now don't get all worried...
tonight we had plans to go out for jasmine tea, but alas, they were foiled- by terrorists, apparently...
like i said, don't worry. my incomplete understanding of the situation is this: there was a bomb at some tech school in bangalore and plans were uncovered for a similar incident in HITEC city- the next town over from gachibowli where i stay. i'm not sure what kind of terrorist organization is involved or the message they are trying to convey, but there have been random roadblocks on varius roads for the past few days, and now i guess i know why. about a week ago, my rickshaw was stopped and my bag searched by some military guys with rifles- very informally, though- and i don't even think that was related.
basically, all the schools in the area are on lock down. for the next five days no one will be able to enter or exit the campus past 7pm. i can already feel cabin fever setting in...but at least i'll be safe. my friend said there was an article on the international herald tribune website but i couldn't find it and all this info is word of mouth.
fear not, everything will be just swell. we'll all get more school work done, anyway.
speaking of work, hindi is a killer. i'm sure it will all come together for me soon, but for now the inundation of new sounds and character is kind of overwhelming. at least the script is beautiful and very theraputic to write- i finally understand the appeal of caligraphy.
i'm pretty sure my gay indian poetry teacher thinks i worship the ground he walks on- he's already given me his autobiography and a nice copy of one of his collections of poems as gifts. i'm not complaining.
it is incredible how fast we make friends here--everyone has tons of "cousins" and friends and there are new people every day. i suppose because the first friend we made (actually a college friend of one of the girl's on my program) is very wealthy, we have entered into a social circle of the very wealthy. it seems like they are all either engineering majors or preparing to take over the family business. each time they take us out, they pay the price of everything for all of us- and though it is in our nature to feel guilty about the excessive rupees being spent on us, it is in their nature to consider it duty. besides, as i have been reminded, the cash they drop on us for coffee or clubs is just a "drop in the bucket" for them.
last night a bunch of us went out to an english pub, and besides certain strange elements, i felt like i could have been back in the states. these elements included hookah (kind of out of context in an english pub, no?), a lot of 80s hair metal, and a mysterious dj voice coming from nowhere (there wasn't even a dance floor) welcoming us "expats" and playing us led zeppelin's immigrant song. we wound up at the guest house of these brothers shaqr and shiva-their guest house was nicer than most houses i've ever seen of course. actually, it was an apartment, and from the roof of the building we could see the city spread out before us- looking at an abundance of strangely orange lights from up high reminded me of san jose and sitting on the hill behind ginger's house silently watching the city twinkle the night away.
had i gone out a few nights ago (i was writing a paper on t.s. eliot and sultan padamsee instead) i would have been surprised to find myself at this guy anand's STABLE, where his family keep thier TWENTY polo ponies- i would have found myself RIDING these incredibly nice horses in the middle of the night, helped by barn assistents, in borrowed riding boots. oh... i envy those who had that experience.
it must not sound like it from these stories, but for a while i felt very stifled because campus is in the middle of nowhere and i had not been off it in a few days. the heat and constant sunshine is also oppressive- at least for someone like me who craves rain and the comfort of overcast skies. however, i was taking a bike ride yesterday and i finally appreciated the calm of campus- the sight of sarees and salwaar kameezes coloring the dust brown and nearly green landscape of university of hyderabad, the slowing effect the heat has on life, the bikes and motorcycles and dirt roads and the shade of trees, the people drinking chai at any and every hour. i suppose after constantly doing and seeing things in delhi, i was a little unprepared for normal university life, but now i am quite content. i can lie on the roof in the everpresent sun and read for classes, and afterwards the cold water shower is almost nirvana.
we are planning our first trip for next weekend. actually, we will leave by bus on thursday night and drive through the night to chennai (formerly madras). i assume we will also go to pondicherri since it is only a three hour bus ride from chennai- i never thought i'd be able to use my french in india! also, isn't that the place where life of pi started? i'll try not to wind up on a boat with a crazy bengal tiger and no sunblock.
