Vipers, spiders, and some of the other useful things I have
learned so far in India:
1. Indian bureaucracy is totally frustrating. I
have been running around for the last week trying to complete my Foreigners
Registration. I will probably post my experience with this in the next few days
as I wrap up the final pieces.
2. 2.
Shopping includes many things that you may not
have expected. For example, I bought a squeegee to keep the floor of my
bathroom clean and dry. I have to do this because my shower is not sectioned
off; it is just part of the bathroom itself. Taking a shower causes water to go
pretty much everywhere. When I explained to one of the storekeepers what I
need, he called it a ‘viper’. Therefore, I walked around asking store owners,
“Kya aap kay pas ‘viper’ hai?” (Do you have wipers?) Somehow, they knew exactly
what I meant. (See my attached picture below to see what a ‘viper’ looks like.)
3.
3. You know that you do not have big spiders living
in your bedroom if there are little ones on the walls or floors. I don’t mean a
lot of spiders, but yesterday I found a decent sized spider dead on my floor.
Then, I found a much bigger spider hanging out behind my picture. I am not sure
about this, but I think the big ones kill off the small ones. For now, I will
keep the little guys around to reassure myself. Luckily for me, the English
doctor and one of his sons who live upstairs are not afraid of these enormous spiders
and killed two for me today. (Surprisingly, I slept great last night even
though I knew there was at least one somewhere in my room.) I am all ears for
any advice on how to keep them away. I’m cursing TSA because they threw out one
of my bug sprays at the airport. Maybe I can spray my bug spray with deet
around the door. (It’s a good thing I am not staying at the organic farm right
now. =))
4 4.
I will probably spend more money on toilet paper
this year than I ever imagined. It costs about a dollar
a roll.
5.
5. On a more serious note, I am learning how hard
it can be to get an adequate amount of protein here. Luckily, I eat eggs,
cheese, and milk. However, when I look around at many Indians, they are
surprisingly short. At 5 foot three, I have never towered over so many people.
The more I have been talking with other Westerners, the more we are recognizing
that this must be largely due to malnutrition and probably protein deficiency.
As I was writing this, I thought it
might be interesting to do a day’s rundown of foods I typically eat in India
(and which would follow a pure vegetarian diet). Here is my breakdown:
a.
Breakfast: Milk
chai – 6
grams of protein (about ¾ cup)
2 aloo paranthas - 7 grams
b.
Chai: Milk
chai - 6
grams
c.
Lunch: Channa
masala (chickpeas) 7 grams
Subzee (vegetable) 3
grams
Roti (2) 5
grams
Chaval (rice) (1 cup, white) 3
grams
d.
Chai/snack: Milk
chai - 6
grams
Namkeen (salty snack) 5
grams (Assume peanuts as snack)
e.
Dinner: Yellow
dal (chickpeas) 7 grams
Subzee (vegetable) 3
grams
Roti (2) 5
grams
Chaval (rice) (1 cup, white) 3 grams
66
grams
In summary, it looks like I am fine
on getting enough protein if I actually eat like this every day. I can even
skip some of the chai if I want or switch up the proportions. In the same way,
many of the upper middle class and upper class Indians seem to be getting
enough protein. The height of the elite Indians seems about the same as Westerners. In fact, some of them may even want to cut back on the white rice
and roti (especially as Type II diabetes has been becoming more prevalent in
India). This is because they have the money and time to afford three complete meals a
day and some snacks. However, others are not as well off. Some of the first
items to go in the proposed diet above are the milk chai and dal because they
are more expensive (and provide the majority of protein for the day).
Obviously, my quick analysis is not
scientific; instead, it is based more in observation and discussion. However,
there is some truth to it. As I was writing this, I found an article in the NY
Times reporting on India’s malnutrition. Based on a survey of 100 districts in
India which were assigned a level of low for child development, 42% of children
under the age of 5 were malnourished. The article explains that an extensive
food subsidy program is in place, but the corruption and inefficiency make it ineffective.
According to the article, “some analysts estimate that 40 percent of the
subsidized food never reaches the intended recipients.” According to another
article from the BBC news, “It is estimated that one in four of the world's
malnourished children is in India, more even than in sub-Saharan Africa.” This
would explain why the two young vegetable sellers who came to the house
yesterday looked much younger than they are. One told us he was fifteen but
looked more like a young twelve or thirteen year-old.
(NY Times Article: http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/indias-chronic-battle-with-malnutrition/)
(BBC Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16481731)
Back to Mussoorie, my home sweet home for the next four months.
A picture of the mountains. It's been pretty foggy and a bit rainy but very beautiful!
Some of the essentials I bought during my shopping trip: toilet paper, almonds, powdered milk, carrots, floor wiper, laundry soap, and a wool sweater.
My late friend the spider peeking out from behind a picture. Little did I know, his friend was also behind there.
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