Moving Forward

After 16 years of planning, corruption and construction, the Bangalore Metro started running for the first time this week. As in most cities, a metro system is a source of pride for the people who live there.  Bangalore is no exception and I noticed that Jacob looks for any reason to ride it, even though it does not really go anywhere just yet.  There are currently just five stops and most of the riders where clearly there for a joyride, I felt it was a well-spent 14 rupees (30 cents).  The metro is elevated and gives a different perspective of the city. The trip just took 15 minutes and it would have taken nearly an hour to cover that distance by auto.  After the ride there was local television and media asking riders about the experiance.

In other news:  Last night I sampled some nightlife that was a little bit more becoming of a cosmopolitan city, although not fully.  Ice is a private club where dancing AND drinking is actually permitted (the two have been illegal in Bangalore for almost a decade, city leaders have evidently have not gotten the "Footloose Memo" from Oklahoma).  It was "ladies night" and unlike in the US and most of my college days, there were actually a majority ladies there.  Although I must say that many were not very lady-like.  Women get in for free and drink for free, evidently subsidized by the men affluent enough to pay the $20 cover. Lucky for me I got in for free and drank watered down drinks mostly for free, as I was with the foreign entourage (AKA, USAC students).  The Indian women pushed and shoved in the bar line and abused the bartender in ways that would surely get them cut off in most places in the US. One woman lost her high heal in the pool and I saw two inebriated women being wheeled out in wheelchairs drooling on themselves.  Others were well past control of motor and verbal skills.  I will add that this is obviously not a depiction of all Indian women, or even most who frequent this particular establishment, but clearly a result of the contradictions in a temperant culture (similar paralles to the US), although the pushing and shoving seems endemic to these places in India.  Last call was at 11:30, a full half-hour after the legally mandated cut-off.  I walked out feeling stone-cold sober as I'm pretty sure my screwdrivers were just orange juice.

This week is Diwali, the most celebrated Hindu holiday.  I am not sure what I am doing for Diwali other than buying fireworks, especially since I live next to a bunch of monotheists.  Right now I feel like this is the summer that will not end (the heat is oppressing me), and it is 4th of July all over again.  One thing I know for sure is that Metallica is in one week and I can't wait (although I have yet to receive the tickets I ordered).

Here comes the train! Most notable here is that there are women driving some of the trains.  It is the first time I have seen women involved in anything related to transport in India.  In all, a metro is a huge step forward for a city and it seems to be making other big steps simultaneously.  The stations gave the feel of a modern, cosmopolitan city of the future.

This crazy box reminded me of the computer HAL in "2001:  A Space Odyssey."  Was it really going to trip me in an emergency?  Or was this machine telling me my chakras were out of alignment?

Away we go!  This was the smoothest ride I have had since my Air France flight touched down in Bangalore two months ago.  It gave a totally different perspective of the city, I imagine this cityscape will change shortly as it becomes prime real estate in the not so distant future.  In the background is what I think is the first mosque I've shown in my "Land of a Million Gods," there is always a Hindu temple nearby (to the right).  Despite my fatigue of learning all the gods of India,   I will go to a mosque to hear about Allah and the prophet Mohammed if the opportunity comes up, but so far this is the most elusive of the religions I have encountered in India (not the case in other experiences I have had i.e. Palestine).

Here is a bird's eye of a shanty town adjacent to a working class neighborhood.

It is good to see a smile on Daryn. I need to get her a shirt that says "I beat dysentery"

This is MG (Mohandas Gahndi) Road near the city center of Bangalore.  We ate on the top floor of that high rise for lunch.  Yummy.  

Ok, the only disappointment of this whole day was that Indians did not break out into random and sudden Bollywood dancing at the train station.  I thought this was expected of all Indians?

Katie was interviewed by TV9 about her experience riding the metro.  They clearly wanted a foreigner's opinion and I gave a brief statement.  I wanted to say how I "was so impressed that it did not smell of pee and poop." I say that not as a commentary about India (although that would be factually true), but more as a commentary about metro systems in general.

Ok, I admit that I am not "with it" and can barely grasp the fundamentals of a basic McDonaldized social networking site like Facebook, but this ad just seems wrong on so many levels to me. In my day "poke" meant something totally different than whatever the presumed meaning is here.  And whatever this is about, nobody had better go poking me anything in class.  Lastly and most importantly, and I really hope a Vodafone India executive is reading this:  DO NOT EVER USE VODAFONE IF YOU EVER WANT TO USE THE INTERNET, LET ALONE FACEBOOK!  This is a terrible service, stay the hell away from Vodafone India.

Daryn has her mom and sister visiting this weekend.  Here they are in the auto, perhaps most amazing is that the meter is actually on (this is Jacob's doing).

So I have gotten pretty good at riding on the back of Jacob's "two wheeler," here I am just snapping pictures of the streets, I have to admit it is pretty fun especially on Saturday morning when traffic is relatively light and you can go sorta fast.




So I don't have the best pics ever on the back of the bike, but here is my favorite type of "two wheeler" type:  The typical Indian family of four out for a ride on a bike built for one.

