General Impressions of India

I’m writing this on the plane ride back home, after I had some time to process my brief but rich experience in India. Even though I didn’t fall in love with it as I did with parts of Latin America and East Africa, I can honestly say that it is a very rich culture, very different from most that I have experienced so far. Some aspects that stuck out to me:

-It is the first truly gender-segregated society that I have experienced. All restaurant waiters and most shop clerks were men; women often would sit separately from men (as we did on the boat ride in the bird sanctuary); male-female greetings are very reserved and often don’t include a handshake. Even at the airport, men and women went through 2 separate security lanes, and women were body-searched by a woman security officer in a covered booth.

-Personal space: not an existing concept in the culture. People get really close to each other when talking, driving, sitting, etc. People also get pretty loud in conversations and try to touch each other. I never realized how americanized I have become in terms of really needing my personal space until this trip.
-Culture: very rich and very diverse. Bangalore is in Southern India, so the food, culture, clothing, and languages are very different from Northern India. Actually, each state has its own local language, and most people don’t speak very good English, and many don’t even speak Hindi. It was a bit hard communicating to the drivers or at shops/restaraunts.

-Religion: there were many Hindu temples everywhere (dedicated to the 300,000+ gods that Hinduism has). It is definitely a very pagan culture, which I think has affected the way of life and thinking here. There are also Muslims and Christians, seen through the existence of many mosks and Catholic churches/schools/hospitals. There are also Buddhists and Zoroastrians, but they are in the minority. The main three (Hinduism, Muslims, and Christians) generally coexist, but don’t necessarily get along.

-Clothing: since I wore a salwar kamis (long tunic, loose pants, and scarf) several times, I can say with confidence that Indian clothing is very comfortable and can be incredibly beautiful. The saris (traditional female outfit) are usually made out of variations of silk and are incredibly colorful and beautiful; besides, they make a woman look very elegant and dressed up without much effort.

Ancient temples and more shopping

On Sunday morning my boss and I rented a car to visit some ancient Hindu temples located about 2 hours away from Bangalore in an area called Nandi Hills. Once we got into the Indian countryside away from the hustle and bustle of Bangalore, it was a pleasant drive with vinyards and fields along the way. The first temple we visited was located high on the hill and surrounded by a wall made of rocks. This fortress belonged to the famous Tipu sultan who organized quite a resistance to the British. The temple was about a 1000 years old, and unlike the many recent ones in Bangalore with colored exterior, this one was not colored, but preserved in its original style. We had to leave our shoes outside the temple, which, if I recall correctly, was dedicated to the elephant-looking god Ganesh and another manifestation of the main god Vishnu. It was very interesting to observe a mini-ceremony and to watch people pray since the temple is still active today. We then took a mini-tour around the fortress and learned more about the sultan and others who lived there (unfortunately some of it has escaped my memory). We also visited a steep drop from which they used to throw off criminals and prisoners.
Nandi Hills


First temple we visited


We then visited another temple, a much larger one, at the bottom of the hill. It was another very ancient temple, but with several altars and halls. One part of it ha a stadium-like opening with a ceremonial pool in the middle. The architectural style was amazing since every pillar and part of the temple were covered with exquisite stone carvings (see pictures). On the way out we bought some sweet-smelling jasmine flowers to put in our hair...this has actually become an almost everyday ritual for me and my boss. The flowers are picked from the trees and strung on a piece of thread, which then can be put in the hair and grace one with the beautiful aroma all day long.

Second temple




Since we still had a few hours before we had to go back to pack, we decided to go back into the city and do some more shopping. We were also somewhat starved for meat, so we stopped at a steakhouse (filled with expats!) and had a delicious sizzler (way of preparing steak). We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, and to my shame, I must admit that I was definitely "outshopped" by my boss who, when I was about ready to drop, kept going and buying more and more stuff. One remarkable stop along the shopping route was at a silk shop where in addition to metered goods, they sell saris. It was truly breathtaking to see all the incredibly beautiful and rich designs on colorful silk pieces.

