Since I last published, I returned to Delhi and then returned to New York. As I was preparing to leave, I was thinking about what my final impressions of India were. Interestingly having been there for three months, I had to really focus on what about Delhi I had found shocking upon arrival. I’ve been home for a few days (weeks by the time I’m publishing) now and more things are turning my head in NY than in my return to Delhi.
Upon arrival in NY, my first impression was that the streets looked clean enough to eat on, they seems quiet and calm, and the traffic orderly, even in rush hour. At the same time, while in many ways I was re-entering modernity, NY was grey compared to the rainbow of the India streets and coming back in February, I still feel like I walked from color TV into the black and white film era.
As you’d expect, wrapping up a big trip, the last few days were crazy busy, getting to see new friends and having to say goodbye, seeing a few final sights in Delhi I’d missed and picking up a some final souvenirs. I stopped by the school to see the girls and boys I’d been teaching and (as anyone who knows me would expect) was fighting back tears when they said they thought I should move to Delhi. I also stopped by the Cross Cultural Solutions office for a meal and a recap of my travels. Finally, although I was short on time, I was invited to one of the teachers’ houses for dinner and couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Then on my last full day in Delhi, I was given a ticket to the Republic Day Parade (see separate post).
In no particular order, I wanted to talk about a few general observations from my trip. Some are serious and some are silly things that I realized I take for granted.
As I noted above, the streets in NY are incredibly clean compared to India. India is incredibly beautiful, but undeniably dirty. There is no street cleaning so everything is very dusty and littered, and there are very few garbage cans. Every night when I came home, I couldn’t wait to clean my face and I’d literally see the dirt coming off. The streets are chaotic with vehicles and people and animals all going at different paces in different directions. Very few streets have lines down the center and there are “highways” without dividers. Most areas don’t have sidewalks, so people walk in the street. Red lights, where they exist, are ‘optional’, especially after dark most don’t even stop before crossing, as long as you beep as you approach. Finally – you really have to beware of the cows.
Food
The food was excellent, although frequently was spicy enough to lead to a runny nose or tears. I became proficient at eating with my hands and frequently thought how hard my father worked when I was younger to avoid this skill. (There really is a skill and style involved in eating a rice-based dish with your fingers.) I took cooking classes for a few days in the south and although I’ve been slightly discouraged because I haven’t been able to find some basic ingredients, eventually I’ll try some Indian dishes here. The food, while it includes some ingredients like coconut oil which we would consider a bad oil, is relatively healthy because so little of it includes any ingredients that are processed and few things are preserved to be imported from far distances or while out of season. It’s a very natural way to eat.
Conservationism and Environmentalism
Another observation that I’ve been thinking about a lot since I returned is that environmentalism and conservationism are two completely different concepts, and at least in India are not typically shared by the same individuals, as they are in the US. Almost everyone, by economic necessity, is a conservationist, but very few are environmentalists. There is little discussion about what I’ll call ‘aesthetic’ pollution issues– pollution only gets discussed in terms of dangerous water and air, but not the paper in the street or use/abuse of plastic. Perhaps ‘aesthetic’ pollution issues are a luxury we take for granted and is too low a priority in India, but if you think about the effort made to clean American cities in the last 10-15 years, it does make a significant quality of life improvement.
The cost of a gallon of gasoline is roughly $4/gallon – very roughly based on my metric and rupee conversions. In a country where the average national income is less than $1000/year, the cost is prohibitive. (I occasionally hear statistics in the US and think that can’t be true – how could the surveyors reasonably collected that information – you can multiply the skepticism by 1000 in India because I can only imagine the assumptions which must be necessary to get the statistics in that environment. The incomes could be much lower.) Conservation for all practical purposes is the result of a lack of affordable supply, where affordability would have to be roughly 1-2% of current world prices to be on scale with incomes and American consumption. I don’t have statistics on electricity, but at least one person, who was self-described as middle class, was spending 10% of his income on electricity and that was without AC or refrigeration. I’m not sure of my point, except that it expanded how I think of energy consumption and conservation from an environmental or long-term scarcity issue, to also being an indulgence.
In coming back to the US, I hear people also considering geopolitical concerns in relation to conservationism – and in reality because we all know American’s won’t lower their standard of living except in dire circumstances - conservationism really means development of more efficient sources of energy. Maybe eventually, the geo-politicians, the environmentalists and those who need greater efficiency out of economic necessity will create the necessary demand to combine and to find a solution.
Women’s Issues
I mentioned in an earlier posting that I would briefly discuss women’s issues. While laws are gradually changing to give women rights, they start from a place the US has never been and have a long way to go in practice. Eighty percent of marriages are still arranged and women go to live in their husbands’ parents’ homes. Particularly amongst the poor, they are considered a drain on household resources unless they produce male heirs. In weathlier areas, there is a disturbing trend that baby girl fetuses are being aborted because tests are available to determine the sex prior to the birth. In other areas, baby girls are either abandoned at a higher rate than boys or are just neglected – getting less food, education or necessary medical care.
Amongst the poorest people, men frequently consider it their right to hit or abuse their wives. Women hold the majority of household responsibilities and because their husbands suffer unemployment, they are also suppose to support the household. On farms they do an equal share of the farmwork, particularly if sons are sent to school.
Dowry’s are technically illegal, but still more common than not. Upon marriage, all but the jewels become the property of the husband. There are not uncommon rumors of suspicious deaths, when a woman has failed to have a male child and/or the husband wants to remarry to receive a new dowry.
In the more modern sections of the country, women have been hired by western companies and for the first time are becoming financially independent, but it comes at a price. Education and fiscal independence is usually seen as a quality which makes someone less attractive for an arranged marriage. Although I think we have an element of that here, its been banished to the subconscious and is certainly not politically correct to say out loud.
The law has recently been changed that women are allowed to set the fire of a relative’s cremation. This is important because the person who sets the fire inherits the entire estate. Prior to this women were not allowed to inherit property and subject to the charity of distant relatives in the event there were no immediate-family males.
There was a not-intended-to-be funny article in the newspaper about a woman who decided to buy a car for herself. I’d estimate that less than 1% of drivers on the road are women – maybe closer to .1%. She worked for a western company and her parents appreciated the income she brought in for the family, but they were adamantly against her buying a car even if she could afford it. “Who will marry you?” her mother told her, but she decided to do it anyway. She tried out several cars and made a decision and was set to go to pick up the car herself, but her girlfriend said, don’t you want to take someone with you. She thought about it and brought an acquaintance from work. After she signed all the papers and gave the cashier’s check to the salesman, he handed the keys to her friend and congratulated him. She was shocked into silence. They proceeded into the showroom where every salesman congratulated him. She obviously owned the car, but it’s a demonstration of how far they have to go.
I also want to say that as horrible as some of the things I've described sound, they are not always the case and probably the extremes (except maybe the car example). I don't want to present a judgemental picture and ask you to recognize that in the case of women's treatment, and any other criticisms I may have made of India, that for every criticism there are also amazing things in the culture and people which I've hopefully portrayed in other parts of my blog. And although I was only there for a few months, and recognize I didn't see everything, India is a combination of some very good and some very bad things that developed together through a very intricate and complicated history. Its impossible to quickly separate and fix only the less agreeable aspects.
Other Observations
Finally a few other less significant, but still interesting observations.
Like the US, India has 100 TV stations and nothing to watch. However, 24-hours a day, 75% of the channels run Bollywood movies. They never had English subtitles, but you can tell the plot. They’re all musicals, sometimes they have bright-colored traditional India clothing, sometimes they have bright-colored 50’s style poodle skirts and sometimes they’re wearing bright-colored modern clothing (also there is an occasional Michael Jackson Thriller-era style version). They’re all romances in line with Romeo and Juliet, Grease or West Side Story. You’d think all the romanticism of the forbidden love in the movies would lead to a social revolution against the caste system which is still very much a factor in arranging marriages.
Something to get use to is the boys and men literally hanging on each other in a completely platonic way. It’s actually very sweet to see that the men are comfortable with intimacy.
Very few people wear glasses. I assume its because they are not tested and not that genetically, the Indians have better vision than American. Although maybe there is an element of darwinism. Imagine the handicap of going through life with uncorrected bad vision.
Finally the hospitality is amazing. Every Indian I met wanted to make sure that I was ok and enjoying myself, that I liked India and they would wish that I would tell my family and friends what a nice place it was. I hope you have enjoyed my blog and that I have successfully fulfilled their wish.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The Republic Day Parade
On my last full day in Delhi, I was given a ticket to the Republic Day Parade by my cousin’s friend (the same one who took me to the fantastic wedding). The Republic Day Parade is a very big deal. When I mentioned to other people that I had a ticket and where I was sitting, I felt like I was telling them I had a front row seat to a Bruce Springsteen concert in NJ.
When I first arrived in India I was told that any generalization I wanted to make about India, the opposite could also be proven to be just as true. Acknowledging that there are no complete truths in my observations about the parade, it was extremely interesting and exciting to be there as an outsider looking in. Fortunately, and unfortunately, I had a fantastic seat in the press section, directly across from the dais – however security was so tight, I wasn’t allowed to bring anything – including my camera.
The parade can be divided into three distinct sections – demonstration of military prowess, the pride of each state characterized in a “parade of roses”-type float, and groups of dancing and singing children on the scale of an Olympic opening ceremony. In some ways, the parade was like a visual state-of-the-union, with all the pomp and circumstance you’d expect. It was an announcement of the state’s accomplishments to the citizens and the world.
I usually think of India as the home of ancient civilizations, but independent India is only about 60 years old and the nation’s youth affects how the government presents itself to its citizens. Although I don’t think of India as being militant – actually quite the opposite with the images of non-violent Gandhi led revolution—it actually had a prolonged rebellion against Britain prior to the resolution led by Gandhi in the mid-twentieth century, and has been, with varying intensity, battling Pakistan since the day of the British partition inn 1947 (sound familiar?).
