Rajasthan

Namaste!

Sorry for the delay in blog posts. I had to post them at once because I have been traveling with lack of access to internet. (Thanks to my friend Prashant who I have been calling daily to get my internet card to work.) I have one post which actually goes before this one, but I can’t post it until I get back to Delhi because I have it saved in a different location.

Emily and I have been really busy traveling in Rajasthan. It’s been a combination of work and pleasure for me, but all of it has been a lot of fun and much different from my previous travels in India. We started the trip in Alwar, Rajasthan, where we met my Fulbright advisor for a conference on Decentralization and Rural Governance. The conference itself was held at the Dadhikar Fort (although we stayed at a local hotel). Besides eating all types of delicious food (including Rajasthani food), people from all over India and the world were brought together to discuss the impact of Panchayati Raj. Panchayati Raj is an Indian law which was passed in 1999 to reserve 33% of the seats on local village councils for women. The law acts as an empowerment mechanism for women because they are granted access to service on the local governing body.

The studies presented in this conference provide empirical evidence that the presence of women on Panchayats has a positive impact on the provision of public services. One of those public services includes the provision of clean drinking water. In addition, they were able to show that health services and other infrastructure (electricity, roads, etc.) have improved after women had been allotted seats on the Panchayats. Because women are primarily responsible for providing water to their households, granting them this access to decision-making authority is shown to have positive outcomes.

Interestingly, this pro-women conference was led by a large group of men. There were a number of women present, but none of them presented any papers. This is interesting considering the fact that the papers recognized that appointing women as the head of household makes the entire household less vulnerable to shocks caused by natural disasters (flood, drought, etc.) and family problems (loss of job, illness, etc.).

One of the especially interesting papers was presented by a professor of economics at Brown University. His unique approach led to the conclusion that bribes are an effective way of obtaining your desired result. After being probed for clarification by the crowd, he clarified that it was an effective mechanism when working with an imperfect governance structure. In particular, he found that the poor were able to influence their elected leaders into obtaining their desired outcome. In village Panchayats, individuals are confronted with the question of voting for the most competent and effective leader or the leader with whom they agree in terms of policy. Individuals tend to vote for the competent leader rather the one that agrees with their views. Then, they bribe the official to act in the manner which benefits them.

Enough on the research presented at the conference. I have to say that the setting was absolutely incredible. The opening took place beneath the stars in this beautiful fort in Rajasthan. We enjoyed so much good food every day. The Rajasthani thali was probably the most interesting. We had a little taste of many typical Rajasthani dishes. Rajasthani food is considered by most Indians to be rather dry. Because Rajasthan is situated in the desert, it was difficult to obtain fruits and vegetables for food preparation. Therefore, many of the foods are made of lentils and different types of flours. For example, they make corn flour rotis and mixed grain rotis which are quite delicious. To my surprise, Indian sweets are growing on me. My favorite thing at the conference was the kulfi (a pistachio/almond ice cream), but I also liked the gulab jamun and halwa. Most sweets are full of lots of sugar, ghee, and milk which taste pretty good after finishing a very spicy meal.

At the conclusion of the conference, we visited the Sariska Tiger Reserve, and I am pleased to announce that I saw my first tiger, twice! It was pretty exciting. I was sitting next to my advisor who planned the entire conference, so he was thrilled to say the least! At this park, 22 tigers were poached in 2004, and they have since introduced other tigers. There are currently 7 in the park, which they track. Therefore, it feels a little like cheating that we saw the tiger because they had been tracking it. However, we were still very lucky. The tiger had apparently been resting since 8:00am and decided to wake up for a yawn when we arrived around 4:30pm. Emily even managed to snap some pictures!

From Alwar, Emily and I went on to Jaipur and are on our way to Jodhpur. She has written up a very nice description of what we have been doing. You can check it out on her blog with some pictures at Emily-solongstatusquo.blogspot.com.

Stay in touch and I hope to talk with you soon.

Margaret

P.S. My Hindi skills have been quite effective in keeping our expenses down traveling. Sure, I attract a lot of attention as a white, female Hindi speaker, but I can usually get much closer to the Indian prices by speaking Hindi. It also came in handy at the train station when our train to Jodhpur left four hours late!

This picture was taken on the bus between Alwar and Delhi.

This is taken from inside the fort in Alwar.

The fort itself. It's a great place for a conference.

On the way to Sariska Tiger Reserve.

Emily caught the lion mid-yawn!

Amber Fort - Jaipur, Rajasthan

All pictures copyright Emily TeKolste.

