Krishnamurti Center – 12/14/14

                As a mini stay-cation in Banaras, our group decided to go to the Krishnamurti Center, an education center dedicated to the life and works of a man named, you guessed it, Krishnamurti. It was pitched to us a place of peace and quiet removed from the hustle, bustle, and grime of the rest of the city. The center is located in Raj Ghat, the first ghat of Banaras, which is about as far away as you can get from Assi Ghat, the last ghat of Banaras, while still being in the city. When we arrived we were certainly happy to see grass and trees, but, unfortunately, there was a wedding going on right next door that was blasting music late into the night. Luckily, the wedding only lasted one day and the rest of our time at the center was really pleasant.

The first evening (Friday) we all had time to just chill in our rooms and read or write or sleep. After breakfast the next morning, we had a lecture of sorts on the philosophy of Krishnamurti and saw an hour long movie about his life. Fundamentally I share a lot of the same values as the philosophy of Krishnamurti who says that you should look at and listen to things with as little prejudice as possible, but the other people who we met there seemed to take it to a whole new level with metaphysical discussion on thought and mind. After that meeting we had lunch and then Alex and I went to see the archeological site of the old city (it was burned to the ground when the Moguls invaded) as well as the giant bridge that passes over the Ganges. Upon returning from that, we had even more time to read and write or whatever before six when we met as a group to have a check-in about our feelings/thoughts/aspirations/etc. now that 40% of the program has passed (the halfway mark happens either during our trip to Rajasthan or soon after). Next, dinner and then group bonding where we went through all of our pictures and showed everyone the particularly ugly ones (and a few nice ones). Finally, the last day was dedicated to more writing (people in our group really need a lot of time to write their group updates for Princeton) and relaxing.

Overall, the entire weekend was a really nice retreat (even if we still couldn’t fully escape the noises of the city). I got to take two baths with hot water in a row, used toilet paper, and slept more soundly than I have in months. I am really excited for the coming weeks with Open House at the South Point School (I’ll write a blog about that later) and Christmas and Rajasthan. It’s weird being here and not really feeling the same holiday spirit that grips the U.S. following Thanksgiving, but I still get happy butterflies in my stomach when I think of the coming holiday (especially since our group is doing a Secret Santa exchange).

Wedding Craziness – 12/8/14

                I have always heard about crazy Indian weddings and going to one was fairly high up on my bucket list when I came to India. So naturally I was extremely excited when Jenny told the group that her host brother would be getting married in early December. Even though our group only went to two days of the wedding affair (here, weddings last an entire week), I was still blown away by the opulence of the affair - all of the food, dancers, DJs, decorations, etc. The group attended the actual wedding ceremony as well as the wedding reception.
                When we went to the wedding ceremony I was impressed by the scale of the event. Before the ceremony we went on a parade through the streets with the groom at the back on a white horse. The parade was contained within two lines of children holding huge light displays on their heads and at the front of the line was a marching band clothed in baby blue suits. Next came a drumline and a few trumpets who provided the dance beat for the guests to dance through the streets. I am sure we really messed up the already awful traffic and during the whole procession we were being assaulted with irritated honks and bell rings from motorcycles, cars, and bicycles passing by us. Once we arrived at the actual wedding location, we found a huge tent with cushioned chairs and small sofas for guests to sit in and a stage decked out with hundreds of flowers and two thrones for the soon-to-be-weds. Bordering the perimeter of the grassy field where the wedding was being held, there was a huge buffet of Indian food and drink. In one corner was a dance floor that lit up and was flanked by huge speakers blasting music. Technically we didn’t even stay for the ceremony (which starts at midnight), but we did get to see the bride and groom exchange garlands and take pictures with them. Perhaps my favorite part of the night (besides the fresh butter naan and cream sauce pasta) was dancing to the latest and greatest Yo Yo Honey Singh songs with the other BYPers and a bunch of the other Indian wedding guests. Even though we had a great time jamming out to Indian pop music, our group really went crazy when Justin Bieber’s “Baby” came on the DJ mix. Here in India, people really like Justin Bieber and Enrique Iglesias and seem to think that everyone in America is obsessed with them too. Whenever people ask me who my favorite American singer is, they always interject that theirs is either Justin Bieber, Enrique Iglesias, or Pitbull (Indians also have a habit of interrupting a lot when you are speaking). In any event, I was blown away by the scale and pomp of the first day, but I had no idea what was to come a few days later for the wedding reception.
                The wedding reception was held in Cantonment, a rather wealthy and touristy part of Banaras, in the Hotel Paris. We pulled up in our car to the weddings to find a huge golden Ganesh statue under garlanded arches with a red carpet path. Following the carpet, we were led to an enormous area roughly divided into two sections. One was a place with tables and chairs for guests to sit and watch the goings-on of the stage, the other was an area just dedicated to food. On the table/chair side, there was a stage with hired dancers from Calcutta and a professional singer and next to this an even bigger stage with a kingly couch for the newlyweds. Waiters came around with drinks and hors de vors before the dinner feast was served and we happily munched away while watching the dancers and singer. Then, the announcer spotted us, the sole videshi (foreign) guests, and called us up on the stage to dance. Luckily, the Bens had previously learned a Bollywood dance for Dolly-ji’s birthday and we could perform that without looking too much like total fools, but I’m sure we looked hilarious and I’m glad that both Stephen and my host brother got it on film. Afterwards we each said a simple sentence in Hindi to impress the crowd and then returned to our seats. Once we gave the bride and groom a bouquet of flowers and took pictures, we headed off to see what food was being offered (or more correctly, what food wasn’t being offered). There was a Chinese (spelled Chinees) food tent, a Punjabi food tent, a street food tent, a pasta food tent, a dessert tent, a fruit tent, etc. etc. etc. My goal was to try a little bit of all the food, but I soon found that to be impossible. After going up about three times for plates of food, we were all stuffed and a little cold from the nighttime chill. There was a hookah bar and a paan (chewing tobacco) station that was garnering a lot of attention from the other Indian guests, so we decided to go check it out. I tried sweet paan (one without any tobacco) for the first time and had to spit it out in about three seconds it was still so disgusting (making my host mother laugh considerably). It was about eleven at that point and we all still had work the next day, so after the paan (and then wolfing down some naan to get the bad taste out of my mouth) I left for home still a little giddy from all of the fun.