The guest of honor was PM Putin of Russia which I think made the military section of the parade feel even more like a communist May day celebration than it seemed on its own. I’ve really never seen anything like it in the United States. On the one hand, I saw the military part of the parade as necessary for a young nation to establish its credibility. On the other, in a nation where most of the population is illiterate, the impact of TV images creates an inaccurate picture-perfect perception, in a country which has many basic infrastructure problems, corruption on all levels of government and the police and literally cannot feed all its citizens.
That said, I was thoroughly entertained and impressed by the parade from start to finish. The parade route went from India gate, which looks a lot like the Arch d’Triumph in Paris to the Parliament along a extra-wide, flat boulevard lined by bandstands.
Regardless of the politics, I’ve personally never been so close to tanks and artillery, and I have to admit it was exciting and imposing, as intended. (The frenetic excitement and squealing of the family with three little boys sitting behind me added to the experience.) The military did also have the look and feel of India. As representatives of each division went by in their uniforms, with left arms swinging 180 degrees and the strait-legged, high-stepped marching, I had a flash of a Bollywood movie. The uniforms were more like costumes than camouflage, in line with the dress of the entire nation. I wish I had pictures of the hats that were part turban, with bright colored fabric folded in a fan-like fashion (slightly reminiscent of a napkin in a Chinese restaurant) attached to the top that made them look a little like proud peacocks strutting down the boulevard. The soldiers were followed by a border division riding camels dressed in mirrored embroidery, and elephants carrying the day’s honoraries.
Interestingly the day’s critics said a lot of the same things we hear today in the US. Although I was impressed with the scale of the parade, apparently the excitement is toned down in recent years. Some blamed it on fear of terrorism and the associated hyper security, some on a lack of nationalism or general apathy of the younger generation, and some on the loss of hope and optimism because of corruption in the government and police. In an environment that is so completely different from the US, you could hear the same about what is wrong in the US today. Is it another form of globalization?
In contrast to the military parade, the floats were about the cultural and historical achievements of the different states. Two points of note, first, there is a strange almost love-hate relationship between the Indians and the British. While most of the Indian’s are appreciative of the British for bringing an international language, an education system and the train system, they are also very proud of their ‘defeat’ of the British. This was shown in the parade in floats of states where major successful rebellions against the British were acted out– sometimes in rather gruesome detail. I’m not sure what it means, but I was surprised at how prominent it was in the minds of citizens, and not distant history the way that I think of the American Revolution. Maybe its because there are people who are still alive who remember when India was under British rule.
The second common focal point was the emphasis on equality for women. Unfortunately, its more of a theoretical goal for the country than an achievement. I’ll write a little about women’s issues later because I haven’t touched on it at all in my blog, but its really not a pretty picture. At least the public presentation is going in the right direction and the goal seems to be equal rights even if the practice has not caught up, unlike some other countries that regulate women’s activities.
If you can manage to be in Delhi for the Republic Day Parade, I put it on my list of highlights and recommend it.
When I first arrived in India I was told that any generalization I wanted to make about India, the opposite could also be proven to be just as true. Acknowledging that there are no complete truths in my observations about the parade, it was extremely interesting and exciting to be there as an outsider looking in. Fortunately, and unfortunately, I had a fantastic seat in the press section, directly across from the dais – however security was so tight, I wasn’t allowed to bring anything – including my camera.
The parade can be divided into three distinct sections – demonstration of military prowess, the pride of each state characterized in a “parade of roses”-type float, and groups of dancing and singing children on the scale of an Olympic opening ceremony. In some ways, the parade was like a visual state-of-the-union, with all the pomp and circumstance you’d expect. It was an announcement of the state’s accomplishments to the citizens and the world.
I usually think of India as the home of ancient civilizations, but independent India is only about 60 years old and the nation’s youth affects how the government presents itself to its citizens. Although I don’t think of India as being militant – actually quite the opposite with the images of non-violent Gandhi led revolution—it actually had a prolonged rebellion against Britain prior to the resolution led by Gandhi in the mid-twentieth century, and has been, with varying intensity, battling Pakistan since the day of the British partition inn 1947 (sound familiar?).
The guest of honor was PM Putin of Russia which I think made the military section of the parade feel even more like a communist May day celebration than it seemed on its own. I’ve really never seen anything like it in the United States. On the one hand, I saw the military part of the parade as necessary for a young nation to establish its credibility. On the other, in a nation where most of the population is illiterate, the impact of TV images creates an inaccurate picture-perfect perception, in a country which has many basic infrastructure problems, corruption on all levels of government and the police and literally cannot feed all its citizens.
That said, I was thoroughly entertained and impressed by the parade from start to finish. The parade route went from India gate, which looks a lot like the Arch d’Triumph in Paris to the Parliament along a extra-wide, flat boulevard lined by bandstands.
Regardless of the politics, I’ve personally never been so close to tanks and artillery, and I have to admit it was exciting and imposing, as intended. (The frenetic excitement and squealing of the family with three little boys sitting behind me added to the experience.) The military did also have the look and feel of India. As representatives of each division went by in their uniforms, with left arms swinging 180 degrees and the strait-legged, high-stepped marching, I had a flash of a Bollywood movie. The uniforms were more like costumes than camouflage, in line with the dress of the entire nation. I wish I had pictures of the hats that were part turban, with bright colored fabric folded in a fan-like fashion (slightly reminiscent of a napkin in a Chinese restaurant) attached to the top that made them look a little like proud peacocks strutting down the boulevard. The soldiers were followed by a border division riding camels dressed in mirrored embroidery, and elephants carrying the day’s honoraries.
Interestingly the day’s critics said a lot of the same things we hear today in the US. Although I was impressed with the scale of the parade, apparently the excitement is toned down in recent years. Some blamed it on fear of terrorism and the associated hyper security, some on a lack of nationalism or general apathy of the younger generation, and some on the loss of hope and optimism because of corruption in the government and police. In an environment that is so completely different from the US, you could hear the same about what is wrong in the US today. Is it another form of globalization?
In contrast to the military parade, the floats were about the cultural and historical achievements of the different states. Two points of note, first, there is a strange almost love-hate relationship between the Indians and the British. While most of the Indian’s are appreciative of the British for bringing an international language, an education system and the train system, they are also very proud of their ‘defeat’ of the British. This was shown in the parade in floats of states where major successful rebellions against the British were acted out– sometimes in rather gruesome detail. I’m not sure what it means, but I was surprised at how prominent it was in the minds of citizens, and not distant history the way that I think of the American Revolution. Maybe its because there are people who are still alive who remember when India was under British rule.
The second common focal point was the emphasis on equality for women. Unfortunately, its more of a theoretical goal for the country than an achievement. I’ll write a little about women’s issues later because I haven’t touched on it at all in my blog, but its really not a pretty picture. At least the public presentation is going in the right direction and the goal seems to be equal rights even if the practice has not caught up, unlike some other countries that regulate women’s activities.
If you can manage to be in Delhi for the Republic Day Parade, I put it on my list of highlights and recommend it.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
I love Delhi
I love Delhi. It’s a combination of cosmopolitan city and still-developing country. Like New York, every neighborhood is a different experience – a different feel, smell, and look, but to greater extremes. The city is diverse in its culture, religions and the socio-economic conditions of the residents. The diversity exists within the context of the city’s multi-century (maybe millenium) history, and is still intertwined in everyone’s daily life.
There are sections of the city which date back to the British occupation, the Moguls and before that. As the capital, it is a center for cultural and historical artifacts. In some ways, it reminded me of Jerusalem because there are so many new and old things next to each other.
The old city is full of temples from different religions - that even in ancient times Indians lived together - in relative harmony. The history professor that spoke to us said, the miracle of India was that it was still a democracy 60 years after British partition. The diversity is so great that the fact that people get along at all was amazing.
I focused a lot in earlier blogs on transportation and I’ll just say here – Delhi has the best roads that I’ve seen since I’ve been here and in many areas (although the locals refuse to believe it—they seem better than NYC). I also think the traffic moves better than in NY because most of the roads were designed in New Delhi after the car was invented. You can go from one side of the city to the other on roads that are more like highways with ramps instead of streets with traffic lights. From what I saw, the traffic moves better than NY (and I'm sure that the Delhi drivers don't believe me when I say that, but it never really stopped completely). That said, and remembering that cars tend to be less wide – the rickshaw are only about 4 feet wide and multitudes of motorcycles and scooters – it was not uncommon to see 4-5 vehicles across on two lanes of road, plus the shoulder.
While I consider myself an experienced jaywalker by NY standards, Delhi brings the contest to a whole new level. Outside the apartment complex the volunteers lived in there was a highway which was four painted lanes in each directions. This translates into 6-8 vehicles on each side.
The light is about seven minutes and doesn't turn red on both sides at the same time. There is a small island partition you can stop on in the center. The first time I tried to cross, I watched for about five minutes and then offered a rickshaw driver 10R ($.25) to take me across. Following his natural instinct, he told me 30R (which was enough to go halfway across town). I refused and continued with our game of charades until he finally figured out what I wanted. When he finally stopped laughing, he called over a local guy and asked him to help me out. I thought I was being ridiculous, but more than one of the other volunteers had also considered it.
Shopping in Delhi is one of my favorite activities, although it’s exhausting because everything is negotiable. There are markets with different specialties all over the city and there are great deals to be had. It was also an excellent way to explore the limitless and varied neighborhoods in the city. In the old city of Delhi, the spice market is said to be the largest in Asia (and probably the world) and there is a gold street where bride’s family’s go to buy their dowry jewels.
