Books

Bollywood Becomes Her

Valerie Hohman

30 Jan 2010

India

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For anyone who has succumbed to the romance of a Bollywood film or struggled to readjust to life in the States after a long stay in India, "Bollywood Becomes Her" will make you laugh at the heroine’s antics as she transitions into the “real world” after college while trying to hold on to her experience abroad. Written by one of my fellow Fulbright scholars, the novel shares the story of a young woman’s love affair with Indian cinema, an affair that she takes overboard in her attempts to merge her love of India with her life in America. Her story playfully reminds the reader that blending your foreign experience with your life back home is a balancing act - one that can go awry if you take your role of cross-cultural ambassador too seriously.

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Getting Around

There probably *are* train tickets left!

Emily Gorbaty

03 Apr 2009

India

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After spending three hours in Mumbai's train station desperately trying to buy a next-day ticket to Aurangabad (there was confusion over my lack of a tourist visa, since I had a student one), I discovered the miracle that is TATKAL. TATKAL tickets are not released until a few days before departure and are typically more expensive (but what's 100 Rs when you have no other option?). They are not offered for every journey, but it's definitely worth asking if the ticket-wallah says there are no more berths. Another tip, for women only: there is often a women's quota, but the ticket-wallah won't tell you about it. If there are no more tickets and TATKAL isn't offered for that particular journey, ask if there are any women's quota tickets left.

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Festivals & Events

A gathering of writers, journalists, and the creatively inclined

Valerie Hohman

29 Jan 2010

India

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If you’re a bookworm, or if you just enjoy passionate, intelligent company, you’ll love the literary festival held each spring in Jaipur. Started in 2005, the festival highlights world-renowned authors, stars of Indian literature, as well as new writing talent. It’s a five-day event of talks, panel discussions, readings, music, and food held in Jaipur’s historic Diggi Palace. This year, I only caught the last two days of the festival but had a marvelous time and met some fun and accomplished writers. Among the featured writers were Amit Chaudhuri, whose latest novel is titled "The Immortals," Tina Brown author of "The Diana Chronicles," and Shobha De, well-known for her pulp fiction and magazines following the drama of Bollywood's elite.

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Culture Shock

Gift giving: don't expect effusive thanks

Emily Strasser

16 Mar 2009

India

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As I unpacked my suitcase, I pulled out the nice soap and journal I had brought as gifts for my new Tibetan roommate. “Here, I brought you something,” I said. She took the things, looked at them, said, “Oh, thank you,” and set them aside. She never mentioned them again. I was a little disappointed, and I worried that I had gotten off to a bad start. Finally, a German nun who has spent years living with Tibetans told me that Tibetans don’t react effusively to gifts—that would imply attachment and greed, which are contrary to Buddhist ideals. Since then, I have been very glad to know this, as it has saved me from disappointment when I have received similar reactions to my gifts.

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Must Do

Take refuge in a Sikh temple

Emily Strasser

26 Jun 2009

India

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If you arrive in Delhi, or any other Indian city in the wee hours of the morning after an overnight bus or train, head straight to the nearest Sikh Temple, or Gudwara. There you will find a safe, clean, bustling place where you can stay until the rest of the city wakes up. With their strong emphasis on service, the Sikhs offer resting places to travelers, free hostels, and free communal meals to anyone who comes. Do not be frightened by the long spears some Sikh men carry--I was so grateful for their friendly welcome when my friends and I arrived at the Gudwara in Old Delhi at 5:30 am. After checking our bags and removing our shoes, we went inside the temple and just sat, listening to the singing and watching the people.

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Etiquette

Do the Right Thing—Don’t Use Your Left Hand

Rohan Radhakrishna

03 Jul 2010

India

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“The Indian digestive system is the simplest in the world. It begins with the right hand and ends with the left.” Indeed, most Indians eat with their right hand, not silverware, and instead of using toilet paper, they wash their bum with their left hand. Therefore, the left hand has been culturally deemed an “inauspicious and dirty hand” not to be used for interpersonal relations or holy affairs. Essentially, never give or receive anything with the left hand. Always use the right hand—when offering money to a taxi driver, offering a donation to a temple or a beggar, receiving food or a present, receiving drops of holy water in your palm during a Hindu puja. There is little consolation for those who are left-handed, you’ll have to convert.

