Yesterday I wrapped up my internship and now the traveling portion of our trip is really going to commence. We're heading from Mumbai to Kerela in the south of India, followed by a trip to Thailand and then ending up in Israel. We're coming back for wedding in LA and then we'll be back in New York a little after the 4th of July.
It's a strange feeling to leave Mumbai after a little over 2 months. It's obviously much longer than a normal vacation, but not quite long enough to feel like I really lived here. It has been a really interesting experience getting to know India beyond the 1-dimensional perspective I had on the economy, culture, future and social issues here before I arrived. Certainly India is poised to grow and continue changing, but at the same time, this is a really complex and diverse place and despite their rapid GDP growth, there are some amazing challenges they face before they become the world power everyone is predicting. It's also very similar to the US in the number of regional differences and the ridiculous differences from state to state. Weddings, food, religion and national identity vary wildly from Gujarat to Tamil Nadu to Delhi.
For our final night out, we went to dinner with the Stanford people at an incredibly sick "pan-asian" restaurant. It was in a converted warehouse and the restaurant had about 90 foot ceilings and a faux terra cotta warrior about 60 feet tall. It was actually really awesome and a good way to say goodbye to all of them until school starts in the fall.
On another note, it's also approximately 437 degrees right now with 99% humidity. Walking across the street to get coffee means that I will be literally drenched in sweat by the time I arrive (on a positive note, I've finally conquered my fears about crossing the street). I also shaved the woodsman beard I've been sporting into a disgusting mustache (but sorry to disappoint the netizens out there--that picture will not be shared in a public forum).
So with that mental image fresh in everyone's mind, I think I'll be signing off as a bloger for now and bidding farewell to Mumbai. The best way to describe how I feel about it is to say that I'm happy I came here and I'm happy that I'm leaving.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Final outings
We have one week left in India and are finding ways to finish up our trip with a bang.
Last weekend we went to Dhobi Ghat aka The Central Laundromat for all of Mumbai. Thousands and thousands of bags of clothes are sent there everyday, where the clothes are washed in enormous basins and hung to dry. Dhobi Ghat works 24/7. Sounds extremely unhygienic, which it is in many ways. But bizarrely, it is sort of beautiful to see. (I'll attach a couple of pictures)
We are planning to go with a couple of other folks to a Hindi/Western Karaoke bar tonight -- should be hilarious!
Missing everyone and looking forward to seeing you soon.
Last weekend we went to Dhobi Ghat aka The Central Laundromat for all of Mumbai. Thousands and thousands of bags of clothes are sent there everyday, where the clothes are washed in enormous basins and hung to dry. Dhobi Ghat works 24/7. Sounds extremely unhygienic, which it is in many ways. But bizarrely, it is sort of beautiful to see. (I'll attach a couple of pictures)
We are planning to go with a couple of other folks to a Hindi/Western Karaoke bar tonight -- should be hilarious!
Missing everyone and looking forward to seeing you soon.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Mangolicious
While in India, Lindsay and I have become obsessed with Alphonso Mangoes. Conforming to our general produce rule of "boil it, peel it or forget it," this national fruit is one of the pillars of our diet. The mango that is sold here is slightly different than the version available in the US. It's basically a combination of a papaya and and a mango that is extremely sweet and basically the most delicious fruit we've ever had.
Not content to eat the fruit au natural, we've eaten Mango ice cream, Mango gelato, Mango salsa and we've even tried our own hand at making Mango oatmeal and a delicious Mango ice milk concoction. Recently at work, a co-worker "had a connection" to get them sent by the dozen and we've been consuming them in record quantities.
I can't imagine this is the healthiest diet under the sun, but it certainly has been tasty.
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Bressmans come to visit!
Amy and Bobby's first Indian meal(and Amy's last). We ate at Trishna, the delicious fish restaurant, which Will has taken a major liking to, in particular the Pomfret.
Kennesth-Eliyahoo, one of Mumbai's 7 synagogues and built by Iraqi Jews:
We all visit a Sikh Temple in Delhi. Yes, we look ridiculous.
Kennesth-Eliyahoo, one of Mumbai's 7 synagogues and built by Iraqi Jews:
We all visit a Sikh Temple in Delhi. Yes, we look ridiculous.
Jaipur Express
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Mumbai Indians vs. Kolkata Knight Riders
As an avid baseball fan, I would have been extremely disappointed to leave this country without checking in on baseball's colonial cousin, also known as India's official religion, cricket. This year is the first year of a new professional league, the IPL, that uses a new cricket format (10 wickets, 20 overs) so that matches can be played in one night rather than several days. The teams are owned by the biggest names in India (Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Kahn, Reliance, Kingfisher) and the players are the best cricket players from all over the world.