The Party Scene in Mussoorie

The Party Scene in Mussoorie

I am wrapping up my study at the Language School next week! I can’t believe that I have already been in India for almost four months and am almost finished with my formal Hindi study. I think overall I will be ready to be working and using my Hindi rather than going to class and studying every day, but I am definitely going to miss Mussoorie. I have made some very nice friends, and I really love this amazing place! However, I also know that I am ready to make my next step and need to be challenged to use my Hindi more consistently. I think that the first month in the village will be really valuable for my Hindi. Right now, most of it’s in my head. After a few weeks, I expect it to come out more and improve quite a bit. Before going to the village, I am going to a conference and doing a bit of traveling in Rajasthan, so hopefully my Hindi soaks in over that time.

This past weekend was full of parties. On Friday night, we had a final Landour Lecture Series event which featured music. A sitar player who got his Ph.D. in Sitar and who is teacher at Woodstock treated us to some Twilight Ragaas. These were absolutely beautiful. I remember going to a sitar concert last year at Woodstock, but all I can remember is how the musicians flipped their hair, not the music itself. In a way, classical sitar music is bound because many of the songs include only a certain number of notes. However, on the other hand, it is totally spontaneous. Using five notes, Mr. Maiti made up the songs on the spot. He also explained that in sitar music once the speed of the music increases in a song, it cannot be slowed again. Therefore, he would start off kind of slow and gradually increase speed. After the sunset, we enjoyed some dinner at our venue, DevDar Woods which is a local hotel here in Mussoorie. The meal included hot chapatis, raita (yogurt spiced with some garbanzo beans in this case), rajma (kidney beans), vegetable jafrazzi (a mix of vegetables topped with a bit of paneer, and some chocolate chip ice cream (which was either pretty good or I have been in India too long). To finish off the night, one of the language students played his guitar and treated us to some Irish folk music. This turned into a sing-a-long of everyone coming up with songs they knew, and a few of the Indian guys showed off their guitar skills on American tunes.

On Saturday, I went to one of my women’s Church groups. Because it will probably be my last time, we threw a small party. Everyone brought a dish – chole (chickpeas), rajma (kidney beans), rice, puri (fried roti), aloo mutter (potatoes and peas), and even a fruit salad. I brought the sweets – no bake cookies and cookie dough balls (the two easiest things to make without an oven). The sweets were definitely a hit! We enjoyed each other’s company and the delicious food. Being my last meeting, I agreed to speak on Genesis 13 (we have been making our way through Genesis since I arrived). Before going, I wrote everything I wanted to say in Hindi and had my teacher (another regular at these events) to check it. The story was about Abram and Lot dividing land because they had been fighting. I basically focused on peace and non-controversial topics. Probably the hit sentence from my talk was that “If governments would read this story, there wouldn’t be so much fighting over borders.” The women love this! And I would like to note that I executed the Hindi hypothetical tense flawlessly. =)

After this little party, I headed back to Woodside for party round 2. My neighbors invited almost the entire Woodstock community to our house, which was a lot of fun! A few of my friends from the language school also dropped by, and we had a really nice time. The open house from 2:00-5:00 was extended to about 7:00pm because we were all having so much fun. I also learned about a musician I was deprived of up until this point in my life – Tom Lehrer. He wrote a lot of political satire songs in the 1960s before returning to his position as a professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Some of the funniest which can be found on youtube for those of you who have also been deprived are “The Vatican Rag” and “We Will All Go Together When We Go.”

On Sunday, I went to the Christmas program at the Church I have been attending. It was a bit different from any I have been to the U.S. but really fun. Although the kids sung some basic Christmas carols, including Jingle Bells in both Hindi and English, my favorite had to be the three young women who were obviously embarrassed but danced to a popular Christian Hindi song.

On Monday evening, I went to another cooking class where we made delicious dal makhani and green peppers with potatoes. It was delicious! Afterwards, I met up with an Australian doctor who has been living in India for years and currently works with an organization on health care and water projects in local villages. I am hopefully going to make a trip to one of the villages with her contacts next week. This should give me some ideas for my upcoming survey. My friend Emily is coming to visit me starting on Saturday. We should have a lot of fun together.

Lots of love,

 Margaret

These are the ladies from my Church group. The young woman on the far left is my teacher Babita. Sunita is my other good friend who 

This is a picture from the Christmas program at the Kellogg Church. Babita and Simon on the right in the front coordinate all the music for the Church.

This is Anita's daughter and Brashinsa (Seema's daughter). I know Brashinsa a bit better. She is a sweet young girl in the eighth grade (if you can believe it).

