Glimpses From A Rickshaw

I walked to the main road and caught a rickshaw... the bicyclist said he would take me through the inner roads however, instead of the main roads. I took this alternative mode of transportation cause the three taxis had all the excuses in the world not to drive at 9:00 am 1- car is broken, 2- jaboo na (wont go) 3- washing car.

The inner roads the rickshaw walla took were really gully-gully windy roads... suddenly there was a intersection and clearing, where there was a little vegetable market... right there in the middle of the road, in the middle of the little golf green area behind south city mall. There were people waking up, and showering, drinking their morning chai, and spitting. Honestly it was 9:30 by now and these people were still waking up! What a life!

Doggie was sleeping right at the edge of the road and the rickshaw wallah irritably said "aiy!" yet in a very laid back manner, so typical to Bengalis. Suddenly the a load but squeaky horn sounds behind us, and we give way to a little lorry that passes us, and kicks up immense amount of dhullo (dust). I cough. The rickshaw wallah pedals on.

We pass a man slowly opening his store, the sound of shaankh baajna (conch shell or "shankar dhoni") shokal balai (morning time); there are men sitting and staring into space, minds still foggy, sipping on hot chai in little clay cups... a man at a corner enjoys a biddi while sipping on chai. This was the morning scene.

Once at south city there was a lot of rush, and people trying to catch any mode of transportation (this was near lord's er moor - lord's junction). A crow shat on my head, while I was trying to hail down a cab. My friend texted saying I was now blessed with good luck. Stinky good luck and still no cab.Finally I got a cab, who reluctantly took me where I wanted to go.

On the way back, my friend accompanied me till Golpark (round park, a circle and major junction). Then I got off at South city mall so I could get a book at a store there, since the book I had bought previously off the street vendor, was OK for the most part, but a few important pages were blank! Acquired the book and a few more hindi movies, and I was able to get a rickshaw guy right at the mouth of South City Mall. I told him "please take me to golf green", but he had no idea of where golf green was (how strange). So I said, "behind the TV towers", then he understood. So of we went down Uday Shankar Sarani (which is adjacent to Prince Anwar Shah Road). So this Doordarshan ("seen from afar" tv station) Bangla main station is there. On that road, a guy was washing the car, a two men working on a car, wearing lungi (cloth tied around the bottom areas) and ghamcha (cloth towel) on shoulder, another man was painting his shop, a dog was sitting and patiently awaiting scraps from a street side food stall, a couple was being annoyed by a person trying to sell stuff, another man was lecturing two other guys, probably giving them "gyan" (knowledge/edumacation)... So went the afternoon, so went the little snippets of south cal life from a rickshaw...

The City of Joy

Calcutta... the city of joy...

its definitely a tad bit dirtier than Delhi, it seems different than Delhi. A week here now, and I feel like I am getting more "Indian-ized"... my English is morphing, and my Bengali and Hindi are getting better. Haven't drank dabber jol yet (coconut water). Calcutta has changed, grown... for better or for worse? As all these cities have grown; grown outward and upward. Cars, People, boom!

Malls, Hotels, High rise apartments, now they want to introduce wal-mart? Hmm bad idea. I will miss the chai valla, the roadside bazaars etc. I guess everyone wants the same conveniences the west has, while the west is beginning to move towards organic farmers markets, etc. Crazy!

Calcutta! Surprised me by springing my teenage years on me. I met Rohitesh, my classmate from tenth standard, (grade 10) in Park Circus, it was a crazy taxi ride to get there. The taxi walla was on his cell phone, talking so loudly. Took me some long way, but apparently it was the right way, the traffic was ridiculous! Everyone thinks his/her car comes first, and they all do whatever they want! Who needs lanes, traffic laws, just do whatever you want!

Rohitesh and I visited the mural my sister painted on Roudon street, right next to the la martiniere girls main entrance. Then we parked and wandered around Park Street; hit new market and then went to the infamous Oly Pub. Never been there but heard about it ever since 11th standard when all the guys would head there. Dont know why I never went there before. Very rustic but awesome in its own way!

Then we headed to Swabhumi which is just outside Salt Lake. Here we found ourselves falling rapidly down the rabbit hole, a twilight zone... an inter-school dance fest... it was wow! All the kids were dressed up, and the choreography was MJ worthy and music mixing was pretty good too for younglings. It was like Indian GLEE!!!! I talked to some of the little girls, (they were 15 or 16 years old) they were so warm, enthusiastic, friendly and ridiculously energetic... not to mention innocent. I think I remember being that age, but it does seem out of reach. All of them so pretty and confident, it was so good to see them, so excited for all of them, and their futures! I hope WE as their leading generation can leave a better brighter cleaner world for them!

This made me happy, and truly it is the city of joy.

Took some lovely pictures, will add them soon.

*hugs*

*Breathe!*

Delhi

14 hours straight from Newark to Delhi... didn't get a wink of sleep, because the Bangali Babu (not my dad) next to me, kept whacking me with his elbow. I did watch a bunch of movies... two were really good "The Help" and "Life in a Day"... recommend both.
Anyhow can't sleep now, feeling under the weather, and we are staying at a hotel in Delhi... "The Emarald".
I would recommend it, cause its near Connaught Place, but its right next to the railway station, and some other shenanigans. However the people are being rather uncouth and noisy, really though why can't people be considerate? Is it just India? Need to be more observant.
Anyhow, my friend Romit picked me up from the airport, and ended up going to see the India Gate that night, and eating ice cream!

Then the next day we went to the "Parantha Valle Gully" and then to Red Fort. It was wonderful. That night we went to Nizamuddin and ate at Karim's. I met a goat who was rather large and friendly, and apparently a pet.
Sayan bought a nice coat. Also saw the inauguration of an art museum "Kiran Nader's _____ Museum". This was a live art piece that opened the museum up. It was interesting and reminiscent of my KFI days!