An Indian Thanksgiving – 11/27/14

                Our group really poured our hearts and souls into cooking for Thanksgiving. We met at 9 AM to eat breakfast/plan the day and then didn’t stop moving until 7:30 PM when we were all seated and eating Thanksgiving dinner. Our menu was oddly reminiscent of actual Thanksgiving, which was a miracle considering what we had to work with. We had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, mushrooms, cauliflower, grilled cheese, tuna melts, stuffing, and deviled eggs (not to mention the apple pie, but that’s not technically included in this list since we didn’t make it ourselves). I think the most incredible feat was the stuffing, mostly because the only ingredient we had in common with the original recipe was bread (and even then we didn’t have stale bread). To make things worse, our toaster oven doesn’t get hotter than 250 degrees Fahrenheit (and that’s when the electricity is actually working). The stuffing had bread, carrots, apples, vegetable soup (we couldn’t find broth anywhere), and oregano (from Domino Pizza spice packets) in it and somehow still managed to taste a lot like any other stuffing you could find in the U.S.

We each invited some of our host family to join the feast and the six interns currently living at Nirman and all went around saying something that we’re thankful for and we sang the Johnny Appleseed song for grace (we were originally going to have a person from each faith say a little prayer of sorts, but that quickly devolved as people started eating). Tejbal, Ben P’s host brother, brought Indian-style macaroni to add to the feast and I laughed a little as both Deep and Madhu (my host siblings) commented that their favorite food at the meal was the sole Indian dish present. By the time we were done with dinner and ready for dessert, the pies we bought from Vatika Café were already cold, so we decided that we should heat them up. A few of them were put on the stove (which was off but still hot) and then Jenny and Stephen had the brilliant idea to put a pie in the toaster oven. The one thing that they forgot to do, however, was take the pie out of the cardboard box before turning on the hot coils. The result: a pizza box on fire in the program house. Luckily, it was discovered early and nothing bad happened. Once all the smoke was cleared out and we went to eat the pie, we were depressed to find that even after all of that chaos, the pie was still cold. Nevertheless, it was quite tasty and satisfied everyone’s desire for a pie on Thanksgiving. After everyone’s host families went home, we and the Nirman interns played Salad Bowl, a game that is a mix of taboo and charades. Overall, the day was fantastic and most of us (if not all, but I don’t want to put words into other peoples’ mouths) weren’t even homesick because there was such a sense of family and community during both the preparation and the meal.