Laughing at my Hindi Mistakes

Namaste,

I thought I would share with you some of my fun learning Hindi. My understanding of Hindi is improving quite a bit as is my speaking. However, I frequently make mistakes, and some of them are funnier than others. Some can also be quite embarrassing. Not only do I often go, instead of come to school, and take rather than bring my book, but I also often mix up homophones. These can make for some hilarious situations. Here are some specific instances that have happened to me:

-          I put a house in my apple pie crust. (instead of butter)

-          I printed apples. (rather than peeled them)

-          I drove a watch. (instead of a car)

-          I commented on how beautiful the bottles were in the sky. (instead of the clouds)

-          I told my teacher my trees were cold. (instead of my feet)

-          I burped Hindi. (instead of studied Hindi)

-          My most embarrassing moment was when I told someone I had sex, rather than saying “I went running this morning.” [My teacher gave me this really funny look and asked (in English) what I was trying to stay. I told him I went running. Then, he handed me the dictionary to show me what I actually said. I won’t make that mistake again.]

As far as other things, I made one of my favorite Punjabi dishes on Monday night as part of my cooking class: saag (spinach) with corn flour roti. It was delicious. Last week, I also took two short hikes because my Fulbright friend came to visit Mussoorie. We went back to Flag Hill, to the Everest House, and a new hike for me was to Binag Tibba. We walked up to a temple. The entire trip was supposed to take six hours, but we were up in back in three. Afterwards, we stopped by the Everest House which was close by. I am attaching some pictures of these outings.

For Thanksgiving, I did not do anything special on the day of. However, this weekend, I attended two Thanksgiving dinners: one is a group of Americans and the other is with Language School students. I made pumpkin risotto which turned out really well (thanks to Mom sending me some vegetable broth) and apple crumble. Yum! You would think I was gaining weight here in India from all the good food I eat, but (un)fortunately for me, not everything is clean (no matter how hard I try to be hygienic, I have gotten sick a few times). Luckily, the meds seems to work, and I can get almost any prescription over the counter. I bought two doses of this medicine for 150 Rs (a.k.a. $3). It’s quite a deal! I guess I should take orders before I head back to the U.S.! Just kidding!

It’s fun for me to joke about the health system a bit, but it really is a big problem here in India. There really is no public health system and no primary care. Also, when you go to the doctor, they both over-prescribe and don’t really listen to what you need. Indeed many people don’t know what to do when they encounter a health issue or don’t have the funds to pay for their medicines and treatment. For example, a friend of mine who had a heart attack three years ago (he is in his thirties) waited five days before going to the hospital because his wife was out of town. By the time he went, a lot of damage had been done (which could have been prevented). Now, he is struggling both to pay for his medications and understand what medicines he is supposed to be taking and when. His wife works so hard because he is unable, but it is not enough. They have three beautiful children and are incredibly wonderful people.

I just finished reading Amartya Sen’s book India’s Development and Participation. Despite India’s recent rise in economic terms, there are so many problems to be worked out. Clean water obviously remains a problem across the entire country. Especially in big urban cities like Delhi, it’s impossible for anyone to drink the tap water without getting sick. Unfortunately, it’s not just cow manure, etc. you have to worry about. Industrial pollution is a huge problem. In addition, the education system has such a long way to go. Rather than funnel money into education, the Indian government chooses to invest more in the Indian military.

I don’t want to end on a bad note at all because despite all its problems, I really love India. The people here are more generous than they should be at times. The lifestyle is so vibrant, and the food is really good! It’s a work in progress, as is the U.S., but sometimes I wish they could invest in things like sewer systems and organized trash pick-up.

That’s it for now. Happy Holidays to everyone back home!

Lots of love,

Margaret

Yes, I know my eyes are closed, but here I am at Flag Hill in my Indian wool suit.

The November sunsets are quite famous here in Mussoorie. From this picture you can see the Winterline.

 The ascent of the trek to Binag Tibba.

 We reached the top already? This temple looked a lot farther away than it actually was.

 Some of the nice river views below.

This will hopefully make it on the Fulbright home page next year. Two water researchers jumping off a hill at the Everest House.

Here is the Everest House being taken over by goats.

Another beautiful sunset!

The Everest House and Diwali Pictures

The Everest House and Diwali Pictures

I think I forgot to mention it in my blogs, but George Everest, the famous British surveyor for whom Mount Everest is named, had a house in Mussoorie. I went there on the Monday after my trek. Here are some pictures from the property.

You can walk all around the property.

 This is the wishing well.

One of the views from the house.

 Unfortunately, the house itself has fallen into disrepair. It's really rundown with graffiti all over it. However, the scenery from the house is gorgeous!

 There is a small hill outside the house decorated with Tibetan prayer flags. It's really beautiful!

