people you are trying to communicate with, but rather the people that you communicate through. The guys at the Budhan Theatre, who are all about our age, have been great with helping us to get to know the community better and understand the way it works. Over the past few weeks though, we’ve become friends with them, similarly as we did the translators in Haiti, and I think that establishing this friendship is an interesting gateway to understanding the culture of a people and a place. They even threw Tad a birthday party last Thursday and gave him a cake. It was so nice!

No One Killed Jessica

So Tad and I saw our first Indian movie a few days ago! About 30% of it was in English, the other 70% in Hindi. For the most part, we could follow what was going on (it was a murder case, inspired by a true story). For some reason, they liked to start a whole long narrative in English, act like they had something really important to say, then break into Hindi…which obviously just left us hanging, but it was still enjoyable. Tickets were only Rps. 100, which is slightly over $2. It was kind of strange though, they had assigned seats in the theatre, like we were going to a play or something. Overall though, it was a good time!

Here's the trailer: No One Killed Jessica Trailer

The dog we refer to as "Scooby's Indian Nephew"
 finishing off some lunch and chai at the CEPT canteen

Chai and Food

I believe that earlier in my blog I expressed my skepticism of the ever popular “chai” that seems to be essential at any conversation, social gathering, or break. Well it didn’t take too long to convince me of it, and now I’m more or less obsessed. I usually end up having about three cups a day (it’s only about Rps. 5 for cup! Which roughly is $0.11!). I even bought my own chai cup from the canteen at CEPT :) I’ve also been adjusting to the food rather well, figuring out what I like and what my stomach can handle.

Dogs on Mopeds !!

 So there are dogs everywhere in the city. Most of them are pretty mangy, covered in fleas, and entirely indifferent to people unless they have food. I love dogs, so naturally I tend to pay attention to them wherever we’re at. My most recent fascination though has been dogs on mopeds! I saw several on the heritage walk, and I’m keeping my eye out for more!

Puppy 1

Puppy 2

Puppy 3

Puppy 4

Puppy 5...this one kind of looks like he's doing yoga...haha

Who doesn't love a dog on a moped?

Could I actually be somewhat adjusted?

So it’s been awhile since I’ve had time to update, which is not because I have nothing to say…I have TONS of things to write about, just very little time. I think tonight though I might lose a little sleep to catch up on a few things that I’ve been thinking about recently.

The normal lunch at the CEPT canteen: dal, rice & roti

The first is adjustment. Over the past few days, I’ve moved from the semi-panicked, partially paranoid, and doubtful mindset, that at least for me, was unavoidable when coming to India. This place requires a massive amount of patience and flexibility…two things that I definitely don’t do well with. Add in the most unfamiliar food I’ve even been exposed to, bathroom facilities that continue to perplex me, close quarters with a study group I’ve only recently come to know, and the most uniquely peculiar phenomenon that is the Indian lifestyle and mindset, and I was essentially completely lost and 100% disoriented upon arrival.

Laudry drying in the pols

Even after the first and second weeks when I felt like I had seen and experienced so much, I still didn’t know any sort of comfort in this place, and I certainly had no desire or intention to settle into the way things are here as if I were to try and live as the Indians do. After the third week though, heading into the fourth, I have begun to develop an immense appreciation for this place, both Ahmedabad (the city we’re staying in…of 6 million + people) and Khadia (the district where we’re staying, part of the old city, very dense, compact development centered around ‘Pols’, which are essentially courtyards and cul-de-sacs around tiny roads and pathways).

I’m not sure how I came to achieve, or at least how I started to achieve, this adjustment, but I have a few ideas. One is that as I begin to see other parts of the city and state, such as the new city area on the other side of the river in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar still in Gujarat (the state), I’m beginning to appreciate what is here is Khadia. There is a constant vitality here that is evident by the sheer volume of people and the intensely packed sidewalks full of people eating, selling, buying, bargaining, sleeping, and talking, and the constant bustle and rush of the two wheelers and rickshaws that nearly brush your shoulder as they seemingly carelessly fly past.

Planned residential area in Gandhinagar, built around 1970

The new city, though it is still full of life and activity, has a bit of a Western taste and a lower density of development that seems far less profound than the delightfully crowded and congested old city and Khadia. Similarly, a trip to Gandhinagar, a new city (last 50 years) that was planned specifically to be the capitol of Gujarat, was mildly disappointing. A general disconnect was felt between different parts of the city, the highway felt so Western that I almost wondered if I was in Illinois, and the scattered density across the large space felt more like a suburb that the state capitol. So in short, the density and vitality of Khadia is invigorating, though at times somewhat exhausting, and seeing these other places is allowing me to appreciate the place where I am now.

Homes on the heritage walk

Also, on Monday we went on a “Heritage Walk” of the old city in Ahmedabad, which was actually partially in Khadia. A slideshow was shown previous to the two and a half hour walk that described the city’s development over time and laid out the organization and connectivity within the city. For the first time after three weeks, I actually had some sense of orientation to something other than the river. The walk in general was fantastic and definitely gave me a sense of understanding of this place that I was lacking prior to the tour.

Some of the great Budhan guys, Tad, Wenya, and myself

Another reason that I think I’m becoming more comfortable and feeling somewhat more adjusted is that we’re actually getting to know people now. We’re becoming good friends with the translators/Budhan theatre guys in Chharanagar, as they are mostly our age and have many common interests. There is also such a genuine curiosity between those guys and our group that we have much to discuss, ask, and learn about.

Me with some of the kids in Chharanagar

So as I pass this three-week mark, I pass my max travel time in the past. I was in Europe for three weeks slightly over six years ago, but even then I moved from place to place every few days. From my experience here, I’m learning the incredible value of “temporarily settling down” somewhere. There are many things I still don’t understand about Ahmedabad and Khadia, and most of them I won’t even come to know. I will never entirely understand this place; I doubt anyone who even lives here can. But there is no way that I can even have a slight idea what life is like here without spending at least this amount of time here. Not to say that three weeks can give me a holistic understanding necessarily, but it can give me more from a place and a travel experience than I’ve ever had before.

Small living spaces getting smaller

A most delicious lunch (probably the best I've had here)

CEPT studio

Tensions are high in the Heritage House. The lack of personal space is beginning to drive some people up the wall. With two rooms (and one bathroom) for seven girls and two rooms (and one bathroom) for eight boys, small spaces begin to seem even smaller as the days pass by. While I would like more space, I’m not overly uncomfortable; my main complaint though is that we have nowhere to work. No desks, few outlets, no comfortable seats, no quiet areas to actually get some reading done. I’m pretty flexible with things like that most of the time, but I haven’t even been able to start on my independent study, and I’m starting to get a bit anxious about it.

a GOOD version of what we normally eat

Since I have no place to work at the house, I found an alternative. Last night I stayed late to work in the CEPT studio, during which I was pretty productive. Even though I stayed to work, it was still refreshing to have somewhat of a familiar atmosphere to spend some time in.

Today we ate lunch at the most fantastic place; it was quite possibly the best food that I’ve had since I’ve been in India (which really isn’t hard because the food here is a bit of a struggle). It was a salad place, but didn’t have what most think of as a traditional salad. There were things like pineapple salad, falafel salad, broccoli soup, and cheese fondue with vegetables. It was sooo good…definitely beats the usual rice and curry.