Students taking Action

The last few weeks there has been an increase of violence against women in India. It may just be the media is being more aware of it, but either way the students at University of Hyderabad have noticed. Yesterday, I went with some friends to an open discussion on women’s rights in India. There were about forty students who gathered and just talked about the issues. We discussed different cases of violence, even the slight harassment that all women face from time to time. We talked about the public’s duty and the consequences both of speaking out and not speaking out.

One student spoke of this time when she had been grabbed in the ass and she actually acted out and hit the guy and then ran onto the train. She was proud that she had stood up for herself, but when she told her mom about what she had done her mother scolded her and was concerned if the guy were to see her again what he may do. As a whole women are encouraged to not let things like this pass, but then when it actually happens to them their families don't want them to be the ones to do something, because that could bring problems to the family and possibly further endanger themselves. So it because a "you should do this, but I am not willing to take the same risks." So who actually acts againsts these acts? What is the appropriate response? 

The discussion went on for two hours and afterwards we all walked down to shopcom, which is a student hang out place and people recited poetry, read stories, and sang songs in memory of women victims. It was amazing to see students passionate about an issue and to hear the thoughts fromstudents on a controversial issue which is present in India at the moment.

Football Tournament

The Tournament

Two weeks ago was the big football tournament for the University. It went for three days and each day games were going from 5:30pm-1:00am. It was fun to just find a spot and sit and watch the games for a while, kick the ball around on the practice field, or even go and get some tea at the nearby student canteen. In our final match we tied and had to do Penalty Kicks to break the tie. For the PKs about a hundred people formed an arch on the field cheering for the players and giving advice. It was a crazy experience. It was the first time I have played a match where afterwards the best player of the opposing team actually hugged me and said she enjoyed playing with me. Everyone was quite happy and just glad that it was an exciting match that people enjoyed watching.



This is our team before the first match.




Above is Aswani our team captain and a Yasef, who played with us and gave some tips.



One of the students from the US loves to play frisbee so we taught them how to throw. They really liked it and decided we needed to have a picture with the frisbee.

This was what it looked like from the goalies stand point during our penalty kicks. Everyone gathered on to the field and circled around the perimeter.

After the final games they had an award ceremony for the 1st and 2nd place teams in the tournament. It took about 30 minutes to get everything ready. During that time the teams who won were celebrating and singing songs from their region of India. It was fun to hear the speeches and I even won a trophy for being the lady of the match. It is funny because now whenever somebody I don't know comes up to me they always ask if I was the person who plays football. I guess it works for starting up random conversations.

Hope all is well back in the states.

Judith

My Apologies

So I have decided that one profession I will not seek in the future is that of a blogger. I have failed in every aspect during my trip and I apologize. However, since today is February 7th and since that happens to be my mother's birthday I have decided to submit some posts and update everyone on some random stories of my life here in India. I may even have some pictures however surprising that may be. So Happy Birthday Mother I hope you enjoy the reading.

The following is something I wrote about three weeks ago but never posted. This is how ridiculous I am I guess....

Kites, Cows, and Football

For the last week (turned into last month) I have enjoyed playing soccer almost every evening with a group of students at the University. It is really laid back and a lot of fun. There are four Indian students from Kerala who have started this team so we can play in the upcoming tournament. In India girls do not play sports very often so while there are 50 guys playing soccer all of whom are good and have been playing for some time the girls I play with have very little experience. The interesting thing is though that unlike in the USA here people of varying expertise play together. The guys will play with us and pass, we will play with 8 year old boys and although there is the point of winning it is all for fun and it is the kind of soccer that I have missed.

There are two things one must look out for while on the field besides the soccer ball. It is kite flying season and there are many people who fly kites on the field. The only problem is when the kite goes down the line that happens to be cutting across the field goes down with it. There have been three or four times where I have narrowly missed tripping over this almost invisible kite line and not to mention the times that my foot has gotten tied up in the string. The next things are cows. Yes I have almost run into a cow that just happened to be grazing in the middle of the field. No one besides us foreigners seemed to think any of this was strange.

Saturday I went with our group to Golconda Fort and to some ancient burials. There are I guess over 200 burials in this area of the Kings and their family who once ruled this area of Hyderabad. It was a beautiful area and just fun to roam around, and sit and think for awhile. Just being outside and enjoy the sunshine was lovely. Below are some pictures that I took of the burials and fort.



