Friday, March 30, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Nepal and Supervisor
Hello:
I have lived in Banares for 4 months. My perspective of this city, it's people, and my place in it is changing all the time. And I feel like time is passing very quickly. Here are some big moments that have occurred since we talked last time.
Nepal:
I traveled solo to Kathmandu in late-January to obtain my Indian research visa. Leading up to my trip to Nepal I have been in India on a tourist visa; returning from Nepal would initiate my official grant period. (Note: Research visas are not so easy to get. You need to apply almost a year to advance. Fulbright requires all their student researchers, such as myself, to get one of these; i.e. I would not have been able to start receiving funding from Fulbright unless I got this particular visa). From Banares, it took 1 overnight train and 3 buses to reach Kathmandu. Along the way I became slightly ill, but the Bus's steady climb in altitude to Kathmandu made for beautiful views of the Himalayas. At the Indian Embassy there it took about a week to process my visa. During this time I made nice friends with the staff at my hotel and I explored a lot of Kathmandu by foot seeing the amazing, and sometimes shocking, sights - I even saw a goat at a butcher shop get its head chopped off. Anyways, after my ten day hiatus in Nepal, I safely returned to Banares on the 31 January; marking the official start date of my 9 month grant/research period.
Welcome Packet:
Back in Banares, Fulbright sent me a welcome packet which contained the contact information of a Banares Hindu University (henceforth B.H.U.) who will be serving as the academic advisor for my research project on Kabir (one of Banares' most famous poet philosophers). I paid a visit to the University to meet with this professor. He was in a teachers lounge meeting with other professors when I came, so I waited in his office where I found his students (Indian) waiting for him to return from this meeting. He was not returning, and his students looked deadly bored. I felt uncomfortable with this, how could a professor be holding a class and a lounging with his fellow colleges at the same time? After waiting a half hour, I picked up my things and politely disturbed the meeting, they were laughing about something at the time, and he casually ushered me over. I made an introduction in Hindi that made the room smile and he looked over my official letters addressed to him. After agreeing to be my advisor, Fulbright sent him a personal letter explaining his role in my project (such as: we are to meet at least once a month, stay in regular contact with each other, introduce me to Indian style academics). However, though he was sent the letter at least a month ago, it turns out he never read it and he was surprised at what it said when we read it together. Long story short, he agreed to help. After drinking chai with him and his fellow loungers, I left feeling bad for the class, who was still waiting for their professor to return.
All for now.
Thanks,
Warner
I have lived in Banares for 4 months. My perspective of this city, it's people, and my place in it is changing all the time. And I feel like time is passing very quickly. Here are some big moments that have occurred since we talked last time.
Nepal:
I traveled solo to Kathmandu in late-January to obtain my Indian research visa. Leading up to my trip to Nepal I have been in India on a tourist visa; returning from Nepal would initiate my official grant period. (Note: Research visas are not so easy to get. You need to apply almost a year to advance. Fulbright requires all their student researchers, such as myself, to get one of these; i.e. I would not have been able to start receiving funding from Fulbright unless I got this particular visa). From Banares, it took 1 overnight train and 3 buses to reach Kathmandu. Along the way I became slightly ill, but the Bus's steady climb in altitude to Kathmandu made for beautiful views of the Himalayas. At the Indian Embassy there it took about a week to process my visa. During this time I made nice friends with the staff at my hotel and I explored a lot of Kathmandu by foot seeing the amazing, and sometimes shocking, sights - I even saw a goat at a butcher shop get its head chopped off. Anyways, after my ten day hiatus in Nepal, I safely returned to Banares on the 31 January; marking the official start date of my 9 month grant/research period.
Welcome Packet:
Back in Banares, Fulbright sent me a welcome packet which contained the contact information of a Banares Hindu University (henceforth B.H.U.) who will be serving as the academic advisor for my research project on Kabir (one of Banares' most famous poet philosophers). I paid a visit to the University to meet with this professor. He was in a teachers lounge meeting with other professors when I came, so I waited in his office where I found his students (Indian) waiting for him to return from this meeting. He was not returning, and his students looked deadly bored. I felt uncomfortable with this, how could a professor be holding a class and a lounging with his fellow colleges at the same time? After waiting a half hour, I picked up my things and politely disturbed the meeting, they were laughing about something at the time, and he casually ushered me over. I made an introduction in Hindi that made the room smile and he looked over my official letters addressed to him. After agreeing to be my advisor, Fulbright sent him a personal letter explaining his role in my project (such as: we are to meet at least once a month, stay in regular contact with each other, introduce me to Indian style academics). However, though he was sent the letter at least a month ago, it turns out he never read it and he was surprised at what it said when we read it together. Long story short, he agreed to help. After drinking chai with him and his fellow loungers, I left feeling bad for the class, who was still waiting for their professor to return.
All for now.