Lindsay and I scalped tickets for seats in a section named after living cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar, who doubles as the captain of the Mumbai Indians. Though this is the first year of the league, the atmosphere, to say the least, was intense. Despite heat in the stadium that easily exceeded 165 degrees (and caused Lindsay and I to each lose about 10 pounds), there were intense chants, dancing, male and female cheerleaders in glittery lycra suits, raucous taunts and an atmosphere that makes the NFL look tame. The Mumbai Indians dominated the Knight Riders holding them to the lowest total all year in the IPL and Lindsay and I did our best to follow along and cheer whenever the Indians hit a 6 or got the Knight Riders to lose a wicket (definitely using the wrong term here).
I've been following the Mets from here, and if things don't improve, I might start following the Mumbai Indians a little more intensely.
Lindsay and I scalped tickets for seats in a section named after living cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar, who doubles as the captain of the Mumbai Indians. Though this is the first year of the league, the atmosphere, to say the least, was intense. Despite heat in the stadium that easily exceeded 165 degrees (and caused Lindsay and I to each lose about 10 pounds), there were intense chants, dancing, male and female cheerleaders in glittery lycra suits, raucous taunts and an atmosphere that makes the NFL look tame. The Mumbai Indians dominated the Knight Riders holding them to the lowest total all year in the IPL and Lindsay and I did our best to follow along and cheer whenever the Indians hit a 6 or got the Knight Riders to lose a wicket (definitely using the wrong term here).
I've been following the Mets from here, and if things don't improve, I might start following the Mumbai Indians a little more intensely.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Safety Update
Hi everyone,
Many of you may have seen in the news that there were 7 bombings in Jaipur, India yesterday evening. I just wanted to let you know that Will and I are okay, though we are certainly a bit rattled. Will's parents were actually in Jaipur yesterday and left in the evening, but fortunately they are okay, having arrived safely in Mumbai around 7pm and departed for Newark late last night (we saw them off at the airport).
We are checking the US Travel Registry to see about travel warnings, and we have contacted the AJWS India Representative for further updates. We will keep you posted.
Thinking of you,
Lindsay and Will
Many of you may have seen in the news that there were 7 bombings in Jaipur, India yesterday evening. I just wanted to let you know that Will and I are okay, though we are certainly a bit rattled. Will's parents were actually in Jaipur yesterday and left in the evening, but fortunately they are okay, having arrived safely in Mumbai around 7pm and departed for Newark late last night (we saw them off at the airport).
We are checking the US Travel Registry to see about travel warnings, and we have contacted the AJWS India Representative for further updates. We will keep you posted.
Thinking of you,
Lindsay and Will
Monday, May 12, 2008
Organizing the Orgs
I apologize I haven’t written on the blog in a week or so – I’ve actually been quite busy at work! (And, Will's parents came to visit, which I've written about below...)
I am really in the thick of a project, which I’m enjoying. For the past 7.5 years, the NGO that I volunteer for has been servicing women living in Dharavi (the largest slum community in Asia) and who are experiencing domestic violence. However, the NGO would like to expand their network beyond Dharavi, and the first step they feel is networking with other NGO’s who do similar work, either direct service regarding violence against women (e.g. crisis intervention, counseling, shelters, legal services) or community organizing, workshops and policy reform/advocacy.
My job has been to interview Directors of NGOs throughout Mumbai who address Violence Against Women from any or all of these angles. This has given me the opportunity to travel throughout the city and meet really interesting people and witness incredible and effective programs. Afterwards, I document the interview notes in a formal questionnaire which my supervisor is using to keep track of what other NGOs are doing, and what the opportunities are for collaboration. The interview asks questions about the other organizations’ history, philosophies, mode of intervention, networking experience, challenges, and collaboration potential and interest.
I am so inspired by the resourcefulness, professionalism, and achievement of the NGOs I have met. More importantly, their devotion to promoting self-suffiency, and developing sustainable programs to be managed by the community members themselves and which avoid creating permanent dependence on the NGO is far more than I can say for the service industry in the US. Still holding fast to the principles of Gandhi’s Swadeshi (self-suffiency), India and its citizens have a constant goal to stand on their own and it shows in their work.