Along side the grand, old British hotels and houses there is a Tibetan market where Tibetans would think they were getting a good price, and short rickshaw ride away a market with stunning antiques and hand made fabrics of silk, wool, pashmina that are the best in the world. But shopping is not like it is in the US – where things have pricetags, instead it’s a game where you start with a huge disadvantage because the store owner has been bargaining since they were in a cradle, they know you probably don’t have time to comparison shop and you have no idea what the “real” price (or value) of something should be. Luckily for me, since I didn’t usually have the patience to wait out the owner, we’d be arguing over a relatively insignificant amount (and still paying a premium relative to the locals). Actually, I don’t ever think the tourist wins, no matter how good you are at negotiation. The negotiation is more or less a stamina test with the store owner not really having to go anywhere for the whole day. Walking away is necessary at least once, but you’re never allowed to go far. I think playing "no-rules" monopoly with my nephews was my best preparation. They'll be great at it someday.
Another example of the negotiation was the rickshaw drivers. If you’re not Indian, they tell you it’s 200R to go anywhere you ask about in Delhi whichis about 2x the price to go from the two furthest points in of the city—its about 4-5x the price for most rides. I kept thinking what it would be like to have the drivers in a micro-economic class and explaining supply demand theory. They would laugh because they live the practical applications of the theory on a minute by minute basis. Aside from the premium charged to tourists, the price adjusts for the same distance if there were other rickshaws around, but also realizing there was a certain amount of unspoken collusion. None of them were willing to undercut their fellow drivers unless you had clearly walked away.
The city residents also have a higher level of tolerance for noise than I do coming from New York. At our apartment complex, the security guard use to blow his whistle and bang the night stick on the walls as he walked around, all night. I asked one of the residents why they allowed this and they said, “I don’t notice it anymore, but it makes me feel safe because everyone will know the place is being guarded.” Having been awoken many times, I thought this was absolutely absurd. Also at about 6:30 in the morning, the vegetable man starts screaming that he is selling fresh vegetables. He rides around the complex calling out in a high-pitched voice which I was sure meant “help, I’m dying” the first time I heard it, until his vegetables are gone. That combined with the tendency of all drivers to beep whenever they pass another vehicle, animal or person adds to the noise level in a city with 15 million people. There is also the Muslim calls to prayer, five times a day blaring from the mosques and the Hindu temples blaring competing prayers. Finally, maybe because of all the other noise, Delhi residents listen to music and television at decibel levels that were uncomfortable for me when walking by on the street. But it does add to the feeling that the city is alive and always awake.
The city also has a lot of pollution and dirt. The first thing I did when I came home at night was wash my face and the dirt that came off was visible. I also felt like I was looking for a trash container for the entire month in Delhi (and every other city I visited). Everyday, when I returned to my apartment I had something in my bag that I'd carried because there was no place to put it. The locals sadly, but typically would throw it into the gutter. It’s accepted because there is no alternative. There is also a tragic shortage of other basic services. I did not see an ambulance or fire truck even once. Clean water and basic sanitation are problems all over the country. One of the things you have to get use to are the public urinals on the side of many streets, which aren’t as discreet as I, as a passerby, would have preferred – but they exist because most people don’t have bathrooms in their houses. There are several areas the city has room for improvement.
Finally, while it sounds like I have a lot of complaints, I had a great time both because of its history and because the people are amazingly friendly—especially the people who are not trying to see you something. They all wanted to make sure I liked and was enjoying Delhi and India -- and they didn't complain about any of things I noted, (except the traffic). The weather was sunny every day and I always woke up excited to be there.
There are sections of the city which date back to the British occupation, the Moguls and before that. As the capital, it is a center for cultural and historical artifacts. In some ways, it reminded me of Jerusalem because there are so many new and old things next to each other.
The old city is full of temples from different religions - that even in ancient times Indians lived together - in relative harmony. The history professor that spoke to us said, the miracle of India was that it was still a democracy 60 years after British partition. The diversity is so great that the fact that people get along at all was amazing.I focused a lot in earlier blogs on transportation and I’ll just say here – Delhi has the best roads that I’ve seen since I’ve been here and in many areas (although the locals refuse to believe it—they seem better than NYC). I also think the traffic moves better than in NY because most of the roads were designed in New Delhi after the car was invented. You can go from one side of the city to the other on roads that are more like highways with ramps instead of streets with traffic lights. From what I saw, the traffic moves better than NY (and I'm sure that the Delhi drivers don't believe me when I say that, but it never really stopped completely). That said, and remembering that cars tend to be less wide – the rickshaw are only about 4 feet wide and multitudes of motorcycles and scooters – it was not uncommon to see 4-5 vehicles across on two lanes of road, plus the shoulder.
While I consider myself an experienced jaywalker by NY standards, Delhi brings the contest to a whole new level. Outside the apartment complex the volunteers lived in there was a highway which was four painted lanes in each directions. This translates into 6-8 vehicles on each side.
The light is about seven minutes and doesn't turn red on both sides at the same time. There is a small island partition you can stop on in the center. The first time I tried to cross, I watched for about five minutes and then offered a rickshaw driver 10R ($.25) to take me across. Following his natural instinct, he told me 30R (which was enough to go halfway across town). I refused and continued with our game of charades until he finally figured out what I wanted. When he finally stopped laughing, he called over a local guy and asked him to help me out. I thought I was being ridiculous, but more than one of the other volunteers had also considered it.
Shopping in Delhi is one of my favorite activities, although it’s exhausting because everything is negotiable. There are markets with different specialties all over the city and there are great deals to be had. It was also an excellent way to explore the limitless and varied neighborhoods in the city. In the old city of Delhi, the spice market is said to be the largest in Asia (and probably the world) and there is a gold street where bride’s family’s go to buy their dowry jewels.
Along side the grand, old British hotels and houses there is a Tibetan market where Tibetans would think they were getting a good price, and short rickshaw ride away a market with stunning antiques and hand made fabrics of silk, wool, pashmina that are the best in the world. But shopping is not like it is in the US – where things have pricetags, instead it’s a game where you start with a huge disadvantage because the store owner has been bargaining since they were in a cradle, they know you probably don’t have time to comparison shop and you have no idea what the “real” price (or value) of something should be. Luckily for me, since I didn’t usually have the patience to wait out the owner, we’d be arguing over a relatively insignificant amount (and still paying a premium relative to the locals). Actually, I don’t ever think the tourist wins, no matter how good you are at negotiation. The negotiation is more or less a stamina test with the store owner not really having to go anywhere for the whole day. Walking away is necessary at least once, but you’re never allowed to go far. I think playing "no-rules" monopoly with my nephews was my best preparation. They'll be great at it someday.Another example of the negotiation was the rickshaw drivers. If you’re not Indian, they tell you it’s 200R to go anywhere you ask about in Delhi whichis about 2x the price to go from the two furthest points in of the city—its about 4-5x the price for most rides. I kept thinking what it would be like to have the drivers in a micro-economic class and explaining supply demand theory. They would laugh because they live the practical applications of the theory on a minute by minute basis. Aside from the premium charged to tourists, the price adjusts for the same distance if there were other rickshaws around, but also realizing there was a certain amount of unspoken collusion. None of them were willing to undercut their fellow drivers unless you had clearly walked away.
The city residents also have a higher level of tolerance for noise than I do coming from New York. At our apartment complex, the security guard use to blow his whistle and bang the night stick on the walls as he walked around, all night. I asked one of the residents why they allowed this and they said, “I don’t notice it anymore, but it makes me feel safe because everyone will know the place is being guarded.” Having been awoken many times, I thought this was absolutely absurd. Also at about 6:30 in the morning, the vegetable man starts screaming that he is selling fresh vegetables. He rides around the complex calling out in a high-pitched voice which I was sure meant “help, I’m dying” the first time I heard it, until his vegetables are gone. That combined with the tendency of all drivers to beep whenever they pass another vehicle, animal or person adds to the noise level in a city with 15 million people. There is also the Muslim calls to prayer, five times a day blaring from the mosques and the Hindu temples blaring competing prayers. Finally, maybe because of all the other noise, Delhi residents listen to music and television at decibel levels that were uncomfortable for me when walking by on the street. But it does add to the feeling that the city is alive and always awake.
The city also has a lot of pollution and dirt. The first thing I did when I came home at night was wash my face and the dirt that came off was visible. I also felt like I was looking for a trash container for the entire month in Delhi (and every other city I visited). Everyday, when I returned to my apartment I had something in my bag that I'd carried because there was no place to put it. The locals sadly, but typically would throw it into the gutter. It’s accepted because there is no alternative. There is also a tragic shortage of other basic services. I did not see an ambulance or fire truck even once. Clean water and basic sanitation are problems all over the country. One of the things you have to get use to are the public urinals on the side of many streets, which aren’t as discreet as I, as a passerby, would have preferred – but they exist because most people don’t have bathrooms in their houses. There are several areas the city has room for improvement.
Finally, while it sounds like I have a lot of complaints, I had a great time both because of its history and because the people are amazingly friendly—especially the people who are not trying to see you something. They all wanted to make sure I liked and was enjoying Delhi and India -- and they didn't complain about any of things I noted, (except the traffic). The weather was sunny every day and I always woke up excited to be there.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Off the Grid in Hampi
After cooking school (the blog for which I haven't published yet), I decided to go a bit further into the interior to a town called Hampi which is a bit difficult to get to. This involved a car to the airport with a stop at an elephant training camp, a plane, a taxi, a sleeper train and an auto rickshaw. It was a long day, but Hampi was worth it.
Hampi was once the capital of one of the largest Hindu empires from the 14th to 17th century. In the 16th century the population was over 500,000. It was over ta
ken by the Muslim Moghuls in the 17th century when the country was united for the first time (the second time was under the British in the 18th century).
The city is home to one of India's largest area of ruins. There are active excavat
ions going on in several locations and some day soon it will be a major tourist attraction. In the meantime, the city has a very charming air to it because the city doesn't have any really high end tourist accommodations or infrastructure -- instead there's an element of roughing it a bit. One of the airlines just started daily flights to a city about 30 km away (which I didn't find out until I was already on the train), so its probably only a matter of time until it changes.
