Suprise Party at Preem

Some Thoughts for Food

All the beautiful sarees and shawls the women wear caress the men as they unwrap them to wed or to bed like gifts on Christmas. To be passed by a sultry woman and have the train of her accordion folded saree tickle your arm hair as her figure diminishes while her feet carry her away. This is not incentive or innuendo, but it is as traditional as the cutting instruments the agriculture workers use to harvest paddy. To define culture by their way of dress is one thing, but to examine the modern day interpretations is entirely different.

You can have more than a family of Indian brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but they will never treat you like their family. They will never ask anything of you, you have to be forcefully persistent to share even minor expenses, cooking or cleaning means you are taking rest. But at the same time they accept you under any circumstances. If a family member is ill, they will still welcome you to stay with them. They will always offer you the best food even if you ask for kanji. There is a love and dependency, a connection with a foreigner, a desire to expand their familial relationships to include you. Yet there is also the burden of the third world, the lack of entertainment and sedentary lifestyle, and the obligations to their immediate and inclusive family. The acceptance I feel and the experiences I am gaining from are not only teaching me about the culture and people, but about their lives and history.

The men are sneaky only because they know the stereotypes the foreign women are attached to and stereotypes always relay some kind of truth. A drunkard or sober man who dares to touch a foreign girl or interact with them or be perverse toward them, would never dream of acting in that manner as openly with an Indian woman. The key word being as openly.

If you open your eyes you can see the light, but if you let the light shine on you, only then can you be enlightened. If this is in any way linked with the mind of Ambedkar I would be flattered. The idea of obtaining enlightenment, is it really possible to measure its attainability? How can you measure something like enlightenment or infinity and when it is mixed with religion, spirituality, and money? Which factors are really supporting the idea of enlightenment and who is going to publish a book of my blogs?

The road ahead is as dangerous as the curves the speedy Indian bus devours. Sometimes there are bumps and everyones body experiences a moment without gravity. Sometimes there are stops where everyone is either sleeping or making faces expressing their annoyance. Sometimes passengers change and get on or off going up and down the three or four steps to the road. All the while the driver is seated in his seat grinding the gears and giving diesel to the engine. All the while the conductor collects bus fare and monitors the passengers ensuring some amount of safety and order until reaching the final destination only to embark on another journey with completely different encounters.

water water everywhere but not a drop to drink

Last night was surely an adventure. For the past two weeks in Chengelpattu the motor bringing water from the well to the homes has not been working. A technician came 3 times to fix the motor unsuccessfully. For most of this time I was frolicking around Tamil Nadu, but I have returned to the comfortable apartment that Mathew resides in and with my return I automatically get enrolled in the water informational course in D2 of the Ranga Apartments. The first day I got back, somehow I managed to do all my washing with the water had been saved in three buckets. I had to fill one small bucket for proper rinsing so I went to the kitchen to because the water in the bathroom had been shut off. That water was spitting and spurting like usual, so I left the bucket to fill. Then the neighbors niece came to tell me more about the motor problem, so I hurried to turn off the water. She informed me that we can use one tap at a time so I finished the rinsing, filled the buckets, and hung the clothes to dry. The next evening her father came and said at 9:00 the water would be shut off so we should prepare for a day at least without any water. It was 8:45 and we had just finished eating so Mathew hurried to collect extra buckets we purchased for the LF students camp and began the water transportation to all buckets in the apartment. With the new buckets that was at least 12 buckets and containers. After filling the buckets we waited for the water to stop, but it kept coming, so Mathew washed the dishes and I took a bath. Good thing we collected all that water because the next day there was running water all day! No problems for cooking, washing, cleaning or rinsing. I kept waiting for the water to stop. In Mathew's apartment there are two types of water being used. One from the well, which is for drinking and one from the municipality which is for washing, cooking, or bathing. Usually around this time there is a great shortage of well water which everyone is depending on. The problem with the motor is only affecting the well water so at the time we were filling buckets every family in the apartments were also doing the same. The water shortage is really serious and not much is being done in terms of conservation. Many people are not aware or careful with the water and will leave taps on overflowing as this precious commodity trickles down the drain. We can be sure when people start dying from dehydration the government will be forced to do something, but will it be too little too late? For the sake of my friends, i sure hope not.