Bulldogs in the Punjab

Yalies in India

2005-05-23T14:49:00.000-04:00

Pictures!!!

2004-08-09T00:14:00.000-04:00

We have finally created a blog exclusively for pictures from our trip. Please visit http://yaleindiapictures.blogspot.com/.

We made it!

2004-08-05T09:46:00.000-04:00

Our last night in delhi, six of us relaxed at a lounge called Mocha, gorging ourselves on chocolate fondue and other yummy things. We then said goodbye to Krishan, and headed back to Sailaja's family friends guest house where we were staying the night.

We slept for one REM cycle and then woke up at three am to go to the airort- our last ride in a toyota qualis! We arrived at the airport with a total of six bags for the four of us. We took the free carts and headed to the bag security check. As we loaded our bags onto the conveyer belt we could see the screen which the guards watched to determine what was inside our bag. As we viewed Lindsay's bag go across the screen we were confused by these large black balls in her suitcase which looked very much like the bombs in looney toon cartoons. "What is that?!" the guard asked her. Lindsay, uncertain, looked at the bag for a second and then it dawned on her- "Oh those are just pickle jars." "okay" the guard responded. Only in India!

We then went to the ticket counter, waited for an hour, and finally got through to duty free shopping, where we attempted to use our last ruppees on phone calls to the states. After seeing Hum Tum, we were very excited about the possibility that our lives could become Bollywood movies. As we waited anxiously to go through the final check to the gate, we imagined that Shah Rukh Khan had gone through earlier to sit in the first class. We also had a connection to an Air India Pilot- would we be upgraded and find ourselves sitting next to him? We were severly sleep deprived...

We then waited at the gate and reminisced about our trip while watching the sun rise over the airport. When we finally made it onto the plane we discovered that our pilot friend was not flying that day, so no upgrades. We claimed four seats in the center of the plane and were very happy to see that mein hoo na (a shah rukh film) was playing. We then went to sleep. An hour and a half later we stirred from sleep by the Air India flight attendents who were insistent that we eat our plane meal. This reminded me of our first plane ride to India. Worried that she would not be able to fall asleep, Sailaja had taken tylenol PM and was completely knocked out. When she wouldn't wake up forher meal, the flight attendent vigorously shook her to wake her up. When she said that she wasn't hungry, the flight attendant told her that she should eat, and proceeded to put her tray table down for her and dish out the food. Air India food is the best plane food I have had, so I was not complaining. As the flight went on, we watched one of the worst movies ever- the one with the olsen twins. we then played word association- ever memorable from our time at TATA ISS. We were very tired so our vocabularies were a bit shot- popular words which came to mind included: "peace" "me" "mango" "yum" "water" etc. we also went through most memorable experiences (many which are only funny to those of us on the trip, so apologies to other readers). some of them included:

- the car ride back from Kasoli with Nikhil "What's going on, yaar? We lost them and now we are in this jam."
- trying to get in touch with SK Sharma ("Mera Naam elena gr* hai. Indian Express. English Bolo"
-Tour uncle- "The exterior even is too good.", other tour uncle "my friends, this was the harem of the man who loved wine and opium"
- Katie and Joel's accents, all of our fun accents
- the trains in Mumbai
- Saiba, coffins, and random singing on the 24 hour train.
-mango tasting
-the comedy trio of geja singh, ram, and nundin

We said goodbye to Sailaja in London, and Crissaris, Lindsay, and I boarded our next flight. we took little naps, ate some delicious food, and then it was time to land. We were in such a giddy mood- we made it we made it! The flight attendent must have seen us laughing and she thought that we were all Indian and one family, so she handed us one form for arriving in the US and told us that one of us had to fill it out for our family! We happily filled out our forms (don't declare anything! ), and hit the ground to be greeted by the gray sky and cool weather of New York. we waited for our bags anxioulsy, there were millions coming out of the shute! finally we retrieved them all and headed outside. Our family reunions were joyous, and we parted with hugs and promises of BIP reunions in the fall. What an amazing two months- I still can't believe it is over!

Bhangra!

2004-07-30T03:51:00.000-04:00

Well, after six weeks in Punjab, we have finally learned our state dance! Bhangra is the traditional male folk dance in Punjab and it is known for its amazing beat and high energy moves. Gidda is the more delicate dance for women, and we had learned a bit from Minti Chachi, but were yet to try real bhangra. Anupam at the Newsline office told me about a guy she had written an article about who had taught and performed bhangra all over the world. This Mr Tehal Singh, according to her, was the bhangra master. So I gave him a call from the office on Wednesday, and had Nidhi explain that the Indian Express was calling for bhangra lessons for their NRI reporter. He agreed to come that very day, and when we asked him to bring music he said that he would bring a dhol player instead (big drum which gives the beat). So at six o clock Tehal and the Dhol player arrived at our door ready to teach. We decided to dance in the backyard where there was a lot of space and soft grass. Lindsay, Crissaris, and I lined up and the beat began. We then began the most aerobic dance I have ever experienced. It was straightforward but we sometimes had difficulty coordinating left and right, etc, as we tried to match Crissaris with her rhythm. After an hour of jumping up and down with our arms raised to the sky, we were exhausted but so charged! If we did this every day, it would be amazing! We also attracted a crowd from the neighboring building balcony and the people who worked at Kuku Chacha's office- must have been quite the sight! The instructer came again Thursday and we were less tired, and we hope to see him today as well. The plan is to start a bhangra aerobics group at Yale, and perhaps film a music video- let's see how it goes! I think our instructer thought we were okay, and he seemed to be having fun, so perhaps we will manage it. We also will attempt to learn the Dhol, but this might prove difficult.

Seven Days, Four Cities: My Marathon around India

2004-07-25T06:12:00.000-04:00

I've been away from the rest of our Bulldogs for a week now and have been trekking around India on my own visitng family and friends. After leaving Punjab I went to Delhi where some family friends put me up in their guesthouse and provided me with a car and driver for shopping and sightseeing! well needless to say i did more shopping in the past week than i have on the trip as a whole! i went to janpath in delhi for a day and then the next day went to the national museum of modern art as well as the bahai temple. the art museum was great and the front had a very unique sculpture garden. it was a rather extensive collection of works by contemporary indian artists. it's right near rajpath (india's equivalent of the national mall) and india gate so i got to see a lot of the government buildings along the way. next it was off to the bahai temple which is shaped like a lotus. it's such an architectural marvel. the inside is very simple and has beautiful high marble ceilings. the only thing was that it was forty degrees celcius outside, so after these two sightseeing stops i had to call it a day!

from delhi i took off to ranchi, the captial of a state called jharkand. the state was only formed in 2000 when it split from neighboring Bihar. it's a very tribal area with a lot of forestry works. i went to the Ranchi Museum which has a lot of adavasi (tribal) artifacts. after a great visit with my aunt and uncle, i came back to delhi for a night and then took an early morning flight to Nagpur in Maharastra the next day to see my cousin. Nagpur was a very impressive city, clean, well designed and there seemed like there was a lot of things to do. Capitalizing on having cousins around, i asked their help in telling me what new indian cd's to buy. i essentially bought out the local music store and have loads of new indian beats to bring back to the have in the fall.

that finally takes me to yesterday when i got on a flight for Hyderabad, the capital of my home state of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad is a really developed city with a lot of computer technology and industry. It's great to finally be in a place where I understand what the people are saying!! (much easier to negotiate with rikshaw drivers when you can speak the local language!) now i'm just hanging out here and am hoping to see some of the moghul cultural remains in the city (as well as do some more shopping of course!).

the last week has been an incredible marathon of running from city to city and seeing family member after family member, but since i'm here only once every few years i'm loving every second i get with my relatives. in three days i was in three different airports!

to the gang in ludhiana: i miss you guys loads, your adventures in manali and shimla sound like they were great! i'm so jealous that i missed out on the cremica factory. can't wait to see you all in delhi. here's to a great last week and a half...

What could be better than biscuits and ice cream?

2004-07-24T06:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we were presented with the question of what could be better than biscuits and ice cream. The answer: a factory full of biscuits and ice cream. On Friday afternoon, we had the pleasure of touring the Cremica factory. These company which has been existence for over 20 years produces biscuits, bread, over 40 flavors of ice cream, burger buns, candy treats, ketchup, tomato sauce, hot fudge and many other yummy food products. Originally run out of Mrs. Bector's kitchen, the company has greatly expanded opening new facilities every few years. Currently, Cremica is business partners with McDonald's (all of their buns and ketchup for India), Dean Foods, Cadbury (who they are making chocolate treats with) and the United Nations. In the past few years, Cremica has provided biscuits for the World Food Project, shipping low fat biscuits across the world, particularly to the war torn areas of Afghanistan and Iraq. Cookies and a social conscience. Mmmm. They are also much more respectable than many India factories because they hold themselves to Western labor standards, limiting worker's hours to 8 per day and afterwards offering overtime.

Our tour began with the biscuit factory which smelled incredible. We were able to see all of the original ingredients in the biscuits, the prepared batter, the molded biscuits, the ovens running (only 3 minutes per cookie), the quality control check points, the cream filler for stuffed cookies as well as all of the packaging techniques. As a treat afterwards we were able to sample fruit filled biscuits, shortbread biscuits and bourbon (chocolate) biscuits. There was also a warehouse filled entirely with packed cookies. It was like heaven on Earth.

Next we were able to tour the liquids factory where the ketchup, hot fudge and other sauces were prepared. Finally, we popped into the factory recently built in partnership with Cadbury. They were in the process of making a new treat that will be released in India in 2 or 3 weeks which are like those chocolate swirl sticks we get in the US only in bite sized pieces and filled with chocolate.

We completed our tour by having some amazing mango ice cream as a replacement for viewing the ice cream factory which only operates in the morning when the milk comes in. In the end we drove away with a trunk full of goodies and some very satisfied stomachs.

Mmmmmmmmmm

Cooking Lessons in Ludhiana Part I

2004-07-24T06:13:00.000-04:00

In an effort to learn how to make the wonderful food prepared for us everyday, several of us have spent some time observing in the kitchen and would like to send back the recipes we learned so that you all may get some of the Indian flavor. Below is a recipe for Bindi.

Bindi
1. Wash 2 kg of bindi (okra, lady fingers) and allow to dry for several hours.
2. Cut bindi crosswise into 1.5 cm long pieces.
3. Roughly chop 4 small red onions.
4. Add 3/4 C. of light oil (vegetable works well) into a large preheated pan.
5. Add and fry the onions until they are light brown in appearance (~5 minutes).
6. Add 1 heaping teaspoon of turmeric and red chili powder to taste and stir.
7. Add the bindi to the pan.
8. Cook the bindi on high heat without a lid for 45 minutes.
9. Add about 1 teaspoon of salt adjusting to taste.
10. Cover the pan and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
Serve hot or reheated.

Kullu Manali

2004-07-22T07:22:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, Krishan, Elizabeth and I decided to take a trip to Manali to see the Himalayas from the Kullu Valley. We began early for our 8 hour drive winding up the hills on mountain roads before reaching the town of Manali. We continued through the tourist town of Manali on to the village of Solang. We decided to splurge on the hotel room and stay at the Solang Valley Resort, said to be the best hotel in the valley. Thanks to the low season, we were able to get a very reasonably priced room with a balcony overlooking the Beas River. We could hear the water flowing from the room at night. Thankfully, the temperature was cool enough to allow us to sleep with the windows open and a blanket on. A nice break from the hot weather of Ludhiana. After checking into our room, we took a walk into the village of Solang, which remains relatively undistrubed by tourists. From both the village and the hotel, we were able to see a glacier, which unfortunately, like many of the world's glaciers, is melting. After our walk, we decided to go into Manali for dinner. The Mall in Manali is a long road lined with many shops as well as restaurants aimed at the tourists. We had dinner at a restaurant recommended by many called Chopsticks. Here we were able to have a nice dinner of Tibetan food.