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Food

The Magical Tiffin Carrier - Fresh Food Delivered to your Door for 50 cents

Rohan Radhakrishna

29 Jun 2010

India

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How does a five-dish nutritious home-cooked hot meal delivered at your doorstep for 50 cents sound? For me, it was a Godsend. I had most dinners delivered and if I had other plans, I'd call and cancel--very convenient. The Tiffin or Dhubba Carrier is a lunchbox, usually made of steel, stacked 2 to 5 levels high. It is a time-tested food delivery system in India. In Mumbai, suburban families send home-cooked food to office-working relatives by bicycle and rikshaw through delivery teams known as dhubbawallahs. Management experts and the Harvard Business School have studied this amazingly efficient yet low-tech system of on-time product delivery with near-perfect accuracy in a poor setting. Most Indian cities have them so inquire & enjoy.

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Film

Hooray for Bollywood!

Emily Strasser

04 May 2009

India

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Prepare to hear the lyrics to popular Bollywood songs in shops and taxis all over India, and the faces of the ten most popular Bollywood stars plastered all over advertisements for chips, phone companies, and just about everything else. My roommate and her best friend practically recite the movies they watch together, high-fiving at the funny parts. I get pleasantly surprised reactions from Indians when I mention a star’s name, or hum part of a song. “You like Indian movies?” they ask, lighting up.

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Packing

In a pinch, zap your water

Valerie Hohman

29 Jan 2010

India

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One of the coolest travel gizmos on the market today is the SteriPen, a hand-held device that emits UV light to kill anything and everything that’s growing in your water. It’s great for those times when you’re not sure about the quality of the local water and don’t have access to packaged drinking water. However, bear in mind that it does nothing to filter out chemicals and grit that may be harmful to your system. It’s best for short-term use; for long-term stays in Delhi most people have large jugs of drinking water delivered directly to their homes or use a filtration system that eliminates both microbes and pollutants.

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Religion

Wake up early!

Emily Strasser

15 Apr 2009

India

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The mornings in India are the holy times. Sikh temples begin to wake up their holy book around 2 a.m., and really get going around sunrise. You may wake up at six to the singing of Hindu prayers. Along the Ganges, most people do ritual baths around sunrise. Tibetans circumambulate temples and sacred sites at dawn and dusk, counting prayer beads and muttering mantras. Older people, both lay and monastic, are very serious about this ritual and will do kora (circumambulations) for hours in the wee hours of the morning. Give into the morning hubbub, and experience the sacred time of day!

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Politics

Maoist revival

Valerie Hohman

30 Jan 2010

India

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The growing economic disparity in India is reviving the Maoist (communist) movement in the eastern part of the country. The government is cracking down on these groups with violence, and since its counterinsurgent operations inevitably hurt the poor as well as those involved in resistance movements, there is a fierce debate over whether the state is “waging war” on its own people. Tehelka, a Delhi-based magazine, has been following this conflict and is a good source of information about this and other social issues. When you’re traveling in eastern India – particularly Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Orissa – you should pay close attention to the news and stay off the roads at night to avoid being caught in a dangerous situation.

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Music

Two scenes: take your pick

Emily Strasser

29 May 2009

India

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For traditional and modern Tibetan music and dance, try to attend one of TIPA’s (the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts) shows. For a very different but equally fun and vibrant scene, go to the restaurant KhanaNirvana on Temple road in Dharamsala for one of their open mic or world music jam nights. Mostly hippie tourists are in attendance here -- the highest density of dreadlocks I have ever seen in one room. It may not be authentic Tibetan or Indian, but this scene is an undeniable part of life in Dharamsala.

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Sports

Western Cheerleaders for Eastern Cricketplayers

Rohan Radhakrishna

30 Jun 2010

India

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It’s an anomalous yet growing phenomenon that much of Indian advertising uses Western models with very white skin: commercials, billboards, magazines. However, don’t be surprised when watching India’s new private Cricket league, the IPL (Indian Premier League), and you see the Rajasthan Royals playing the Kolkata Knight Riders with Western mainly white-skinned cheerleaders for both teams. Fans give their all to snap a cell phone picture of themselves with a short-skirted cheerleader from abroad. Many of the cheerleaders are lured from American sports being offered great salaries for a season or two to try their luck in India. My auntie says it is degrading for Indian women to cheerlead but fine for Western women. Interesting or insulting?