Aside from several magnificent temples, Hampi's most unique feature is its
setting amongst huge boulders. At one point, the area must have been underwater, because the boulders are 30 feet tall and I can't imagine how else they could have gotten there (unless there were glaciers in India?). My first reaction to seeing the area was that this is what Hanna-Barbara must have based the backdrop for the Flintstones on. I know it sounds strange, but the boulders were magnificent and I'm not joking when I say it was very easy to spend an entire afternoon "boulder watching".
The combination of the setting and the fact that people live amongst the ruins gives the city a bit of a time-warp feeling to it, like not much has changed in 500 years. The old city, or main bazaar area is largely unchanged from how it was when the city was inhabited. In the last 50ish years, the area has been re-inhabited by local squatters. They live in the ruins along what was the old market street, adding walls or thatch roofs to replace the originals as necessary. Their animals are either tied in the front of the houses or simply wander the streets. (More than once, a cow actually came into the restaurant I was eating in, but the owners usually shoo them away before they start eating.)
The best accommodations I could find cost 280 R or about $6.50. Needless to say, while adequate, it was no frills (and hot water is a "frill"). The whole old city only has dial up connections and no cell service. The touristy places have a hippie feel to them and play reggae music and the number of tourists who have decided to sport dreadlocks is astounding. I did not.
The meals at the restaurants along the main bazaar cost about 35R or $.80. I had a meal with someone who was complaining about how they over charge the tourists by about 10x what the locals would pay for the same food. Of course, most of the locals don't eat out and if they do, they eat "street food," sold by equivalent of a NY city hotdog vendor, which would make any tourist sick. I can't imagine what she'll think when she makes it to Delhi.
Assuming you don't mind the "tourist prices," the people were great. The locals, especially the kids, have no problem coming up to you and (trying to) have a conversation. For the most part they ask your name, where you are from and giggle a lot. I did have a really nice conversation about India with a few freshmen college students. However, since the only industry in the town is tourism, they is also a lot of presumption that you are rich and will give them things, especially from the poorest children. At one point, a young girl came up to me and said hello. She saw my water bottle and said "water bottle". I said, "yes". Before I knew it she had taken it and emptied the water, so she could take the bottle. It hadn't occurred to her, I had it so I could drink it. Another boy came up to me and pointed to my watch. He said, "you give me?" And he looked disappointed when I said, "no".
In order to get to some sites, or more accurately, the shortest option to get to some sites, is to take a boat. The boats are coracles, or a large baskets, similar to those my
mom had when I was growing up, except big enough to sit in and waterproofed, rowed by a local who seems to be sitting in a very uncomfortable position. The boat ride through the canyon of boulders was one of the highlights. I went with one other person in the boat and we were lounging as we went along. When we came back to the dock we saw 10 Indians getting into the same boat, but it didn't look as comfortable. In general, whether its a scooter, car or boat, the Indians put more people into vehicles than we would ever consider was possible.
The whole place was very relaxed and I wouldn't have minded spending a few weeks there, reading some books and just hanging out.
Instead I decided to take a seven-hour drive to a town called Badami. The town is famous for its cave temples which are cut into the sides of some large mountains. They date back to the 13th century. I'm still considering whether I'd recommend the drive, but overall I liked the caves.
I continued with my driver to a city called Hubli which sees very few tourists, but is a major crossroads for the train system. I arrived 6 hours before my overnight train so I had a lot of time to kill. My very sweet driver helped me bring my bag to the trainstation, luggage lockers and then made sure I was happily seated at an internet cafe before he left. I thought I was set to fill my evening. Unfortunately, the cafe was only open until 6:30 and I had another 5 hours to wait.
When I left, I noticed there were no other westerners wandering about and that literally, everyone was stopping and staring at me. Although people have been staring at me for about three months now, I still look down to check my fly instinctively. I went into a restaurant, sat down and ordered something to drink. Nobody spoke English, but with some pointing I managed to get some tea. I eventually realized I had sat in the all male section and that the "family" section was upstairs. This probably didn't help with the staring.
The best available car on this particular train was a third class AC sleeper. I was a little worried about what this would mean. I'd been on first and second class sleepers and slept relatively well, but wasn't sure this would be a good thing. In the end, the only difference seemed to be that there were three tiers of beds. Naturally, since I don't understand how the reservation system works, I got the upper bunk. Somehow, all the Indians knew that I had that seat even before everyone had arrived to our cabin. When I've talked to other tourists, they've said the same thing, that the train reservation system is the impossible to understand unless you were born here. Luckily one person in my cabin spoke good English and the others were getting off at my stop so I didn't have to worry about over sleeping.
I arrived in Goa, beach capital of India, and was
suppose to only have 6 hours before my flight. Sadly, my flight was cancelled so I had to spend another day at the beach. The chaise, the umbrella and the cocktails were just like any other paradise resort -- the waterbuffalo was an added bonus. Tonight I arrived back in Delhi to wrap up the end up my adventure.
Hampi was once the capital of one of the largest Hindu empires from the 14th to 17th century. In the 16th century the population was over 500,000. It was over ta
ken by the Muslim Moghuls in the 17th century when the country was united for the first time (the second time was under the British in the 18th century).The city is home to one of India's largest area of ruins. There are active excavat
ions going on in several locations and some day soon it will be a major tourist attraction. In the meantime, the city has a very charming air to it because the city doesn't have any really high end tourist accommodations or infrastructure -- instead there's an element of roughing it a bit. One of the airlines just started daily flights to a city about 30 km away (which I didn't find out until I was already on the train), so its probably only a matter of time until it changes. Aside from several magnificent temples, Hampi's most unique feature is its
setting amongst huge boulders. At one point, the area must have been underwater, because the boulders are 30 feet tall and I can't imagine how else they could have gotten there (unless there were glaciers in India?). My first reaction to seeing the area was that this is what Hanna-Barbara must have based the backdrop for the Flintstones on. I know it sounds strange, but the boulders were magnificent and I'm not joking when I say it was very easy to spend an entire afternoon "boulder watching".The combination of the setting and the fact that people live amongst the ruins gives the city a bit of a time-warp feeling to it, like not much has changed in 500 years. The old city, or main bazaar area is largely unchanged from how it was when the city was inhabited. In the last 50ish years, the area has been re-inhabited by local squatters. They live in the ruins along what was the old market street, adding walls or thatch roofs to replace the originals as necessary. Their animals are either tied in the front of the houses or simply wander the streets. (More than once, a cow actually came into the restaurant I was eating in, but the owners usually shoo them away before they start eating.)
The best accommodations I could find cost 280 R or about $6.50. Needless to say, while adequate, it was no frills (and hot water is a "frill"). The whole old city only has dial up connections and no cell service. The touristy places have a hippie feel to them and play reggae music and the number of tourists who have decided to sport dreadlocks is astounding. I did not.
The meals at the restaurants along the main bazaar cost about 35R or $.80. I had a meal with someone who was complaining about how they over charge the tourists by about 10x what the locals would pay for the same food. Of course, most of the locals don't eat out and if they do, they eat "street food," sold by equivalent of a NY city hotdog vendor, which would make any tourist sick. I can't imagine what she'll think when she makes it to Delhi.
Assuming you don't mind the "tourist prices," the people were great. The locals, especially the kids, have no problem coming up to you and (trying to) have a conversation. For the most part they ask your name, where you are from and giggle a lot. I did have a really nice conversation about India with a few freshmen college students. However, since the only industry in the town is tourism, they is also a lot of presumption that you are rich and will give them things, especially from the poorest children. At one point, a young girl came up to me and said hello. She saw my water bottle and said "water bottle". I said, "yes". Before I knew it she had taken it and emptied the water, so she could take the bottle. It hadn't occurred to her, I had it so I could drink it. Another boy came up to me and pointed to my watch. He said, "you give me?" And he looked disappointed when I said, "no".
In order to get to some sites, or more accurately, the shortest option to get to some sites, is to take a boat. The boats are coracles, or a large baskets, similar to those my
mom had when I was growing up, except big enough to sit in and waterproofed, rowed by a local who seems to be sitting in a very uncomfortable position. The boat ride through the canyon of boulders was one of the highlights. I went with one other person in the boat and we were lounging as we went along. When we came back to the dock we saw 10 Indians getting into the same boat, but it didn't look as comfortable. In general, whether its a scooter, car or boat, the Indians put more people into vehicles than we would ever consider was possible.The whole place was very relaxed and I wouldn't have minded spending a few weeks there, reading some books and just hanging out.
Instead I decided to take a seven-hour drive to a town called Badami. The town is famous for its cave temples which are cut into the sides of some large mountains. They date back to the 13th century. I'm still considering whether I'd recommend the drive, but overall I liked the caves.
I continued with my driver to a city called Hubli which sees very few tourists, but is a major crossroads for the train system. I arrived 6 hours before my overnight train so I had a lot of time to kill. My very sweet driver helped me bring my bag to the trainstation, luggage lockers and then made sure I was happily seated at an internet cafe before he left. I thought I was set to fill my evening. Unfortunately, the cafe was only open until 6:30 and I had another 5 hours to wait.
When I left, I noticed there were no other westerners wandering about and that literally, everyone was stopping and staring at me. Although people have been staring at me for about three months now, I still look down to check my fly instinctively. I went into a restaurant, sat down and ordered something to drink. Nobody spoke English, but with some pointing I managed to get some tea. I eventually realized I had sat in the all male section and that the "family" section was upstairs. This probably didn't help with the staring.