The next day we returned to Manali to visit a Hindu Temple in a forest located right outside of the downtown area. We were lucky enough to see a procession that brought an idol up to the entrance of the temple as well as the preparation of food for those around the temple. It was incredible to see pots as large as bath tubs filled with dal, rice and tea. Next, we enjoyed the nature of the forest while sitting in journalling and reading. It was so peaceful and quiet. Our next stop was across from the forest, a visit to the Pine Tree Temple which is an official Hindu Temple that consists entirely of a tree. It is amazing how many people come each day to worship at this unconventional prayer site. To complete our day we travelled to the village of Naggar, halfway between Kullu and Manali. It was the capitol of Himachal for nearly 1500 years. Built partially up a steep mountain, there exists a museum of the Russian artist and philosopher Nikolai Roerich. The museum is in his former home and includes many of his watercolor mountain landscapes. The property also includes a handicraft museum with works from Himachal, Pakistan, Russia, Kashmir and Jammu, China, Nepal and Uzbekistan (Elizabeth felt quite at home). After viewing the collection, we then wandered part way down the hill to reach Naggar Castle. This wooden beam and stone construction was built by the Raja Sidh Singh about 500 years ago and remained as the official residence until the 1970s when it became a hotel. The Castle includes some amazing wood carvings and a small temple in the center. The focal point of the temple is a large stone slab. This stone was carried to the site by a swarm of wild bees (the Gods) and the temple was built around it. Additionally, in the basement, we were told that there was a small museum. When we stumbled upon the museum, we found one small room with a display case. We were somewhat disappointed to say the least.

On Saturday, we had intended to hike to the glacier but our guide (a Tibetan man who has been leading since he was 15 and whose sister is the youngest Indian woman to climb Everest) advised against it. Instead, he decided to take us on an easy hike from 6,000ft to 12,000ft elevation. This was only easy for him. After rising about 2,500ft the elevation made it too difficult for me to breath so I stopped and was told to wait about 3 hours while the others finished the hike. They made it only to the saddle of the mountain, 500ft shy of the peak. This did provide them with some amazing views of the valley on the opposite side of the mountain. 5 hours later I joined them again for the hike down back to the hotel. Needless to say, the trek was challenging but incredibly rewarding.

On Sunday, we decided to take it somewhat easy after the previous day's exertion. We drove up to Rohtong pass (13,000ft) following a seemingly endless number of switchbacks in the process of the climb. The view from the top was too amazing to do justice with words. All around us were snowy peaks that were at least our height. It was incredibly cold and windy, but awe inspiring. To get a better view of the Lahaul(sp?) Valley on the opposite side of the pass, we drove down to the village of Kokar(sp?). This is the last place that foreigners may travel on that road without having to check in with the police. They want to be able to track who travels on the dangerous roads in case they go missing. In the village we stopped at a roadside Dhaba and had a delicious breakfast of stuffed paranthas and tea. So yummy! The drive provided us with an impression of the very different valley. There were minimal trees in that valley and many steep rock cliffs. We were also able to see clouds pass over Rohtong and literally disappear into the air. It was like out of a movie. Next, we travelled to Old Manali, a portion of the village that is less comerically developed and now the home of many "free spirits" and Israelis, both attracted by the abundance of marijuana. There we were able to have some wonderful Israeli food, totally unexpected in the hills of India. Finally, we walked to the Mall in Manali and did some shopping and visited two Buddhist Temples in the city. They were surprisingly peaceful given their central location. We then treated ourselves to a candle lit dinner of chinese take out in our hotel room. Nothing says elegance like eggplant and soup eaten out of bags.

On Monday, we were forced to return to Ludhiana and work, but not before attempting to get an American breakfast. Luckily it was more homey than we had even imagined. We got pancakes and iced coffee which we ate over a conversation with Nick and Max, two Rutgers students who are travelling through India this summer as an Indian would. It was wonderful to share travel stories and a bit of discussion about the news at home. Our drive home (8 hours straight through) was pretty uneventful, but did allow us half an hour of monsoon driving. It was delightful and the air smelled wonderful afterwards, a pleasant change from the desiel fumes we usually have to breath in. We returned to Ludhiana by dinner time more refreshed and relaxed than we had been all trip.

Newsline Reporting Update

2004-07-21T06:57:00.000-04:00

Aditi has scanned the article on the group which appeared in the main Indian Express a couple weeks ago and I think she will post it soon when she is better. We also were featured in the paper after our talk at the Rotary club:

Yale students at Rotary MidtownExpress News Service
Ludhiana, July 10: AS this month happenes to be ‘Literacy Month’ on Rotary International’s calender, Rotary Club of Ludhiana Midtown arranged a talk by Yale students.
Ashok Sharma, president, tied up with Maninder Singh who had played instrumental role in arranging this visit. Maninder Singh said, ‘‘Yale, an Ivy League University has given maximum number of presidents to USA including the present president George W. Bush.’’
The students discussed in detail about the projects they are doing here in Ludhiana. One group working with CMC on studying the health care practices explained the statistical analysis about finding heart diseases, HIV etc. The other group, lead by Sailaja, is working on public health and is doing a project based on primary information from MC personnel and public in general. The third project is undertaken by Elena in Ludhiana Newsline. She’s studying reporting and editorial aspects of a newspaper.

This article was written based on a press note that the rotary club sent out. I have now learned that every time a press note is sent, it is typed up and no one checks the facts!

Writing for the Newsline has been eventful this past week! I have been trying to meet as many officials as possible, and so far I have had some fascinating interviews with the Senior Superintendent of Police, the Deputy Commissioner, District Traffic Officer, District Education Officer, and many others. Today I spoke with the head of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust who told me that the LIT is useless because all of the officers are corrupt. Its powers have been appropriated by the Municipal Corporation which is also corrupt, and its funds which were supposed to come from the MC also never appear. This man said that most of the employees at LIT only work on jobs which politicians give them money and favors to do, and they are also appointed by the state government- local bodies- in Chandigarh so this man cannot fire these people if he sees they are corrupt. The corruption doesn't end in Ludhiana; every act of the LIT has to be approved by the state government, and according to this man, only policies which are in accordance with the interests of those in Chandigarh are approved. This head was extremely honest with me and clearly intelligent. He has been fighting corruption in the LIT for the past year and the workers have gone on strike and forced his resignation because of this. It was great to speak with someone like him and gave me hope that there are officials who are trying to change the system. He was excited that our group had come to Punjab, and said that it would be wonderful to have students assist in development projects in the LIT (maybe next year :).

I have also been having some hilarious phone conversations with non-english speakers, but have now mastered my phone hindi- mujhe dr. tiwari say badh karni hai? etc. The newsline staff has been wonderful in translating and helping me to get the interviews, but it has been a slow process to get through to many people- forcing me to say on the phone "mene bahut bar phone keeah!" (I have called many times!). However, I usually hand over the phone to a professional at that point.

Here are links to some of the articles I have worked on. Some of the sentences are changed from what I wrote, as I am still learning "Indian English." Aside from writing and finding stories, I have been editing and also am the fastest typist in the place (go mavis beacon!) so every night I am handed a packet of press notes to type up.

Also check out Sailaja's article (yay it finally appeared!) on coffee culture in Ludhiana. We were all jealous of this topic :) but luckily were able to help sailaja by ordering and testing out the coffee. http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=92138&creation_date=2004-07-20

Drunk Driving:
http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=92065&creation_date=2004-07-20

No Cardiologist at the Civil Hospital:
http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=91795&creation_date=2004-07-17

Punjab Electricity Act:
http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=91406&creation_date=2004-07-14

World Population Day events:
http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=91276&creation_date=2004-07-13

AIDS education in Indira Colony, Chandigarh

2004-07-20T09:35:00.000-04:00

While our entire experience with PGI was incredibly educational and eye-opening, we both agree that the time we spent with the AIDS outreach group last week was by far the most meaningful. The group is currently working in Indira colony, the urban slum where we spent our first two weeks. Their objectives are to educate people about the dangers of HIV/AIDS, methods of prevention, and more simply, what AIDS is. Both of us are Peer Health Educators at Yale, so we're used to instructing students about STDs and the like. However, the way that this instruction takes place in the slums is entirely different in ways that we would never had considered had we not witnessed it ourselves. First of all, you can't just sit down and say to people, HIV is a virus, it destroys your immune system and allows you to become susceptible to simple infections which ultimately kill you. Most of these people haven't made it past elementary school, which means they don't know what a virus is, they don't under stand how infections work, and they definitely don't know about the immune system. So instructing them in the way that we do in the US would really be futile. Instead, the group targets different age brackets and particularly endangered populations in different ways. For the children under 10, they have a daily story time or art project. The children (who mainly work in the fields rather than attend schools) come to hear stories told and in the process are taught through messages woven into classics like Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Ridinghood (modified to Govinda and the Beanstalk and The Girl with the Red Chuni) or stories that the counselor makes up on her own. The messages that are woven in are not only about HIV/AIDS, but also include lessons on hygiene and nutrition. Things that are even more basic and necessary than AIDS education. What's amazing is that over the past few weeks, the kids have not only continued to come every day, but they come earlier and earlier, with more and more friends. And they come with clean hands. Handwashing is one of the things they've learned is important. The group has not only served as a source of education but as a support group as well. Most of the children live in huts that are not high enough to stand in, without running water or latrines in any close proximity. Their parents are sometimes supportive but often negligent, buying things like a radio or tv at the cost of their children's ability to have 2 meals a day. One girl we met was particularly inspirational. Her name is Poonam, she's 8 years old, and at this point, is still attending school. Though her mother allows her to get educated, her home life is not great. Her father is an alcoholic, a domestic abuser, and probably IV drug user as well. Her mother has problems too. Despite this, she is determined to complete her education and become a police inspector so that she can one day put her dad in jail. She comes every day to the HIV/AIDS office where she is encouraged to continue studying, tested on her English reading, and more than anything else, interacts with people she has come to trust and depend on. Maybe she won't ever become a police inspector, but at least she has a chance, and that's saying a lot considering where she's coming from.
In addition to educating the children, the group also targets commercial sex workers (CSW), men who have sex with men (MSM), and intravenous drug users (IVDU). From extensive surveying and the help of an informer, they've identified who most of the members of these target groups are, and they go to their houses to counsel them on preventative methods. They don't acknowledge that the counselee is an MSM, CSW, or IVDU, they just present the information to them without judgement and with relative anonymity. They are also working on group sessions with the adolescents where they do the standard education as well as provide condom demonstrations (these sessions are non co-ed). Probably the most self-sustaining program they have though, is the peer educators. They target adolescents in the community who are particularly energetic and interested and teach them more extensively about HIV/AIDS. These adolescents then disseminate the information to their peers. Because the information travels from friend to friend, slum member to slum member, rather than wealthy educated person to poor uneducated slum member, the information is much more likely to be taken seriously. With the enormity of the AIDS epidemic in India and world-wide, it may not seem like much to teach a community of 15,000 about HIV/AIDS. But the work that we witnessed was truly inspirational, and it gives us hope that if there are people around the world making the same type of effort, maybe this epidemic will begin to be curbed rather than continue to spiral out of control.

And then there were 7... almost...