Upon returning to ISEC, I packed, had some more delicious fruit, and headed to the airport for an early AM flight back home. The flight went well despite the running around the terribly disorganized Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. It was sooo amazing to discover that spring has finally come to Washington!

More Shopping and Cultural Experiences

Saturday began with a bit of work meetings during which we discussed exciting plans of our future training strategy involving very interesting work and potentially travel. Afterwards, we went to town for lunch and more shopping. For lunch, I had a huge paper-thin dosa (pancake) with potatoes inside, which is a traditional south Indian dish (could be eaten for both breakfast and lunch).

Our first shopping stop was at a handicrafts/jewelry store owned by my boss’s friend. This man is really interesting: he is a Sufi (mystical branch of Islam) and believes and writes about healing with crystals. He fed us tea and delicious peach cake and talked to us about his belief in the power of gems to heal. While his doctrine was definitely weird, it was interesting to listen to him talk about Indian culture. In his opinion, both Christianity and Islam have contributed significantly to the development of the country and its cultural heritage (schools, hospitals, Taj Mahal), while Hinduism has only left people in underdevelopment. His store is also very interesting since he collects many Indian antiques and contributes part of the earnings to the anti-dowry movement in the state of Kashmir.

While I don’t really wear or get excited about jewelry, but there was something at this place almost magnetic that was drawing me to the jewelry. Zafar showed us a number of antique pieces and several loose gems (most gorgeous blue topaz) which made me wonder that such beauty has weird powers over a human heart. I did end up buying some souvenirs at his shop and taking pictures of the beautiful pieces he showed us (he even let me try this gorgeous antique yellow topaz necklace which just made my skin tingle:)



After the jewelry/crafts store, we had a traditional local snack/drink: coconut water and soft coconut. It had a very rich taste, but made me realize that I prefer hard coconut. We then stocked up on some Indian tea and met a collaborator for a brief meeting and dinner.

Some pictures

The story is not over yet...actually, some of the most exciting things happened the last 2 days of the trip. However, Im too tired to write, so here are some photos.

Indian village sight


Our group on the field trip


Silk producer holding a silk warm cocoon


More monkeys!!!


Bird Sanctuary

Girls' Night Out in Bangalore

Friday was the last day of the training and consisted of mostly evaluations of the course and working groups to tease out some of what the participants learned throughout the week. In the evening, our collaborator from ISEC invited my boss and myself for a girls’ night out in Bangalore, which implied shopping and getting dinner in town. Of course, since my appetite for Indian shopping was whetted earlier in the week, I got very excited since there were still parts of Bangalore famous for good shopping that we haven’t explored. However, there was a mix-up with the car that was supposed to be sent for us, so my boss suggested another cultural experience for me…taking a three-wheeled open taxi (called auto?) into town. Well, let me just say that I didn’t think that I was going to live through that part of my life. Since Indians generally have a different idea of personal space than Westerners, it is also reflected in how close to each other they drive. Add to this Friday night rush-hour congestion, and you may begin to understand how scared out of my pants I was during the 45 minute ride into town.

However, once we got to Commercial street, famous for street shopping, my adrenaline kicked in, and I forgot all about the ride. It was sooo fun walking around, looking at all sorts of textiles, jewelry, and clothing items and realizing how cheap it all was (the place where we went shopping earlier in the week was more middle-class, hence more expensive). After satisfying our shopping crave a little bit, we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. By the way, Chinese is becoming really popular in India; however, it comes with a certain spin (i.e. spicy), but still quite good. I also discovered one of my very favorite drinks…fresh lime soda: super delicious and incredibly thirst-quenching.

Even though we took the same three-wheeler back home, the adrenaline form shopping acted as a relaxant, so I wasn’t nervous and freaking out on the ride back to ISEC.

A Day in the Indian Countryside

Thursday was the field trip day. We left the ISEC Campus at 6am and headed to the Mandya district located about 3 hours east of Bangalore. To better fit in with the crowd (if that is possible with my fair skin and light hair), I wore the traditional Indian outfit consisting of a long tunic, shawl, and loose pants lent to me by my boss (I must admit it was incredibly comfortable).On the way, we stopped for breakfast, and I tried some more traditional Indian breakfast foods. I must say that here people eat mostly salty things for breakfast, while I need some sugar in the morning...however, the local rice-flour pancake, or dosa, is quite tasty dipped in sugar.

