A Little Crazy - The Ovary Trap

When my mother was pregnant with me she often felt 'a little yucky' which became an epithet for the thing that was on its way to becoming me. India however requires not 'a little yucky,' but 'a little crazy.' There's a certain degree of flexibility which is required in this level of heat... otherwise tempers flare and someone ends up dead.

I suggest this because, in the paper which is delivered daily to my room, the Chandigarh Tribune (I think you might be able to find this online) there is a story (at least one) daily that ends in violence surrounding issues of caste, gender, or economics.

While Sikhs and Muslims (in addition to some other minority groups) profess a desire for equality in both caste and gender dimensions, yet the current state is a far cry from our expectations of such things. While I could go on and on about caste dynamics, I think I've mentioned this several times before and would therefore like to focus a bit more on gender dynamics - and all the problems associated with love, women, and sex in Punjab (yes..this is the CONDENSED version from MY perspective).

Extended post here Think: Intercaste marriage (often the boy is the lower caste...though why I am unclear) formed because of love (for which there is no place in Punjabi society, or was none, say a fair few of our guest lecturers) ends with the father and brother of the girl kidnapping the couple killing and maiming them. The accused rarely stay in jail for any length of time.

In other cases the village council sentences the couple to death by ordering the family to kill them.

Punjab is one of three Indian states with the highest numbers of men relative to women (876 women to every 1000 men). In the paper there are regular reports of baby bodies being found near villages in ditches. They are always female. The Indian government has attempted to stem this long practiced custom but has met little success.

Women here do not go out at night by themselves (although this is changing somewhat with the younger generations). This is because of several reasons. Premarital sex is discouraged. You hav low levels of women relative to men. It's dark...guys are horny and they travel in groups. Rape and sexual assault cases are rarely prosecuted.

There is some change in the ideas surrounding public displays of affection (PDA) which is largely due to Western teenage love movies (even the scene of Cho Chang and Harry Potter in the recent HP movie would get whoops and yells in the theater). So now you see some couples nuzzling in public in major cities, but certainly not in villages. Ideas about sex and conversations about sex are limited although there are initiatives to educate (women especially) about safe sex and contraception options.

All this combined with the whole predominance of Indians' staring. For some reason staring happens...to everyone...not just to foreigners. However, white women (especially with unusual colored eyes and hair - say blonde and blue-eyed) elicit the most overt stares. You can understand why modest dress is a good idea for Western women. Needless to say, modest means nothing above the knee (i.e. knee is covered) and certainly no cleavage (and spaghetti straps are a big no-no). Standards of modest dress are not necessarily the same for Indian and Western women (so while an Indian woman might be able to get away with some of the above immodesties, a Western woman would be perceived as definitely asking for 'it').

So basically everywhere I go I get gawked alittle bit. Fortunately I have some protection by having darker hair and light brown eyes and olive undertoned skin. My friend Ash said I look like a lot of his half-Indian friends. This affords me a little less gawking, but it's certainly not protection from 'creep.' For my blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pink-skinned, (and in some cases, short-haired) friends, the gawking is much more overt, and depending on the woman-in-question's presence, will take on different characters. Short hair for example, will get curiousity, but not necessarily 'undressing-with-the-eyes.'

Even at the movie theater there is a separate line for men and women to help minimize the unwanted groping and touching that might occur. Apparently hands tend to wander (fortunately I have not yet encountered this problem) and even though this happens frequently, it is discouraged by the general population.

So, if you are a woman planning on coming to India from the West, 1) wear modest clothing as per the code above, 2) bring a ring that fits on your left-hand ring finger and 3) be comfortable pushing off the unwanted hands and yelling in their faces if they get a little too close. It's kind of like fending off a large cat - you put up any kind of fight, the cat gets discouraged and leaves you alone.

But don't worry at all if you have a guy in your group. Apparently one or two men is enough to ward off the undesirables.