The best available car on this particular train was a third class AC sleeper. I was a little worried about what this would mean. I'd been on first and second class sleepers and slept relatively well, but wasn't sure this would be a good thing. In the end, the only difference seemed to be that there were three tiers of beds. Naturally, since I don't understand how the reservation system works, I got the upper bunk. Somehow, all the Indians knew that I had that seat even before everyone had arrived to our cabin. When I've talked to other tourists, they've said the same thing, that the train reservation system is the impossible to understand unless you were born here. Luckily one person in my cabin spoke good English and the others were getting off at my stop so I didn't have to worry about over sleeping.
I arrived in Goa, beach capital of India, and was
suppose to only have 6 hours before my flight. Sadly, my flight was cancelled so I had to spend another day at the beach. The chaise, the umbrella and the cocktails were just like any other paradise resort -- the waterbuffalo was an added bonus. Tonight I arrived back in Delhi to wrap up the end up my adventure.Monday, January 15, 2007
Recipes from Keralan Cooking School
Gobi Masala
Preparation:
250 grams cauliflower florets
6 T chick pea powder*
4T water, approximately
Mix by hand until cauliflower is coated with a light batter.
Heat a pan. Add about 1/2 cm of coconut oil in the pan and heat.
Fry cauliflower until golden brown.
Remove cauliflower and put in a strainer on top of a paper towel.
Sieve the oil to remove the bits of batter. Replace 2T of oil in pan.
Add 2 red onions and 5-7 fresh curry leaves.
Stir until lightly cooked and slightly browned.
Add 1t of garlic-ginger paste (equal parts of both mixed in a food processor)
Temper the garlic-ginger paste until it loses its raw flavor, but is not browning or burnt. (To temper, push the other ingredients to the side of the pan and quickly mix the g-g paste, breaking it up with the wooden spoon.)
Add spices and stir rapidly:
<1/2>
1/2 t gumar masala (equal parts lightly toasted and ground cinnamon, cardamon and cloves, it can be kept in a jar for up to 10 days)
<3/4>
Stir rapidly (for longer than you think necessary) until the spices lose their pungent aroma and the vegetables begin to release their oil.
Add 4 tomatoes, blanched, skinned and diced.
Stir until the water begins to evaporate.
Add cauliflower and stir until mixed with spices/onions.
Cover and leave for up to 1 hour before serving.
Okra Turorn
Heat a thick bottomed skillet on the fire
Pour 2-3 T of coconut oil in the pan.
When oil is hot, add 1 t mustard seeds, 2 T of urad dal (white lentils) plus 1 sprig of fresh curry leaves (about 5-7 leaves)
Heat until the mustard seeds pop, the urad dal is brown and the curry leaves are lightly fried.
Add 1 chopped red onion and saute.
Add one broken kashmiri (spiral) red chili pepper
1 pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 c grated coconut (coconut must be tempered)
Add 150-200 g. okra (thinly sliced on a diagonal) and stir into dish. Keep stirring until the okra is pliable. Pile in the middle and let sit and then stir again after a few minutes.
Remove when pliable and add 1/4 c. grated coconut as garnish.
Palak Rieta
Heat pan.
Add 2T coconut oil.
Add 2t ural dal (white lentils halves)
Add 3-4 cloves of garlic chopped
Add 1/2 inch ginger chopped
Stir for some time until well done.
Add 1 chopped red onion
Add 1 green chili pepper (maybe remove seeds)
Saute.
Once sauteed, add 2c finely chopped spinach
Allow to cool and add 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt curd.
Vegetable Pilar
Mix spices:
star anise
pepper
cloves
cardamon
*nutmeg mace
cinnamon
*(allspice leaf, if available fresh)
Heat pan
Add 1 T ghee
Add spices, cover with colander upside down so popping seeds don't spatter.
Add 1 red chopped onion and saute.
Add 1 t garlic-ginger paste
Add allspice leaf and nutmeg mace and stir rapidly
Add tomatoes until liquid evaporates a little
Add 250 g. steamed carrots, beans and peas
Add 1 1/2 c. uncooked basmati rice (cook before adding, but measure dry)
Add 1 t salt
Fold together.
Rice Noodles:
Put 2 1/2 cups rice flour in a large bowl
Slowly, while mixing, add boiling water and a pinch of salt
the amount of water should be roughly 2x the amount of rice, but the dough should not be sticky
Stop adding water when the dough is the consistency of play dough.
Let cool. After 20 minutes, kneed until texture is consistent.
Use a rice mill to make noodles in small piles. Add 1t of grated coconut and then mill another larger pile of noodles on top.
Place in a steamer and cook for approximately 15 minutes.
Egg Masala
Heat 3-4 T coconut oil in a pan
Add 750 g. chopped red onion
Add a sprig of curry leaves
Continue stirring
Add 1 t ginger-garlic paste and keep stirring
Add 1/8 c. sugar and a pinch of salt to balance the acidity of the tomatoes
Continue stirring until the onions are lightly browned
Add spices:
3/4 t turmeric
1 t gumar masala
2 t coriander
1 t chili powder
Stir rapidly
Add 650 g. chopped tomatoes and stir gently
Continue on heat until it is slightly meshed together.
Serve with either hard boiled eggs on the side or lightly fried potatoes with turmeric and pepper in coconut oil. The potatoes may be mixed in before serving.
Vegetable Stew to be served on top of the rice noodles
Spices:
Cardamon
Cinnamon
Cloves
Pepper
Star Anise
Sliced ginger and garlic
1-2 sliced red onion
all spice leaves if available
2 green chilis (remove seeds)
700 g. steamed potatoes, carrots, string beans, all diced.
Heat pan.
Heat oil.
Add spice mixture and stir.
Add onions and stir.
Add garlic and ginger, very soon after onions.
Add chilis
Stir all ingredients until lightly brown.
Add steamed vegetables.
Add 1 t salt (maybe 1/2 t)
Add 2 1/2 c coconut milk (coconut cream with water added, about 30-40%)
Simmer for 5-10 minutes
Close fire.
Slowly add thick coconut milk (add water to coconut cream until its the consistency of milk) and stir (don't do this over a flame or the milk with curdle.)
Snake Gourd Saute
(alternatively use cabbage, courgette, zucchini, chopped beans)
1 T coconut oil
1 t mustard seeds
150 g coconut chips
1 big onion sliced.
1 1/2 t pepper powder
pinch of turmeric
400 g snake gourd, chopped.
salt to taste
Pan on fire
Add oil and allow to heat
Add mustard seeds and allow to pop
Fry out the coconut chips. Stir quickly until brown and starting to release oil. (add additional oil if necessary).
Make a well in the middle and add the onion and stir the onion within the well.
Mix the onion and the coconut quickly until translucent and slightly brown.
This takes a long time.
Add the pepper and turmeric -- stir rapidly for about 3-5 minutes.
Add chopped snake gourd.
Pile in the center of the pan and allow to sit, stir every few minutes and re-pile.
Salt to taste.
** Fully mature coconut releases more oil. Less mature coconut requires extra oil.
Carrot-Cabbage Thoran
1 T coconut oil
2 t short grain brownish rice (parboiled)
1/2 t mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
pinch of turmeric
Make a paste out of:
*1 green chili - chopped
*3 shallots chopped
*1/3 c. grated coconut
300 g. chopped and shredded carrots and cabbage with salt
Pan on fire.
Heat oil.
Add rice, mustard seed and curry leaves. Puff rice, pop mustard seeds and fry curry leaves.
Add turmeric and mix.
Immediately, add ground paste. Reduce heat, and fast stir until spices are tempered (not as pungent).
Add carrots and cabbage and cook until reduced stirring frequently.
Salt to taste.
Aloo Gobi
6 T coconut oil
1 1/2 t fennel
1 1/2 onions
3/4 t turmeric
3/4 t chili powder
6 T tomato paste, but more liquidy (maybe 3 T tomato paste and 3T water)
300 g. cauliflower, uncooked florets
300 g. potato, cooked and diced
6 tomatos, quartered
150 ml milk
150 ml water
Pan on fire.
Heat oil.
Add fennel, until seeds stop popping and browning.
When almost finished popping add onions.
Cook onions until translucent and slight browning.
Add turmeric and chili powder.
Stir quickly until spices are tempered (less pungnet smell)
Add tomato paste and stir until the water reduces a little bit.
Add cauliflower and stir until it is coated in the mixture.
Add potato, stir until coated.
Add salt to taste.
Raise the heat.
Add tomatoes and stir until the tomato skins softens and the mixture is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Lower the heat and add the milk and the water at the same time.
Stir intermittantly. Put a lid on and slow cook until the mixture is creamy/thickened and the cauliflower is cooked.
Salt again and garnish with mint and coriander.
Jerra Rice
3 T coconut oil
2 t urad dal
1 t cumin
1 onion sliced
2 kashmiri chilis, broken (spiral)
2 c. uncooked rice, cooked
pinch of turmeric
pinch of salt
Heat oil in pan, medium to low heat
Add dal, no stirring, cook until brown.
Add cumin, allow to pop.
Add chili and stir rapidly.
Add onions and stir rapidly.
Add turmeric and salt and stir rapidly.
Add rice, spreading it evently over the top of the mixture.
Don't stir until you've added it all.
From start to finish its all very quick.
For garnish, fry raisins and cashews in coconut oil.
Sambar Dal
3/4 c urad dal (soft dal)
Water
Salt
3 T coconut oil
250 g. chopped onions
1 1/2 t mustard seeds
1/2 t fennelgrek
sprig of curry leaves
1 t chili powder
2 t coriander
1/2 t turmeric
tamrin (just smaller than a golf ball, soaked in water for 10 minutes)
four dashes of asafoetida powder
300 g. fresh tomatoes diced
salt to taste
First cook dal in water and salt for 15 minutes
Pan on fire.
Heat oil
Pop mustard seeds and fennelgrek and fry curry leaves.
Add onions, stir rapidly until translucent and lightly browned.
Add chili powder, coriander, & tumeric. Stir until tempered.
Add the water from the tamerin, but not the flesh.