2004-07-19T08:37:00.000-04:00

We began our trip with 10 people in India, then two of us left and one of us joined and now two of us will be returning to the United States. Elana and Elizabeth, India will surely miss you (I mean that is two less foreigners to take pictures of, right? haha! just kidding ;) ) and we will miss you too.
This post, more than a post to count how many of us Bulldogs are still hear was to recap kind of what we've been up to on the weekends and for me to try to make up for not writing in a long time.
Our first weekend in Punjab, we went to Chandigarh to go visit Elana and Elizabeth with hopes of going to Shimla as well. Shimla was a no go that weekend but we did get a tour of Chandigarh from the incredibly patient and kind Nikhil (one of Elena's cousins). We got a little taste of what night life for some young people is like in that city. It was a really good time. We even went to a club called Blue Ice. To keep this brief, it was a fun time, though I might of rethought dancing in my seat...It was an exciting night of damsels and heroes and villains and happy endings :) The next day there, instead of going to Shimla, we went to Kausauli (yeah, I don't know how to spell the name of the place. Some one, please correct me). It was a fun time. It was nice to "be back in nature". We took a short nature walk, walked a long time to someone's relative's house while some of us got lost and walked a long time into another village, regrouped, ate lunch, headed back to Chandigarh, got separated again, lost from each other, finally made it to Chandigarh, enjoyed the rock garden, and those of us living in Ludhiana headed back there. It was quite a weekend.
I may be forgetting a weekend, but we also went to Dharamashala, stayed at the Hotel Tibet, unsuccessfully tried to get an interview with the Dalai Lama with our newly acquired celebrity status (hooray for Indian newspaper coverage!), and enjoyed peacefulness, waterfall, more nature, different looking faces, nice Tibetan cuisine, random encounter with other Yalies and cooler weather.
Another weekend we visited Amritstar and visited a Golden Temple. It was definitely an experience. The notion of equality for everyone was even evident in the prasad (spelling? darn it! I think I must have failed spelling in first grade or something) offerings. People offer any amount of money for some holy sweet and you get larger amounts depending on how much you pay but in the end, all the prasad goes back to the same place and before entering the Golden Temple, everyone gets the same amount of prasad, regardless of how much you originally came. It was a cool experience.
And finally this weekend, as if we hadn't gotten enough hills, we all headed back to some! Krishan, Lindsay and Elizabeth (med student not undergrad) left on Thursday to Kullu Manali and will be coming back today, Monday. Elena, Aditi, Crissaris, Elana, Elizabeth, Nikhil, and Verrone (really sorry, I don't know how to spell his name!) went up to Shimla! We finally reached our first weekend's hoped destination. It was a really good time. It was great to see Elana and Elizabeth again before they left for the US. We trekked to the tallest point in Shimla. Very cool. Good exercise and a nice time to catch up on experiences in Changdigarh and Ludhiana. Some of us had a more difficult time than others getting up there, but I won't mention any names. At the top we enjoyed a nice view of Shimla and sat and relaxed for a while. There I met a French tourist whose name I now regretfully forget. He had been in India for 5 days and will be here for 6 weeks. He's a biology professor at some University in the north of France (again, i forget the name... I guess the road pollution I inhale everyday is killing some brain cells). He teaches physiology of exercise. I'm sure you all wanted to know all that :)
Anywho, we had an adventure coming down this highest spot. It was a bad day for Verone. He fell a few times and got a rash from some poisonous plant. Ouch! But we finally made it and relaxed a while. Then we ate dinner and then went to a place with really cool green and white couches. It was a pleasant and familial atmospheres where young and old alike enjoyed there time. Right in the next room was a club-like place with some dancing music. Some of us thought we'd check it out and when we went in found only two people dancing and a few sitting down. That was kind of sad but I couldn't help but stand up and dance. After a couple more songs I didn't like, we got the DJ to change the music and that changed everything. After a short while, the house was moving. Everyone, little kids and uncle jis alike, was on the dance floor shaking what their mama gave them. It was so much fun! Not only did we get the party started but it made my day to be dancing around to hip hop/bhangra remixes with some cool guys and girls for a while. The next day, after going to Kufri in search for some more nature, then eating lunch, we headed back to Chandigarh where we said our goodbyes to Elana and Elizabeth and then got back to Ludhiana.
Writing again soon. Bye!

Goodbye to Ludhiana (and then there were six...)

2004-07-15T03:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday rounded out my last day of research and I'm slowly beginning to make preparations for leaving Ludhiana. I'll be taking off to Delhi this Saturday to start seeing family for the next two weeks (my grandmother's already lecturing me for making her wait so long to see me!).

So it looks like I'm the first to leave Ludhiana, which has put me in a bit of a reflective mood. Last night we all watched the hours of video tape that we've taken during the trip and it was rather surreal to watch and think that the beginning was a little over a month ago. We've all come so far since then. We watched the tape of our first day at the West End Hotel and then tracked the progression as our hotel stays slowly got better and better (ending with Ludhiana where having our cook Nandan beats having any hotel room!). It's been a great experience getting to know a new group of Yalies and just getting to explore so much. The visions of India we had the first day have definitely changed over time.

In the last few days I've gotten the chance to visit a few villages with a translator to gain information. It was amazing to get to see villages hands on. We were passing through one just as the villagers were gathering to perform a rain ritual. They took a doll that they made and performed a fake funeral for it and then set fire it's funeral pyre. It completely reminded me of the rain dance in Laagan and we were amazed by watching it. And then afterwards they offered us some food and tried to talk with us. I think with all that I've seen i'm realy stricken by the sense of hospitality here in india. In every villagers house that i went to I was offered food and drink, no matter how extensive or small their family's means were. There's a great sense of aiding visitors which is so welcoming. I'll definitely never forget the people I've met along the way.

On a final note, we've all be spending some time in the kitchen with our cook nandan to learn a little indian cooking. i proudly learned how to make an egglant curry as well as a minced meat dish...the recipes will soon be posted so keep checking!

Update from PGI

2004-07-14T05:53:00.000-04:00

When we left off, Elana and I were adjusting to the somewhat rustic conditions in Indira Colony. Little did we know that that was one of the larger, more professional clinics. After spending 2 weeks at Indira Colony with Dr. Sonu, who taught us so much and even let us administer the OPV to the babies, we went to three different villages in the following week. What struck both of us first were the large batches of mosquito eggs in the paddy fields, the standing water on the sides of the streets, the overwhelming number of cows, and the swarms of flies. Living in the villages is like begging to be infected with a communicable disease. The actual clinic was a one-room affair with a porch, which was where the doctor chose to see her patients. We had thought that the lack of privacy at Indira Colony was an issue but at least they had a separation of waiting room and doctor's office. At the village, everyone was just out on the porch together. The immunization program also comes off as less professional; the villages do, in fact, have much worse immunization rates. Instead of having a day once a week for mothers and babies to come in, they have one day a month in each village. It makes sense because of the population difference, but it also means that it's much easier to default on the vaccine regimen. The day we were there happened to be vaccination day, so we went to see how it compared. The vaccines were given in a tiny room in another part of the village. There wasn't an inch of the people there--nurses, mothers, and babies alike--that wasn't covered by flies. To our great surprise and dismay, they didn't disinfect the vaccination site before giving the shot. It must work out since they do it like this all the time without complications, but to us it seemed like an important bit of protocol that they totally disregarded.
Our village experience wasn't bad, just eye-opening. Despite the obviously unsanitary conditions, I enjoyed being there amidst the fields and trees, away from the closeness of the urban slums. One other pleasant (or at least amusing) event was on our final day in the villages, during the midwife training session. After the old women all sang a beautiful Hindi song to us (and forced us to do our painful rendidtion of "Happy Birthday"), this one woman, stooped and cataract-plagued, got out of her seat and started yelling at us while gesturing to her belly and breasts. We had no clue what she was saying so turned to our doctor for a translation. The woman immediately pushed her roughly away. Instead of a translator, she thought that all we needed was for her to speak more loudly, closer to our faces, and to gesture more violently at her belly. The whole room was laughing at her and at us. Eventually she gave up and our interpreter told us that she was asking us questions about pregnancy and said that it's very important for girls to know how babies are made and how to make love. Basically she tried to give us the sex talk. The last part of her speech was never translated for us, though. The doctor said that the woman wasn't using "good words" and that she didn't even know what they meant. We suspect her of simply being too embarassed to relay the information.

More to come on the HIV Awareness center...

A Night at the Movies

2004-07-13T09:35:00.000-04:00

One of my goals in India was to learn about the magical film industry that is Bollywood. Bollywood is the Indian version of Hollywood. It is based in Mumbai and produces over 800 full length films each year, more than any other film industry in the world. Their claim to fame is that the quintessential Bollywood film is extremely dramatic (lots of crying), has at least one death and one wedding (a equally unique learning experience that I personally find a fascinating look in Indian culture), and most importantly lots and lots of "Grease"-style song and dance numbers.
In the privacy of both our hotel rooms and now our home stay we have been watching Bollywood films. We started out with baby steps: Bollywood Hollywood, a movie in English with many references to famous Bollywood films and a good comparison between the two film industries. The moral of the movie: Love should never be prevented because of perceived social status (or lying), just so long as both individuals involved are Indians and not Canadian pop stars. We then moved on to movies actually in Hindi (with English subtitles, of course). Most we have seen are cute romantic comedies with the same 3 actors in them, including Shah Rukh Khan who is the Tom Cruise of India and whose face can be seen in advertisements at almost all commercial locations (and I am not kidding about this fact). We also saw the only Bollywood film to be nominated for an Oscar: Lagaan. This a film about the evils of English Colonialism in the Sub-Continent and the uplifting victory of a fed up village against an excessive lagaan (tax) and a cruel governor. The film is a whopping 4.5 hours and includes a cricket game that is about 2 hours long and the means by which the village defeat the British. Very emotional, very politically charged.
After completing such an epic, we decided to try the movie theater experience (for something other than Harry Potter). We went to a 9:30 showing of Hum Tum, a movie which we had seen advertisements for all trip. This is essential the Hindi version of when Harry Met Sally. Basically, average boy and average girl meet on a flight to New York (where they are doing study abroad) and spend a stop over in Amsterdam together. Their romantic journey takes them through 2 marriages, one death and the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Amsterdam, New York and Paris. At the movie theater our first choice was where to get seats (they are assigned and very in price based on location in the theater). We of course bought the most expensive seats Rs 50/- (~$1.10). This allowed us to recline, but put us near the back of the theater. Along the walls there were huge fans that looked like airplane propellers and ran throughout the movie (forcing the volume to be raised accordingly). Our seats also facilitated a unrequested scalp message from the two year old sitting behind me who did not seem to be fully entertained by the movie. Before the start of the movie, we all rose to sing the Indian National Anthem. About halfway through the movie (and at a crucial plot junction) intermission began. This was our opportunity to go outside and purchase Cadbury's Fruit and Nut as well as Mentos before tuning in for the exciting conclusion. The movie had a happy ending but remained mysterious to us in many ways. There were no English subtitles but Aditi was helping to explain major plot changes. Plus, the overacting of crucial to Bollywood films was absolutely necessary and appreciated.

July 4th weekend in Dharamsala

2004-07-13T03:09:00.000-04:00

On a Thursday, two week ago, six of us decided to visit Dharamsala for the weekend. We broke out the guidebooks and were amazed by what we found- only five hours away in Mcleod Ganj (upper Dharamsala) was the home of the Tibetan government in exile and the Dalai Lama! Mcleod Ganj is in the Himalayas, and would be cool, as in temperature, and views potentially breathtaking. We decided to head up Saturday morning, stay overnight and then return on Sunday or on Monday depending on how things went.

