South India- Part II

From Hyderabad we traveled further south to Chennai, one of the biggest cities in south India. We were only there for a day, and for most of that day the Dekhon group was giving a presentation at the local eye-hospital, but I still enjoyed getting to see a bit of a new place. Unlike Mumbai, which is located on an island and thus had to be built upward, Chennai is just an endless sprawl. It's in a much flatter area, right on the coast, so from the heart of the city buildings just explode outwards.

I spent the morning at the guesthouse where we were staying, along with the cook. Chennai is in Tamil Nadu, so the official language is Tamil, which once again takes precedence over Hindi. The cook however, spoke a good deal of English, and surprisingly some Hindi too, so we were able to get along just fine. She knew that we had come from Maharashtra, so for lunch she made a couple of dishes that I would be familiar with (chapatis, dahl, okra subji) as well as a south Indian dish. It seems that whether or not I will like Indian food is a constant source of concern for people, so it was actually quite sweet of her to make me things which she thought I would be comfortable with. We talked a lot about the differences in food, what I liked about India, and other things like that. Most of our conversation was in English, though often we would each slip in some Hindi words. For a native Tamil speaker, I think it was just as exciting for her to show off a bit of Hindi knowledge as it always is for me.

The aforementioned giant dosa, called paper dosa.

I don't think I have talked about the difference in food yet, which is definitely something that needs mentioning. You can find south Indian food just about anywhere, so I was already familiar with some of it. From my first taste it had become a fast favourite, so I had been anxiously awaiting an opportunity to try some of the authentic stuff. The staple of south Indian food is rice, which is much less heavily featured in Maharashtra. Every meal is eaten with some rice variant, so due to the massive demand it is also one of the main agricultural products. A typical south Indian dish, as well as one of my favourites, is called dosa. You find dosa just about everywhere, so when I think about south Indian food, this is the first place my mind goes. They are like crispy rice pancakes, and are often eaten with a sort of soup called sambar. There are lots of different varieties of dosa, some of which have vegetables folded into them, and others are a couple of feet long, all curled up and crispy.

The actual style of eating is different as well. In Maharashtra, everyone eats with their hands, which I practice I was more than happy to adopt. Some people say that utensils taint the flavours of the food, and while I'm not so sure that is true for me, any chicken nugget and french fry loving kid will agree, that there is simply something fun about eating with your fingers. Anyway, in Maharashtra it is perfectly polite to mash up your food on your plate and suck it off the tips of fingers, formed into a pinched triangular cup. The only rule is that the food can never pass your top knuckle, everything must be kept on your fingers. If you don't keep your eating habits under control, you risk appearing rude or provincial. In the south however, all rules of etiquette are thrown to the wind. On the average south Indian plate you find a monstrous pile of rice, a couple of vegetable dishes (generally soupier than those found in Maharasthra), and often some dahl. But those dishes don't stay segregated for long. With the whole hand (I'm talking all the way up to the wrist) everything is mixed together into one giant slop. Then, again using the entire hand, the mush is rolled into balls and gobbled up from an open palm. By the end of the meal, the shiny metal surface of the plate is the only thing even remotely clean.

Once everyone had finished their meetings, we went out to dinner. To get to the restaurant we took one of the most readily available sources of transportation, and one of the most fun for me- the rickshaw. These aren't the kind of rickshaws that are pulled by bicyclists, they are auto-rickshaws and you find them everywhere in India. They run on natural gas, so they can only go so fast, but they are a really convenient way to get around. They are open on the sides so you are completely vulnerable to the elements, which could be either a blessing or a curse for some. Personally, I like being able to move through a place without feeling sealed off from the sights and sounds, the way you are in a car. In fact, the rickshaws are so prevalent, that schools use them as buses. It would be impossible to send a big bus all over the city to get children for school, and a big bus is expensive. So every morning in Jalna you see rickshaws, which can almost comfortably sit three in the back, carrying somewhere around ten kids. They pile in, sitting on top of each other, in the driver's lap, or standing up with their heads sticking out the sides. It's not exactly the strict safety standards of the American school system, but it makes school accessible for kids who might otherwise be out of reach.

