So in my last post I was going to talk about the differences and similarities between this 'trip' and my previous one, and I kind of forgot to talk about the similarities.
India does not feel like home; it is not a familiar place. Yet oddly enough I find myself falling into bouts of nostalgia from time to time from the little things that I see or experience.
One of the most memorable scenes I have of India are men getting shaves on the side of the road. Noses tipped in the air, these men nonchalantly expose their necks to deadly sharp straight razors as people closely pass by, not giving any notice to this manly ritual taking place. Every time I see this I think "hmm now I could use a a shave on the back of my neck," but then I remind myself that I am indeed growing out my hair, a shave being rather contradictory to those plans.
And a little more than a year after I first arrive to India, I find myself back in Pune to attend another wedding-related festivity within the same family (yes people did wonder, "This girl again? Where does she keep popping up from!?") It's kind of incredible that I totally remembered a lot of members of the family, I remembered the house, I even remembered a little bit of the geography of Pune...I was even going to go back to Vaishali, a well touted eatery, but the sleepies got the best of me, and I slept a good part of Saturday. And you know what! I saw CAMELS! walking on the street. The first thing I saw in Pune last time was an ELEPHANT! HA! Oh city wildlife
Perhaps the most fun, exhilarating everyday experience comes from taking auto-rickshaws around town. Auto drivers have a special language. Driving shouldn't work in India in theory, but these drivers are so seasoned, are so adept in navigating cow and pedestrian strewn roads, that somehow they get their passengers to their destinations in one, jolty piece. If a foreigner ever tried to drive, it'd bring down the whole driving system!
In other news, I'm finding Indian news to be uber sensational. Top stories in the headlines:
- Baby Falak is undergoing more surgery after being brought in severely abused. There is daily updates on her condition
- An Indian general is being forced to retire after 1. being found to have lied about the year he was born, 2. after it was determined that he was born in 1950 not 1951 (not sure about the cutoff...62??)
- Members of the government have been suspended after other members of the government used their phones to video taped them watching porn on their mobile phones.
Literally the news is full of these three topics!
And finally, since I'm in India, I get these security warnings updating me about all the potential threats I can face while here (thank our upgraded travel services for that one). And what did I get a few days ago:
"Warning: Valentine's Day Unrest!!!"
Apparently a small minority of religiously conservative people have launched attacks on all things Valentine's including ransacking stores selling offensive red and pink goodies, ripping up V-day cards, and assaulting couples in love. It's in response to the ever more popular trend of celebrating this commercial, foreign holiday...kind of brings the whole Anti-Valentine's Day sentiments that plague pessimistic New Yorkers to a new level. (I gotta say, I just got a notice about the car bomb that went off in front of the Israeli embassy...so I guess these notices are more useful that I first thought)
More later. I'm off to bed!
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