Add a few dashes of the asafoetida powder, stir quickly.
Add tomatos and stir until soft.
Salt to taste.
Add the dal and the water and simmer for 20 minutes to boil off some of the liquid.
Coconut chutney
1 1/2 c. fresh grated coconut
sprig of curry leaves
1 green chili pepper with seeds removed
1 1/2 in of ginger peeled
6-8 shallots
1 t salt (real teaspoon, not heaping)
Place shallots and ginger and salt in the food processor
Add 1/2 coconut and a few T of water
Empty from food processor into bowl
Add the remaining 1/2 coconut with the green chili and the curry leaf and mix.
Empty into the same bowl and mix together.
Preparation:
250 grams cauliflower florets
6 T chick pea powder*
4T water, approximately
Mix by hand until cauliflower is coated with a light batter.
Heat a pan. Add about 1/2 cm of coconut oil in the pan and heat.
Fry cauliflower until golden brown.
Remove cauliflower and put in a strainer on top of a paper towel.
Sieve the oil to remove the bits of batter. Replace 2T of oil in pan.
Add 2 red onions and 5-7 fresh curry leaves.
Stir until lightly cooked and slightly browned.
Add 1t of garlic-ginger paste (equal parts of both mixed in a food processor)
Temper the garlic-ginger paste until it loses its raw flavor, but is not browning or burnt. (To temper, push the other ingredients to the side of the pan and quickly mix the g-g paste, breaking it up with the wooden spoon.)
Add spices and stir rapidly:
<1/2>
1/2 t gumar masala (equal parts lightly toasted and ground cinnamon, cardamon and cloves, it can be kept in a jar for up to 10 days)
<3/4>
Stir rapidly (for longer than you think necessary) until the spices lose their pungent aroma and the vegetables begin to release their oil.
Add 4 tomatoes, blanched, skinned and diced.
Stir until the water begins to evaporate.
Add cauliflower and stir until mixed with spices/onions.
Cover and leave for up to 1 hour before serving.
Okra Turorn
Heat a thick bottomed skillet on the fire
Pour 2-3 T of coconut oil in the pan.
When oil is hot, add 1 t mustard seeds, 2 T of urad dal (white lentils) plus 1 sprig of fresh curry leaves (about 5-7 leaves)
Heat until the mustard seeds pop, the urad dal is brown and the curry leaves are lightly fried.
Add 1 chopped red onion and saute.
Add one broken kashmiri (spiral) red chili pepper
1 pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 c grated coconut (coconut must be tempered)
Add 150-200 g. okra (thinly sliced on a diagonal) and stir into dish. Keep stirring until the okra is pliable. Pile in the middle and let sit and then stir again after a few minutes.
Remove when pliable and add 1/4 c. grated coconut as garnish.
Palak Rieta
Heat pan.
Add 2T coconut oil.
Add 2t ural dal (white lentils halves)
Add 3-4 cloves of garlic chopped
Add 1/2 inch ginger chopped
Stir for some time until well done.
Add 1 chopped red onion
Add 1 green chili pepper (maybe remove seeds)
Saute.
Once sauteed, add 2c finely chopped spinach
Allow to cool and add 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt curd.
Vegetable Pilar
Mix spices:
star anise
pepper
cloves
cardamon
*nutmeg mace
cinnamon
*(allspice leaf, if available fresh)
Heat pan
Add 1 T ghee
Add spices, cover with colander upside down so popping seeds don't spatter.
Add 1 red chopped onion and saute.
Add 1 t garlic-ginger paste
Add allspice leaf and nutmeg mace and stir rapidly
Add tomatoes until liquid evaporates a little
Add 250 g. steamed carrots, beans and peas
Add 1 1/2 c. uncooked basmati rice (cook before adding, but measure dry)
Add 1 t salt
Fold together.
Rice Noodles:
Put 2 1/2 cups rice flour in a large bowl
Slowly, while mixing, add boiling water and a pinch of salt
the amount of water should be roughly 2x the amount of rice, but the dough should not be sticky
Stop adding water when the dough is the consistency of play dough.
Let cool. After 20 minutes, kneed until texture is consistent.
Use a rice mill to make noodles in small piles. Add 1t of grated coconut and then mill another larger pile of noodles on top.
Place in a steamer and cook for approximately 15 minutes.
Egg Masala
Heat 3-4 T coconut oil in a pan
Add 750 g. chopped red onion
Add a sprig of curry leaves
Continue stirring
Add 1 t ginger-garlic paste and keep stirring
Add 1/8 c. sugar and a pinch of salt to balance the acidity of the tomatoes
Continue stirring until the onions are lightly browned
Add spices:
3/4 t turmeric
1 t gumar masala
2 t coriander
1 t chili powder
Stir rapidly
Add 650 g. chopped tomatoes and stir gently
Continue on heat until it is slightly meshed together.
Serve with either hard boiled eggs on the side or lightly fried potatoes with turmeric and pepper in coconut oil. The potatoes may be mixed in before serving.
Vegetable Stew to be served on top of the rice noodles
Spices:
Cardamon
Cinnamon
Cloves
Pepper
Star Anise
Sliced ginger and garlic
1-2 sliced red onion
all spice leaves if available
2 green chilis (remove seeds)
700 g. steamed potatoes, carrots, string beans, all diced.
Heat pan.
Heat oil.
Add spice mixture and stir.
Add onions and stir.
Add garlic and ginger, very soon after onions.
Add chilis
Stir all ingredients until lightly brown.
Add steamed vegetables.
Add 1 t salt (maybe 1/2 t)
Add 2 1/2 c coconut milk (coconut cream with water added, about 30-40%)
Simmer for 5-10 minutes
Close fire.
Slowly add thick coconut milk (add water to coconut cream until its the consistency of milk) and stir (don't do this over a flame or the milk with curdle.)
Snake Gourd Saute
(alternatively use cabbage, courgette, zucchini, chopped beans)
1 T coconut oil
1 t mustard seeds
150 g coconut chips
1 big onion sliced.
1 1/2 t pepper powder
pinch of turmeric
400 g snake gourd, chopped.
salt to taste
Pan on fire
Add oil and allow to heat
Add mustard seeds and allow to pop
Fry out the coconut chips. Stir quickly until brown and starting to release oil. (add additional oil if necessary).
Make a well in the middle and add the onion and stir the onion within the well.
Mix the onion and the coconut quickly until translucent and slightly brown.
This takes a long time.
Add the pepper and turmeric -- stir rapidly for about 3-5 minutes.
Add chopped snake gourd.
Pile in the center of the pan and allow to sit, stir every few minutes and re-pile.
Salt to taste.
** Fully mature coconut releases more oil. Less mature coconut requires extra oil.
Carrot-Cabbage Thoran
1 T coconut oil
2 t short grain brownish rice (parboiled)
1/2 t mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
pinch of turmeric
Make a paste out of:
*1 green chili - chopped
*3 shallots chopped
*1/3 c. grated coconut
300 g. chopped and shredded carrots and cabbage with salt
Pan on fire.
Heat oil.
Add rice, mustard seed and curry leaves. Puff rice, pop mustard seeds and fry curry leaves.
Add turmeric and mix.
Immediately, add ground paste. Reduce heat, and fast stir until spices are tempered (not as pungent).
Add carrots and cabbage and cook until reduced stirring frequently.
Salt to taste.
Aloo Gobi
6 T coconut oil
1 1/2 t fennel
1 1/2 onions
3/4 t turmeric
3/4 t chili powder
6 T tomato paste, but more liquidy (maybe 3 T tomato paste and 3T water)
300 g. cauliflower, uncooked florets
300 g. potato, cooked and diced
6 tomatos, quartered
150 ml milk
150 ml water
Pan on fire.
Heat oil.
Add fennel, until seeds stop popping and browning.
When almost finished popping add onions.
Cook onions until translucent and slight browning.
Add turmeric and chili powder.
Stir quickly until spices are tempered (less pungnet smell)
Add tomato paste and stir until the water reduces a little bit.
Add cauliflower and stir until it is coated in the mixture.
Add potato, stir until coated.
Add salt to taste.
Raise the heat.
Add tomatoes and stir until the tomato skins softens and the mixture is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Lower the heat and add the milk and the water at the same time.
Stir intermittantly. Put a lid on and slow cook until the mixture is creamy/thickened and the cauliflower is cooked.
Salt again and garnish with mint and coriander.
Jerra Rice
3 T coconut oil
2 t urad dal
1 t cumin
1 onion sliced
2 kashmiri chilis, broken (spiral)
2 c. uncooked rice, cooked
pinch of turmeric
pinch of salt
Heat oil in pan, medium to low heat
Add dal, no stirring, cook until brown.
Add cumin, allow to pop.
Add chili and stir rapidly.
Add onions and stir rapidly.
Add turmeric and salt and stir rapidly.
Add rice, spreading it evently over the top of the mixture.
Don't stir until you've added it all.
From start to finish its all very quick.
For garnish, fry raisins and cashews in coconut oil.
Sambar Dal
3/4 c urad dal (soft dal)
Water
Salt
3 T coconut oil
250 g. chopped onions
1 1/2 t mustard seeds
1/2 t fennelgrek
sprig of curry leaves
1 t chili powder
2 t coriander
1/2 t turmeric
tamrin (just smaller than a golf ball, soaked in water for 10 minutes)
four dashes of asafoetida powder
300 g. fresh tomatoes diced
salt to taste
First cook dal in water and salt for 15 minutes
Pan on fire.
Heat oil
Pop mustard seeds and fennelgrek and fry curry leaves.
Add onions, stir rapidly until translucent and lightly browned.
Add chili powder, coriander, & tumeric. Stir until tempered.
Add the water from the tamerin, but not the flesh.
Add a few dashes of the asafoetida powder, stir quickly.
Add tomatos and stir until soft.
Salt to taste.
