Exploring the Subcontinent: October 2011

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Of Sarees and Silk Weaving

Greetings to all! Don't always expect this rapid fire pace for blog posts- we've just had a lot of down time lately and I've been feeling super unproductive, so here we go!

Friday, we took a day trip to Kanchipuram, known for its silk sarees, and Cheyyar, a village near Tambaram. After packing our group of 20+ people into two vans, we headed out on our day adventure, only to be stopped by masses of people waiting for election results. World's largest democracy indeed! Throngs of people were waiting outside of the MCC gates where votes were being tallied and there were even police officers, both male and female, making sure that the crowd wasn't going to get out of hand. After we finally got out of that traffic, we stopped to buy some sarees for Diwali, which is rapidly approaching. Diwali, or Deepavali in the South, is the Hindu festival of lights, celebrating the new year. Most of the girls decided to buy sarees and really get in the spirit for the festival, but we had no idea what exactly we were getting into.

Simply going inside was sensory overload (generally the theme of India), as there were masses of both people and types of sarees. Polyester, silk, silk blends, synthetics, cotton. Reds, blues, golds, embroidered, embellished, bedazzled. Overwhelmed wouldn't even begin to describe it. According to our fearless leaders Drs. Khandke and Suresh, saree shopping usually takes around 6 hours. We bought sarees for about 8 people in 1 hour. Enough said. First of all, there are three pieces to a saree: the cloth itself, the skirt, and the blouse. Selecting which type/pattern of cloth that you want is by far the hardest part and as all Indian saree advisers were saying, if you don't love it, keep looking. Keep in mind though, that there were tons of Indian people pushing past us in this store as well, and it wasn't exactly well air conditioned. So there we were, overwhelmed and out of sorts, but beyond excited to take part in a mode of clothing so unique to India. We did manage, and had an hour and a half saree party last night so that we could learn how to dress ourselves for Deepavali (help is still badly needed).

That was just the morning, so by lunch, most of the girls were pretty exhausted. Buying a saree is no joke, that's for sure. We then had lunch at this awesome place and hit the road again to visit traditional silk weavers and potters around Cheyyar. In the evening we watched a performance of the Mahabharata on someone's rooftop and ate dinner, arriving back at MCC around 12:40 am. A long day, but definitely one of the most experience filled and most rewarding since we've arrived in India.

I always think that I'm not going to write much, but that never seems to happen...if you are reading this, thanks for your patience! You will be rewarded with pictures at the end. One of the most interesting aspects of our Friday trip was the interaction with the villagers. For the first time on such a large scale, we were enthusiastically greeted by both village children and adults whenever we stopped and exited the vans. Having been only to east Asian countries before, I never really knew what it felt like to be arbitrarily adored by people because I was different from them. It was a strange experience and one that I definitely missed out on during that semester in China. I had several children just link arms with me or hold my hand and I ended up talking to a group of girls with ages ranging from 12-19. They understood a little bit of English and I'm pretty good at figuring things out based on context, so we managed to have a sporadic little conversation going on. They taught me how to say "eat" in Tamil, though I've already forgotten it. One of the things that struck me the most was when they said that I was beautiful because I was so fair. It made me pause for a moment and I felt incredibly unsettled by such an innocent remark. If a 12 year old already has the concept that fair skin is equivalent with beauty, how will that perspective ever change? We all want what we can't have, but I wanted so badly to convey to her that her skin was just as beautiful, if not more, than mine.

This was one of the first moments that I really felt that we were experiencing India- not through a giant tour bus, not through resorts, but on the level of the people themselves. Don't get me wrong- this has been a fantastic trip so far and I'm incredibly grateful for everything we've been able to experience, but I have a growing hunger to experience India on a much more personal level.
Here are some pictures!