Sorry to go on a bit of a tangent here, but I think the schools using rickshaws is a good example of the way problems are approached in India. If a problem like schools not being able to afford buses arose in the United States, everyone would go through an incredibly complicated and lengthy process to fix it. A public system would be set up and meticulously planned so that, months after the problem arose, it would be fixed, once and for all. In India however, you basically go straight through problems, sometimes in outlandish and complicated ways, but often just simple right-off-the-bat solutions. You do whatever is necessary to make the problem go away, with as little extra-energy expended as possible. It's like a truck that I saw driving around Jalna, with a huge load towering above the truck bed. With a load that tall, an American driver would have meticulously planned his route, no matter how long it ended up being, to avoid any obstacles. But here, I watched as the driver paused at an electrical line that spanned the road. Two men hopped off and pulled out giant wooden poles, which they used to hold the wire up as the driver continued under it. There is no point dwelling on a problem, it just takes a little creativity and you can get on with life.

Anyway, when we got to the restaurant we had a south Indian feast. We got three curries, two of which were sea food based since Chennai is right on the coast, to go with the inevitable rice-based dish. First, we had probably the most ridiculous looking thing I've eaten on this trip so far. I wish I had had my camera with me, but I have included a picture I found online just to give you an idea. Basically, it looked  like a little spaghetti monster, but it was made out of rice of course. It is called idiyappam, and is made from a rice batter that is squeezed out into long threads and piled up. You tear off chunks to dip into the curries, and I must say, it was delicious. Next we had appam, which is similar to dosa, in that it is rice batter that is pan fried. But unlike dosa, it has a big doughy puff in the middle. This was actually the first south Indian food I ever tried, so it was sort of like returning to my first food love.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to see much of the city. One thing Chennai is really known for is its churches, because like a lot of the south, there is some heavy missionary influence. So it's too bad that we didn't get to see any of those, since some of them are apparently really impressive. But who knows, maybe I will get to come back one day. If that is ever the case, I think I now at least have a better culture understanding of southern India, so those grande sights could have a bit more of a backdrop.

A Stint in South India- Part I

As mentioned in my last post, after our bit in Bombay we headed to South India, for a few days in Hyderabad and Chennai. It was my first time in the south, and I was excited to see a new and unique part of the country. India is a huge place, which was only recently united into one national unit, so basically anywhere you go you will find major differences. Each city we visited had its own language, unique scenery, and traditional way of doing things. It made me realize how difficult it is to say that you have become familiar with "Indian" culture as a whole. So far, I been immersed in Maharashtrian culture, but that is barely grazing the surface of this wonderfully eclectic country.

The first city that we visited was Hyderabad, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The official language is Telugu, so though it is the official language of India almost no one speaks Hindi. It also has a high Muslim population, so there are also a lot of Urdu speakers. Because of these language divides, English often becomes the lingua franca, as schools will teach the local language plus English. Though the language spoken is different, there is actually a long historical connection between Hyderabad and Mahrashtra, particularly the Jalna District. They were once a larger state, and at one point a Mughal emperor even moved the capital to Aurangabad. The connection continued through the Nizam period (1724-1948), when Hyderabad State was ruled by the Asaf Jahi dynasty. In fact, due to the Nizam's resistance, Jalna District was one of the last places to become a part of the nation of India, a full year after independence. Due to this close historical connection, there are actually a lot of shared traits between Jalna and Hyderabad. These range from small linguistic things like saying "Hao" for yes instead of the Hindi "Ha," to more prominent traits such as the general propensity towards being late.

Despite some similarities, right away I noticed a lot of major differences. For instance, the infrastructure in Hyderabad is far more developed than that of Maharashtra. I first noticed this in the roads, which all seemed relatively freshly paved, with multiple lanes. One of the major problems that cities like Aurangabad and Jalna face is the horrible state of their roads. Very little of the public money goes into road maintenance, so simply getting to school every morning becomes a struggle against an army of potholes. Then, as we were driving through the city, I noticed hospitals, pharmacies, and medical specialist centres everywhere. While not completely absent, these necessities are much less prevalent in places like Jalna, though admittedly it is a considerably smaller town. I asked Barkha (Ben and Brian's cousin) about why the infrastructure was so much more developed. Apparently this is commonplace throughout the south, where the political climate is much calmer than in Maharasthra. Corruption, a major problem in Indian government, while not entirely absent, is less oppressive than in Maharasthra. And fewer extreme religious groups make it easier for the government to make changes and get things done.

