Monday, July 25, 2011

Snippets of India

Here are some snippets of experiences I've had in India:

In the newspaper there was a story about a pedestrian bridge that was built...sort of...it deposited the pedestrians half way across the street. It cost 20,000,000 rupees, and no one realized they wouldn't be able to finish it until it was halfway built because there was another bridge that would block its completion on the other side.

In Old Delhi, we were taking Rickshaws, and two people had to go on the back, so Margaux and I did, because I thought it would be fun. Three young men on a motorcycle came up behind the rickshaw fast and then slowed just before hitting us on the back, as a sort of tease. Margaux yelled "Fuck!" because, well, it was scary. But they seemed to like that reaction because they kept doing it. One time when they went off an older man now riding behind us explained they were just trying to tease us. Eventually I yelled and they left, because it was well past the point of creepy, though it had only been a few minutes. I think I'll ride in the rickshaw from now on. My friend Vrinda said just to ignore them, unless they touch you, then you can slap or punch them.

The metro is brand new, about a year and a half old, and there are three cars in the front reserved for ladies only. Its great. They are less crowded and the metro is air conditioned.

Vhaya is "older brother" in Hindi. Its used to address basically everyone, the people who work in the mess hall, the rickshaw drivers, store owners.

"Take" a picture = "Click" a picture
Motorcycle = Bike
Graduate school = need to say Post Graduate school, I got asked if I wasn't going to graduate from college if it wasn't graduate school
These aren't very interesting but I'll be on the lookout for more.

The college seems so disorganized, but it apparently works for them. See, when you are in a program, you have no choice of classes, so it doesn't matter what the classes are, just who the teacher is. So the course schedules are cryptic, with only letters and numbers on time slots, and no key. It makes it very difficult for us to choose our classes, but I guess if you don't need to know what they are until you get there it works.

An appropriate answer to the question "Where are you from?" seems to be, Political Science. 

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