Thanks,
Warner
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Kana and Borat
Dear All,
Just got back from New Delhi. I was there for two days sending my girlfriend off to Japan. My girlfriend, Kana Aoki, visited me for about 2 1/2 weeks here in Banaras. For the first time I got to play translator and tourguide to my life here in this funny Indian city. Being that having a girlfriend is still a sensitive issue in Banaras, it was a good practice in Hindi and in being culturally sensitive, to explain to locals how I know this Japanese girl who they see everywhere with me.
While in Delhi I managed to pick up a blackmarket DVD copy of Sacha Baron Cohen's movie Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benifit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Having watched Cohen's HBO series, Da Ali G Show, I looked forward to seeing this film very much. New Delhi has an underground Bazaar which looks sort of like a very large underground subway station with series of shops selling everything you could desire, goods-wise:) This never ending maze of shops does seem to have some order to it. I found the Electronics section, but most of the shops looked closed. Still, as I walked past these padlocked shops, unsuspecting merchents wispered in my ear, "Hello sir you want DVD?" I told one of them I wanted the Borat movie and he secretively unlocked one of these bolted doors and pushed me inside where three other mercents stood in front of book shelves of DVDs. They quickly revealed a copy of Borat, I paid Rs. 80 (roughly two dollars) and they ushered me out of the store. The copy proved to be a little blurry, but it was good enough to enjoy the movie I so longed to see. I know this is a long shot, but I hope you all found it as hilarious as I did.
Sincerely,
Warner
Just got back from New Delhi. I was there for two days sending my girlfriend off to Japan. My girlfriend, Kana Aoki, visited me for about 2 1/2 weeks here in Banaras. For the first time I got to play translator and tourguide to my life here in this funny Indian city. Being that having a girlfriend is still a sensitive issue in Banaras, it was a good practice in Hindi and in being culturally sensitive, to explain to locals how I know this Japanese girl who they see everywhere with me.
While in Delhi I managed to pick up a blackmarket DVD copy of Sacha Baron Cohen's movie Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benifit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Having watched Cohen's HBO series, Da Ali G Show, I looked forward to seeing this film very much. New Delhi has an underground Bazaar which looks sort of like a very large underground subway station with series of shops selling everything you could desire, goods-wise:) This never ending maze of shops does seem to have some order to it. I found the Electronics section, but most of the shops looked closed. Still, as I walked past these padlocked shops, unsuspecting merchents wispered in my ear, "Hello sir you want DVD?" I told one of them I wanted the Borat movie and he secretively unlocked one of these bolted doors and pushed me inside where three other mercents stood in front of book shelves of DVDs. They quickly revealed a copy of Borat, I paid Rs. 80 (roughly two dollars) and they ushered me out of the store. The copy proved to be a little blurry, but it was good enough to enjoy the movie I so longed to see. I know this is a long shot, but I hope you all found it as hilarious as I did.
Sincerely,
Warner
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Indian Diplomacy
Dear All,
Divali is coming up, and that means that means that the streets of Banares will be filled with firecrackers. The two families I am close with in the city are cleaning their houses, as is tradition, and planning a feast which they will invite all their closest friends and relatives to. My presence is expected at both households, and it will be interesting to see how I can diplomatically leave one house in order to visit the other. It is a strange thing, Indian diplomacy. Somehow norms that i believed were socially acceptable everywhere do not seem to be acceptable in the circles I run with here. For instance it seemed perfectly reasonable that one could be close with multiple families, or buy chai from multiple chai sellers, or get your haircut by more than one person without deeply offending someone. However, as I have put this idea into practice people have shown zero reservation in showing me that i shouldn't "betray" them so. What do you all think? Shouldn't I have the social freedom to move within multiple social circles, and form positive relationships with with a variety of good people? If I was visiting your hometown during the holidays and I chose to sleep over at your place some nights and over at another friend's house some other nights, could you accept this without taking it as a direct insult against your family? Of course you could! But so far, I have found that such an arrangement has been pretty hard for my Indian host family to swallow. Simply moving out of their three room flat and into one of my own was a painfully awkward situation for me. When I told them, I was greeted with strong accusations of, "Oh! What's wrong with here?! Do we disturb you!" They were serious. How was I supposed to respond to that. Was I supposed to tell them that they are jumping to conclusions and that it was unfair? I don't know how to speak Hindi that well. Needless to say, it was a touchy situation or them trying to make me feel guilty for leaving, and me trying extra politely to say, "I'm sorry but I don't was to liver here anymore." But maybe I was being too diplomatic. Maybe I should be more strait forward, direct, and to the point I'm wasting my time trying to sugar coat everything. In the states sugar is what people want, but here everytime I try to be a little sweet there someone tries to latch on and i cant get them to let go without sitting throrgh a horrendous guilt trip. That's all for now. I hope everyone's well.