Char Minar, as seen from the bangle market.

Once the business part of the trip in Hyderabad was over, we went out to see a bit of the city. First we went to Char Minar, one of the most famous sites in Hyderabad. It is a mosque with four minarets, built to commemorate the end of a plague in the city. We went up to the first level of the towers, to look out over the bustling market area around the monument. Char Minar is located in a heavily Muslim populated area, so almost all of the signs were in Urdu, and most of the people in the streets were wearing traditional Muslim clothing. After our trip up the monument, we wandered through the bangle market just next to it. As we walked through the streets, men from the shops would shout to us to come look at things, and peddlers of other small trinkets crowded us from all sides. We eventually ended up in one of the shops, to get a better idea of the types of bangles that Hyderabad is evidently known for. The shop was lined wall to wall with bangles, necklaces, and earrings. The ceilings were covered in mirrors and dozens of light bulbs hung from wires to make all of the jewelry shine. I didn't buy anything, but we did use it as an opportunity to try our hand at bargaining. Needless to say, the two white people curiously looking on were not helping Barkha earn us the lowest price.

One of the bangle shops

After the market we visited Birla Temple, so that we could get a look at a Hindu temple as well. This one was much more modern, but still it was great to take a look at yet another display of religious grandeur. The entire building was made of white marble, though unfortunately cameras weren't allowed so I can't provide any proof. As we walked up the steps into the temple we passed statues and carvings set into the walls, depicting various gods and goddesses. The walk into the temple was designed to mirror a pilgrimage, so we were sent along a path all the way around the temple before we could enter.

We only spent two days in Hyderabad, but nonetheless it was a dense trip. From there we continued onto Chennai, and the topic of my next blog post.

Bombay Trekking

For a while now, we have been wanting to go to Bombay for a trek, just outside the city. There are some excellent hiking opportunities about an hour from Bombay, and personally I have been itching to get back into the great outdoors, particularly if it means discovering the scenery of a new country. So when Ben, Brian, and Michael needed to take a trip south to meet with some people and take a look at some eye hospitals, we thought it would be perfect to first spend a bit of time in Bombay. The plan was to travel to Bombay for two days, then continue on to Hyderabad (where we are now), and then finish up the trip in Chennai.

The original plan was to take the train from Aurangabad to Bombay, which takes about eight hours, but would give you a great look at Maharashtra. Unfortunately, our tickets didn't quite go through. We booked our tickets in advance, but we were put on the wait list. Basically that means if some VIP decides last minute that they want to take the train, we can get bumped. And that is precisely what happened, unfortunately. Particularly in India, connections can get you a long way. But luckily we found out about the tickets the night beforehand, and we weren't about to dwell on it. So we quickly booked plane tickets, which in the end earned us a few more hours of sleep than the 4 AM train would have.

We arrived in Bombay around 10, and since we were all a little exhausted we decided to hang out at the Bombay house for a while before heading out. So like the super cool people that we are, we flopped and watched multiple hours of How I Met Your Mother. But hey, every once in a while you have to indulge your American tv cravings. Once it got to be about lunch time, we headed out to my favourite restaurant in Bombay, and one of the things I was most excited about for this trip- Swati Snacks. Basically it serves typical street food, in an environment that won't tear my poor western stomach to bits. There is a huge selection, and it is great for sharing and getting a little taste of lots of different types of Indian food. Needless to say, I left lunch very satisfied.

After lunch we went to Phoenix, the biggest mall in Bombay. Stepping into that place, I felt like I was back in the west. Suddenly all of the stores were filled with European designer clothes, that were easily as expensive, if not more, than the things you would find in the US. And walking around, I found that the salwar kameez or sari that I have gotten used to seeing, had been replaced by short shorts and tank tops. I hardly saw any Indian clothes at all, just a few shops that were tucked away on the top floors, and the occasional older shopper. And for once, the white girl who was walking around didn't attract nearly as much attention. The posh Bombay kids weren't about to crane their necks at a display of western culture, when they pull on a pair of jeans and a printed tshirt just as often as do.