Thankfully leaving behind the truck-like Summo, we drove up in a Toyota Qualis - a large SUV-like vehicle supposed to be be equipped with shock absorbers for a comfortable ride. The Quallis seats nine comfortably; including the driver, we were just seven. The two people in the back could stretch out and sleep, or so we thought. Things were going well, as we listened to Minty Chachi's tapes of the radio from her time in SFO. The tapes happened to be from July 4th weekend in 1996. Listening to the dj talk about the fourth made us all feel as though we had entered a parallel universe- especially when "I believe i can fly" started playing. However, about an hour into the trip, our journey took a fateful turn. There are two roads to Dharamsala, both past Hoshiapur. One is a smooth road. The other is dirt and rock. We had taken the dirt and rock road. Aditi and I were awakened by the shaking Toyota. The reputed shock absorbers couldn't do much when faced with the DirtRock Road to Dharamsala. It was pain, until we arrived at a rest stop. The rest stop had a strange large concrete-model jumbo jet in the front with the restaurant inside it. We decided to skip the restaurant and tank up on Limca's (our favourite lemon fizz) while our driver took a suspiciously long food break. After the stop the road became a little better (I think). Althought the drive was still bumpy, now the rolling hills of the Kangra Valley were peaceful and beautiful.
When we arrived in Dharamsala, we found it to be a typical city and so we continued on for another 10 km up to Mcleod Ganj - tourist heaven. We had a debate along the way as to whether we should stay at the $1 hotel, but gave in and splurged on the american-style toilets at the $10 hotel. Hotel Tibet was in the heart of the town and with the best restaurant in Mcleod Ganj (according to the Lonely Planet). We immediately sat down for kanna of momos and noodle dishes- traditional tibetan cuisine. In the restaurant we found many foreign tourists and Buddhist monks!! The people in Mcleod Ganj looked quite different from what we had seen so far in the rest of India - it felt like a long way from Ludhiana.
After eating we decided to walk to the Dalai Lama's home. Unfortunately, we had left our maps at the hotel and we just wandered, hoping for the best and trying to ask directions along the way. The shops which lined the road were loaded for the tourists- wonderful trinkets, different from those we had seen before. We walked beyond the shops and were greeted by the beautiful views- definitely the scenic route. We tried to reach the Namgyal Monastery, and finally arrived at a Monastery-like place that looked promising. We wandered in; although we did not know at the time, we had stumbled upon the monastery and the Dalai Lama's residence. We went into the main temple and sat for a while and meditated. Monks and others were praying and chanting around us; and the peacefulness of the place made me want to continue sitting there for ever. We walked around to try and find the residence of the Dalai Lama, not realizing we were right there. After we got some more directions we went back and found the gate of his home. Unfortunately, altough it is possible to set up an appointment and meet him, one needs to write a letter way in advance. His birthday is July 6th so we thought he might be around; but no luck, we did not bump into him.
We started to make our way back to the hotel. Not really sure where we were going, we wandered through people's backyards, through a door under barbed wire and found ourselves on the grounds of a temple, filled with streamers of prayer flags and the beads you turn to make a prayer. We had a pleasant walk through forest, talking to each other in our American accents, and finally made it back to our hotel.
Early next morning, Elizabeth, Aditi, Crissaris, and I went on a hike to a nearby town where there was a waterfall. When we arrived at the path to the waterfall we were greeted by a sign which forbid travelers from walking up to the waterfall because the path was not safe. Our guidebook had not mentioned this! The path was paved and looked completely harmless, and we decided that this sign might be similar to the traffic lights in ludhiana (not really the law, just a suggestion), so we started to climb. When we reached the main area of the waterfall, we saw another set of stairs which looked as though they led to the top of the waterfall; we kept on going. Along the path, mountain goats perched precariously around us and a steep drop to the water below was on one side. We tried to be friendly to the mountain goats and paused to let a few go by. When we reached the top of the waterfall, we found it deserted and spectacular. We sat on a rock for a while and gazed at the view and the water gushing below. We waded into the water which was little more than ankle deep and not moving too fast. It was so refreshing and we wanted to bathe in it. But by that time more tourists had made their way up. We headed back to the hotel and shopped along the way. Meanwhile we were trying to contact our driver, whose cell phone appeared to be turned off.

Back at the hotel we found Sailaja who had spent the morning in the monastery. She had an amazing story to tell! While she was sitting in the monastery, she saw a familiar face- it was Ben and another Yalie who was in Delhi! It is a small world for Yalies - earlier, we also ran into Ben in Bombay. We had lunch with them and then went to find the driver. We would have loved to stay longer, and advise those who go next year to spend at least two days in Mcleodganj and also to go on to Palampur to see the tea gardens.

We came home in time for dinner of tandoori chicken and chocolate cake, and finished off the 4th with the sparklers Colleen had sent.

the woes of research

2004-07-11T07:57:00.000-04:00

Ok, so Elena's been yelling at me since i haven't blogged in so long and in all honesty my project has created many a funny story to share, so here goes...

for those of you who don't know, i'm doing an independent project researching water sanitation and health status in ludhiana. i spend the majority of the first two weeks here interviewing doctors and medical personnel regarding the project. some doctors were incredible helpful (one even offered to have me over for dinner with her family!) and others...well let's just say i've had a few people schedule meetings and then completely forget about them. i've spent many an hour alone in someone's office waiting for some random office aide that barely speaks english to try to track them down for me. the absolute best was then i made an appointment to interview a doctor on a monday morning, and then when i arrived the nurse told me that he had left the day before for a week long vacation!

the next step was to target people within in the municipal corporation (the equivalent of city hall). everyone's advice has been to go straight to the top can contact the city commissioner who is the head of the corporation. well, i started out by getting his contact number figuring that i'd just need to call and try to make an appointment or see if he has open town office hours. unfortunately this is where the language woes begin...no secretary in the entire municipal corporation speaks english!! i started out by calling the commissioner's office, and right off the bat said that i couldn't speak hindi...my response...they hung up on me...three times! now frustration was beginning to sink in and i just wanted to resort to having someone translate for me. elena on the other hand decided that a more aggressive route had to be taken. she called the same office and screamed in the phone that she was from the indian express (the local newspaper) and demanded to speak with the commissioner. she also said that she didn't know english adn that she was writing an important article. well the secretary apparently knew enough english to give her another office's number where apparently the secretary speaks english and would be able to put us through to the commissioner. so in my mind i thought we were making progress. call number five was then placed to this supposedly english speaking office. yup, they spoke english...were they any help? nope. they just told me that to speak with the commissioner i would have to call another number...and they gave me the very number that i had called and been hung up on three times! i even had elena's aunt and uncle call to no avail. eventually later in the week i got an appointment with the joint commissioner, who luckily picks up her own phone and speak english, but a part of me feels like tracking down the commissioner would be defeating my moby dick. after all that headache, the gang and i were presenting our projects at a local rotary club meeting (now that's an entirely other post all together...oh the horror!), and i met a member there who works for the MC and said he could set up a meeting with the commissioner any day that i wanted. ah at the end of the day it goes back to the indian way of doing things...it's all about knowing the right contacts. well no matter what i've learned rather valuable lessons...speak local languages! (hehe, and if not say you're from a newspaper and demand attention :) )

more will be coming on the rotary presentation and the other antics here in ludhiana...

Research Update from Crissaris and Lindsay's project

2004-07-08T10:05:00.000-04:00

Since most of the post are about our non-project time in India, I thought I would let everyone know what we are working on when we are not travelling around or exploring Ludhiana. Crissaris and I are doing a project examining the access that women in and around Ludhiana have to antenatal care and what options they utilize. We ask women (hopefully 300 total) in four Christian Medical College Clinics. These clinics are set in urban, slum and rural areas.
Our daily project work involves taking a rickshaw ride to CMC and then a bus to one of the clinics. If it is a Well Baby Clinic day, we sit with the nurses and flag down any mother whose child looks under the age of 1 (which is kind of hard to identify given the large number of malnourished children who look much younger than they are). We then spend about 5-10 minutes having the nursing student or medical intern ask our survey questions. They must ask because unfortunately language has been a large barrier. When there are parents who speak English Crissaris and I take the reins, but this is rare. Our attempts to speak Hindi to the mothers has resulted in many laughs, giggles and weird looks. The classic though is when I was taught by a group member how to say I don't understand in Hindi. I decide it was best to use this when mothers thought that I was a nurse, handed me their child and spoke at me. I replied to the language I didn't understand with a smile and my newly learned phrase. The response was less positive. Most mothers laughed at me and took their babies away. Discouraged by this response (as this wasn't a good kind of laughter) I asked Elena's aunt if I was saying the phrase properly. Apparently I had been telling these mothers not that I didn't understand them in Hindi but rather in Punjabi that they are women who fart.
Going back to the survey, it is about 2 pages long and gives us a background on the mother's medical history, the socio-economic and educational status of the family as well as a history of the pregnancy. It is more fascinating though to hear these women's stories (which Aditi has been focusing her project on).
Much of our daily time is actually spent not with the mothers at the clinic but rather with the staff who have been incredibly kind, patient and helpful. We are making friends with many of the nursing and medical students and each of us has received invitation to visit their homes for dinner and hangout with their friends. It has really made us feel like the clinics are our home away from home.

Ludhiana extra curriculars week of july 4th

2004-07-08T01:06:00.000-04:00

In trying to think of articles to write for the newsline, someone in the group suggsted that I write an article on what young people do for fun in Ludhiana. This has now been taken up as a group project, with help from Taran, another newsline traine,who has written articles on the lack of things to do and the lack of any clubs (thanks taran!). Anyways, this week we ahve explored may of the exciting things Ludhiana has to offer. On Monday, Sailaja lead the group to Cafe Coffee day and we sat in the heat (power was out) while she interviewed the customers and workers for her article on coffee culture. we also went to webworld, which is on mall road and is an excellent internet cafe with fun decor and excellent service. at webworld, 'would you like fries with that?' has been replaced with 'would you like to recharge your accoung?'- ten times in one hour we are asked by the two women who usually sit at the counter. Lindsay and I went to ghumar mandi and bought nailpolish and an indian hair scrunchie. yes! I am not sure what happened monday night...something did, i'll get back on that. On Tuesday we had a visit from masterji, my harmonium and voice teacher from last summer. Masterji is an amazing musician, and we were all feeling very happy to hear his composition. after the lesson we took a nap, then got up to go shopping for shawls at sharman shawls factory. becasue we were at the factory we got great quality for a low price, and there was a fabulous selection. most of us picked up at least one shawl and i think are planning to go back. at night we went with the bals to coronel's cabin, famous for kabobs and chicken briyani. the food was wonderful as was the music (eminem, madonna, etc). after dinner we went to bakes and beans for chocolate cake, ice cream, and dr. bal had mango cheesecake. it was too too good! wednesday we went to see hum tum in the movie theater with aditi translating. the theater was nicer than many in the US and we had fruit and nut chocolate so that added to the experience. quality times. i am sure i am forgetting things, but thats a bit of a recap of extracurriculars the last three days.

Yoga in India: more than just breathing in flies. A joint effort by Aditi and Crissaris

2004-06-26T03:43:00.000-04:00

Ahh...Yoga with the Aunties. It really was a priceless and almost indescribable exprerience. I was ready for the sun salutations and down-ward facing dog, but nothing in my 2 years of high school yoga gym class prepared me for this. as soon as we approached the aunties, they were all really concerned about us. They lent us sheets and one came over every few minutes to show us the proper moves. One of the first things we did was stretch and stick out our tounges and make groaning "erhhh" sounds (you have to experience it). it was very much like that part in "the exorcist" when the girl turns her head 360 degrees and makes that sound. good times. too good (as Tour Uncle would say). releasing exorcist noises was not all we did in that yoga session. we also laughed with all our might, making sure to raise our hands to the sky ( the aunties seemed to be pretending to laugh all that time, but us, yeah, we couldn't contain ourselves and really did laugh our lungs out). speaking of lungs, we breathed a lot! through the left nostril...and then through the right one...and repeat. we also did this quite interesting breathing excersise in which you have to put your thumbs in your ears, your index and middle finger on your eyes, and your ring finger and pinky near your mouth. then your have to roll your tongue back and make the "ohm" sound through your nose. woo hoo!!! after a whole lot of that we thought we were going home...nope. not so. guru ji called us back and had us sit down to ask questions and tap into his guru wisdom. we soon learned that yoga is good for EVERYTHING and by everything, we mean everything! in guru ji's words: your pancreas gland, your liver gland, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, losing weight, gaining weight, sugar, diabetes, from head to toe, also sugar, and high blood pressure, an losing weight, and also sugar....yeah. you get the idea. he told us he went to the US for 20 days in 86 to san fran, to LA and to Vegas!(mmm, wonder what guruji was doing in las vegas...)no we are bound. we must come back every day to yoga to solve all our problems or guruji will hunt us down..