Stay tuned for reports on Diwali and Metallica.

McIndia

What follows are a few thoughts from the last week or two in India.  This week's theme of my class was McDonaldization.  I think it was a great week and have become recommitted to the whole concept of a professor actually "teaching" something.

I didn't realize "nuisance" was a crime, I had better watch my P's and Q's.

Mean God.

This is the famous "Bull Temple" in Bangalore.  He is kind of a goofy-friendly looking god.  I sorta felt like I was in line at Disneyland.

This is a Jain Temple.  As per prior posts, I am not a good student of religion.  I don't know much about Jains other than they don't eat any foods that grow underground.  This was the first religious place in Bangalore where nobody wanted to talk to me, perhaps it was because I had garlic and onion breath from lunch.  Since nobody spoke to me, I still don't know anything about Jains.

I see that Thanksgiving is a possibility in India.  We just need to figure out a way to get real football.

Ritzer's "McDonaldization" is required reading for one of my classes.  I made my students go to McDonald's to get a feel for McDonaldization, Indian style (this didn't seem to be a problem for most of them).  I figured I needed to do the same, I ordered the "Big Spicy Paneer Wrap."  Paneer is an Indian cheese similar in consistency to firm tofu.  I have to admit this meal was pretty good, I've been trying to tell Neuilly that McDonald's fixed their food, but I don't think I can convince.  I was not ill afterwards, which is a difference compared to the U.S. Of course there is no beef in Indian restaurants, Hindu cows can graze without fear or remorse just beyond the windows featuring the Golden Arches.  The best part were the fries (patate frites for you Frenchies), they had the taste of... sniff...  Idaho.  I realize that Ritzer probably would probably want to kill me for this learning exercise in his name, but I will tell him that my "unMcDondaldized" classroom was pretty good.  We met outside under a gazebo and discussed the pros and cons of McDonaldization in India.  I felt it was a great experience. 

Sometimes random acts of creativity can make the task of grading a joy, especially in India.  This particular student wanted to share his visualization of Marx's "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844" I think it gives an much needed update to this otherwise ancient text.  

Urban gardens are pretty standard in Bangalore.  I like this snapshot because it has some contrasts.  My flat is off to the left, Oracle call center is in the background.  A grove of bananas separates us.  I want Oracle's bandwidth.  

Sri Lanka

Margaritaville of the East, only drawback was the various beach shacks' instance of playing house music, how about some Marley or at least Jimmy Buffet?

A well-timed string of Indian holidays meant almost 6 full days of no class or scheduled work.  After some deliberation and reflection, I decided that I needed to go to Sri Lanka for a short holiday... err, I mean work retreat.  I was excited to visit this country and go on somewhat of an agnostic's pilgrimage to some sacred Buddhist sites.  The country is so beautiful, probably one of the most striking I have seen.  The food was as good as Indian food, even more flavorful, they did offer Western breakfast, which I indulged in (I miss Western breakfast).



Compared to India, Sri Lanka is a very different type of place and a completely different vibe.  There was almost no litter on the streets, the air is clean and even crisp, in the mountains you could drink water from the tap, cars stop to let pedestrians cross streets and there is virtually no honking.  I attribute the relaxed and chill environment to Buddhist culture and perhaps less temperance. I really liked this place and hope to visit again, soon.

I met up with three USAC students (Jessica, Rian and Max) the first day at the Tropic Inn at Mount Lavina, south of Colombo.  We agreed to hire a driver and see where it took us.  We headed east to the mountains, then south to the beaches.  So much to see.  Our clan was perfect, I give them all A's for travel spirit, conversation, easy going attitude and general drinkability.  Lets hope they can match that in the classroom.

Breakfast overlooking the city of Kandy.  I meant to buy candy in Kandy but forgot.

This is the first clean water I have seen since I left Idaho.  The water from the taps were even good enough to drink.  Kandy was a beautiful city and could have spent a week on this place alone.

A view from the walls surrounding the Buddhist temple containing a relic of the the tooth of Buddha

I love these carvings, they are all over the Angkor Wat in Cambodia.   These are apsaras, kind of the Buddhist equivalent of angels

I made a floral offering to the temple.

Outside the temple.

A view of Kandy.  There is a large Buddha statue on the hill on the left.

A view of the temple of buddhist tooth.

We briefly visited a tea plantation and factory.  I think we were the only tourists in there that day, but there was a staff of 6 or 7.

We enjoyed delicious tea after our tour. 

Our driver, Desmond, was great.  Desmond's Christian name is "Brian," he really warmed up to us as the trip progressed he was a great tour guide. I would recommend him to anyone visiting.

Much of the country is lush and tea farms and spice plantations dot the interior landscape.  The forested areas are under threat from clear-cutting.

We caught a magnificent sunset, I would see the sun rise the very next day from the top of Adam's Mountain.

We got up at 2AM to make a trek to see the sunrise from the top of the famous "Adam's Peak."  After three hours of walking we arrived at the top to find a small house and a funny, hermit like man who offered us tea.  There were other foreigners there and we shared biscuits. The woman in the middle didn't seem to like it and complained a lot, I don't  think she knew how lucky she is.