And all this is to say: with all the advances women have in this country and political offices they've held, culturally men aren't able to control themselves. Hmmm....

Cults and pop religion

So a recurring theme for me in India is, "I'm comfortable and happy being Christian and I have no intention of changing my religion ever." This is basically because of religious saturation. This is not just of long established religions, like Islam and Hinduism, but also separatist movements who claim to be the 'true' way and also popular religion (almost folk religion) which blur all kinds of categories and help soothe the most base of needs.

Extended post here It's these last two which I encountered this past weekend. Namdhari Sikhs are a group that split off from Sikhism in order to bring about a purer more orthodox understanding back into Sikhism in the mid-nineteenth century. We were able to visit their...for lack of a better word...compound and see a worship service (which involved paying respect to their leader who is quite ancient and sits in rather regal estate at the front of the worship hall).

Being a Christian, and a protestant especially, bowing to a person doesn't exactly sit well with me. It's not that I felt as if I was betraying God, I didn't. I did bow to the leader as a gesture of respect both to the leader and to the congregation. It was an act of cultural and religious sensitivity.

The popular religion location we visited was called Gugga Pir. I'm not entirely clear as to what person this place was a shrine to, only that there were several structures that had depictions (yes depictions) of various faith symbols (mosques, Sikh gurus, Hindu gods etc). In the main structure the icons to which people would pray and bring offerings, from what I understand, involved like a local muslim man who had a way with snakes and then Krishna blessing him. Offerings of wheat or other grains (or any kind of food) are brought by families and individuals after a wish has been granted (such as good harvest or animals being safe from snake bites during monsoon season). It was very much a shrine for the local people. In this case, local people means farmers from both small and large farms.

So there are religious groups, categories, and blurring of those categories. Now overlay that with political and socio-economic issues. The British when they came into the Punjab in 1847 (although certainly before this in other provinces) began taking census on religious rather than caste lines. Previously most Indians associated themselves primarily by caste and regional identities. So for review, most Punjabis consider themselves Sikh, then either Punjabi or their caste (like Jat) followed by the other. The British also instituted the reservation representation system...so majority groups in certain towns were guaranteed an elected official of their religious group. The exception to this is reservation for dalit or backward castes (which is different because it's based on caste rather than religious affiliation). So tensions can arise on religious or socio-economic lines (and are often interrelated).

It's no wonder there could have been so many riots prior to and during the British period, as well as during and after Partition (Everything in Punjab is dated from Partition as opposed to Independence as Partition had a huge impact on Punjabi society.).

And this is where I'm spending the next three weeks. I wonder how my understanding of these groupings and historical context will change once I'm in Delhi. This is my little self-experiment.

Religious Confusion and Cross-Cultural Enjoyment

Religion...wow. This past weekend I visited a Christian school/chapel, a Jain temple, two commemorative Gurdwaras, a Mosque and Shrine to a Sufi saint, and a Hindu temple. People are not clearly Sikh or Muslim or Hindu here. There's this concept of popular religion which encourages people to sort of, as Mann says, 'hedge their bets.' So you can find Sikhs teaching at the Christian school, worshipping at the Jain temple and paying their respects to the Sufi saint. Talk about confusing.

From what I can understand, the issues when it comes to community violence (although I just picked up a book on the subject which may or may not support my hypothesis) are not religious (although they often take on a religious character) but are socio-economic. It has more to do with long held notions of caste, and all the power and wealth (or lack thereof) wrapped up in these. Likewise religious minorities or ethnic minorities become associated with certain levels of prosperity or castes and are therefore received accordingly(such as the Christian woman I mentioned before). Jains are often associated with trading and tend to be considered wealthy. Sikhs are generally considered wealthy, tall, and light-skinned (Punjab being a majority Sikh state and by far the wealthiest state in India). Christians are considered lower caste, as are Muslims in many areas. Hindus you get all sorts... I've also noticed some of this just in the marriage classifieds of the Chandigarh Tribune. Of course, these are stereotypes. Stereotypes have some grounding in reality, and as students of the social sciences, we can both see their usefulness (if indeed there is any) and their highly problematic nature.