Village Life and Warm Fresh Milk

2004-06-26T03:14:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, on our third day in Ludhiana, Aditi, Crissaris, Sailaja, Elena and I went to visit the village of Gujjarwal, where Elena's family still owns land. The village was a 40 minute drive out of Ludhiana that provided a sense of the agricultural roots of Punjab (which is the most fertile and prosperous in all of India). On the sides of the two lane road we saw lots of rice paddies at various stages of growth and Elena's uncle used this opportunity to teach us about the process of growing rice and the back-breaking task of transferring each individual plant to the paddy after a short initial growth period. Unfortunately, we will miss the seeing the final product of these fields during our time in Ludhiana.
The village is over 350 years old and contains narrow streets lined with brick buildings and some of the roads are paved in bricks. Our first stop was to visit the family that grows on Hellenize family's land and pick up their daughter and young son to show us the schools in the village. We were taken first to the boys' school which sits just beyond the edge of the village and was founded over 150 years ago. The school had an open, courtyard design and many classrooms in its older portion as well as a two story addition made more recently. The school teaches boys from 1-12 standard and girls for 11 and 12 standard. Having girls at the same school as boys, particularly when it is on the outskirts of town, has been very controversial in the village and some parents have removed their children from the school. Next we visited the girls' school, which was unfortunately locked, but was in a much more populated area of Gujjarwal.
After the school we decided that this would be a great opportunity to milk a water buffalo. We went to a farm owned by the family we met earlier where we found many animals and got to see the swimming pool for the water buffalo (read smelly greenish pond). This farm was actually rare in that the animals lived across the way from the people, usually the animals live on the first floor of the structure and the people on the second floor which leads to a lot of cases of TB. Unfortunately, we came too late and the water buffalo had already been milked.
We then returned to the home that we first visited where we were graciously invited in to see the whole home. The house had electricity, city water, three indoor rooms and a very large backyard where all the cooking was done. The daughter prepared for us a yummy snack of burfi (a Punjabi sweet made of milk solids) and warm, fresh water buffalo milk. It was a wonderful treat. We said good bye with a promise to return and learn to get milk ourselves.
On the drive home in the darkness we visited one of the teen hangout places in Ludhiana (which are few and focus on food), Cremica. This is an ice cream place that was packed with young men. The ice cream was superb with a consistency that is lighter than American ice cream and many, many flavors (which we tried quite a few of) including mango, leche and butterscotch. It was so good that we brought home 2 liters of chocolate and vanilla each. Overall, it was a very beautiful, tasty adventure to the Gujjarwal.

June 23: Working at the Newsline in Ludhiana

2004-06-26T02:57:00.000-04:00

It has been more than a week since we have been on a train!!! Ludhiana transportation consists of rickshaw rides, autorickshaw rides, scooters, and cars. In my opinion, while the scooter has been the most exciting, the rickshaws are the strangest. The whole concept of the rickshaw is a bit irksome- it is the indian version of a horse drawn carriage but a very skinny person with a family is pulling the carriage! Everytime we have to go up a hill the rickshaw cyclist gets off and has to pull the rickshaw while I want to get out and walk to lessen his load. The autorickshaw's in ludhiana are quite high tech. Aditi, Sailaja, and I were going to the Newsline office and had a nice conversation with our autorickshaw driver. Apparently his sister is in Vancouver and his brother is in Glasgow! They say everyone in punjab has family abroad and they are not kidding! We are thinking of doing an article about him at the Newsline.

I have spent the last week at the Indian Express office in Ludhiana. This office publishes the Ludhiana Newsline, a daily supplement to the national newspaper, The Indian Express. There are seven staff reporters and two trainees. So far I have written an article about a doctor who is also a cricket player and a girl who had an 11kg (22lb!!) tumor removed from her abdomen. Quite amazing! I have also accompanied the reporters to press conferences and sports games, so it's been fun and learning.

Being at home is wonderful! We are all enjoying the food, mangos, ice cream, and bollywood films. Our projects are moving along as well. Lindsay and Crissaris are doing a study on prenatal care at CMC. Krishan and Elizabeth are collecting blood samples from families with a history of early onset heart disease, Sailaja is doing a study of water quality effects on health, and Aditi on women's education.

Yesterday, Krishan and Elizabeth found their first family which was very exciting. Sailaja planned to go to a meeting of the city councillors about water quality but it was cancelled. At lunch we were 'interviewed' by my boss at the Newsline who plans to write an article on our group for the main Indian Express. At four Aditi and I went to see a women who had started an NGO, "Punjab Istri Sabha" to provide counseling and a support network for women who have been harrassed or abused. She has a daughter and a son so we were able to ask her the prenatal survey questions as well! After that I went back to work and to Punjab Agricultural University to report on a field hockey match and to drive a scooter! It was fun, a bit like riding a bike. While I was at the game, Crissaris, Aditi, Lindsay, and Sailaja had an interesting experience at the free yoga class at Rakh Bagh near our house. Prose, apparently, cannot describe the exprience - someone will try I think.

We then started a wonderful movie, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai". We stopped at intermission for dinner (Palak - a type of sag - paneer, dahl, then mangos and ice cream). The movie was just amazing. It was dramatic, heart wrenching, we could barely pause for a bathroom break. At then end, we knew we had watched a real movie. Inspired, we decided to go to summer camp in Shimla (in the foothills of the Himalayas a few hours away) this weekend for singing and dancing. I am wrting this in an internet cafe which has played 'you are my soniya' at least three times. We leave for chandigarh in a few hours hours.

so overdue...

2004-06-26T02:28:00.000-04:00

Ok since Joel's been a little MIA in terms of blogging about our experience in Pune with NARI and Sahara Allad, I've decided to hijack his mission and take over the recap of that trip.

On our main day in Pune we went to visit the National Aids Research Institute and Sahara Allad, a local NGO that treats the peripheral diseases of AIDS patients that come to their clinic. The day was an amazing experience because it presented so many sides to the AIDS epidemic, which I feel is really important to see because it's so often boiled down to merely an epidemiological problem. At NARI they explained the various levels of what they do at the institute. They have researchers working on treatments, vaccines, gene research as well as a division looking at the social and economic aspects of the disease. This division looks into problems such as stimatization and discrimination against AIDS patients. It's rather ming boggling, but so many medical professionals will flat our refuse to treat AIDS patients, mostly out of fear. It definitely makes you loose a little faith since doctors are supposed to be the people who understand the way the disease spreads the best and therefore should be able to set an example showing that a disease like AIDS is not "contagious" in the simple sense that so many people see it as. I was really impressed with the entire explanation of the social action department because it's great to see the problem being tackled from so many different angles. It felt like a much more thourough and realistic examination of the issue than i've seen most places in the past. After getting the main explanation of NARI, we went and visited individual laboratories to see the hands on work done there. Each technician explained the tests that were being done and their goals.

After NARI we went to Sahara Allad, which is an NGO that treats AIDS patients. We spoke with the head of the clinic who explained the work of the group. Essentially they AIDS patients who come in with additional complications. The workers live in the clinic itself and work for 24 days straight and then go home to their families for 4 days. Funding for the group is highly limited and for that reason the workers at times go up to five months without a salary. Writing this blog seems to be a feat I can't handle because there is no way to really put into words how amazing it was to hear about the work of Sahara Allad and the dedication of the people there. The man we spoke we further explained the discrimination that AIDS patients in India face. Many are kicked out by their families and have no where else to go. At times, after the patient has been treated they still must remain in the clinic because they literally have no other place for shelter. The workers at Sahara Allad attempt to find them housing, but again their resources are limited. I can honestly say that this has been the most valuable experience for me on the trip. It was inspiring to see the actual hands on work that these people were doing. At the same time the bittersweet aspects of it all really play with your mind...Sahara Allad is being forced to shut down it's services due to a lack of funding. It's heart wrenching to think about such great work being ended due to lack of resources. It's leaves you to wonder how to balance all the aspects of social service work...

Alone in Delhi

2004-06-25T09:06:00.000-04:00

Our two-week trip may be over, but I have finally joined the Blog, and now, I present to you, MY FIRST POST!!! Yes, yes, quite a feat!

After spending two weeks travelling over 1000 km from Bombay through Pune and Aurangabad to Delhi, the group (well, at least part of the group) headed off to Ludhiana on Friday, 18th June. Joel and Katie departed for Rajistan by car, and the other seven all left at 4:30 (or, nearly 4:30 by IST!!) on the train to Ludhiana. I decided to stay back in Delhi one night to receive Elizabeth (a fellow medical student and my summer research partner) here in Delhi. After braving the Indian train system for two weeks, I was a little worried about Liz trying to navigate her way from Delhi to Ludhiana on her own (and without a prebooked train ticket). Staying in Delhi only was definately an interesting experience!

First, I had to return my train ticket since I wasn't joining the others on the train to Ludhiana. To understand just what an accomplishment this was, you have to know that administrative things in India that should be simple just AREN'T! The process involved filling out forms, waiting in a HOT, crowded line for about 1 hour and then haggling with the railroad worker to get my money back - and all this for 250 RS (about $7!)

After the train station experience, I decided to chill out by spending some time at Starbeans - An amazing coffee shop in Connaught Place. Barrista move over - the iced coffee, filled with chocolate syrup and whip cream (and optional ice cream) was absolutely amazing. Western music, air conditioning and comfortable couches, Starbeans was way better than any coffee bar I've ever been in! I am seriously going through withdrawal now!

Once the evening came, I didn't really want to wander around the streets (Delhi streets can be really sketchy after dark!). My options - waiting at the airport for Elizabeth or hang out in CP. Having done the coffee shop, I decided to hit up a bar in the evening. Again, I was amazed... It was like stepping out of the hustle of central Delhi into a New York Bar. Tennis matches playing on the TV, and long missed pop music (not quite like "Not Just Jazz by the Bay!") reminded me of summer evenings spent at home!

The evening ended with a trip to Indira Gandhi airport to receive elizabeth. Did you know that you have to pay 50 Rs to wait in the airport. And if you want to use the restroom, that'll cost you 2 Rs!

Mobile Creches (back when we were in Delhi)

2004-06-23T13:54:00.000-04:00

Since i'm really interested in education and my project deals with that issue, it was really enlightening to meet with an organization like Mobile Creches. The NGO provides non-formal education and healthcare for children of migrant parents and slum dwellers who otherwise would not receive a decent education. When we visited the SPARC sites in Mumbai, I really wondered if there was a better way for children to spend their time rather than playing around in unhygienic conditions and around dangerous construction sites. The Creche we saw in Delhi was definitely a contrast to the construction sites: the interiors were bright and decorated with the children's artwork. We walked in to a group of very young children singing nursery rhymes.

In general, their educational methods seemed to stress a lot of encouragement and creativity. We sang and played ball games withe the kids and eventually made paper mache bowls. The kids gave each of us an arts and craft project they had done. They were very cute. The kids were divided by age groups and learned different skills according to their age group, which I thought was an important concept.

I also appreciated that Mobile Creches provided a meeting space for the mothers to make embroidery and become more self-sufficient.

Elena and I talked about how amazing organizations like Mobile Creches are, but in the end the services they provide are limited. They help 500,000 children, but that number pales in comparison to the 60 million underprivaleged children in India (by Mobile Creches' estimation). I'm not really sure what can be done to address the root problem that lead to such inadequate education but it is something that we need to keep in mind.

First Days in Chandigarh...