tonight we had plans to go out for jasmine tea, but alas, they were foiled- by terrorists, apparently...
like i said, don't worry. my incomplete understanding of the situation is this: there was a bomb at some tech school in bangalore and plans were uncovered for a similar incident in HITEC city- the next town over from gachibowli where i stay. i'm not sure what kind of terrorist organization is involved or the message they are trying to convey, but there have been random roadblocks on varius roads for the past few days, and now i guess i know why. about a week ago, my rickshaw was stopped and my bag searched by some military guys with rifles- very informally, though- and i don't even think that was related.
basically, all the schools in the area are on lock down. for the next five days no one will be able to enter or exit the campus past 7pm. i can already feel cabin fever setting in...but at least i'll be safe. my friend said there was an article on the international herald tribune website but i couldn't find it and all this info is word of mouth.
fear not, everything will be just swell. we'll all get more school work done, anyway.
speaking of work, hindi is a killer. i'm sure it will all come together for me soon, but for now the inundation of new sounds and character is kind of overwhelming. at least the script is beautiful and very theraputic to write- i finally understand the appeal of caligraphy.
i'm pretty sure my gay indian poetry teacher thinks i worship the ground he walks on- he's already given me his autobiography and a nice copy of one of his collections of poems as gifts. i'm not complaining.
it is incredible how fast we make friends here--everyone has tons of "cousins" and friends and there are new people every day. i suppose because the first friend we made (actually a college friend of one of the girl's on my program) is very wealthy, we have entered into a social circle of the very wealthy. it seems like they are all either engineering majors or preparing to take over the family business. each time they take us out, they pay the price of everything for all of us- and though it is in our nature to feel guilty about the excessive rupees being spent on us, it is in their nature to consider it duty. besides, as i have been reminded, the cash they drop on us for coffee or clubs is just a "drop in the bucket" for them.
last night a bunch of us went out to an english pub, and besides certain strange elements, i felt like i could have been back in the states. these elements included hookah (kind of out of context in an english pub, no?), a lot of 80s hair metal, and a mysterious dj voice coming from nowhere (there wasn't even a dance floor) welcoming us "expats" and playing us led zeppelin's immigrant song. we wound up at the guest house of these brothers shaqr and shiva-their guest house was nicer than most houses i've ever seen of course. actually, it was an apartment, and from the roof of the building we could see the city spread out before us- looking at an abundance of strangely orange lights from up high reminded me of san jose and sitting on the hill behind ginger's house silently watching the city twinkle the night away.
had i gone out a few nights ago (i was writing a paper on t.s. eliot and sultan padamsee instead) i would have been surprised to find myself at this guy anand's STABLE, where his family keep thier TWENTY polo ponies- i would have found myself RIDING these incredibly nice horses in the middle of the night, helped by barn assistents, in borrowed riding boots. oh... i envy those who had that experience.
it must not sound like it from these stories, but for a while i felt very stifled because campus is in the middle of nowhere and i had not been off it in a few days. the heat and constant sunshine is also oppressive- at least for someone like me who craves rain and the comfort of overcast skies. however, i was taking a bike ride yesterday and i finally appreciated the calm of campus- the sight of sarees and salwaar kameezes coloring the dust brown and nearly green landscape of university of hyderabad, the slowing effect the heat has on life, the bikes and motorcycles and dirt roads and the shade of trees, the people drinking chai at any and every hour. i suppose after constantly doing and seeing things in delhi, i was a little unprepared for normal university life, but now i am quite content. i can lie on the roof in the everpresent sun and read for classes, and afterwards the cold water shower is almost nirvana.
we are planning our first trip for next weekend. actually, we will leave by bus on thursday night and drive through the night to chennai (formerly madras). i assume we will also go to pondicherri since it is only a three hour bus ride from chennai- i never thought i'd be able to use my french in india! also, isn't that the place where life of pi started? i'll try not to wind up on a boat with a crazy bengal tiger and no sunblock.
posted by beeke at 6:21 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home