Add the dal and the water and simmer for 20 minutes to boil off some of the liquid.
Coconut chutney
1 1/2 c. fresh grated coconut
sprig of curry leaves
1 green chili pepper with seeds removed
1 1/2 in of ginger peeled
6-8 shallots
1 t salt (real teaspoon, not heaping)
Place shallots and ginger and salt in the food processor
Add 1/2 coconut and a few T of water
Empty from food processor into bowl
Add the remaining 1/2 coconut with the green chili and the curry leaf and mix.
Empty into the same bowl and mix together.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Periyar Tigerless Tiger Trail
I had been trying since mid November to sign up for a camping trip through one of the national tiger reserves. When I first called, the guy said there was no way since they only allowed 5 tourists at a time and 20 tourists per week to camp over night in the park. I decided this was something I wanted to do and persisted calling every week and eventually, last week, there was a cancellation.
I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into. I can't think of a time since I was 17 that I had camped outside. It didn't occur to me that most people actually go on safaris go to look at the animals in jeeps, not on foot. I'd never seen an unchained elephant before. And that the concept of liability which generally lowers the level of risk in any activity run by an American company doesn't exist in India. But why not?
Periyar is a 770 sq. km. park. with approximately 40 tigers. The reserve is based on a man-made lake formed by a dam built by the British in 1895. (The lake still has trees sticking up from the forest which was flooded over 100 years ago.) Until partition in 1947
, the area was a British game park. The reserve was formed in the 1970s, but a federation to stop the poaching of the tigers, elephants and other endangered species was not formed until 1998. Since then they have had considerable success in eliminating the poaching and beginning to rebuild the populations of wildlife and plant life. The camping program is run by ex-poachers who split their job responsibilities between leading tourists and providing security against poachers. At least two of our six guides were former poachers.
I met up with the group I would be trekking with at the park ranger station. As with most things in India, things were a bit chaotic and got off to a late start -- or on time if you are going by "Indian time". The group consisted of three other Australian women and the six Indian guides. We started walking with Varkey, our park ranger, leading the group carrying a rifle that looked like it was a hold over from British days, and Agee, one of our trackers carrying a machete. We were all excited as we headed off.
The first part of the trek was through a part of the park where they allow many tourists to go on boats through the outer sections of the park. It's loud, and we didn't see many animals. We took a (barely floating) raft across the river and began to hike toward our first campsite. We, the tourists, were carrying our own clothes and a bottle of water. The guides were carrying food for 10 for three days, mineral water for us, tents for us, and pots, pans, plates and cutlery for the gourmet meals they were going to prepare. (Actually the food was outstanding and pretty amazing that it could be made with limited equipment and a campfire.)
By the middle of the first day, I began to think of our Indian guides as our our personal troupe of "Tiger Dundees". They could pretty much do anything, very effortlessly. Before arriving at our campsite, we had to cross the river again, but the boat was tied to an underwater tree about 20 meters from the bank. After a loud discussion (one which I believe could have been avoided if they were familiar with "rock, paper, scissor."), Sunod, one of the cooks, took the cloth he had been using to balance the 20L case of water on his head, put it on as a sarong and swam out to get the boat. (Later the sarong, became a pot holder.) When he arrived back, they realized there were no oars, so another of the guys went into the forest, cut down a branch and carved it into an oar in about 5 minutes. They scare away wild animals in the middle of the night. They light campfires in 30 seconds. One of them helped me tailor some clothes to make them jungle friendly. They remain calm when elephants are chasing them. I really felt like there was no situation they couldn't handle - either in the jungle or out. They were both very macho and very charming at the same time. And they all know how to cook like great chefs.
After a lite lunch we headed out on our first afternoon trek with our park ranger and our two trackers. The other three guides stayed back to prepare the campsite and dinner. We walked along the river edge and then up a hill with the guides pointing out various animals. Then we saw our first elephants. We were watching them, and gradually moving up the hill to get a better view. Then, the next thing I knew, our ranger had his rifle pointed above our heads and was motioning for us to get behind him. I don't think he actually said run. I think it was his expression, but we all took off up the hill, with the guides behind us, but also running. Although we were far away, the elephants had seen us and had begun charging. When we were over the crest of the hill, maybe 150 meters, we stopped to catch our breath and then continued to walk rapidly until we were upwind from the elephants. At first, although my adrenaline was pumping, I thought maybe this was something they pulled on all the trekkers since it all happened very fast and I didn't actually see the charging elephants. When we got back to our campsite for dinner, our guides were telling the story to the other guides in Malayalam so we couldn't understand, but the wild hand gestures made it pretty evident that this was not the norm. That said, despite the wild hand gestures, their expressions were excitement, not fear.
We were served an amazing dinner with soup, a main course of six different southern Indian dishes and freshly made flat bread. The guides set up two big fires along both sides of our tents and told us not to worry because they'd be up all night in shifts. They also said that we would periodically hear them scaring animals away, but not to worry. The only thing they would wake us up for was if there were elephants. I never really thought of elephants as unfriendly, but apparently since the poaching stopped, when they use to run when they saw men, they have become comfortable and even aggressive toward man. The guides have an incredibly healthy respect for the elephant's power. Anyway, the other three girls went to sleep after dinner, but since it was only 8 pm, I stayed up and learned how to play a new card game with the guides. Coincidentally, it was a variation of the game the guides in Nepal taught us when we were trekking, Nepali 29, so they were impressed when I picked up the game in the first round.
The jungle makes a lot of noise at night. It sounds exactly like one of the soundtrack options at one of my favorite spas (but they must filter out the monkeys). We were all sitting around and the jungle was making its noises and then after a noise which was totally indistinguishable to me, all six of them sat up straight. Four of them jumped to their feet with their flashlights and darted toward the water. The guy sitting next to me said "the elephants are swimming in the river." Seven words I never expected to hear, especially since I didn't know elephants could swim. He told me to wake up the other women, so I walked over to the tents and said, "wake up, the elephants are swimming in the river." We all got our shoes on and looked at each other wondering what was coming next. The guides set a few small fires and after a lot of again loud discussion, they said we could go back to sleep.
Sleep on a 30 degree angle bed of rocks is a relative term. We woke, if you can say we slept, in the morning and went in search of the elephants. Hoping to have more time looking at the elephants than running from them, the ranger decided this morning we would stay in our raft. Although we had no direct drama on the second day, we did rescue a group of day hikers from coming around a bend toward a family of nine elephants. Our raft was a little bit more underwater than I was comfortable with, but all worked out in the end. After the excitement we rowed back to our camp and had breakfast, packed up camp (which basically meant the guides packed up camp and we watched), and then headed off to our second campsite.
Our second campsite was within a large, deep, dry moat, called an elephant trench, because they can't cross them. We dropped our stuff, went for a swim in the river or bath depending on how you look at it, and then rested up for our afternoon trek.
The afternoon trek was through different terrain, further from the river. At different points, the guides were more or less guarded. When we were walking through the grassy flatland, they kept us close together and more or less formed a triangle around us. You could tell they were highly alert. At other times, they were were more relaxed
. It was amazing what they could see. We'd be walking along and they'd motion for us to stop and be quiet. Then they'd walk, completely soundlessly until they found a better view of whatever it was they found. They'd motion for us to come forward. We were never as quiet, but usually didn't scare away the animal. We did have a few more instances of the rifle being cocked and walking quickly away from something, until we made sure nothing was following us -- and thankfully, nothing else started charging toward us.
In the end, we saw tiger paw prints and tiger poo, but no tigers. We did see the following: Black monkeys, common brown monkeys, malbar squirrel, flying ants, bats, sambhar deer, common deer, wild boars, sloth bears, bison, barking deer, porcupines, leeches, honey bees, termites, dragonflies, butterflies, fireflies, kingfisher birds, long tailed drongo, cormorant, egret, kite birds, grey horn bill birds, red ants, black spiders, eagles, woodpeckers, goldfish, turtle, frogs, tadpoles, otters and lots of tribal people.
Next week, I'm heading off to Keralan cooking school and looking forward to the soft bed and lack of adventure.
I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into. I can't think of a time since I was 17 that I had camped outside. It didn't occur to me that most people actually go on safaris go to look at the animals in jeeps, not on foot. I'd never seen an unchained elephant before. And that the concept of liability which generally lowers the level of risk in any activity run by an American company doesn't exist in India. But why not?
Periyar is a 770 sq. km. park. with approximately 40 tigers. The reserve is based on a man-made lake formed by a dam built by the British in 1895. (The lake still has trees sticking up from the forest which was flooded over 100 years ago.) Until partition in 1947
, the area was a British game park. The reserve was formed in the 1970s, but a federation to stop the poaching of the tigers, elephants and other endangered species was not formed until 1998. Since then they have had considerable success in eliminating the poaching and beginning to rebuild the populations of wildlife and plant life. The camping program is run by ex-poachers who split their job responsibilities between leading tourists and providing security against poachers. At least two of our six guides were former poachers. I met up with the group I would be trekking with at the park ranger station. As with most things in India, things were a bit chaotic and got off to a late start -- or on time if you are going by "Indian time". The group consisted of three other Australian women and the six Indian guides. We started walking with Varkey, our park ranger, leading the group carrying a rifle that looked like it was a hold over from British days, and Agee, one of our trackers carrying a machete. We were all excited as we headed off.
The first part of the trek was through a part of the park where they allow many tourists to go on boats through the outer sections of the park. It's loud, and we didn't see many animals. We took a (barely floating) raft across the river and began to hike toward our first campsite. We, the tourists, were carrying our own clothes and a bottle of water. The guides were carrying food for 10 for three days, mineral water for us, tents for us, and pots, pans, plates and cutlery for the gourmet meals they were going to prepare. (Actually the food was outstanding and pretty amazing that it could be made with limited equipment and a campfire.)