After some window shopping, we went to see a movie at the mall's theatre. At first glance, the theatre once again felt like a pool of western influence. But upon closer inspection I soon found that it was filled with some key cultural differences. For one thing, in addition to popcorn, one of the standard movie snacks is steamed corn with spices. It has the potential to be a healthy alternative to the greasy American classic, but considering the amount of butter they mix in, it really isn't all that much better for you. Then when we got into the the theatre, we had to find the seats that had been assigned to us on our tickets. And soon after sitting down, we had to stand back up again as they played the national anthem. I have gotten so used to hearing the kids sing it every morning, that I was almost expecting a chorus of "Goodmorning Teachers" as soon as the song ended, just as the students do. Then the movie started, and after an hour of standard movie watching, there was an intermission. All Indian movie theatres have intermissions, where people come around with snack menus. In Bollywood movies they have the intermission built in, so it works out just fine. But when they are showing western films, they have to stop it at a random point. The movie practically stopped midsentence, and then was backed up a bit when it started up again.
After the movie we went to dinner with Ben's cousins Deepak and Shirish, their wives Sarika and Pragaya, and two more cousins, Payal and Pooja. A good deal of the family lives in Bombay, so it has become a sort of hub for visits. As I have mentioned, visiting family is a very important part of Indian culture. You don't simply see people once a year for Christmas or Thanksgiving like in the US. So whenever we are flying through Bombay, it is important that we try and see everyone we can, at least once. And with such a large international family like Ben's, it is actually quite convenient. Whether they are visiting London, Toronto, or Chicago, there is always an available place to stay.
The next morning was the day if our hike. We left the house at six, so that we could be done hiking before the crippling heat of the afternoon fully set in. The six of us (Ben, Brian, Michael, two of Ben's friends from the colony, and myself) were joined by Deepak and a few of his friends. We all piled into three cars, and first headed over to a restaurant that was open early enough for some breakfast. The place was packed with people that were heading off to work. It basically reminded me of the Indian version of a 24 hour diner. And it was definitely far from your average tourist destination, so Michael and I were getting some particularly curious looks. We had idli sambar, which is a rice-based southern dish, and I had probably the best cup of coffee I have had all trip. It was served in a small metal cup, which you are meant to pour into a larger metal dish. All of the sugar is at the bottom, so you can pour it back and forth between the two dishes to mix the sugar in, depending on how sweet you want it. The wider metal dish also helps to cool the coffee to a better drinking tempature.

One of our first big views of the scenery from the trail.

Once we had eaten, we headed off towards Karnala Bird Sanctuary, where we would be hiking. It is amazing how quickly things transition from a densely-packed urban environment to sprawling mountains and hills. On our way out of the city, there was a brief break in buildings and then we passed through New Mumbai. New Mumbai is basically the equivalent of the suburbs, though it looks nothing like the American version. It is considerably less dense than downtown Mumbai, but still it is made up of tall apartment buildings. We continued for about half an hour from there, and then finally reached our hiking site.

Our rugged Indian trail required some expert butt-scooching.

Suddenly finding myself in a calm natural retreat, it seemed impossible that we could be such a short drive from a bustling metropolitan area. It felt fantastic setting off on a trail for the first time in so long. Of course, there were huge differences between our rugged Indian trail, almost more of a staircase of roots and rocks, and your average well-maintained American trail. But no matter where you may be, there is always familiar comfort in being outside, treating your body to some pleasant exhaustion. And I actually loved the fact that the trail was so different from what I was used to. At no point was I going to get into a groove and let my mind believe I was back in the Rocky Mountains. The whole way I was aware of the fact that I wasn't just exploring a new mountain, but the outdoors of a new country.

View from close to the top of the mountain.