This is the oldest Boab tree in India. The person who was giving us the tour was an old historian and he said when he was younger him and his friends would go to this tree and drink their chai in the center of it. So it is actually hollow in the trunk and they would get four or five people down there and just enjoy the afternoon where it was cooler.





This is a picture taken from the top of Charminar. It is a busy shopping area and it is insane to walk around and the amount people is just crazy to think about. A friend and I went here with a person we met through Couch Surfing and had a great experience getting know her and letting her show us around the city.



Learning About Hyderabad

My first week at Hyderabad University:

On Thursday I was able to get in contact with Krishna, a friend of a friend who studies in Illinois, he offered to take me to his home to meet his family. His home was beautiful and his mother greeted me warmly. They showed me around the house and then Krishna and I sat on the roof patio, where there was nice seating and we talked and enjoyed some snacks and chai. After we finished he asked me whether I wanted Indian or American food. I decided for Indian food and he took me to Paradise, which is where the best Biryani is made. Biryani is a famous Indian dish made in Hyderabad. It is a dish with rice and a sort of vegetable mix underneath the rice. And then I, since I can’t stand as much spice, put a lot of the white, cold, similar to a cucumber sauce on top. That is the best I can do to describe the dish, but in case you were wondering it was great.

It has been quite hectic trying to figure out class times. Indian students only take classes from one department and those times match up well, but for students trying to take classes from different departments it can be quite difficult. However, I think I have figured out my schedule and I will be taking Yoga: theory and practice, Human Rights in India, Medieval India, and Indian Philosophy. I should learn a lot and am excited to get started. Since I don’t have any extra curricular activities I am excited to enjoy a semester of leisure. I plan to read, travel, and enjoy riding my bike over the beautiful campus. That’s something else I should mention it is a fifteen minute bike ride to the other campus, and one time I walk to almost the far side and it took me an hour to get there.

Our student guide Abishek took us around town on Saturday to show us the city and understand public transportation a little better. We took a train into town and then went rickshaw crazy. We fit seven people into one rickshaw every time we traveled. These auto rickshaws are three wheels and the driver sits in front and then there is room for three maybe four to fit comfortable, but the more the merrier in India, so six it is. There is a picture of an empty rickshaw below.

We ate lunch at a fast food restaurant. Abi Shek recommended that we get a dish that had a huge piece of bread that was really thin and was completely hollow. It made me think of when pizza have thos air pockets except it’s an air pocket as big as a small pizza. Then you dip it in this chick pea dish and onions and lime. It was simple, but good. There were three green chiles that went with it. We asked Abishek if they were spicy, and he said no their not spicy. Well, I took that as truth for me and took one huge bite let me tell you my mouth has never been so much on fire in my life. I don’t even know what this chile was called, but it was hot. Now I know that if an Indian says a chile isn’t hot, still proceed with caution.

Sunday a friend and I decided to try and get into the city on our own using the trains. We took a rickshaw to the station, and realized that there were fewer trains that traveled on Sundays. The best thing to do was to just laugh and we went back outside the station, where we found the driver who took us to the station. He definitely enjoyed laughing at us Americans, who still haven’t figured out the system. But I guess that happens in all new places.

Later in the afternoon six of us decided to go to shilparamam, which is a craft village. People have to pay 25 rupees (about 50 cents) to get in and then there are three or four blocks of booths with all different types of hand made things. I was able to practice my bartering skills and it is getting a little bit better, but I am still a little too hesistant for India shopping. I did end up buying some clothes that will help keep me cool in the warm months ahead. It is winter in India right now and everyday it is 80 degrees and sunny, its funny because it feels so great to us, but there are people here wearing coats and earmuffs because it is so cold. 

I hope everyone is doing well.

Judith

Good Morning!

Well I have made it to Hyderabad and am in the process of making my new home. However, it has been quite a journey to get here. To start off the semester abroad we took the Golden Triangle Tour. This journey consisted of the cities: Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. I will not bore you with all the parts of the last few days, but here are some fun adventures that may interest you.

Day 1:

Well first off I want to tell you of my luck of being upgraded from economy class to first class on the flight from London to Bangalore and that was quite a pleasure. YAY for a great flight!!!