Love,
Warner
Divali is coming up, and that means that means that the streets of Banares will be filled with firecrackers. The two families I am close with in the city are cleaning their houses, as is tradition, and planning a feast which they will invite all their closest friends and relatives to. My presence is expected at both households, and it will be interesting to see how I can diplomatically leave one house in order to visit the other. It is a strange thing, Indian diplomacy. Somehow norms that i believed were socially acceptable everywhere do not seem to be acceptable in the circles I run with here. For instance it seemed perfectly reasonable that one could be close with multiple families, or buy chai from multiple chai sellers, or get your haircut by more than one person without deeply offending someone. However, as I have put this idea into practice people have shown zero reservation in showing me that i shouldn't "betray" them so. What do you all think? Shouldn't I have the social freedom to move within multiple social circles, and form positive relationships with with a variety of good people? If I was visiting your hometown during the holidays and I chose to sleep over at your place some nights and over at another friend's house some other nights, could you accept this without taking it as a direct insult against your family? Of course you could! But so far, I have found that such an arrangement has been pretty hard for my Indian host family to swallow. Simply moving out of their three room flat and into one of my own was a painfully awkward situation for me. When I told them, I was greeted with strong accusations of, "Oh! What's wrong with here?! Do we disturb you!" They were serious. How was I supposed to respond to that. Was I supposed to tell them that they are jumping to conclusions and that it was unfair? I don't know how to speak Hindi that well. Needless to say, it was a touchy situation or them trying to make me feel guilty for leaving, and me trying extra politely to say, "I'm sorry but I don't was to liver here anymore." But maybe I was being too diplomatic. Maybe I should be more strait forward, direct, and to the point I'm wasting my time trying to sugar coat everything. In the states sugar is what people want, but here everytime I try to be a little sweet there someone tries to latch on and i cant get them to let go without sitting throrgh a horrendous guilt trip. That's all for now. I hope everyone's well.
Love,
Warner
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Getting Set Up
Dear All,
I've spent the last week or so trying to set up my life here in Banares. The biggest event that happened was that I got an apartment. I moved in yesterday. It is a nice place along the river with very few mosquitos and other bugs and rodents, and a lot of shade. It is not fully put together yet. Yesterday I started Hindi lessons with my new Hindi teacher Gautam. After the class he helped me bargain for a mattress. There are three rooms in the apartment: kitchen, common room, bedroom, and a shared bathroom. The bedroom has a door which leads to a balcony where I can see the river, and the roof has the best view of the Ganges I've ever seen. Total cost (just for those who are curious ($75/month). The neighborhood in which my living space is set is a very nice place. It is a maze like environment filled with playing children, quiet families, and ashrams.
There is one ashram filled with Shiva devotees which the locals call 24/7 because everyday, all day devotees are performing musical pujas (i.e. playing drums and singing) in the name of the famous Hindu deity. I don't know a lot about 24/7, but I do know that it has been this way for at least 16 years.
I live across the hall from this Swiss guy named Beat who has been living in Banares for 16 years. He helped me get the apartment. I feel very grateful to Beat, but I'm having a hard time expressing it. Expressing gratitude and apology is difficult in the Indian context. But more on that later. I hope everyone is doing well. All and All I am doing fine. I have caught a small cold, but mostly I am having a really nice time. No unexpected calamities yet:) Take care.
Love,
Warner
PS. Here is my Indian cell phone: 99-35286252 You need to dial India's country code 91 before this number. Feel free to call.
I've spent the last week or so trying to set up my life here in Banares. The biggest event that happened was that I got an apartment. I moved in yesterday. It is a nice place along the river with very few mosquitos and other bugs and rodents, and a lot of shade. It is not fully put together yet. Yesterday I started Hindi lessons with my new Hindi teacher Gautam. After the class he helped me bargain for a mattress. There are three rooms in the apartment: kitchen, common room, bedroom, and a shared bathroom. The bedroom has a door which leads to a balcony where I can see the river, and the roof has the best view of the Ganges I've ever seen. Total cost (just for those who are curious ($75/month). The neighborhood in which my living space is set is a very nice place. It is a maze like environment filled with playing children, quiet families, and ashrams.
There is one ashram filled with Shiva devotees which the locals call 24/7 because everyday, all day devotees are performing musical pujas (i.e. playing drums and singing) in the name of the famous Hindu deity. I don't know a lot about 24/7, but I do know that it has been this way for at least 16 years.
I live across the hall from this Swiss guy named Beat who has been living in Banares for 16 years. He helped me get the apartment. I feel very grateful to Beat, but I'm having a hard time expressing it. Expressing gratitude and apology is difficult in the Indian context. But more on that later. I hope everyone is doing well. All and All I am doing fine. I have caught a small cold, but mostly I am having a really nice time. No unexpected calamities yet:) Take care.
Love,
Warner
PS. Here is my Indian cell phone: 99-35286252 You need to dial India's country code 91 before this number. Feel free to call.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Update
Dear All,
This is my first email from India. I arrived last night after a direct flight from Chicago-Delhi (16 hrs.). I plan on spending 1-2 days more in Delhi then I'm leaving for Varanasi (henceforth Banares). I'll wright more later.
Love,
Warner
This is my first email from India. I arrived last night after a direct flight from Chicago-Delhi (16 hrs.). I plan on spending 1-2 days more in Delhi then I'm leaving for Varanasi (henceforth Banares). I'll wright more later.
Love,
Warner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