Here are the streets of Mussoorie decorated for Diwali!

As I mentioned in my blog, the sweet shops were packed!

I have two quick monkey stories for you.

On Monday, Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, came after me. I'm not sure what this is telling me. Anyway, I was walking from my house with a bag full of buckwheat flour when I ran into a few monkeys on the path. They apparently wanted to make some roti because a monkey (with one arm) came at me with one and tried to steal my flour. Luckily, I moved swiftly, yelled fiercely, and got it away managing to hang onto my flour.

This morning I had a much scarier encounter. I was on my way to school and not carrying any food in my hands. All of a sudden, I came across a huge group of monkeys (the macaques which I hate!). I decided to walk past them as usual but got scared when I got up close. I backed away and picked up a rock which most people use to scare them. I through the rock in the monkeys' direction in an effort to make them run down the hill and away from me. My plan backfired because they all started chasing me! I ran away screaming and trying to hiss (not very effectively). Fortunately, they retreated but were still blocking the path. I didn't think I would be able to make it to school, especially because I was hiding right inside my neighbor's gate. After a minute or two, they moved on down the hill to pester someone else, and I made it to school.

I am back to carrying my umbrella now. (However, I think the monkeys are especially aggressive these days because there are so many fireworks going off all the time. Plus, people probably throw directly at the monkeys. I would probably attack too.) I am was lucky though because none of them bit me. I am saved from the rabies treatment for now. =)

Happy Diwali!

Namaskar all and Happy Diwali!

Coming back from Kuari Pass was a bit of a letdown at first, but the time has been well spent! I have been continuing my four hours of Hindi classes a day and picked up my first Garhwali class last week. My Hindi has made me quite functional here in India as I get to put it to use quite a bit. I really enjoy speaking with the people around me and understanding what I hear as I meet people walking down the street. It’s also a bonus when I leave Mussoorie because few people expect the white young American to speak Hindi. Rather, most Indians expect foreigners to come to India to do yoga and meditation.

Here is a quick note on the election to give you a feel for the Mussoorie-Indian perspective on the American presidential race. Every teacher at my school and outside (with whom I spoke) was in favor of Obama. It is really interesting to see the respect so many foreigners (both Indian and European) have for him. In addition, I sometimes felt like they were getting the information about the election much faster than me. I think my teacher actually knew Obama won before I did. In terms of policy (mostly foreign), one of the language teachers expressed his agreement with Obama’s stance on all issues, that is on everything about U.S. aid to Pakistan (not too surprising). As far as their attitudes towards Mitt Romney, I am not sure if they did not know much about him or disliked his policies. It did not seem like any of the people I met considered him a good alternative to Obama. As you can imagine, the school was a happy place on Wednesday.

After my classes and the presidential acceptance speech, I went to Delhi. I had some work which was really successful. On my way to Delhi, I met an organization in Dehradun which trains women who are becoming active in the local village councils (Panchayats) for the election process and performing their responsibilities. Beginning in 2008 in Uttarakhand, there is a 50 percent reserve for women to sit on the village councils. They make decisions which directly impact villages and their use of natural resources including clean drinking water. It was important for me to make a connection with this innovative organization as I become immersed in my research.

In Delhi, I met with my adviser who put me in touch with someone who will help me make my survey. They already had a questionnaire which I can use as a starting point, so I am working on some revisions currently. If all goes well, I will be testing my survey in December and the beginning of January before I get started with the actual interview process. I am feeling much better about the preparation for my research now that I have a starting point with my survey (which is the crux of my research). However, I still have lots of preparation and work ahead of me!

A quick note on my visit to my affiliation. I am working with a large economics research institute based in Delhi. When I visited their office on Friday, they had a Diwali celebration in which all these economists got on stage singing, dancing, and reciting poetry. Although I am sure they will stick to their day jobs, it was really fun to see them represent so many states in India and be proud of their diversity.

When you ask an Indian what good things the British did for India, you will get a variety of answers. However, there is one answer that almost everyone provides: the rail system. They are absolutely correct. One of my favorite things about India (as I have mentioned before) is the Indian rail system. Again, I took an overnight train from Dehradun to Delhi. In general, I find the public transportation here inexpensive, convenient, and mostly comfortable. Obviously, there are horror stories of packed trains and buses. However, the frequency of the transportation and the affordability is incredible! Here is the economic breakdown of my transportation to and from cities over the last weekend:

• ·          Bus Mussoorie to Dehradun (1.5 hours, leaves every hour) – 47 Rs (less than $1)

• ·         Train Dehradun to Delhi (10 hours, overnight – I slept great because they have beds!) – 650 Rs (about $13)