Saree Shopping

South Indian Sampler Meal

Cheering with Masala Chai

Silk Weaver

Hand Spun Silk Cloth

Rice paddy worker

Alexa and the village potter

Policemen/women on election results day

Rolling traditional Indian cigarettes

With our new friends

Acting out a scene from the Mahabharata

5 Days in Puducherry

Hello again from India! I'm on a blogging roll- I think I'm getting re-inspired to tell some stories. We most recently went on a five day trip to Puducherry (used to be Pondicherry), colloquially known as Pondy. Our first stop was to a place called Dakshina Chitra, whose purpose is to preserve the traditional crafts and architecture of Southern India. Then we visited a crocodile preserve, which was really cool because I got to see all sorts of different animals native to India, including a beautiful blue kingfisher. We then stayed in a beautiful resort called Covelong, complete with an amazing pool and beach access, as well as incredible service. Oh the joys of studying abroad! Getting to stay in places that I never would be able to back in the States. Also the joys of studying abroad in Asia- everything is cheaper in general. We also visited some ancient Hindu temples at Mamallapuram, which was awesome because we learned about different art symbolism in Hindu reliefs. The carvings were both ancient and beautiful, though the day was hot and humid, and it was definitely an interesting stop. We also stayed at the Dunes Eco Resort, another amazing place, where we were provided with bicycles, our own house to stay in, more beach access, more pool time, and opportunities to do yoga and milk a cow, both of which I did. It was always a wonderful feeling to return from a long, super hot and humid day touring temples and just swim for several hours or run around by the Bay of Bengal. However, my roommate and I had the most ridiculous door, aka a vault for a safe. Seriously, it probably took us about 10 minutes to realize that we weren't going to even be able to lock it before someone came and helped us out. Many expletives (not from me) ensued. We did manage to get it open and closed on the first try later on though... perseverance!

The next day we headed to Auroville, an idealistic community not religiously affiliated on the outskirts of Pondy. We began the day by visiting their business group that helps employ women and victims of disasters, then took tours around various other places of the village. There are multiple projects focused on sustainability, such as making their own bricks and such, but the two main principles of the community are Peace and Humanity, focusing on creating a place without politics and religion, both of which create factions and strife. Founded by the "Mother," Auroville has since continued to expand and is now internationally known as an experimental community. There are quite a few foreigners there and our main tour was given by a Frenchman. However, as idealistic as this sounds, there were certainly quite a few flaws with the place, including the fact that they were using vast amounts of resources to create this massive, golden ball meant to represent the birth of human consciousness, when they're directly surrounded by some of the most impoverished of the world. It becomes hard to justify such expenditures, regardless of how the money was given, when as an outside observer, you realize how much more could be done to help others with those funds. All in all, it was an intriguing visit and it certainly gave us much to ponder, though I'm almost positive that none of us are planning on living there anytime soon.

We also visited the Neyveli Lignite Mine, though I must admit, I remember almost nothing from that visit because I was both feverish and nauseated. This was about the day that everyone began falling ill, either with sore throats or nausea and the dust and heat of the mine certainly did not help. The visit itself was really awesome and we got to meet with the director of the mining operation in a boardroom-like setting, complete with those little microphones and such. That was an incredibly long day and we ended up eating lunch at around 3 PM, which was fine for me because I didn't have much of an appetite.

On our last day, we visited the Chidambaram Natraja Temple, which most likely dates from before 1,000 AD and was built out of local granite and gneiss. Representing the dancing reincarnation of Shiva, Natraja is well honored in this temple, with four main gates, superbly decorated. The temple was quite possibly one of my favorite stops of the trip so far. We entered the inner sanctum, in which pictures are not allowed and encountered an amazing world of priests in white with ash smeared on their foreheads, bells ringing, massive stone reliefs, smells of incense and fire, and sights of rice and coconut offerings. It was just amazing that a structure built so long ago could continue to be so active and relevant in world where computers and cellphones appear to be the norm. It was as if entering the temple was like entering into ancient India - a porthole of sorts into the past. After visiting this temple, we headed to the second largest Mangrove forest in the world and boated around, which was a refreshing end to the day.

It was great to be back in travel mode, though our schedule was nowhere near as intense as it was during the four months in China. I've gotten so much sleep, lately, it's amazing! We're heading into Chennai today, so more updates later.

If you want larger versions of these pictures, just click on the first one and blogger will take you to a slideshow set-up. Much better way to view them! Thanks for reading =)

Kids playing cricket at an orphanage near MCC

Elizabeth displaying her new Indian garb along with a garland of Jasmine flowers in her hair

Traditional craftsman at Dakshina Chitra

Walking along the beach at Covelong

Just hanging out in the lobby

Temple at Mamallapuram

Carving of Shiva

Drinking out of coconuts at Dune Eco Resort

Auroville. Enough said.

