Oh, India...

There are quite a few things I've realized in the past couple weeks.

First of all, I need to have more patience than I ever thought I would. Nothing in India operates in a way that I'm used to, and it can be supremely frustrating. For example: The supermarket near my neighborhood. The first time I went there, they put one's groceries in plastic bags, like any supermarket, as you pay for them, so you have something to carry them home in. When I went back last weekend, there were signs up on the door saying to bring a bag from home, as they were no longer handing out plastic bags - to be in compliance with indian government regulations. Cool, environment-friendly government policies. The guard opens the door for me, I start to walk in, and he grabs at my bag, which I had brought from my house without prior knowledge of this rule. He informs me that I must leave my bag outside the entrance in one of the cubbies beside the door. I'm a little confused; at first I thought he wanted to search my bag for weapons, which is standard pretty much anywhere I go here. But no, I'm just not allowed to bring my bag inside the store, period. So I leave my bag, get my groceries, pay, collect them awkwardly in my arms, shuffle them around to hand my receipt to the guard INSIDE the store for inspection, walk outside, get my bag, and dump my groceries in it.

Is that REALLY necessary, India? Really?

More frustrating to me is that my classes still aren't sorted out. IES classes that they told us could be shifted in terms of time are apparently not at all flexible, the commute to Delhi University is absurd, and the local universities are not at all conducive to casual students trying to take classes in multiple departments. Essentially, it's completely chaotic. At least I know that I'll be getting credit for two electives towards my anthropology major, which is really all I need. I just hate not having all the details figured out after being here for three and a half weeks.

Other, not-negative things:

Reading the papers here is...interesting. Also sometimes frustrating, but not in a way that really bothers me. I just think it's odd when for a few days a week the "World" section of the Hindustan Times and the Times of India are only one page each. There's a big world out there with a lot of stuff going on - they can find news to fill up at least two pages. It's also funny how seriously Bollywood and cricket are; stories about Indian celebrities appear alongside news regarding the Mumbai bombings, the Prime Minister's recent surgery, or Obama's address to Muslim nations. The entertainment sections constitute a significant portion of the two aforementioned newspapers in addition to the stories interspersed with real news. The thing I really enjoy about Indian newspapers, though is that they truly are an expression of the freedom of the press. They are open and direct about their biases, and each newspaper contains stories and op-eds from the full spectrum of opinion, from the most conservative to the most radical. Moreover, they openly question official reports and government decisions when necessary. For example, on Monday morning there was a front-page story about Indian police gunning down to Pakistani "terrorists" the night before. The official report said that they were Pakistani terrorists heading to Delhi to attack the Republic Day parade on Monday. (Republic Day is the holiday celebrating the adoption of the constitution of India, and there is a gigantic parade that has made navigating Delhi difficult in the past week or so due to roads being closed.) They claimed that these two men had opened fire first and that the police shot in self defense after a high-speed car chase that lasted approximately 20 minutes. The newspaper had a sidebar highlighting some odd features about the official version of the story, including the following:

- If they were on a terrorist mission, why were these two men carrying legitimate Pakistani passports?

- If there was such a long chase and such immediate danger, why didn't the police call for backup from one of the three police stations they passed in the course of the chase?

- If the police were shooting in self defense, why did the police cars have no bullet holes in them? And why was the only injury to the police a minor wound in the leg to one policeman while each of the "terrorists" had at least four shots in him?

It's refreshing to see mainstream media questioning instead of passively accepting what's presented to them. They don't make unwarranted accusations, just raise legitimate questions.

On a different note, several of us went to a market near Delhi University this afternoon, in North Delhi. It's a completely different feel from the markets in south Delhi: people weren't yelling at us/following us trying to get us to look at things, weren't shoving things under our noses, and weren't telling us ridiculous prices for items we knew should be cheap. That was also refreshing.

The metro is awesome. From what some of the other students have said, it's very similar to the Japanese metro: clean, bright, spacious, fast. It's the cleanest place I've been in Delhi, including, I think, my own residence. It's wonderful. I'm also really impressed with how efficient India can be...when it wants to. Delhi is hosting the Commonwealth Games in the fall of 2010, and so the city is undergoing massive construction, renovation, and general "cleaning up". But one of these projects is a massive expansion of the metro system (which again, causes traffic problems and whatnot). But there is visible progress all over the city, and they've laid a lot of tracks for it, all of which has apparently been accomplished in the last six months. The director of the program here said she wouldn't be surprised if it was done at the end of this calendar year. Which is astounding to me after seeing how Massachusetts operates when it comes to simple things like filling in potholes. It's pretty cool. Although I guess the sheer number of available workers probably has something to do with it.

India is certainly not boring, that's for damn sure. As frustrated as I've been trying to deal with a lot of things, I'm still having a lot of fun. The weather's been fantastic, the food is delicious, I am actually excited about the classes (I think and hope) I am taking, and there is so much going on all the time, everywhere. It's exciting and interesting and exhausting, but I love it. It's impossible not to get engaged in your surroundings here, particularly when taking cycle rickshaws or auto rickshaws as transportation. Everything is just so...close. And unavoidable. 

Tomorrow I'm making the commute to Delhi University on my own, which includes the following steps:

1. Walk from the residence to the main road, either to the bus stop or to catch an auto.

2. Take the bus or auto to the metro station.

3. Take the metro to the end of the line.

4. Jump on a cycle rickshaw.

5. Arrive at campus, find the proper classroom.

Oh, India. Even just getting from place to place is complicated. :)