Day three I had a rental car, with tourist sign on it, and started with the Qutumbinar and Humayun's Tomb, both which I did not get to enjoy as much because - well they guessed I was foreign and made me pay foreigner's price of Rupees 250, instead of Indian ticket price of Rupees 10. Also there were like 10 schools visiting each location, and the kids were like the stampeding creatures that trampled Mufasa in the Lion King. Ok they weren't that bad, but you know kids! The next stop was Purane Kela, which was quiet and gorgeous and packed with lovers, who were obviously bunking work/school/college. Last but not least I went to Deer Park, which was also lovely, green, and quiet. Peace Peace Peace.
It was 3, and I had not had lunch, so driver took me to the mall, where I went to "Big Chill". This place was playing all the coldplay songs, and it was like a wanna be applebees, with more interesting food! The fresh juices is the best drink in Delhi! Untainted juice, freshly squeezed from fruit, right then and there, and no sugar added... pure bliss ya'll! Healthiest drinks ever! Yes I had pomegranate, orange, watermelon, and can't wait to drink more!

Got home (to Romit and Sayan's apartment) and soon Romit was home too, then we went to eat Dosa at a near by place, we got juice after that!

Day four - rested, watched Hindi movies. Evening - we went to Delhi Haat, and there were some cool programs like the East Indian Art of Cutting Cucumbers (while eyes are blindfolded). It was lovely yet scary. And some Bharatnatyam dancing. Then we ate - Bhel Puri, Papdi Chaat, Channa Batura, Maach Bhaaja and Chai. Later the guys helped me check in to the hotel, and we hit CP (Connaught Place) for dinner, although I had already eaten so much and felt like a pregnant horse. We ate at Zen (yes it was Indian Chinese Food). The guys met Babi (my dad) and then we parted. Miss hanging out with them already.

Day five- business meeting and setting up the booth at pragati maidan for the LED expo. When we got there, they sent us from one gate to the other (Pragati Maidan is huge). Then we had to fight to get in to take our "Maal" (exhibition stuff) in. We got to our booth, and it was so dusty, there were paan stains on the bottom of one board, the ENTIRE exhibition hall was in a mess, chaos, last minute preparations. This is the India I remember from 10-15 years ago. So I was not impressed, and frankly the people handling the organization of the whole hullabaloo of an exhibition were very - un-precise, un-prompt, forgetful and just lacked professionalism due to the above reasons. By this time I was feeling very sick - Dust, Dust, Dust, and the night before it was cold when we walked around CP. So got home and here I am unable to sleep and writing! Hopefully tomorrow will be awesome!

Breathe! (actually breathing here is tough with all the dust... I shall wear a mask and breath!)

 Humayun's Tomb

Connaught Place, at night!

And yes I wore my Vibrams everywhere!!!!

Running the Right Way

So read this article recently and this is what i want to tell people getting into barefoot and vibram shoes running:

"simply putting something different on your feet doesn’t make you a gliding Tarahumara. The “one best way” isn’t about footwear. It’s about form. Learn to run gently, and you can wear anything. Fail to do so, and no shoe — or lack of shoe — will make a difference."

Barefoot shoes just re-teach you the right form/way. The article goes on to talk about how shoes have changed drastically since the 70s. Its amazing! Good read, good science, good unlearning and relearning!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/magazine/running-christopher-mcdougall.html?_r=2

And I would encourage everyone to read it and run it... live it!

More Coming Soon!

Older Blog: http://evariyun.blogspot.com/2010/09/feeling-world-with-our-feet.html

thoughts - double standards and biases

One thing i dislike is double standards. On NPR today they were discussing about administering HPV vaccines to 11-12 year old girls and boys. Yes boys can get HPV too, and this can lead to various cancers, and HPS is contagious. However, this is what struck me, parents are easily accepting their 11 or 12 year old boys taking this vaccination which helps prevent against the sexually transmitted disease. For daughters, this is harder for parents.

It is easier for parents to accept their teenage boys are going to go out and have sex? The sooner a boy has sex, the sooner he becomes a man?
However when it comes to a teenage girl having sex, this is very undesirable, upsetting? If it's OK for the teenage boy to have sex, who is he going to have sex with?
It's OK for a man to be a player, and to be unmarried way into his 30s, but not for a woman. The double standards continue and woman are still stuck in the stereotype/gender role. A woman is never a player, she becomes a $%*#.
Maybe we need to step back and look at the gender roles/stereotypes we play, and how we can change these stereotypes that keep us locked in a role/behavior!


http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/11/07/142030282/why-hpv-vaccination-of-boys-may-be-easier

Second thought of the day:
The news is skewed and the perspectives all biased. However a youtube video speaks the truth? Candid cameras speak the truth? Hidden cameras are likely to be unbiased? Perhaps, to a point.
It is in my opinion, that these too can be skewed/filmed in such a way at times that it can be biased.
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/07/142016109/smile-youre-on-cop-camera
As we become a more digital age, it is good people get their "news" and information from more than ONE source (school/college/and what used to be the news in general - paper/radio/tv). This has helped broaden people's minds. Also its been feeding people a lot of crap (yes i used the word crap), because how many of these digital sources are legitimate? How can we trust scientists when politicians say that they are fabricating global warming data, and research on polar bears... Who do we trust? Who do we believe?
There is one thing i learnt from television ... Trust No One! (X-Files)

It is Marie Curie's birthday today!
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/11/07/marie-curie-honoured-with-birthday-google-doodle-115875-23544243/