Beautiful flowers in Auroville

Our crazy door. This was just ridiculous.

Being blessed by an elephant at the Temple of Ganesh

The girls in the lobby at Pondicherry

Mine workers at Neyveli

Exploring down into the mine

Priest at the Hindu Temple

The Hindu Temple reflected in the rainwater harvesting pond

A common sight in India

Passing by rice fields on the way back

Thursday, October 20, 2011

First Impressions of India

Let me first apologize for not blogging until now- a combination of computer fatigue and pure bliss of not having to spend hours typing papers or being connected to any sort of technology was initially overwhelming and I could think of nothing better to do with my time than to sit on a porch in India, sipping Masala Chai, and talking about inane things. However, while that still sounds quite amazing, I do have certain responsibilities, both to myself and to the folks back home who need to know that I'm still alive and kickin'!

36 hours after leaving the U.S., we landed in Chennai, extraordinarily jet lagged and oh so ready to sleep. Madras Christian College, where we are currently based for the first five weeks of the trip, is in a relatively rural area, outside of the city limits of Chennai, in Tambaram. We're staying in the International Guest House (IGH) on the beautiful campus, full of wild deer and amazing flora and fauna. The entire campus is a scrub jungle and remains a wonderful haven from the noise and pollution outside the College's walls. Three people brought their hammocks, which are now part of the porch area, our main hangout. We have a kitchen crew that makes our meals- so delicious! I've been eating with my hands since we arrived even though the majority of the food consists of sauce, curry, bread, and rice. It's a bit difficult eating such a savory breakfast, but the quality and taste of the food certainly makes up for it! Though the IGH is a fantastic, relaxing place, it is often very easy to forget that you are in India at all, as we are surrounded by each other and the noisy, chaotic, vibrant India remains a ten minute walk down the road. However, though we're not in the heart of a city, there's a market out of the main gate that we've ventured into, braving the masses of people, the chaotic mess of mopeds and the piles of trash.

Every morning that we're not traveling, we have guest lectures about topics ranging from caste and gender inequalities to water quality in India. Then we have lunch and figure out what to do with ourselves for several hours- this time usually consists of washing clothes, sitting on the porch, doing crossword puzzles, or playing ultimate frisbee. There is currently a three day vacation going on due to the local elections that are taking place in Tamil Nadu (the state that we're in), which, by the way, had an 80% voter turnout. Also, the power randomly goes out here, usually around lunch time, and while we were gone to Pudicherry (Pondy) on our latest adventure, we came back to find that a harsh rainstorm had completely blown the modem. Oh, India!

My next blog will deal with the Pondy trip, which lasted about five days and resulted in over half of us being sick.

We are now on the second week of being in India and I'm having to try so hard not to make generalizations and comparisons to China right now, as we really haven't seen much of the country at all. We've seen rural Tambaram, and the former French Colony Pondicherry. This Saturday, we'll finally (I keep having to remind myself that we've only been here for a little over a week) head into the city of Chennai, one of the top five largest cities in India. I desperately need to stop over analyzing everything and comparing it to the China trip, as I think I'll go crazy if I continue. I was going to blog a lot about the differences that I've seen so far, but I will refrain from writing until I've at least been to Chennai. The one major thing is that I find it so hard to not know the language, Tamil, and find myself about to throw out some Chinese phrases instead. I just feel that you get such a deeper insight into a culture when you know the language; you also get to know the people on a deeper level, but alas, India has a plethora of languages (250+) and there is no way that I'll be able to learn them all. Also, unlike China, there is no single written script for all languages. Tamil itself has a beautiful, curly script that is distinctly different from the devanagari script of Hindi.

So these are my random musings and I'm sure that these posts will get a bit more coherent as I catch up on our most recent activities, though I must say that it's a bit frustrating to not be blogging on Wordpress since it allows you to have a picture slideshow. I've only taken about 300 pictures so far, which is great for me, though there are only about 20 on here. Tomorrow we're heading to a village to see some silk weavers, so more updates later! (if the internet permits).