Our first stop was at the water supply system. For a Russian turned Westerner like myself, it is hard to imagine a dryland area where people don't have access to irrigation. However, this is the case of most places in Asia and Africa. We met with the representatives of a water users association and talked to them about how they manage their watershed. While that part was interesting, I was also excited about experiencing a few new things along the way. Seeing how rice paddy is grown in standing water, noticing many Hindu mini-temples along the road, and watching how local women go about de-husking their millet crops gave me further insights into the local culture.

One very exciting experience was learning how silk is made. At one of the houses, the ladies showed us shelves full of silk worms eating mulberry leaves before they mature and begin forming cacoons. Then the matured worms are put into the round tubes made out of banana (?) leaves and left there to form their cocoons. Then, the cocoons are taken to a silk factory, where the actual silk is spun.

Our next stop was supposed to be with a group caught in a water dispute; however, when we got to the site, it turned out to be a massive group protest...We were escorted to a place in the middle, photographed numerous times, and addressed by the leaders of the protest as if we were coming to join forces with them. This was my first real-life experience with a mass social movement, and I must admit that I felt a bit uncomfortable (Im starting to suspect that Im a bit agoraphobic).

Since I have been eating vegetarian since I got to India, my carnivore gene was demanding meat, which I ordered at a lovely restaraunt where we stopped for lunch. I learned my lesson...don't ask for meat in India. Besides being the food of a lower class, hence less elaborate, it was plain tough and hard to chew. After lunch we visited a Revenue Dept Office to observe their new system of land registration, which was rather interesting since most villages in India have numerous private plots in addition to a number of common-property areas.

The best part of the day came at the end. On the way back home we stopped at a lovely bird sanctuary and had a relaxing boat tour to see and hear numerous birds that migrate from other parts of India, North Africa, and even Siberia and Canada for a few months to this sanctuary that spans several mini-islands. We also saw several crocodiles, one of which slowly snuck upon a little bird lingering on the lower branch of a tree and snatched it for his dinner.

The day ended on a 3-hour bus ride during which we were subjected to watching this very Indian (hence, silly with lots of singing and dancing) movie which apparently was a big hit when it first came out. Overall, it was a very enlighting day which put many theoretical concepts that I deal with in my everyday work into real-life perspective.

More impressions from India and workshop

Today was the second day of the workshop and since I didn't have to be so focused on my own presentation, I could actually observe the participants and process my thoughts on India.

First of all, Im having a difficulty understanding all the accents. Besides, those who give me grief about talking fast...listen to some people from Sri Lanka, and you will think that I talk too slowly. People who have gathered at the training come from an interesting mix of research, practitioner, and government backgrounds, so the discussions are quite animated. Im especially amazed at the guys from Bhutan--they are quite proficient in English and quite vocal in the discussions, especially on the issues of gender.

The food is also growing on me...Im beginning to get used to the tastes and flavors and can kind of tell what looks spicy, so by avoiding those things Im getting along quite nicely. For breakfast this morning we had delicious pancakes made out of rice flower...very tasty.

Tonight after the sessions a group of us went into town for some shopping. If I hadn't been to Kampala (Uganda), I would have said that this is the worst traffic Ive ever seen (it's tied with Kampala). However, there are also open motor taxis, motorcycles, buses and people everywhere, so Im surprised that drivers are able to navigate the mess. Even though I thought that I was going to go wild over the crafts, I controlled myself and only got a few things (my boss and I are going back this weekend). However, I did end up buying a tons of books at a tiny bookstore, which offset not buying many crafts and souvernirs. All the books were $10 and under!!!

On the way back to ISEC our van got scratched by a bus (those who know me well can imagine how badly I was freaking out). Our driver pulled over, got out of the bus, and immediately there were about 20 men around him shouting, screaming, and waving their hands all at the same time...PTL this happened almost outside our gate so we just hurried inside to avoid getting stuck in the fight.