Given the altitude wind and sweat drenched clothing, I was actually cold for the first time since leaving Idaho.    

We made it!  Daybreak at the top of the mountain.

Sun peaking up from the side of the house on the top of the mountain. 

Such natural beauty and wonder.

Looking northwest.

Bell some ring when they reach the top

Look carefully and you can see the shadow cast by the mountain on the clouds.

The top had a small temple where lore says is a footprint of the Buddha during his third trip to the island. Christianity and Islam legend holds that it is Adam’s footrprint from when he was first cast out of Eden.  It was interesting to see a site held sacred by four of the world’s major religions (Hindus say it is Shiva’s footprint).  I never actually got to see the alleged print as it was locked up in a strange looking encasement.  This last picture is looking back about halfway down the incline.

Off to the beach town of Unawatuna on the southwest part of the island.  On this night I pulled rank on the students and took the "professor's suite."  I slept a good 10 hours while they were out enjoying the night life.  I can't accept that I am getting old, ah, the impermanence of it all.

One last shot of Unawatuna from hotel balcony before it is time to go back.  That is a Buddhist pagoda on the cape.

Rural Indian Villages

This weekend's service learning activity was to visit two rural villages outside of Bangalore.  I was happy to breath somewhat fresh air.  They do not speak English in these areas so most exchanges were through interpretations and other forms of intercultural communications I have become accustomed too.  We mostly spoke with women as most of the men were working the fields.  In one of these villages, the women have formed a "self-help"cooperative to lobby the government for basic services.  They explained how they have become empowered as a result and life has improved as basic services have arrived (power, roads, health, education).

Unlike in the US, where food may travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometers between field and plate, most food for Indian cities is grown locally (the exception is wheat grain, which is imported from Russia and US).  Feeding three times the US population on one third of the area taxes the land extensively.  This combined with child marriage and lack of family planning has created a Malthusian nightmare.  Out of this dilemma has emerged two perspectives, one embracing a "modern" chemical-industrial model and another promoting imperatives of "traditional" conservation and sustainable agriculture.  Much of India's mystery lies in understanding the clash between modernity and tradition and agriculture is no exception.  I could not tell which one was winning here, but was told that India had briefly experimented with the pseudo-scientific and disastrous Soviet Lysenko agricultural method in the 70's to great consequence.  I do not think there is a third way out of this.

Country roads about 1.5 hours outside of Bangalore 

A one-room school house where children learn in the native Kannada language.  

Students are singing a song to USAC students.  The USAC students returned the gesture. 

From what I can tell this is showing some sustainable agricultural and timber practices, like "don't chop down all the trees" and "don't put plastic bottles in your compost."  I'm not going to learn Kannada (a Sanskrit derivative) here, except to argue with auto-rickshaw drivers.

How cute is that?

Woman walking her pet bull on a long leash.  The house in the background looks quite fancy, but I was told that as many as 35 family members may be in a single home.

A meeting at a micro-finance cooperative.  It was pretty cool to interact with these women as they seem empowered and have talked of having their living standards improve since organizing.

I was invited into several homes, they were very welcoming and eager to share.  A rural home typically has a flooring made of cow dung, extended families are the norm here.

Kids playing on the roof of a home.  My mother would not approve.

A woman demonstrated to me how to "appropriate" power from DC lines running through the village.  You can see how they hook bare wires into the bare transmission lines.  I'm sure doing so often results in a jolt.

Kids waiving goodbye.

Bangalore Jail (Now Freedom Park)

It seems that a theme has developed in my travels where I end up visiting an old prison or jail (voluntarily).  I've seen some really horrific prisons such as the infamous Khmer Rouge, Toul Sang "reeducation camp" in Phnom Penh and some relatively "quaint" places like the Old Idaho State Penitentiary.  This is the old Bangalore jail used by the British to house political prisoners and other rabble rousers, the British almost bankrupted themselves trying to build prisons for everyone. For an Indian, being imprisoned under British Rule was a badge of honor, Ghandi was in one of these several times and for many years.  I had to see this place as I am a big proponent of "deviant heroes" in my scholarship and otherwise.  

The Indians have turned this prison in to a museum and Freedom Park. They have been holding demonstrations against corruption here quite frequently.  Foreigners are advised to avoid such demonstrations so I came on a day when protesters took a day off.  I had never seen an old prison quite like this, it was painted, cleaned and aesthetically transformed.  

Me posing in the admissions hall.

This one was built in a somewhat panoptic form, with a central tower surrounded by cell blocks as spokes around a hub. The design gave some interesting photo perspectives.

Each of these cell blocks housed 100 prisoners, according to inscriptions, all of them were political prisoners.

The main entrance to the old jail and a chance to photo some Indians nonchalantly 

Ok CSI wannabes:  I had an accident with a catchup bottle (I am a very clumsy person, not a good trait in a land of glass containers and tile floors).  Which is blood and which is catchup? This looked worse than it really was, but I did feel like Bruce Willis in a "Die Hard" movie. I've heeled nicely.