2004-06-23T07:27:00.000-04:00

For those of you who don't already know, we, Elizabeth and Elana, have separated from the group (in a different way than Katie and Joel) to spend our 6 week internship in Chandigarh. Though it means we will not be under the same roof as the seven other members of our group, it also means that we'll be staying in a city that has been planned out with sidewalks, shopping centers, and even parks (not to mention the famous rock garden). We arrived on Monday morning, visited PGI (our place of internship) and promptly managed to inadvertently turn a 10 minute walk home into an hour long stroll around the city. It's ok, it was quite scenic, and we did meet some very cute beggar boys on the way home. They were about 4 or 5 so were at perfect height to wrap their arms around our legs and cling to us for about a block...When we got back to the house (we're staying with Elena's great aunt) we had a really good lunch, which i (Elana) apparently ate too much of, because I've only now stopped throwing up. It's been fun. Anyway, besides the violent illness, our last few days have actually been quite educational. Elena's cousins took us to see our first Bollywood film in the theater (Hum Tum) and we've started our internship. This week we're visiting one of the Urban Slum clinics that PGI operates, which is not exactly what you would imagine when you picture a clinic. The rooms are few, the floors are dusty, and the a/c, along with privacy, just doesn't seem to exist. Despite these factors, the clinic is actually highly efficient, and from what we saw, effective. Today, wednesday, is immunization day. So along with the general patients, hordes of mothers file in with their 0-5 year olds in tow. Free of charge, they get their share of the BCG, DPT, OPV, and measles vaccinations which are administered by a single nurse. At the same time, the senior resident sits in another small room seeing patients in the same way little children visit Santa at the mall. About every minute or two a new patient would come in, issue a complaint, answer a few questions, and leave with a treat of medication. Not much palpation, nothing invasive, and very little hesitation. At the day's end (meaning by 130pm) about 60 patients had been seen, and roughly the same amount of babies had been immunized (all for 2 rupees a piece). The staff was very friendly and overall the whole operation was quite impressive. Unlike other countries (if you read the NYTimes today, you'll see that the Polio epidemic in Africa is ballooning out of control bc Nigeria decided to stop immunizing it's citizens) and even other areas of India, there is a 93% immunization rate of the 15,000 ppl in the clinic's service area. Anyway, that's all for now. Tomorrow we go into the fields, visiting families at their homes. Hopefully in addition to the many things we will learn there, we can also figure out the right way to get home...

THE BEST DAY EVER....MMMMM....JAIPUR

2004-06-19T11:55:00.000-04:00

Elephants, Camels, and Monkeys, Oh my! The past two days have been amazing.

Yesterday afternoon, Joel and I sadly departed from the group (thanks to Crissaris and Lindsey for the very sweet parting gifts; the treats and Mirindas were greatly enjoyed), and embarked on a journey by personal auto, driven by our chauffeur, to Jaipur, the Pink City.

Along the way, the terrain was very interesting and different from anything we'd seen in India; we entered a desert-like area. The road was extremely well paved and the ride was smooth. The closer we got to Jaipur, the more camels we saw on the road; camel-pulled carts are ubiquitous.

Let's see, some highlights perhaps? Since our bodily functions had ceased to exist in all forms, we had been driving for about 2 1/2 hours after leaving at 3:30, so our driver, like normal people, thinks we're hungry. This was a mistake. We are not normal here - we are white and hence freaks of nature that must be captured in photography and viewed in homes. We pulled up to this harmless enough looking place and are immediately deserted. Since neither of us are hungry or anything, it was an extremely awkward situation, especially since we didn't know what the people were saying. So Katie got a Mirinda (yay) and some biscuits to be nice, and, being bitter, Joel refused to order. After shuffling around awkwardly wondering if we could keep the Mirinda glass bottle (a no), we wandered outside to a pool that was a lovely shade of forest green and some children unsuccessfully attempting to fix a swing. Various spotty men followed us with their eyes and various lawn instruments as we wondered to where our driver had disappeared. I originally ended this sentence in a preposition. Katie almost killed me.

We keep switching authors. Katie is tired from living in the lap of luxury.

Our road trip had other highlights, including 65 km of billboards for "RESTAURENT KING" and "HIGHWAY KING" and "HIGHWAY CHOICE." Those 65 km of advertising led up to three restaurants that did not disappoint our expectations; the restaurants were some of the most extensive complexes we've seen in India. We drove into a storm, so the sky became very dark early. Given the driving conditions in India (crazy traffic, no one following directions, near death experiences), rain and darkness only were adding to a dangerous situation. At least I now understand the "HORN PLEASE" on the back of the TATA (I OWN YOUR SOUL) trucks; whenever we'd pass a truck or go around a sharp bend in the road, our driver would slam on the horn. As we were pulling into Jaipur, all of sudden we saw ELEPHANTS on the road; this is the weirdest place ever.

As we hadn't seen any signs for this hotel that we barely even knew the name of, mmmm the joys of not researching anything, every sketchy building had Katie clamping onto Joel's arm for her life as we both looked on in wide-eyed terror. Eventually, we turned off the main road onto a very narrow, dimly lit, and slummy sidestreet, which definitely calmed our fears. The myriad of random livestock helped, too. The driver kept driving, we kept wetting our pants at the various saves from collisions, and we started to drive through a very cave-y road which ended in a huge pink gate, signaling our entrance into the city and at least guaranteeing some semblence of civilization again.

The narrow mountain pass merged into a larger road, which lead us through the old city of Jaipur. The hustle and bustle of the city, even at 8:30 at night, was amazing, and the traffic in Jaipur makes Mumbai look like child's play. There are many more bicyclists/motorcyclists/normal ricksaw-ists and livestock that make even our car a possible death-trap, much less our lovely tour bus. The old city, lined with shops in old pink (actually more salmon) buildings, contrasted sharply with the amusement park we drove past with neon green lights and modern bridges and high-rises (making a mental note of the Pizza Hut we passed in a large shopping center...more on that later). We finally arrived at the hotel, and were wonderfully surprised when we discovered that we were staying at a modern day palace. IT IS BEAUTIFUL. SERIOUSLY. WE HAVE PICTURES. so yeah.... it's amazing, and after checking into our big room, we explored all the splendor of the hotel. The night culminated in an amazing meal at the highest roof-top restaurant in Rajasthan, which just happens to be on the eigth floor of our little hotel! We also have pictures of this.

We so win.

Saturday morning, after a fabulous breakfast, we were greeted by our personal chauffeur and our personal tour guide for the day. We took the car through the city, up to Amber, the old capital, where we parked our car and traded it in temporarily for a better mode of transportation....ELEPHANTS...mmmmmm.... We rode on a huge elephant in a funny little open box contraption, a.k.a. death trap, up to the top of the mountain to visit the resplendent Amber Fort, abloom with ornamentation and really cool stuff. I was reminded of all the scenic pictures of Asia from Conde Nast (Katie is so anal she had to check the spelling) magazine. Our tour guide was a wealth of information, and the fort was one of the most impressive structures I've seen on this trip. At the end of the tour, our guide suavely saved the best for last, by taking us into the winter bedrooms of the Maharaja's twelve wives. The ceilings and walls were covered with tiny, perfectly sculpted and shaped mirrors, which shone like stars when a candle or flashlight was directed at them. Very impressive. Just like the train dinner to Ludhiana, correct?

We rode the elephant back down, hopped back in our car, drove up another mountain, saw the world's largest cannon, another fort, an artillery museum, etc. and then RODE A CAMEL! we're covering all modes of transportation (yeah Elena, and you thought you had...). Then we did a little shopping (the jewelry in Jaipur is to die for! *funny lazy eye thing. bhahaha.*), got a few free sodas at the places where we were supposed to buy things at (sort of like the inlayed table place in Agra that sucked a few of us in...), and found some great items. We lost it a few times....we think they might have been drugging us in those tasty Mirindas....

We then went on to the Jantar Mantar, this really cool observatory place that has really old, really amazing tools for telling the exactly correct moment of time (random tid bit of info: Jaipur local time is 27 minutes off of India's national time). It was very impressive. (that seems to be a common thread of our trip to Jaipur).

Then it was off to the bazaars! Markets galore! Bargaining left and right! Katie even bought a crazy pair of shoes for no reason! yeah india! Well, they were only $3. At least we got our gift shopping done, and we provided entertainment for all the locals....we seem to be a spectacle wherever we go....hmmmm..

Next was the Hindu temple service. Walking there we were swarmed by a never ending pack of MONKEYS (and a miniature cow! seriously! they DO EXIST!). We were able to stand right outside the open air pavilion and witness a mass group of people celebrate their religion. It was a very interesting, and yes, impressive, event.

We went back to the hotel briefly, then were off to dinner. We opted to walk to the shopping complex with the Pizza Hut, and were delighted to discover an AMAZING complex, filled with people, and yes, a CAFE COFFEE DAY!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! THIS IS HEAVEN ON EARTH! (well, atleast by india's standards). Yes, we happened to stumble upon the only one in Jaipur. Underground is a huge maze of really nice, trendy stores, and an enormous grocery store! We're currently sitting in an ultra-modern internet cafe with BROADBAND internet connection, MODERN music, and AIR CONDITIONING. The computer stations even have high tech game controllers. Simply impressive. Yes, we have pictures.

Our expectations for Jaipur have been far surpassed; this has truly been the best day ever. We win.

Hugs and kisses, we miss you all desperately. Isn't it obvious?

--(with love and the wish to send you care packages) Joel and Katie

Shah Jahan (our day in Agra)

2004-06-17T10:46:00.000-04:00

This fact you knew, Emperor of Ind, Shah Jahan,
That time's stream carries off life, youth, riches, renown.
Only your heart's grief
Could be eternal, that was your majesty's true belief.

Your royal might, adamantine,
Would fade into oblivion like the crimson of the setting sun;
Simply one great sigh
Would stay, forever-impassioned, rending the sky --
That was your prayer.

Diamonds, pearls, rubies glisten
Like the trickery of a rainbow on the empty horizon,
Soon to vanish like mist
Shedding just
One tear droplet
On the cheek of Time, shining and undefiled--
This Taj Mahal.

--Rabindranath Tagore

Today the group started out at 6am for Agra. We went to the Taj, then to Agra Fort and then to a marble shop. We then went to the mini taj and akbar's tomb. Now we are at an internet cafe- the shatabdi express is late as usual :) Our schedule has been packed the last couple days but expect more posts soon!

Long Overdue TATA Recap...Our first visit to an Indian organization

2004-06-16T07:15:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time that seems long long ago on the date of 04 june 04, we visted the TATA institute for Social Sciences. This blog will lack some information that will be added later (maybe...) but we did not want to let more time pass without mentioning our first visit to an Indian organization. We were greeted on the afternoon of our first full day in India by a man whose last name I now forget but whose first name is Denzil. This very interesting man, who went through many career changes and phases (he thought he wanted to be a doctor, then he decided that maybe he'd do psychology instead, then he decided to explore "being a doctor of the soul" and became a Jesuit, then he studied psychology, then he studied philosophy, and finally got his PhD in sociology...gives hopes to all us indecisive ones...), greeted us and gave us an introduction to the sociology of education in India. He explored with us the problems and the potential causes for some of the problems of India's education. Among them,he discussed how India's growing economy and, therefore, booming population could be seen as a positive. He was sure to point out, however, that though there was growth in the country, education was not being given the attention needed in order to accomodate the number of people in need of an education. We were told that although on paper, education was available for everyone in India, in reality it is very difficult for most people, especially in rural areas to make it to a school and then, once there, stay in the schools because of lack of resources and the authoritarian form of education which turns away many potential students. We also spoke about the problem of teachers not feeling responsible to truly teach. Denzil spoke about a lack of a sense of professionalism. Among all the problems however, there were signs of hope. He spoke about alternative teaching methods and schools as well as teacher training and development programs for students who have dropped out and adults who never went to school. The literacy rate in India is increasing, especially among women and rural areas, but much remains to be done. More later...maybe...