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TV

Reality TV strikes again

Valerie Hohman

01 Feb 2010

India

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“I need to get home ASAP to see the first episode of American Idol,” my friend exclaimed on our way back from Avatar. Not only was I surprised that an accomplished, intellectual woman would admit to loving American Idol, but also that it wasn’t an Indian reality show that she was running home to watch. India has joined the craze of reality TV with spin-offs of major foreign reality hits including India’s Got Talent (Britain’s Got Talent), Khataron Ke Khiladi (Fear Factor), Sach Ka Saamna (The Moment of Truth), and Big Boss (The Apprentice) – to name a few. Indian TV has long been dominated by soap operas showcasing overwrought family drama but reality TV is now posing fierce competition for the genre of choice among Indian audiences.

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Fashion

Delhi and Western Fashion – the best of both worlds

Valerie Hohman

31 Jan 2010

India

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While dress in Delhi, like the rest of India, is conservative by Western standards, you have much more leeway in what you can wear than you do in other parts of the country. While you should avoid low-cut tops and really short skirts, for the most part you can feel comfortable walking around town in Western attire. You’ll see fewer women wearing saris and full punjabi suits (usually a three-piece ensemble including baggy or tight-fitting pants, a frock-like shirt called a kurta, and a flowing scarf known as a dupatta). These days many women ditch the dupatta all together and opt for shorter kurtas paired with western-style pants. My favorite is the short kurta over a pair of dark blue jeans.

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Dating

Lost in flirtation

Valerie Hohman

01 Feb 2010

India

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I recently tried explaining to a cute Indian boy on the bus to Jaipur that he had to do more than just say “hello” before I would give him my phone number. “First, you have to convince me that you’re someone I’d like to know better,” I said, offering some constructive advice on the art of Western flirtation, “Maybe then I will think about giving you my number.” But the essence of my advice was lost. He looked at me blankly and asked, “But how will I get ahold of you?” In India, it’s common to encounter young men who are over-eager to connect with Western females. I suspect they’re mostly harmless, but I’m always cautious in these situations, both for my sake and theirs, since misunderstandings so quickly morph into hurt feelings.

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Health

Mastering the art of heat

Janna White

26 Jul 2010

India

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India’s heat is a force to be reckoned with that can wreak as much havoc on your body as any tainted water or undercooked food. It’s a time to be hyper-conscious; reading your body can be difficult when you’re not used to coping with summer temperatures of 40-45C/104-113F. (For instance: if you’re out in the middle of the day (not suggested) and you’re not sweating, this probably doesn’t mean you’ve adjusted. You‘re just dehydrated.) But keeping yourself healthy in the heat does have its pleasures. (Who doesn’t enjoy a good afternoon siesta?) We kept buckets of water under the ceiling fan to cool them off. When we got too hot, we’d bathe right there in the middle of the floor, lowering our body‘s--and the room’s--temperature.

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Slang

You don’t want to be 420-friendly

Janna White

11 Jul 2010

India

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The number 420 (charsaubis) in India refers, as it does in the U.S., to a section of the penal code. But stoners beware: charsaubiis here means a smooth operator or a fraud. The reference was made commonplace in non-police vernacular through the help of the popular 1955 film “Shri 420”. It even warrants a reference in Salman Rushdie’s famous “Midnight’s Children,” when he says, in his normal bombastic style: “420 has been, since time immemorial, the number associated with fraud, deception, and trickery.”

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Nightlife

A night on the town In Delhi

Valerie Hohman

29 Jan 2010

India

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Over the last few years, the Delhi scene has exploded with trendy places to eat, drink, and dance the night away. Urban Pind in GK 1 and The Living Room in Hauz Khas Village are two popular late-night haunts for foreigners and locals alike. While I enjoy the manic energy at these places, I lament the fact that there are few quiet pubs in Delhi for low-key entertainment. Expect to pay between around 300 rupees for dinner and between 100 and 300 rupees per drink while you’re out. In Defence Colony, there is a famous bar called 4S – a Chinese establishment that serves cheap(er) alcohol and provides a potential alternative if you’re looking to save a few rupees on your night out.

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Being an American

Hello, one photo?

Emily Strasser

04 May 2009

India

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Traveling in India, expect people to ask you to take pictures of them, or be in pictures with them. I found that Indians wealthy enough to own a camera often wanted to get me in on family vacation photos or individual shots, while many poorer Indians who didn’t own cameras liked to see their image on the screen of my digital camera. Walking in a rural village one afternoon, I was stopped by an elderly man and asked to take a picture of the group hanging out on the side of the road. Toothless old men and women, wrinkled like prunes, grinned and elbowed each other proudly when they saw their picture on my camera screen. My Ladakhi roommate only has one picture of herself as a child--a Polaroid given to her by a tourist.

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