Always Something Going On

My time in India went well. I gained a better understanding of how university students there think and how they use the Internet, and I had a good planning time in Bangalore.

Finally on my last day in country I began feeling comfortable, but I left with more questions about the culture than I came with. For example, Mumbai is home to 4 of the 6 richest people in the world, but it also is home to Asia’s largest slum. Why do the ultra rich live there? How can huge slums exist in the middle of a city where real estate prices are high?

My first reaction on seeing some of the slums was pity. But from two different sources I heard this story: As land owners develop a piece of land, they are required by law to build free housing for any slum dwellers their development displaces. In the past when this has been done, the displaced slum dwellers take their new apartment and rent it out to someone else while they move their slum to another location and continue living in it! Whether this is true or not, I don’t know, but either way it highlighted how far from my own culture I had traveled and how long it would take me before I had a good understanding of the mysteries of India.

Brain Masala

Fried brain masala with naan bread was today’s lunch. Hmm good. It had the consistency of tofu (the brains, that is), but the masala spices overpowered any flavor the brain itself had. It was a challenge getting my mind to eat brain. I can now check this off the list of things to do before I die. It wasn’t really on the list actually….

Today we got blocked from entering two campuses, so we didn’t get to talk to any students there. And on a third campus where we were welcomed by the administration, we were not able to talk to any students. So we didn’t connect with any students today, but we learned a lot about the difficulties of connecting with them in general. I think it illustrates the need to find other ways, like the Internet, to connect with students other than visiting a campus.

• transvestite eunuch beggars, hijra
• enormous slums beneath expensive real estate
• people everywhere
• muslim calls to prayer
• everyone has an angle on you; beggars, swindlers, salesmen, etc.
• everyone is sweeping and cleaning, but the streets are still dirty
• eating rice and curry (and everything) with your fingers
• free range cattle – ranging everywhere in the city
• city goats – shepherded by children
• black and yellow taxis everywhere, horns always honking

As much as I like my work, by comparison it just seems a little mundane. That’s good, because it means things have gone fairly smoothly and we’ve been able to make plans and talk to students here in this city.

On the back of a motorcycle

Getting to church this morning involved a half hour ride across town on Robin’s motorcycle. Before we left I asked him if I could drive, but he just laughed.

After a while it got easier. By the trip home I was taking pictures and video and could have sent a text message from my phone just like everyone else riding on the back of all the other motorcycles.

This beats all.

I generally try to avoid McDonalds in other countries. Why eat the worst of American culture somewhere else? But this one was too hard to resist, and my Indian friends wanted to eat there. A Chicken Maharaja Mac. Just sounds funny.

Over lunch I learned why cows are sacred but not chickens, how students pay for university, how the caste system works and where foreigners fit into it.

Before and after lunch I learned how students use the Internet in India, but there were no surprises there. Google, Facebook, and lots of time online were consistent among the thirty or so students I talked with.

Bangalore Street

After arriving in Bangalore at 12:30 am today I was surprised at how functional I was the rest of the day – until 4:30 when my brain decided it really wanted to sleep. After a 15 minute nap I headed out for a walk on the street near where I’m staying. It was quite a contrast to the quiet office I worked in all day!

Everyone that I stopped to photograph was really friendly. They all smiled back at me, and two guys even asked me to take their picture. I feel much more comfortable here now than I did 12 years ago.

Breakfast and lunch today were curry, as I’m sure dinner will be as well. It is being served now, so it’s time for me to eat.

Jerry and Friends, Bangalore, India

My upcoming trip to South Asia got me digging out some old photos of my last (and only) visit there back in 1997. It was my first trip outside Western culture, and it was quite a memorable experience. I returned with far more questions than I had left with.

At the time, Bangalore was a developing tech center for the world, and the U.S. was outsourcing a lot of work there. But nothing I saw resembled any high tech center I had seen before. It was all quite unfamiliar.

This was also where I had my first mango. I was hooked after the first one. My friends sent me back home with a whole bag of big, tree-ripened mangoes, but the U.S. customs agent in Atlanta confiscated them and wouldn’t even let me eat one before he tossed them in the trash. Now the best I can usually do is find dried mango at the grocery store; the fresh ones just aren’t the same.

I’m hoping my next trip there will leave me with a better understanding of how this part of the world thinks and lots of opportunities to eat their delicious food!

I posted a few more of my photos from 1997 over on Flickr.