Shoppin' at Ajanta

2004-06-14T01:21:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning, after a 2-hour long bus ride, we arrived at the Ajanta caves, the oldest and finest examples of Buddhist cave paintings in India. The horse-shoe-shaped caves have a cluster of Hinayana caves surrounded by Mahayana caves, and are surprisingly well preserved. In addition to the wall murals are stupas and other religious statues, including a HUGE reclining Buddha (20+feet long). We were guided through the caves by our guide (the same one who lead us through the Ellora caves); he was very informative, but his soothing voice had a soporific effect on us all....

As soon as we stepped off our bus at Ellora, we were swarmed by Indian men offering us "gifts" (rocks and gems) and their Americanized name (there were many Philips; my guy's name was "Jack"). They try to establish a relationship with you, so that on your way back, you'll visit their store before you leave. Sure enough, after we toured the caves, we were swarmed by the men again. They try to divide you up and get you to pay way too much on their goods. However, we all knew better, and enjoyed getting them to lower their prices dramatically. I had a blast! It was so much fun to get the men to come down on their prices. Sometimes they would tell me a price, and then I'd start laughing at them! Once I said, "You're hurting my feelings. You're treating me like a stupid American." His response, "No, no. I'm sorry. I'm giving you the friendship price." hahaha. I did buy two items for Jack, but I only paid 1/5th the price he originally asked! As the ones with the money, we tourists have the power, and as soon as we start to walk away, the prices start to drop quickly. I look forward to doing the same at the Taj Mahal!

Also, while touring the caves, we once again were asked to be in many photos with Indians. Apparently, we "white people" are quite a spectacle to them (our guide told us some of the people, especially Indians from the south, may never have seen a white person in life before). It's just a different world here!

In about 2 hours we will be boarding our 24-hour train ride to Delhi. I've heard lots of crazy stories about Indian trains, so I'm anxiously awaiting our experience!

World's First at Christian Medical College

2004-06-14T00:01:00.000-04:00

Hi guys,
I've been reading your blog every day and it sounds like you're having a real Indian experience... especially getting to see a big car accident; that's a big part of Third World travel. It all sounds so adventurous. The NGO experiences sound like a mixed bag; make sure you note who was good and who wasn't so we know who to go back to.
I was reading today about the new plastic surgery - face transplants. It turns out that the first successful face reattachment was done at CMC in Ludhiana; a young girl got her face ripped off by a threshing machine (ouch... make sure none of you do that) and a microsurgeon at CMC was able to reattach it. She looks great in her pictures! Anyway, just wanted to share it; you should ask people when you get there to tell you more about the story.
Wish I were there...

-colls

Ajanta and Ellora

2004-06-13T12:01:00.000-04:00

Tonight's our last night in Aurungabad and for the past two days we've been traveling around to see the Ajanta and Ellora caves. The trip's been great other than the fact that we've sat on a bus for an ungodly amount of time (yet regardless of what time of day it is I always manage to fall asleep on it). Our transportation adventures (or should I say woes?) continued on our way to Aurungabad when we encountered a traffic jam because a tar truck ran into a box truck, spilling tar all over the road...it was quite the sight (especially since other motorists became trapped in the tar, which was rathr scary). When we finally arrived we made our way to Ellora which is a series of Jain, Buddhist and Hindu temples. The next day we went to Ajanta caves, which is a collection of over thirty caves (mosly with Buddhist religious deptions), and wonderfully preserved cave paintings. Seeing the caves was incredible, but at the same time I realized how much modern culture desentistizes you to ancient culture. Here I was standing in a cave looking at paintings done in the second century BC, yet a part of me felt like I was on a movie set - as if I was in the middle of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. It's such a rare treat to be able to travel and see such interesting things, but I think we've all become so accustomed to reproductions in mass culture that a part of you may not be able to appreciate the real thing (or maybe I should just speak for myself). we decided to call it an early night, got some food (including a kilogram of cake!), and settle in front of the tv to watch bollywood hollywood (ah quality time). now we're all mentally preparing for the 24 hour train journey to delhi tomorrow...ouch.

just say yes to drugs (at least Cipro)

2004-06-11T11:06:00.000-04:00

Yay, my very first post! I stayed with family, who fed me more than the flight attendants on air india(and that's saying a lot). I really don't know how to take care of myself anymore. What I loved most about our stay in the city was how we never knew where we were going...every day was quite an adventure. Why did we wait a week to figure out a contingency plan? :) It was especially fun when sailija, joel and I were separated from the group on linking road in Bandra. We were told that the group was at a restaurant named "Green Park" which we couldn't find anywhere. We went to a bunch of restaurants where we found out that green park had been renamed copper chimney but the group wasn't there either. They turned up in "cream centre" which sounds nothing like green park. how ironic is that there was actually a place called green park on the same road! it was a nice 45 minute walk in 100 degree weather. more later...dessert first.

Leaving Mumbai Today...

2004-06-09T23:47:00.000-04:00

Today we leave Mumbai and all its quirks. Just as we felt that we were getting to know the place a bit better, not feeling completely lost as we roamed the overcrowded, traffic congested streets and shuffled (or got pushed)into the massively peopled trains,we must say good bye to the "Gateway of India." Living up to its name, Mumbai opened its doors and allowed us to step foot into the not yet describable India and initiated our journey of exploration and learning. Well, India remains indescribable. For me, no few words will do. Mumbai is a place to be experienced. The photographs we took will not do it justice, but at least it will remind us that when we go to our respective homes, there will still exist here the tall and luxurious commercial and residential buildings juxtaposed with the small, tin, plastic and scrap homes of some of India's poor. This is evidence that, while India continues to grow and prosper as the largest democracy in the world, it has demonstrated an inability to accomodate a great majority of its people in decent homes. Here will remain the pavement dwellers who take the sidewalks as there home leaving pedestrians to walk the streets, the persistent beggars, the Taj Mahal Hotel, Marine Drive, "Not Just Jazz by the Bay", Churchgate station, and,among other memorable things, FAXMAN, which has proven to be a haven for those weary visitors looking for a connection to home. This trip is far from over, however,and we know not what we will encounter next. Some things may be similar to what we have seen in Mumbai, but surely somethings will be quite different. I think that now we are more prepared to face the unexpected, although I don't know if we will be any less startled or surprised by new things for a while. Let's see what Pune has in store for us! Until the next FAXMAN...
(Please look at the comments following this blog for our reflections upon leaving Mumbai)

Too much to tell

2004-06-09T23:21:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was our last day in Mumbai. We started off early in the morning, taking the train to the IIT campus in Powai to visit Vidya Mumbai, an NGO which runs a school and community center. We were told that we would meet women and children and have lunch. We were also told to prepare a performance of singing and dancing. This turned out to be a bit of a problem. With a clarinet and a basoon we woud have been all set, but with only two or three singers in the group and dancers who required music, we were at a bit of a loss. We rehearsed row row row your boat in round on the train and brainstormed other ideas on how to escape performing. Perhaps if we did not mention it they would forget this performance idea? We arrived at the train station and walked to find an auto rickshaw. As usual the group was separated and were dropped off at different gates. We eventually made it to the activities center where we were greeted by a group of about twenty five excited children ranging in age from 5-18 and a group of teachers. We sat in a cirle and were introduced while the chidren performed a greeting song. And then came the question from Bhavani, the head: "Now why don't you sing what you prepared?" We tried row row row your boat which some of the children knew a bit, and did the round. Clearly this was not all that exciting and we were getting some strange looks. We sang kumbaya. More strange looks. Next we stood up and did the hokey pokey and london bridge is falling down. That turned out to be a big hit; we ended up with a passable performance after all. We talked a bit and ate lunch. We didn't learn much about the organziation but we did receive brochures and descriptions to take with us and it was a lot of fun!
On the way back we became separated again with elana, elizabeth, aditi and I in one car and joel and katie on another and krishan, lindsay, and crissaris in the third car. We had an interesting conversation with women on the train. After we got back Katie, Joel, and I went to the Prince of Wales museum. Instead of paying the 300rs we expected, we ended up only needing to pay 6rs because we were students. Excellent! We rushed through the entire museum in 1hr because we had to go to tea immidiately after. The miniature paintings were my favorite and katie was extremely excited by everything; we were glad we had gone.
Next, we went for tea with my second cousin. Her apartment on a high floor of a tall builing on Malabar Hill was beautiful with a spectacular view of the city. We took her recommendation for dinner at the Taj President and had an excellent meal of traditional goan cuisine. We finished off the night at a club, "Not just jazz by the bay". Other people are welcome to comment on that experience :). Off to Pune!!

MMRDA and Majlis

2004-06-08T11:32:00.000-04:00

We started today with MMRDA, the government body that deals with transportation and city planning in Mumbai. They are the people with whom SPARC negotiates to relocate the slum dwellers who are displaced by the railway projects and other city projects. I felt that it was very valuable to hear about these issues from the side of the city, which considers Mumbai on a macro level. There wasn't a sense of antagonism between the two groups at all (except with reference to the ceiling heights) but rather of supplementation and communication. The office has turned itself into a self-sustaining organization through land sales and now oversees and manages multiple projects at a time. I found them very professional and thought that they did a good job of incorporating all of the various aspects and indirect consequences of their projects into account when planning them.

From there we went to the less informatory Majlis, which is a law firm aimed at providing good legal service to women. Most of their work is in family court with divorce. First of all, we expected to speak to Flavia Agnes who spoke at Yale in the spring and is in charge. Instead we spoke to one girl who was still in school and one who had only been with them for 3 months. We also watched a video intended to make us think about the subtle ways women can be oppressed: lack of encouragement, learned fear, restrictions on movements, etc. It actually felt disjointed and weak. When you expect to see rape or violence or some sort of drama and get these anticlimactic short pieces it's kind of disappointing. We eventually did manage to speak to Flavia but instead of discussing the issues facing their office and women in India she merely insisted that India's laws are much more progressive than America's. Having taken a class on Indian women where we touched on a lot of problems facing women in India and spoke at least a little bit about the law, I found it very disappointing not to hear more about the controversies surrounding India's laws designed to protect women. These controversies were around when the laws were drafted at Independence and have followed them through their evolution. I had hoped she would speak about them more. When asked what major issues face Indian women she stated simply, "Violence and rape." Overall, there were a lot of questions left unanswered and only a small amount of information imparted. In their defense, they are a great organization that does a lot of important work here, both in the services they provide and in their outreach initiatives. It's just unfortunate that they were unable to convey to us why their work is so important.
--Elizabeth

SPARC and hope in Mumbai

2004-06-08T10:36:00.000-04:00

On Saturday and on Monday we visited SPARC, an NGO in Mumbai and several other Indian cities. This organization focuses on aiding small community organizations like Mahila Milan and the National Slum Dweller's Federation. If you are interested in finding out more information about the objectives of SPARC, please visit their website at www.sparcindia.org. Our visits included a railroad slum permanant housing relocation. These homes were the state designated 225 square feet maximum and provided for slum dwellers who had been organizing for almost 20 years. We then spoke with some of the intial members of Mahila Milan. These are women who live in pavement dwellings and organized to relocate by starting small savings groups. These women were an incredible example of people who are normally victims of their situations taking charge and changing their communities. They were feisty and travelled the world, spreading their experiences and processes thanks to the funding of SPARC. On Monday, we visited a permanant relocation site built by the slum dwellers themselves. It was much nicer than those built by private contractors and while only covering 225 square feet, included an extra loft. The pride demonstrated by these individuals was inspiring. The children that we saw provided a contrast of hope. Most children we have seen are begging and homeless. These children behaved like healthy children, playing and laughing. Finally, we traveled to SPARC's offices and discussed the experiences and the process by which they affected change. The entire experience provided immense hope when we are surrounded by desperation.

Road Rules Mumbai Challenge! (Tune in...)

2004-06-06T08:56:00.000-04:00

Mission One: First day of hands on sightseeing: View the ciy, attempt to not get fleeced by merchants, escape transportation nightmares, and come out relatively unscathed.

