Post #8: Fulbright House -- and monkeys

We had meetings yesterday at the Fulbright House in Delhi. This is the center of several activities for many of the Fulbrighters while staying in Delhi. The mansion looks a lot like the White House -- or maybe the Truman White House in Key West:

Fulbright House in New Delhi - the "White House" in India!

The Director of the US Fulbright office lives in the top floor of the mansion; it's very well cared for by multiple support help.  It is quite a spot -- lovely grounds and facilities, nice restaurant, etc. The kale greens in the picture below are from the Fulbright garden. The Fulbright Director lives the life of the expat, engaged in tons of interesting stuff in India, and living a life that is part affluent Indian and part American. A great guy.

We left Fulbright House with a full bag of wonderful veggies from the Fulbright garden, complements of the Director, to be made into dinner later that evening. 

There's always a twist in India.  We had seen monkeys throughout India, including near the center of Delhi.  We are wary of these animals given prior experiences, but they seem to ignore us in urban India, which is perfectly fine with us. 

 On the way back home, heading into the Delhi Metro station after leaving the Fulbright House, a monkey spotted the veggies in our clear bag and kept trying to steal them.  Very pushy.  Ken had to carry the bag overhead to avoid theft, with the monkey sweeping in for the steal. If Caroline was carrying the veggies, we would have been going out for dinner that night. The monkey followed us all of the way down one flight of the Metro stairs, continually looking for an opening. A little scary.

According to the Fulbright Director, the urban monkeys can be ruthless when it comes to food.  About 20 years ago he and a friend were "mugged" by a team of monkeys.  They got everything -- oranges, bananas, guavas, etc.   There were a half dozen monkeys that confronted them, and they had no choice but to give up the goods. Sounds like we were lucky that our Delhi monkey was working solo.

The Fulbright veggies made a great dinner, tasting special knowing that we were able to successfully get them all the way home. The picture below taken in the center of Delhi, but not by us (from google images):

Post #7: Varanasi - a trip to the holy

Another overnight train ride, this time to the unbelievably complicated city of Varanasi. The trains are a real experience in India -- another mass of humanity, both inside and out of the train.  Our train was many hours late, but we really didn't mind -- we got to watch the world go by from our berth...

Varanasi is an historic, cultural center and to Hindus it is the most sacred of cities. Located on the banks of the Ganges River, it is the oldest city in India, and some believe that dying in Varanasi leads to salvation.

 Holding godlike status, the Ganges River draws Hindus seeking spiritual purity. There may be lots of foreign tourists in Varanasi, but the Indian visitors to the city vastly outnumber the foreign tourists. Varanasi will likely be our most otherworldly experience in India.

Daily people come to bathe, especially at sunrise, to wash clothes,  to pray, and to defecate as needed.  Industries and individuals dump their waste.  Bodies are deposited in the belief that in the water the soul may escape. It all happens in the India's most sacred river, the Ganges.

People come to Varanasi to die, be cremated and ultimately have their ashes added to the river. Several cremations are going on at once in the pictures below.  We took a row boat ride down the Ganges at dawn, and our boatman indicated that Indians cremate all people after death, but when babies die, their bodies are not cremated but instead are given back to the Ganges.  A few minutes later, a baby's body floated by us. Whew...

The river is the center of life and death. It is holy. There are lots and lots of spiritual practices going on at the river. The Ganges is also one of the only places that many poor people have to bathe. And pee and poop.

Hindu Prayer Ceremony

Post #6: India Republic Day 2014

Almost seven decades ago, Nehru raised the new Indian flag above Red Fort in Delhi and announced to the world that the newest and largest democratic republic was being born. Every year, the country celebrates India Republic Day with a monumental parade made up of military displays, floats, animals, and music -- all in the heart of Delhi.  And two days later, the nation ends the big celebration with yet another one: "Beating the Retreat."

We got tickets and went to both events.

No cameras are allowed at the events so the pictures below are from the web  Here are a set of pictures that provide a tiny glimpse into the color of India. We have never seen a parade with as much drama, color and verve. And a passionate and very proud Indian audience in attendance. Wow.

Another wild ride in Delhi. Never have we been as crushed by humanity as we were on the way through tight security into the parade. It was more than a little scary, but well worth it after our safe arrival.

After the parade we attended a Republic Day celebration hosted at a neighborhood club. Our landlady serves on their board. There was music and a lunch of sumptuous Indian fare. The attendees were primarily the local older generation who enthusiastically celebrated Republic Day.  It provided a small peak into the lives of the privileged in Delhi.

BEATING THE RETREAT.  Historically, "beating the retreat" represents the daily truce that is called at the end of a day of battle. Marked by drums, it is the time when both armies disengage, take care of the wounded and return to their respective camps for the night. Beating the Retreat events are held in England and in India.  The Delhi events are held two nights after Republic Day, with camels, mounted horses, pomp, fancy horse drawn carriages and four 250 member high stepping bands from all the branches of the armed forces all decked out in colorful uniforms (including a wild group of Indians in kilts playing bagpipes). Most of the music was very British! The event takes place in "Central Secretariat" -- the center of old British rule in India -- it is now the center of Indian government. Quite a scene, with all the old British buildings enshrined in lights (see below).