• ·         Bus back to Dehradun from Delhi (9 hours, overnight – Would have been fine if the roads were in better condition, but I still had a bed.) – 650 Rs ($13)

• ·         Bus from Rishikesh to Dehradun (I stopped for some rafting – see below.) (1.5 hours, I had a seat.) – 41 Rs (less than $1)

• ·         Vikram to my next bus in Dehradun (20 minutes) – 5 Rs

• ·         Deluxe bus back to Mussoorie from Dehradun (1.5 hours) – 75 Rs

Total Cost: 1468 Rs (less than $30)

I find it pretty unbelievable that I was able to get around to all these places by public transportation. In some cases, it cost me a bit more time, but I save time and money with the overnight trains. Also, I really enjoy the conversation which happens on the train and bus, especially in Hindi. For example, on my bus last night back from Rishikesh, I met two very nice Indian women. They could not believe that an American was sitting with them on the bus telling them in Hindi that she likes India and actually lives here. From talking with them, I actually met another really nice man who helped me save some time getting to my next bus. The ability to communicate in Hindi is incredible. I feel like I finally am starting to understand what is happening around me! Plus, people are really friendly and helpful!

I do have to say that the public transportation here is not entirely straightforward which is why one of two things is required: either you have to speak Hindi or make friends with someone who knows how to get around. For example, I got completely annoyed trying to set up my account to book my train ticket, but once it worked, I was happy. I was able to get it set up because one of my friends who is well-acquainted with India helped me. Also, I would have spent a lot longer on the bus than necessary if I had not spoken Hindi. However, because I made it clear where I wanted to go and what I was doing, some nice locals gave me the inside scoop. On the other hand, if you want to get from point A to B without the hassle, you can get charged the foreigners’ rate by taking a taxi (1,600 Rs one way from Rishikesh to Mussoorie). For me (when I have time and energy), I prefer the public transportation. It’s fun to look around and listen to people’s conversations. They are often talking about the mundane things of everyday life, much like we do in the U.S.

Even though India is a developing country, it has one up on the U.S. in my book. Although I had never looked into it very closely before, I would not be able to get from Cincinnati to Evansville easily without a car. I just looked up the Greyhound schedule for such a trip which would take between 8 and 14 hours by bus (I could drive myself in about 3 hours), and cost $54. Some parts of the U.S. are easier to access by public transportation, but in India, it is much more set up to reach all different areas. Even when I was out in the middle of the Himalayas, I would have been able to get a shared taxi all the way out to remote villages (those of which are accessible by highway). Despite other shortcomings (and there is plenty of room for improvement in the Indian transportation system), the power of public transportation puts all of India within reach.

Did I also mention, that you are able to cancel train and bus tickets booked in advance at any point, including after the train/bus has left? Talk about convenience! You only lose a very small percentage on the fare.

[One short note: Although public transportation is cheap for a Westerner like me, many people do not travel far outside their homes. Not only does travel itself cost money, but it also results in a loss of time when people could be working. For example, Bina (who works at my guesthouse) has never been to Delhi. However, she is able to go to Dehradun, the closest bigger city, when required.]

I know many people will be interested in my rafting trip, but I think it will be better told in the pictures, which will have to be posted at a later date. I had a wonderful time rafting on the Ganga outside Rishikesh (a sacred city where the Beetles stayed in an ashram – needless to say a lot of “hippies” end up there). The whole trip was about 35 km and took about six hours. We went over 3 or 4 class three rapids (one of which was a 3+). The water level was relatively low since the monsoon has been over for about two months. The class 1 rapids were also fun! We had pleasant weather, but the water was really cold (it’s a glacier fed river)! Luckily, we were provided wetsuits. I even jumped in for about a minute. Along the way, we even stopped off for lunch on a sandy beach along the river. It was a blast! Before going, I only had the Holiday World (amusement park) ride “Raging Rapids” for comparison. The good part about this trip was that I did not have to wait in line and the rapids were much more exciting!

Diwali began last night and the entire bazaar is decorated. Imagine Christmas with flowers instead of trees, fireworks, and lights everywhere. All the sweet shops have removed their normal tables and have tons of sweets everywhere. I went in a shop tonight and tasted at least 4 different types before buying a few as a gift. As I am writing this, I hear the firecrackers going off outside. I’m lucky to be safe inside right now. Diwali must be dreaded by all the doctors in India. Safety is not a top priority, and you better watch out if you see a young boy running down the street.

प्यार के साथ (With love),

Margaret

Pictures to be forthcoming (I will be getting them from my friends). I apologize for all the words. =)