Our car trip from Delhi to Agra was a long one, but there was plenty of entertainment along the way. On any given road in India there may be cars, mopeds, bicycles, people walking, rickshaws, camels etc,. It is quite a site not to mention the amount of weaving in and out of traffic and the constant noise of horns. Our driver about three hours in stopped on the side of the roads, told us not to get out, locked the doors, and just left us there sitting.

Instantly, after he left five people came to our windows trying to sell things. There was one man with a monkey, and although we have now observed that monkeys are India’s squirrels this was our first experience and we thought they were adorable. One of the girls wanted to take a picture of it and wanted to know if it was alright to. I advised her not to since more than likely they would make her pay afterward. They heard her say that and they said yeah sure, its free no problem, take the picture. But later when we joined the other car holding AIFS students a girl had taken took a picture and they demanded some rupees.

When we arrived in Agra we went straight to the Taj Mahal and since our group was behind the whole tour group, due to plane cancellations, we were just dropped off to fend for ourselves. It was a foggy evening, but that did not hide the beauty of the Taj Mahal. We arrived about an hour before it closed and everyone was in a hurry. Not long after we went through security it started raining and someone in passing said, “welcome to India.” We found a tree to stand under, and it was wonderful to listen and fell after such a long time traveling. Once the rain ceased the six of us headed towards the Taj Mahal. No shoes were allowed inside and there were shoe boxes where we were suppose to leave them. WE had some confusion. The workers offered us shoe covers, but we thought that we would just put these over our feet and since they were used we didn’t want to do this. So instead we looked around and saw that most Indians were just going barefoot and decided on that. It was only later we realized that the shoe covers go over shoes (hahaha). But going barefoot was and interesting experience and it made us feel a little less touristy. I am going to say I took some time scrubbing my feet that night.

Inside the Taj Mahal it was dark, crowed, and loud. Since it was almost time for closing the employers were blowing their whistles within the building, people were running through it, bumping into eachother, and it was so dark that we could not see much. I was thankful to be outside again, where the beauty could be enjoyed. The Taj Mahal is not the peaceful place I had always imagined, but a little chaotic.

One of the most interesting things I have observed while in India is that opposite categories are often separated by only a small barrier. Rich homes often neighbor urban slums. Both the magnificence of the Taj Mahal and the chaos exist together. A landfill can be right next to a nice shop. One cannot be in India and bypass the suffering, but you also cannot be in India without see the beauty and happiness.

When we were once again outside the Taj Mahal there were two Indian girls who asked if they could take their picture with us. They were adorable probably around 6 and 8 years of age. There are a lot of times when people ask to take pictures with us since we are foreigners and look different. Once a friend of mine was even asked to hold a baby so they could take a picture with her and their child. There is no blending in India, but I am going to try the best I can.

Jaipur

Our trip to Jaipur was another long drive and it was made longer due to a protest that farmers were forming which blocked all the highways. In order to continue to Jaipur we had to travel through the small farming villages which we would not have been able to see. Every time we went through a village the people would wave and all the children would run towards the bus and get really excited to see us.

We started the New Year with riding an elephant up the pathway to a ghost town right outside Jaipur. It was a crazy experience. There were probably 50 elephants all painted and decorated, transporting people up to the center of the town. I don’t know if I will ever ride an elephant again, it is quite bumpy and not the most comfortable. The town was beautiful and had the palace where three generations of kings lived in the 16^th Century. It was amazing to see the architecture of the palace.

Jaipur is known for its textiles and gems. We were able to go to a textile shop where they showed us how they use wood block prints and the whole process. They can use anything from 4-7 paints and these paints are not chemical but all from plants and hand made. This helps the paints to stay brighter longer and also allows us to machine wash, which is always a plus. They then brought us inside and showed us all their merchandise and prices. Next it was time to shop. Shopping in India is much different from in the US. It is a bargaining idea and if you look too much at an item it is very difficult to get away from the salesman without buying the item you looked at. They stick with you and don’t understand why “wealthy” Americans wouldn’t be able to buy something that they want. So this is something I need to improve on not looking at anything with too much interest before realizing I really want the item. This is difficult for someone who takes a long time to decide anything. Oh dear.

Below are some pictures that I have taken. I didn't have my camera when we went to the Taj Mahal, but there are pictures of several palaces, of monkeys, and of one of the busy streets.

I hope all is well back in the states and have a wonderful day.

Judith