I am really in the thick of a project, which I’m enjoying. For the past 7.5 years, the NGO that I volunteer for has been servicing women living in Dharavi (the largest slum community in Asia) and who are experiencing domestic violence. However, the NGO would like to expand their network beyond Dharavi, and the first step they feel is networking with other NGO’s who do similar work, either direct service regarding violence against women (e.g. crisis intervention, counseling, shelters, legal services) or community organizing, workshops and policy reform/advocacy.
My job has been to interview Directors of NGOs throughout Mumbai who address Violence Against Women from any or all of these angles. This has given me the opportunity to travel throughout the city and meet really interesting people and witness incredible and effective programs. Afterwards, I document the interview notes in a formal questionnaire which my supervisor is using to keep track of what other NGOs are doing, and what the opportunities are for collaboration. The interview asks questions about the other organizations’ history, philosophies, mode of intervention, networking experience, challenges, and collaboration potential and interest.
I am so inspired by the resourcefulness, professionalism, and achievement of the NGOs I have met. More importantly, their devotion to promoting self-suffiency, and developing sustainable programs to be managed by the community members themselves and which avoid creating permanent dependence on the NGO is far more than I can say for the service industry in the US. Still holding fast to the principles of Gandhi’s Swadeshi (self-suffiency), India and its citizens have a constant goal to stand on their own and it shows in their work.
2nd Avenue Delhi
“It is so crowded!”
“The city is way too hot. Much hotter than Mumbai.”
“There is nothing to do there.”
“I just hate Delhi!”
These were some of the warning comments we were given before departing for Delhi. I would say that not a single one came true. We loved Delhi!
We found Delhi to be:
a) Cooler in temperature
b) Much more organized than Mumbai
c) Larger streets/boulevards and fewer crowds
d) Many more trees and parks
e) And so much fun!
Will’s amazingly brave and gracious parents – Amy and Bobby – came to visit us this past week and they certainly deserve the purple award of courage for coming to a third world country. We are so grateful to have had them here! Despite a few challenges along the way, we all had a great time together, and the highlight of their visit was certainly our trip up north to Delhi and Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located (see below for more on the Taj Mahal in a blog by Will).
In Delhi, which can be compared to Washington DC since it is the capital of the country, we visited government buildings, several mosques (Muslim, Sikh, Bahai, and Hindu), beautiful ancient forts, and enjoyed a choir concert in Central Park (that’s actually what the centrally-located park in Delhi is called!!).
To be fair to all the Mumbaians, Delhi certainly is more of a working city, and not a great place to be a young urban professional. There is not much of a night life, the city is very spread out and is more segregated, and it does not have the sort of forward-thinking modern and diversity-lauding perspective of Mumbai. On the contrary, Delhi’s architecture and culture seems to still reminisce on the days of British colonialism. All in all, I think we are glad that for our internship we are based in the “city that never sleeps” but were pleasantly surprised how much we liked the “nation’s capital”.
“The city is way too hot. Much hotter than Mumbai.”
“There is nothing to do there.”
“I just hate Delhi!”
These were some of the warning comments we were given before departing for Delhi. I would say that not a single one came true. We loved Delhi!
We found Delhi to be:
a) Cooler in temperature
b) Much more organized than Mumbai
c) Larger streets/boulevards and fewer crowds
d) Many more trees and parks
e) And so much fun!
Will’s amazingly brave and gracious parents – Amy and Bobby – came to visit us this past week and they certainly deserve the purple award of courage for coming to a third world country. We are so grateful to have had them here! Despite a few challenges along the way, we all had a great time together, and the highlight of their visit was certainly our trip up north to Delhi and Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located (see below for more on the Taj Mahal in a blog by Will).
In Delhi, which can be compared to Washington DC since it is the capital of the country, we visited government buildings, several mosques (Muslim, Sikh, Bahai, and Hindu), beautiful ancient forts, and enjoyed a choir concert in Central Park (that’s actually what the centrally-located park in Delhi is called!!).
To be fair to all the Mumbaians, Delhi certainly is more of a working city, and not a great place to be a young urban professional. There is not much of a night life, the city is very spread out and is more segregated, and it does not have the sort of forward-thinking modern and diversity-lauding perspective of Mumbai. On the contrary, Delhi’s architecture and culture seems to still reminisce on the days of British colonialism. All in all, I think we are glad that for our internship we are based in the “city that never sleeps” but were pleasantly surprised how much we liked the “nation’s capital”.
