India That Magical Place

This morning we went for a motorcycle ride out to a nearby lake, we left at 5 in the morning to catch the sun rise. Simply awesome, such a beautiful way to start the morning/end the week. In fact the perfect Sunday morning activity. I was perfectly content. As we were flying past a field where a farmer was standing with a shot gun, I had I vision of being shot by accident, and I thought I would be perfectly happy to die in that moment- completely content. Ok, so I have an over active imagination, and no I’m not suicidal, just a fleeting moment in time. I feel like a clique but nearly every time I leave the campus I am just in awe at how amazing India is, the colour, the people, the diversity everywhere- rich to poor and everyone in between, even clothes are traditional Indian to western and every combination in between. I still haven’t got used to seeing cows sleeping in the middle of the road in the heart of the city. Driving in Ahmedabad is insane, the locals are very relaxed about road rules and very attached to the car horn. On one of my first trips around the city the auto had to stop at a railway crossing, it was peak hour so hundreds of vehicles (motorbikes, scooters, cars, trucks, three wheeler autos, three wheeler trucks, bikes, camels pulling carts, people pulling carts) were halted and it seemed that everyone was madly pushing on their horns. The noise was insane, so incredibly loud, I had the giggles because it seemed so absurd. Both sides of the road filled up and everyone tried to jam their way to the front, the same was happening on the other side of the gates and when the gates opened the two sides drove straight at each other. No accidents, the traffic much to my surprise moved with relative ease, if fact the whole time I’ve been here I haven’t seen an accident. I’ve come to the conclusion that Indians are the most talented drivers in the world, so spatially aware. Stepping outside the city is like stepping foot in another world, the villages seem completely untouched by western culture ( I know this may not be the case, it’s just how it appears from a passing glimpse). Part of the magic this morning was the luscious green landscape, it’s monsoon season so everything is green and such rich shades of green.

So the world thinks I need a bit of god in my life. This week I was invited to mass, the next evening a friend dropped by and left some Buddhist readings and then on Tuesday another friend suggested that I visit a temple. Granted my week was full of minor mishaps, but I’m not so sure god is the answer- things to laugh over not to turn to religion for. The week before everywhere I went I was being offered a joint, maybe it’s the vacant look on my face (wink!). Maybe it’s India’s way of trying to set me on a spiritual journey. Get me really stoned and then send different forms of religion to me. Fascinating, but I’m a cynic from way back, I’ll talk the talk, but walk my own walk.

Things were not turning out the way I wanted this week and now I find I am behaving like a spoilt brat. Boredom and laziness are a vicious cycle. My brain isn’t being stimulated enough. The subjects that we have taken so far have been good, but very superficial and I haven’t been given anything to sink my teeth into- nothing to really make me think. I wanted to set up an outside project with an NGO, but I’ve realised I’m fast running out of time. A sad realisation! Yes, I moan about things, but I am having an awesome time and time is flying! So Monday I avoid people all day because I am cranky about the money disappearing. Tuesday I get up- it is a new day and I am going to make things happen. First the computer man to configure my wireless connection for the main campus, this worked for about 10 min and then become incredibly slow and than just stopped working altogether. That’s ok “don’t let computers get you down!” that’s what I like to say. Next to the KMC (knowledge management center- aka library) to do some research on some traditional Indian crafts. I came up with zilch results. Still not discouraged I went to BMW for a chai. Here I slipped in the rain, I caned my knee but saved my computer- Yay! My friend is totally fascinated by the colour of the bruise, said she’s never seen anything like it. It was a beauty, I’m beginning to think perhaps I’m a little iron deficient- since arriving no red meat, no leafy green vegetables (shrug, it’s certainly a possibility).

I spent half the week battling with the stupid slow internet trying to research the local NGO’s and the other half trying to make contact with them and playing phone tag. Frustrating to say the least.The novelty of having the room to myself with kath being away wore off in the first couple of days and I became a little bored without my play buddy. So I been sleeping a lot. Actually this past week I’ve been keeping really odd hours, I’m up most of the night and sleeping days and it feels so self indulgent. Internet access is restricted to the night 8pm-6am, the institute is doing this to me.What am I becoming?? About that vacant look I’ve been sporting- I made the comment to Kath after being here a couple of weeks that “everyone looks so serious and unhappy all the time. I wonder if we spend much time here, whether it will happen to us?”. Apparently the answer is yes! Smrity my friend commented that now I looked like a true NIDian, for the first few weeks I looked too happy too constantly to belong to NID.What am I becoming? I also feel I have been transported back in time to a high school.The guards on all the hostels are insane. It was my friend Yum’s birthday last night, he turned 25 and the party was in the A hostel (where the post graduate students stay) but no girls allowed, we had to climb around a couple balconies on the third floor to get to the party. I’m 27 and sneaking around like a 16 year old- I just feel so naughty and juvenile.

My break to Pune to visit Abir couldn’t come a better time.Time to inject some normality into my life. He is an artist so I am off tomorrow to check out the art scene in Pune. I am putting the NGO hunt on the shelf for a little while. I won’t be able to set up a project with them but I would like to meet people and see first hand what is taking place around Ahmedabad.When I get back we will be starting a ceramics project, I get to play with clay and make something, which is pretty exciting!