We toured old British "Central Secretariat" a couple of weeks ago.  Over the main entrance -- carved by the Brits in stone -- are the words: "LIBERTY WILL NOT DESCEND TO A PEOPLE. A PEOPLE MUST RAISE THEMSELVES TO LIBERTY. IT IS A BLESSING THAT MUST BE EARNED BEFORE IT CAN BE ENJOYED."  It is more than a little ironic that for many generations, the British Raj ruled over India without liberty and democracy, and that India certainly paid real dues for liberty, and has now earned its place as the world's largest democracy.  Obama said in his State of the Union that "Democracy never comes easy." It certainly isn't easy here. But the British words in stone actually seem even more very fitting here after a hard won Independence -- in the Republic of India.

Post #5: Dana and Allison come to India!

Safdarjung's Tomb

Dana and Allison arrived in Delhi in fog and smog and were instantly immersed in the chaos that is Delhi on the cab ride to the apartment.  Although Delhi is not a major tourist destination, we caught day one of the International Kite festival, Safdarjung's Tomb (we had asked to go to Humayon's Tomb but that was lost in translation so we saw a different tomb), and Lodi Garden, a huge park beloved by locals and tourists alike. They then skipped out for an overnight to Agra and the Taj.

Before leaving for "vacation" in Udaipur, we went on a tour of a Delhi  bast or slum coordinated by Hope Project. Inside the Hope Project building, it was all action. The Project's focus is primarily empowering women and children,  providing affordable health care, and literacy. Their values, mission and vision statements are very UU.

These children from the Project Day Care Center lived in the basti but spent their day here while the mother's worked. We never learned how long the waiting list was but they were certainly the fortunate ones in the community.

 Our two night stay in Udaipur was a mini vacation get-away for us. We all took the 12 hour overnight train with our own sleeper (prices: Dana and Allison were $15 each, Ken (the old man) was $11 and Caroline (the old woman) was less than $9. Older women are the poorest in general. A pretty exotic experience. Priceless!

Udaipur:

Udaipur is one beautiful city! It was one of about 500 separate "princely states" often controlled by local maharajas. The princely states stayed independent for hundreds of years while the Mughals ruled most of India. Even Akbar the Great could not tame the maharajas. The Brits also let the maharajas keep a semblance of independence during the colonial era. When India won its independence, most of the maharajas wanted to create their own countries, but Nehru worked a deal that brought them into the country: the maharajas got to keep their titles and palaces as well as a government stipend in perpetuity, and India got a unified nation and democracy for the citizens of the independent states. Many of the maharajas open their palaces for tourist revenues. Cool.

Udaipur is on a large lake --the first time we had seen a body of water larger than a pond in a month! It was very welcome.  We relaxed, enjoyed the sun, toured the palace grounds and took a 4-5 mile hike (see women's post) and enjoyed mostly window shopping.

Summer Palace

Restaurant at our hotel

The Maharaja's City Palace was grand:

This Indian woman requested a photo with us (very common)

Allison on our rural hike:

After Udaipur, Dana and Allison headed out to Kerala in southern India for a time in the tropics -- a welcome change from chilly Delhi. Sleeping on boats, cruising the canals, and enjoying the welcome, sleepy pace of the backwaters after experiencing uber-hectic smoggy Delhi.

Fort Kochi with Chinese Fishing Net in Background

 

D and A's Floating Paradise

Chowing Down on Typical Keralan Fare Served on a Banana Leaf

Local Scenery from the Hotel Balcony on Aleppi Beach

After Kerala, they flew back to Delhi for one more overnight and then back to the USA. A great vacation for them, and it was wonderful for us to have them with us in India. We miss them already!

Post #4: Women and girls in India

Indian women --incredible beauty, warmth, grace and strength. And of course colors.  But if it is a hard life for most Indians, it is an even harder life for females, particularly rural females.  We spent the day with Dana and Allison on a wonderful trek in rural India with a guide, Danraj, from the rural village. We visited a village and a small rural Hindu temple and got a very, very tiny look at the life of the majority of Indians who live in the countryside.

On average, rural women spend over an hour a day collecting water -- and for some it is far more.  Four hours is the average time per week devoted to collecting firewood.  Everywhere we looked, women were responsible for herding the goats. They may be short of stature, but they are very, very long on strength due to daily labor demands.

While on the road, our guide introduced us to three women and their herd of goats. It was obvious that we were with rural women, living as their ancestors had lived for centuries. Three generations of women -- grandmother, mother and daughter -- walking with their goats. Timeless. Wonderful....

...the hard part, though, is that while they all were connected at present, their "family" had changed  for them over time. The grandmother married her husband and moved into his house in another village. It is not acceptable for girls to marry into families of the same village.  Almost all rural women move to new villages, with many living far away from their home village. She therefore may not have had much contact with her birth family after marriage.

The mother also came from another village to join the household and thus the grandmother is her mother-in-law, not her mother. And the young girl to the left? She will soon leave her mother and grandmother and her village to join the family of her husband. A painful time for all three women.

In the village Danraj (on right) introduced us to his sister's two kids -- a boy and a girl (see below). His sister lives with her husband about 10 km away from Danraj's family village.  She moved there after the arranged marriage. Her son will likely live out his life in the Mom's village -- and provide a semblance of economic security to his mother. Her daughter will almost definitely move away upon marriage. Her economic future will be tied to her new husband's family.

If you are a woman, it really pays to have a son. Your family stays close by, and your son will likely provide for any economic security she may have in later years. Not so with a daughter.  Parents say they would never ask their daughters for help. She is tied to her new family and ties to the birth family are -- if not severed -- severely limited due to constraints on her time and needing to obtain permission from her husband or mother-in-law to visit her parents.

The reality of all this is much closer to us now that we are here. Real people, real lives. This girl's life has many complications ahead.