1 of the 7/21 Wonders of the World
Apologies for the recent paucity of posts. My parents win the parents of the year award for braving the dirt, smells, food and every other obstacle thrown their way to come visit me and Lindsay here in India. Anyway, this past weekend, we went to Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra and it was a great trip. I think Lindsay is going to write about Delhi, but I wanted to write briefly about visiting the Taj Mahal.
At 6am on Sunday (Mother's Day for those scoring at home), we took a 2 hour train from Delhi to Agra. After being scammed by a faux train attendant for about $10 and then witnessing a hilarious German man with a Thai girlfriend get into a fight when his scam artist boarded the train to try to extract more money, we were in good spirits and started the day off with a good laugh and basically no sleep.
When we got to Agra, we were all excited, for sure. As one of the 7 (or 21 depending on whether you're an ancient, medieval or natural kind of guy) wonders of the world, there's obviously considerable hype. I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to these kind of sites, but as far as the Taj was concerned, this one lived up to the hype.
It's hard to describe exactly what the Taj Mahal is like, but it basically dominates Agra, a "town" of 2 million people. You can see it from almost anywhere in the city and it is a massive building. It took 20,000 people 20 years to construct it (and you wonder why India took a bit longer to become a "modern" economy) and is completely symmetrical. It is constructed entirely in white marble and looks like a different color depending on where the sun is.
From a distance, you are really struck by how big it is, but when you get up close, there are all sorts of semi-precious stones (onyx, turquoise, lapis et cetera) in-laid into the marble to form really cool designs. You can also stand in the center of the back, and given the symmetry, see straight through to the center of the entrance, which is about 300 yards away.
I'm realizing now that the blog isn't exactly the best way to describe this, because it's one of those rare things that was actually better than what I pictured. But this was unquestionably the coolest thing I've seen in India and maybe anywhere else in the world too.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Pink City
So far we've mainly stayed in Mumbai, but now we're going to be starting to travel a bit more, starting this past weekend in Jaipur. Our trip had a bit of a rocky start when our 4am car pickup (for a 5:40am flight--totally insane) didn't show and we ended up having to hop a rickshaw to the airport.
Anyway, Jaipur itself was really fun and interesting. In general, it was much more of a throwback to the Maharaja era of India and the buildings and structures were beautiful. The city calls itself the pink city, but that's a bit of a misnomer because most of the structures are a reddish orange hue and a couple honey colored buildings tossed in for good measure.
On the first day, we went to the city palace and Hawa Mahal (the ladies palace, overlooking the city palace). These buildings were incredible. The city palace had some of the most beautiful red sandstone and felt like a different world. We will post some photos soon, but the lattice stone and the colors of the palace were really awesome.
After our sightseeing, we went to get Aruveydic massages. Now, given my personality, I can't say I was entirely comfortable disrobing and facing the prospect of hot oil dousing my body, but, as has been my motto for the trip, "When in Rome..." It was actually pretty fun and I felt sprightly and limber afterwards!
Later that night, Lindsay and I went to a place that was meant to be a recreation of an old Rajahstani (Jaipur is the state capital of Rajasthan) village. It was sort of like Medieval times mixed with Epcot Center with a little Indian "masala" cooked in as well. It was a place that many Indians seem to go for entertainment and it was really fun. We had dinner sitting on the floor and they kept filling our plates with extremely spicy, but really good food, topped off with a dessert that can be best described as batter dipped in sugar and mixed with oil and heart disease. Needless to say, it was incredible. After dinner we walked around the "village grounds" and saw a boy doing acrobatics atop a huge pole, elephant rides, henna stations, a little girl doing Indian dances while picking up money and rings with her eyelid and various other "indigenous" activities from the villages of yore.
Sunday, we had one of the highlights of the trip so far for me. We arranged for a car to take us to a place called Amber fort located about 30 minutes from Jaipur. Despite promises of this car being AC, we basically were dripping in sweat by the time we got there (partially from the 220 degree temperature inside and partially from nerves because he kept starting and stopping the ignition while driving--defying auto engineering). But when we arrived it was really awesome. Amber was the ancient fort for the Maharaja before they moved to Jaipur and it was an incredible structure. It was massively huge, had an old moat and some of the most intricate wall design and hallways I've ever seen. It had the same sandstone, marble, honey colored colors and conjured images of a really old era. This is something that cannot be done justice with words, so we will try to post photos soon.
In any event, it was really nice to see a place like Jaipur, which seems like a different world from Mumbai given its pace, color, food and lifestyle. It's not a place that I would have wanted to spend much more time in, but it was a really fun and great place to visit for the weekend.
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