We were hiking to the top of a mountain, where we found ourselves at an ancient fort called Karnala killa. The mountain is sometimes referred to as the thumbs up, because from the fort a giant point shoots up, making the entire mountain look like a hand. Of course, more than anything it made me want to rock climb to the actual top, because something about getting almost there just tore me up, but that would have required ropes and harnesses. Along the way we saw lots of wildlife, like giant spiders (I exaggerate not, they were probably about the size of my hand), monkeys, and the birds which were under protection. And once we got up high enough, we started seeing the magnificent mountain range that we found ourselves in. I think there is something really unique about Indian mountain ranges. The mountains were covered in trees and just rolled on as far as you could see. In the valleys between mountains and even over their tops, winter had brought a layer of thick mist. It was like gazing at a massive expanse of bubble wrap covered jungle, each mountain waiting for someone to reach over and pop it.

The walls of Karnala fort.

That was the main event of the trip, after which we mostly relaxed until our early morning flight to Hyderabad the next day. When I get home, I will write a post about our time in the south. So far though, I can very easily say that I have been having a great time with our bit of Indian travel. After all, that is why I am here- to experience and learn as much about this fantastic new country as I possibly can.

Mahyco

I realized recently that I have mentioned a few times that I am staying on "a compound," but I never quite elaborated on what that is. For those of you who know specifically where I am staying, you can think, "Oh she is just talking about Mahyco again." But if you don't know what that is, it probably sounds like I am right in the middle of a bad sci-fi movie or something. But fear not, my India experience is not rooted in becoming some strange experiment, and I swear I haven't been made into an alien avatar yet. So, to avoid further confusion, here is my little explanation of where exactly I am staying.

I am staying on a research facility which is owned by Mahyco, or Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company. It is part of the Barwale foundation, which was founded by Ben's grandfather. The compound, as I call it, is made up of a colony where scientists and their families can live, the labs, greenhouses, the office building, a new facility where guests can stay, and our house. Mahyco is a company that works to create hybrid and genetically modified crops to be sold throughout India. They have a number of hybrid crops on the market already, and one BT (basically you use a bacterium to alter the genetic makeup) crop, which is cotton. 

Now that you have a basic idea what Mahyco does, I feel like I should touch on the actual topic of genetically modified foods. GM gets a really bad name in the United States, mostly because Monsanto is pretty much the only big name that people know of, and they give the whole business a bad name. Then you have companies like Greenpeace which also try and paint it as something evil, to be avoided at all costs. Keep in mind, this is all coming from a person who loves supporting local farmer's at farmers markets and frequents the food co-op regularly. I do take the environment very seriously, but the fact is, it simply doesn't make sense to expect that organic farming practices are at all realistic here.

In a country with as big a population and as low an average income as India, the most important thing becomes using land to its fullest potential to make sure that everyone can eat. So the way I see it, you have three options in farming practices. There are pesticides, organic farming, and genetically modified foods. Pesticides are probably the only common ground between environmentalists and the food scientists that you would find here. While they do increase yield, it is at the cost of environmental health and safety, placing it far away from the ideal situation. Then you have organic farming. Basically this involves a lot more work on the part of the farmer, and considerably lower yields. Lower yields, if widely adopted, would lead to higher food prices, which would lead to a large percentage of people not eating. Then you have genetically modified foods. GM requires considerably less pesticide, yet the plants are far more insect and virus resistant and produce a much higher yield. All in all, you are producing the food required to sustain a growing population, without compromising the environment's health.

Basically, I agree with a lot of organic farming principles, but organizations that completely exclude GM as a possibility are being stubborn. I agree that our focus should be health and stability of farm land, but GM in no way compromises that. I understand the desire to try and leave crops as basic and natural as possible, because environmental conservation is extremely important to me. But when you look at food production on a larger scale, it is made of a series of hybridizations that have been going on for thousands of years. Food production as a process is rooted in humans taking wild plants and domesticating them to suit their needs. It is not realistic to think that we can go on growing plants the way that they occur in nature on a large scale. Think about the rubber-band theory for example, in which a rapid development of one area of society necessitates the development of all others. With modern medicine increasing the average life expectancy, we have more or less passed our planet's carrying capacity. If we are going to use technology to increase the size of our population, it only makes sense that technology is required to sustain it. And that is why what Mahyco is doing is so important. You do see people starving here, but Mahyco tries to change that without compromising the integrity of this beautiful country itself.