Status: Complete

So today was the first day of our real exploring of Mumbai. We started out with a guided tour of the city that took us everywhere from the Gandhi Museum, to the University of Bombay, to Marine Drive, and the Gateway of India. Along the way was everything from street markets to a glimpse of lifestyles of the rich and famous (ie the diamond merchants of the city). After eating lunch at Leopolds Cafe (highly recommended by the tour books), we split up on smaller adventures of the city. Elena, Crissaris, Krishan and I went on our own walking tour of the city, complete with camcorder to record our exploits. Of course that resulted in an MTV-esque depiction of our mission to go around Marine Drive and eventually hit Fashion Street (which as the name suggests is a street market of clothes). After many side detours (which included a viewing and explanation of a cricket match), we endured and accomplished our mission of exploring all of downtown south bombay and got in some great shopping as well. And let's just say our bargaining skills get better by the moment. All in all it was a rather successful day...and all self guided! Therefore I proudly deem our first mission accomplished...and accomplished well. on to the next adventure...

Tune in for the next installment of the Road Rules India Challenge...

Mumbai Railways

2004-06-06T06:32:00.000-04:00

Who ever thought that I would have to go all the way to India to feel like an action movie star. Yesterday we visited a housing relocation site and a community resource center of SPARC, an organization that works to help street dwellers and slum residents find safe, permanent housing. Please see their website at www.sparcindia.org. In order to get to the sites, we had to take Mumbai's railway system. This system transports 6 Million people per day and car are filled to four times capacity. The main station in Mumbai is Victorian Station, built by the British in the late 19th Century. The ceilings were covered with intricate paintings. The ticketing area was separated from teh trains by an elaborate stained glass window. All of the trains we were on were extremely crowded, with seats crammed with people and standing room where holding on was not necessary as there was no room to fall. Men were literally dangling out of the train as we ran through the city. The trains can usually go quickly, however when people or shanties are within 5 meters of the track, the trains must slow to less than 15 km/h. This greatly slowed our journey. On our second train trip, the cars were extremely crowded as we tried to get on. In order to not be touched and harassed by the men in the general cars (which we would have had to stand in) several of the girls tried to get on the Ladies only car. This forced us to run to get in. As we approached within a car's length, the train began to move and we began to run. Aditi and Elizabeth were able to step in, Elana jumped in. I grabbed on to the door handle and made a step for the train, but an Indian blocked my way. I tried again and stepped on with one foot as the platform fell away. The four of us were on, but our guides were not. We were forced to guess what stop to get off on, and luckly we guessed correctly. That was our first day riding the trains and my first day as an action movie star.

Deep Thoughts at 3 A.M.

2004-06-05T00:40:00.000-04:00

After hearing people like Carlos Fuentes speak at Yale on globalization, it has been very interesting to witness the development and globalization of India. English is ubiquitous, and Bombay is far more industrialized than I expected; however, Indian women maintain their traditional clothing and seldom are seen wearing western-style pants and shirts. Unlike European cities that have developed a tourist economy in which there are stands everywhere selling snow globes and mass-produced trinkets, in Bombay I have yet to see a postcard stand. I have also become more aware of the implications of the term "melting pot"; walking on the streets of Manhattan it can be impossible to differentiate between international tourists and New York residents; walking on the streets of Bombay, as a westernized Caucasian, I stick out like a sore thumb, thereby gaining the unwanted stares of Indian men and an incessant shadow from relentless Indian children begging alms.
Our hotel is very spacious and has western toilets, air conditioning, and a television with an impressive list of channels, including HBO, CNN, Nickelodeon, Hallmark, and Cartoon Network, in addition to all the Indian channels (they even have Indian forms of MTV). Bollywood is ever present: the films were on our Air India flight, our hotel is next to a nice cinema, and Indian movie stars are on posters throughout Bombay.
One aspect of India that I was very curious about before arrival was the smell. I expected a strong odor that lingered in the air; in contrast, India has several smells: jasmine, Indian spices, and human waste are the three most noticeable to me. While walking, my nostrils will get a powerful whiff of one, and then 10 seconds later, a different odor will flood my senses.
When I compare the squalor and filth of India to the residential neighborhoods of Dallas, my hometown, I'm reminded of the words of the great Colby Donaldson. In the Outback during Survivor 2: Australia, he said: "When I wake up in the morning, I'm grateful for 2 things: I'm grateful I'm alive, and I'm grateful I'm a Texan."
I'm very excited about this trip, which still seems a bit surreal. I become distanced from the country while in the hotel, but as soon as I step outside, the culture surrounds me. Occasionally it just hits me: "Wow. I'm in India."

We Made It!!!

2004-06-04T01:22:00.000-04:00

So,after what seemed liked days on a crowded plane full of cute, screaming children and the sweet smell of dirty diapers, Indian spices and body odor, we finally made it to Mumbai. okay so the plane ride wasn't too bad but we were all glad to make it to our destination. So far, the heat is bearable and we have airconditioned rooms!!!! yay!
here are some impressions from the trip so far:
"whoa! india is definitely like nothing i have seen before and this i say from only the ride from the airport to the hotel. never in my life have i seen so many people in a row sleeping out in the street! QUITE the site."
-Crissaris
"this tour agency is great! we had a nice airconditioned bus and beautiful rooms. it is interesting to be here with a group clearly american. all the little kids on the street say 'hello' to us with glee. it is so exciting we are here!'
-elena
"ahh,i'm back in india! It's crazy being here without parents and relatives and such. Already i'm getting a completely different indian experience from all my past trips. really excited to get to explore with the gang...will keep everyone posted..."
-Sailaja
"i got an unofficial tour from my family. mumbai is so full of contradictons--it's crazy to see pretty apartment buildings next to a slum.I can't wait to explore with the group today. apparently we're going to one of the worst/most polluted sections of mumbai. so ready!"
aditi
"there are no wordsto describe the joys of business class. who knew they didn't serve red wine and brie in economy? being late reallypays off. now, alas, i have to stick it out with the common folk."
--Elizabeth
"I have found my experience so far to be full of extreme contradictions. Our accomodations have been wonderful, but I can't help but be shocked by the extreme poverty that stands in contrast to modern skyscrapers and office buildings."
--Lindsay
"The food has been pretty good (they actually fed us four meals in the course of our flight), but trying to discern what is safe and what is unsafe to consume is a little confusing. Today we all had cereal without milk for breakfast, and are now in search of mangoes from the street (peeled by ourselves of course). Brushing our teeth with bottled water will also take some getting used to, but otherwise it's amazing to be here and I can't wait for the days to come."
--Elana
more to come later!

We are in Mumbai!

2004-06-03T16:59:00.000-04:00

We made it safely to the Hotel Westend in Mumbai. The Air-conditioned coach picked us up from the Airport and we are now in our rooms; the rooms are giant - in fact ours is a suite with a dining and sitting room with a dining table and chairs - great for all of us to get together and meet.
Elizabeth is extra relaxed having been upgraded to Business Class for the whole journey!

It is 3AM here and we can't wait for the morning!

viva france?

2004-06-03T05:01:00.000-04:00

yo. we are in paris airport for stopover. 20 min. must run. everyone is fine. elizabeth is extra fine (business class). very fun. more later!

Readings! and Best Wishes!

2004-05-31T22:40:00.000-04:00

Hi guys,
Wow, this is my first blog entry ever. How cool! Well, firstly I wanted to give you a little bit more on the readings I've collected and why we did them. Several of them are about Punjab, and specifically Punjab public health (some of you may have noticed that a few are about the Pakistani state of Punjab, but I suspect some of the research might still seem relevant to what you are doing). Those might be helpful to ground the research you are doing and to help you design the sorts of surveys you are aiming for. As some of you may know there was a Sikh separatist movement in Punjab in the 1980s; the "singh - punjabi politics" article discusses that and I'm sure some of the people you will be living with could talk about that, if you are interested in this question (although, of course, the issue could be too sensitive to bring up... not sure). I also put in a few articles about Bombay stuff; there is a lot of research available about that, as people like Celine D'Cruz will attest, the path of Bombay's urban development has been very important for other developing world cities. The "leaf - review of shiva" article is fairly random, but Vandana Shiva is a really famous Indian activist who has brought up for criticism issues like the Green Revolution, which increased agricultural production tremendously, but also revolutionized rural society. She has a lot of interesting things to say, and I know she's based some of her research on Punjab so I thought I'd throw it in.
Anyway, I hope the readings are helpful, either now or in the future. I might add some along the way, and I'll probably get the whole thing changed over to the RO website at some point (my webspace will be cancelled eventually). But until then it will be at pantheon.yale.edu/~cmc76/indiareadings.htm .

I can't believe you guys are leaving already! Neither can you, I'm sure. I hope you guys are excited about it; you have an amazing opportunity this summer and I hope that even when it's really really really hot and you're questioning like your 500th eight-year-old you can still realize what an adventure you are having and how much more worthwhile this is than working in an office somewhere. I'm really happy to have been a part of this experience, and I really hope I get to see an awful lot of posts (plus pictures... can we get a place where you could post pictures going? i could set up a groups.msn account unless you guys know of anywhere else. or can you put them here?) about where you are and what you are doing.

I was thinking about the title "Bulldogs in the Punjab" and I think that the reason it's such a great title for the trip (way to go Elena!)is that it really throws into contrast the whole "Bulldogs on the Cuyahoga", making it seem a little provincial. You guys are really Yale at its most international, and that is a very exciting place to be. You should be proud of yourselves, and excited! And keep in mind that the better you document this experience now, the easier it will be next year to recreate the experience for others. Anyway, I'm really excited for you all, incredibly sad that I'm not going myself, and really looking forward to seeing how this all turns out. I'll be available at my regular e-mail all summer and don't hesitate to send me instructions for anything you need done stateside. Talk to you soon!

yours,
Colleen

Mango Season

2004-05-30T14:39:00.000-04:00

While the heat may be terrible at times, we will get to see the Monsoon arrive, and we will be in India during the peak of the Mango season!

The first Mogul emperor, Babur, kept a diary which has been translated into English. Here is what he has to say about the mango:

"When the mango is good it is really good. As many as are eaten, the really good ones are scarce. Mostly they are picked unripe and allowed to ripen at home. The unripe mango serves as condiment for meals, and preserves made from it are also excellent. In fact, the mango is the best fruit of Hindustan. The tree is elegantly tall, but the trunk of the tree is ugly and ill shaped. Some people praise the mango to such an extent that they prefer it to all fruit except the melon, but it is not so good as to warrant such praise. The mango resembles the kardi Peach, and ripens during the monsoon. There are two ways to eat it. One is to mash it to a pulp, make a hole in it, and suck the juice. The other is to peel it like a peach and eat it. Its leaf somewhat resembles a peach leaf. Good mangos are found in Bengal and Gujarat" from The Baburnama, Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor. Translated by Wheeler Thackston.

The big three in Mangos are
1. Langra - from Benaras
2. Dussheiri - from Lucknow
3. Alphonso or Haphoos from Gujarat/Mumbai

One can get an upset stomach from eating too many mangos. A mango with a chappati or a paratha or puri is great for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner. More than three a day is not advised.

Day minus 5

2004-05-27T23:08:00.000-04:00

Well people. We are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Okay maybe just a summer. Get ready to meet Handsome Dinesh, Handsome dan's cousin who resides in India. what a cute dog!

Nine Yalies on an Air India flight. To get us started with some Indian Jokes:

An Indian and a Texan were sitting next to each other on an Air India flight. The Indian, ever suspicious of food from outside, opened his tiffin carrier which he had brought from home,
and took out a roti (indian chapati).

The Texan curiously asked "what's that?"

The Indian replied "bread India."

After a while the Indian took out a piece of burfi (indian sweet), and the Texan asked "whats that?"

The Indian replied "sweet india."

After some time, the Texan had fallen asleep, when the Indian farted. Waking up with a start, the Texan exclaimed "what was THAT?"

The Indian replied 'AIR INDIA'