By the middle of the first day, I began to think of our Indian guides as our our personal troupe of "Tiger Dundees". They could pretty much do anything, very effortlessly. Before arriving at our campsite, we had to cross the river again, but the boat was tied to an underwater tree about 20 meters from the bank. After a loud discussion (one which I believe could have been avoided if they were familiar with "rock, paper, scissor."), Sunod, one of the cooks, took the cloth he had been using to balance the 20L case of water on his head, put it on as a sarong and swam out to get the boat. (Later the sarong, became a pot holder.) When he arrived back, they realized there were no oars, so another of the guys went into the forest, cut down a branch and carved it into an oar in about 5 minutes. They scare away wild animals in the middle of the night. They light campfires in 30 seconds. One of them helped me tailor some clothes to make them jungle friendly. They remain calm when elephants are chasing them. I really felt like there was no situation they couldn't handle - either in the jungle or out. They were both very macho and very charming at the same time. And they all know how to cook like great chefs.
After a lite lunch we headed out on our first afternoon trek with our park ranger and our two trackers. The other three guides stayed back to prepare the campsite and dinner. We walked along the river edge and then up a hill with the guides pointing out various animals. Then we saw our first elephants. We were watching them, and gradually moving up the hill to get a better view. Then, the next thing I knew, our ranger had his rifle pointed above our heads and was motioning for us to get behind him. I don't think he actually said run. I think it was his expression, but we all took off up the hill, with the guides behind us, but also running. Although we were far away, the elephants had seen us and had begun charging. When we were over the crest of the hill, maybe 150 meters, we stopped to catch our breath and then continued to walk rapidly until we were upwind from the elephants. At first, although my adrenaline was pumping, I thought maybe this was something they pulled on all the trekkers since it all happened very fast and I didn't actually see the charging elephants. When we got back to our campsite for dinner, our guides were telling the story to the other guides in Malayalam so we couldn't understand, but the wild hand gestures made it pretty evident that this was not the norm. That said, despite the wild hand gestures, their expressions were excitement, not fear.
We were served an amazing dinner with soup, a main course of six different southern Indian dishes and freshly made flat bread. The guides set up two big fires along both sides of our tents and told us not to worry because they'd be up all night in shifts. They also said that we would periodically hear them scaring animals away, but not to worry. The only thing they would wake us up for was if there were elephants. I never really thought of elephants as unfriendly, but apparently since the poaching stopped, when they use to run when they saw men, they have become comfortable and even aggressive toward man. The guides have an incredibly healthy respect for the elephant's power. Anyway, the other three girls went to sleep after dinner, but since it was only 8 pm, I stayed up and learned how to play a new card game with the guides. Coincidentally, it was a variation of the game the guides in Nepal taught us when we were trekking, Nepali 29, so they were impressed when I picked up the game in the first round.
The jungle makes a lot of noise at night. It sounds exactly like one of the soundtrack options at one of my favorite spas (but they must filter out the monkeys). We were all sitting around and the jungle was making its noises and then after a noise which was totally indistinguishable to me, all six of them sat up straight. Four of them jumped to their feet with their flashlights and darted toward the water. The guy sitting next to me said "the elephants are swimming in the river." Seven words I never expected to hear, especially since I didn't know elephants could swim. He told me to wake up the other women, so I walked over to the tents and said, "wake up, the elephants are swimming in the river." We all got our shoes on and looked at each other wondering what was coming next. The guides set a few small fires and after a lot of again loud discussion, they said we could go back to sleep.
Sleep on a 30 degree angle bed of rocks is a relative term. We woke, if you can say we slept, in the morning and went in search of the elephants. Hoping to have more time looking at the elephants than running from them, the ranger decided this morning we would stay in our raft. Although we had no direct drama on the second day, we did rescue a group of day hikers from coming around a bend toward a family of nine elephants. Our raft was a little bit more underwater than I was comfortable with, but all worked out in the end. After the excitement we rowed back to our camp and had breakfast, packed up camp (which basically meant the guides packed up camp and we watched), and then headed off to our second campsite.
Our second campsite was within a large, deep, dry moat, called an elephant trench, because they can't cross them. We dropped our stuff, went for a swim in the river or bath depending on how you look at it, and then rested up for our afternoon trek.
The afternoon trek was through different terrain, further from the river. At different points, the guides were more or less guarded. When we were walking through the grassy flatland, they kept us close together and more or less formed a triangle around us. You could tell they were highly alert. At other times, they were were more relaxed
. It was amazing what they could see. We'd be walking along and they'd motion for us to stop and be quiet. Then they'd walk, completely soundlessly until they found a better view of whatever it was they found. They'd motion for us to come forward. We were never as quiet, but usually didn't scare away the animal. We did have a few more instances of the rifle being cocked and walking quickly away from something, until we made sure nothing was following us -- and thankfully, nothing else started charging toward us.In the end, we saw tiger paw prints and tiger poo, but no tigers. We did see the following: Black monkeys, common brown monkeys, malbar squirrel, flying ants, bats, sambhar deer, common deer, wild boars, sloth bears, bison, barking deer, porcupines, leeches, honey bees, termites, dragonflies, butterflies, fireflies, kingfisher birds, long tailed drongo, cormorant, egret, kite birds, grey horn bill birds, red ants, black spiders, eagles, woodpeckers, goldfish, turtle, frogs, tadpoles, otters and lots of tribal people.
Next week, I'm heading off to Keralan cooking school and looking forward to the soft bed and lack of adventure.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Tamil Nadu - southeast India
I met a British couple in the Backwaters who were heading to Ponticherry. I didn’t have any particular plans and they asked me if I wanted to come. So I went.
They had lived inDelhi several years ago and had traveled extensively in India India
They had lived in
alls and courtyards, but non-Hindus were only allowed into the first six. We also managed to hit a festival – the chariot festival, at Chidambaram. There were literally tens of thousands of Indians visiting the temple while we were there.
At the entrance to the temple complex in each city, there is a temple elephant - of course. If you hold out a rupee, the elephant will take it out of your hand with its trunk and then will bless you by tapping your head with its trunk. I decided to pass for now because the elephants, even when painted for decoration, are still really big and a little scary. Also, although its silly, I felt like I didn’t want to get to close to it with bare f
eet (you have to walk around all the temples barefoot), as if my shoes would have helped if the elephant stepped on me.
After Trichy, we took a one-hour trip to Tangore. Tangore was another town which had virtually no other tourists. We saw a few in our hotel, but when you went to the sites, there were masses of Indians visiting, coming to pray, but very few westerners. The temple at Tangore is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was different from the earlier ones because it was not painted, but the carvings were stunning and something about the shape of the temple made it a little mesmerizing.
There seemed to be less poverty in the southern parts of
On day four, we drove to
While here, we visited the Sri Aurobindo ashram. When I say visited, I mean, had a tour, but did not stay at the ashram. The couple I was traveling with had a friend involved in the ashram and one of the directors gave us a tour. The founder and his second in command, known as “The Mother” wanted to create a place to facilitate all people of all religious beliefs to meditate and find inner harmony. There are 1200 members who live in the city and exist for the most part on a barter system, offering whatever services they can, whether it be dishwasher or professor. I’m a little bit of a skeptic though. The group owns a tremendous amount of property and has an associated society with members from around the globe, but I think they tend to target big donors. One interesting tidbit of information -- I always assumed "sitting Indian-style" came from American Indians, but after visiting the ashram, and someone asking me where I learned to sit like that, I'm pretty sure its from India. I answered "kindergarden."
The Mother also started a Utopian community called Auroville about 15 km outside of Pondy. Its purpose is to broaden the ashram's goal to help a community find universal harmony. I visited it for a day. Unlike the ashram, they were more open about their challenges. The
ir goal is to create a society which does not use money and appreciates all members of society. Its especially interesting to try to create this in a country where castes are still an important social status issue. They admit they have not succeeded and that to live there you need to have support from outside family or other funds. However, the tour was very sanitized and there was little opportunity to interact with people from the community except as shopkeepers selling the community members crafts. I wanted to know why they felt were the biggest issues. Did people get along? Was it really a model for the world if you start with people who self select themselves in the community? Why couldn't they do away with money? Would people not do the work they needed to? Did they attract loafers? Regardless, for the people living there, I'm sure it was a very nice way of life. I couldn't help comparing it to a kibbutz, but the community was diverse and seemed to have a lot of communal process, rather than focusing on survival. The picture is of the groups meditation center.
We also went on a tour given by a group called INTEC which has branches in 15 Indian cities which tries to preserve and restore the buildings and historical character of the cities. However, unlike zoning laws or historical sites in the
The group in Pondy seems to be having an impact. They have identified roughly a thousand buildings they want to preserve and although they have no authority have pushed themselves into the building permit process, where they at least now get to try to influence the owner before an old building is knocked down or renovated. And their efforts are having an impact on tourism, so building owners are beginning to take notice.
They are also responsible for starting trash collection in Pondy which I view as perhaps their greatest contribution. I was thinking about one of my urban studies professors who was involved in a project called "the center city district" in Philly. The group was a non-governmental organization which collected money from businesses to privately clean the streets. The philosophy was that people would litter less if the streets were clean. When I asked the director of INTEC about it, he said he thought the Indians just assumed that now someone would clean up after them. It would be interesting to see if it would work in other Indian cities, but again, in a country without a lot of very basic services and a lot of needs, its not a high priority.
The final event of note in Pondy was the International Yoga Convention which had very few non-Indian participants. The main event was a yoga competition, scored in a similar manner to gymnastics. I saw the 10-12 year old category. It was pretty amazing what they could do, but just the same, "competitive yoga" seems to defeat the purpose. Next they'll want to make it an olympic sport.
Tomorrow I'm heading back to the west coast to go hiking in one of the national parks. I'll write more when I get back. Happy New Year and I'll see you when I return (now scheduled for January 27th.
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