Beyond that, as a spiritual person, as a religious person, I expected to feel something when I was in these houses of worship. Often I just felt awkward. Sometimes I just felt like an outsider. Part of it is certainly my tradition, being raised Baptist...it certainly has an effect. At the same time I was surprised. I've always felt a shiver when I hear the Muslim call to prayer, but in these temples I felt strange. I did appreciate the beauty of the gurdwaras and the Sufi shrine, but I did not feel reverence. This clued me in on the fact that I'm probably in the right religion (if I did have any doubts).

In other news we have been learning Bangra - traditional Punjabi dancing. This is awesome! For those of you who know how much I love to dance, you should also know I have a decent ability dancing freeform, but someone telling me how to move requires a great deal more concentration. HOWEVER, I have found myself comfortably successful and am enjoying it a great deal.

I've had enough email and computer for today, so here's Alexis from the same grubby cyber cafe in Sector 17, Chandigarh signing off, saying Salam, Shalom, Shanti, An, and Peace.

Christian Blue Ice

Here's a little bit about last evening and today. I can't even begin to recall when it is July 4 or July 5 or what in the states...so if it's happened, then excellent...hope you enjoyed the fireworks. If it's happening, I hope you enjoy the fireworks. I'll relax as much as I can on tandoori (which I LOVE, so it's difficult).

Okay, so last night we went to this 'lounge' called Blue Ice which had a bunch of couples nuzzling dressed in Western clothes. The drinks, for India were expensive, but fairly EXTENSIVE. I've been to some bars in SB where the bartender didn't know how to make a Pink Pussy (which I got by the way, because the first time I got one I was in Hungary, and it was too nice of a connection to pass up.). The music was loud and Western - hip hop, to some classic rock, to techno (which Dan and Tony should be pleased- I broke out into raver dance sitting down. This apparently was quite a surprise to the group, because they all said 'WHOA!' and stopped talking. I noticed this, and finished dancing, and they applauded. It made me feel a little weird. Then my friend Jessie was like 'Alexis is a raver!' To which I replied, 'No, I just have a raver boyfriend.' *grin*

One of the girls, Fakrah, got up and wanted to dance the Bangra. She requested as song from one of the latest Bollywood films. This encouraged a guy who is on Berkeley's Indian dance team, Ashveer, to join her. This was amazing - I'm sure you can find videos of this everywhere, but I don't have the patience to find one for you...so you'll just have to look. Bangra however, is the dance that is affectionately referred to by white people as 'screw in the lightbulb, turn the doorknob.' Anyway, their dancing received applause from some of the other patrons. It was pretty cool.

Today the thing which was most interesting was the Christian presentation in the afternoon. Christians were not solely the product of British missionaries (however in Punjab they are primarily so). Thomas visited the region of Kerala around 49 A.C.E. and there remains a somewhat Orthodox community there (I'd like to learn a bit more about this).

Christians in India are generally perceived as lower caste, even though Christians do not adhere to the caste system. Because they don't adhere to the caste system, they cannot get reservation (as dalits from other groups might). Only recently did the Indian government in Punjab call them 'financially backward' which apparently doesn't really change their situation. Yay governments!

An additional pain is that constitutionally religions are separated into vedic and semitic religions. So for example, a Hindu who wants to adopt a child has a relatively easy time doing so - they go to court and it's a relatively painless process. A Christian, Muslim, or Jew simply cannot adopt. So while India claims to be a secular country without a state religion, there are structures in place which show this to be false (beyond that of the social and cultural).

That said, Christians have done wonderful things for the state of Punjab in the areas of health and education. The first hospitals and schools were begun by missionaries, who, as per the presenters, were there to serve rather than to convert. They saw the rural regions and the lack of opportunities, including work skills, and sought to remedy this by providing institutions which would educate both women and men (girls and boys - a major change because before women stayed in the home and remained covered). Professor Mann is actually the product of a Christian college and is good friends with the presenters we had today (all of whom were classmates with him at the Christian college). In fact, one of the most prominent colleges in Delhi is St. Steven's, a Christian institution. So I guess, Christian instituions are fine, but Christian Indians are not.

Talk about backward.

My heart went out to the one woman when she was telling a story about some research she was doing where she was interviewing some women in their homes, and when the subject of Christianity came up they told her they wouldn't use glasses or plates eaten from by Christians - those were to remain separate. She told them when she left, 'Can I take my cup?' 'Why?' 'Because I'm Christian.' A conversation began about how she couldn't possibly be Christian because she didn't LOOK Christian. 'What does a Christian look like? Three eyes? 2 noses?' She said she left crying.

It was today I began to understand just why there is religious tension in India, and how it really isn't so much about the religion perse, as the socio-economic structures associated with given religions.

I hope you all are having equally interesting times in your respective places.

Peace,

INDIA - Arrival+

Here's the deal - I'm in India. I have just had the first opportunity to get to a computer, so this will be the first major update of my adventures. Expand to read the whole story.

Here's the short version of my arrival: Air India is a micro-expression of India. We were herded into the terminal in LAX where they searched us a second time, and the flight was delayed 3 hours because someone died on the plane we were supposed to be taking. Rules are not rules, they're suggestions. People are chatty and nice. Flight attendants wear uniform saris. Bollywood reigns. I personally appreciated "Namaste London" but I've seen the leading man in other movies, and well, he's hot. The plane arrived in Frankfurt after 10 hours, and the German airport guy freaked at the lack of rule-following. So classic. Another nine hours and we were in Delhi. There, we went through customs, got our bags, and went out into the heat. There, a man named Vicky took two of us, via car, to Chandigarh. Most of the drive was heart-stopping (you've never seen driving until you've been to India), with an on-going dialogue as we passed through villages and cities on our way. Driving - again, everything except red-lights and policemen are suggestions. The road is shared by rickshaws, motorcycles, bicycles, buses, pedestrians, horses, cows, trucks and cars. When we got to Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab 5 hours later, Jessie and I were totally exhausted.

We were met by the wonderful Professor Mann, who greeted us with hugs and quickly brought us to our room. Then we went downstairs for a bite to eat before collapsing for 12 hours sleep.

The next day we were joined by Joy and David which gave us a little group to explore the near area. We went to the market and got some fabric to have salwar kameez (sp?) made and also have some ready made clothes (currently I'm wearing a magenta/green number which is both comfortable and flattering...YAY INDIA!).

The day was HOT, and I mean, HOT. For being a weather wimp, it totally wiped me out. The next day, of course, I fell ill. I stayed in bed the entire day and only drank water, emergen-C, and ate some crackers. Fortunately we had no program things yesterday.

Today was our first program day. We first spent some time learning Gurmukhi (the Punjabi script) which is fun. This was followed by fresh mangos and tea (chai). After snacks, we had a lecture by an eminent scholar on the historical geography of the region. This was followed by lunch with a little siesta time (as it is too hot to really do anything during this period of the day). Then we had a lecture (which was more of a experienced elder imparting his life knowledge as opposed to a traditional lecture) from Mr. Prakash who was one of the architects who planned Chandigarh in the early 1950s. We got a book of poems from him which he had drawn a picture instead of signing (a different one for each book).

And now...you know what I'm doing, so I won't bore you with that.

Much love and happy wishes from India. If you're dying to see pictures, you'll just have to wait. Although, I will say, bright colors abound, and so do interesting sights. The caste system is visible everywhere I go. It is strange, but religion is a part of everything here - from greeting, to dress, to eating, much more so than all my prepartory reading led me to believe.

In any case, namaste!