I have been meaning to blog about most the following information for months now. There are so many elements of every day life in India that I have grown to take for granted. I want to document and share them all to recognize their value, even in comparison to traveling around the country or volunteering in a village. Just because every day happens every day, doesn't make it any less incredible. So, heres to the little things!
Food
I literally remember having the idea to make a posting called "A Day in the Life of My Stomach" back in July, and then thinking I would wait until I moved into my home-stay... and now its November. HAH. Better late than never, right?
Breakfast at the Ramanans is easy and simple. We have hot oats with a big spoonful of honey and a little bit of warm milk, along with one or two pieces of toast with butter. When we were missing American mid-semester, we splurged on (imported, overpriced) peanut butter that we brought to the kitchen once and a while to mix up the meal. Sometimes, Durga will be make more Indian breakfast items to accompany our oats, like idlis (steamed rice/lentil patties), dosas (kind of like savory lentil crepes), or this cous-cous like dish. Right as we are finishing the toast, Durga drops her signature line, "Leo-na, coffee? chai?" Thats often chai number one of the day. (Ask me about the Leo-na nickname sometime, fun anecdote.)
Lunch happens on campus at one of the several "canteens." All canteens have "dal rice," which is exactly what it sounds like-- dal (kinda lentil soup) and rice, sometimes with yogurt or a little fried fritter. This simple meal is 18-23 ruppees, depending where you go, which is 40-50 US cents. "Talis" are one step up from dal rice, including a heaping bowl of rice and little side bowls of dal, curry, vegetable, and yogurt. If your lucky and the canteen is feeling fancy, you might get a banana, a garnish of raw cucumber slices, or a handful of these little yellow fried chips. Beyond the tali, most canteens have fried rice and fried noodles that you can get with veggies, egg or chicken. The biggest canteen has a full menu with varied tali options, a large assortment of vegetable or meat curries, panner dishes, eggs served in all sorts of form, and an assortment of Indian breads.
This amazing place is called "Gope's," named after the couple who did most of the cooking back in the day. "Gopes" became me and Suzanne's constant hang out as we killed the many gap hours on campus between different classes and activities. At first, we never knew what to order because the menu was indecipherable and endless. We would literally just point to something on the veg menu and get it with rice and it was always delicious. But eventually we fell into a perfect routine, sharing north Indian tali, and one veg or egg dish. (Gopes is one of the few canteens with meat options, but we never opted for the tempting protein because the sanitation is questionable to say the least.)
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| There are no lines. You have to keep screaming your order and shaking your money in the guys face until he takes yours. I've gotten pretty good at it. Also, I dont know what on this menu is considered Western of Fast Food. Maybe they mean that the talis are fast? |
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| Its not quite Cox Hall, but I'll take it. |
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| A standard tali. The big bowl is the dal. Then little curry and spinach (jackpot!) as the vegtable of the day. The plastic behind the plate is a seperate yogurt we got because its much better than the watery one that comes with the tali. Then you can see the rice, pulka (the best bread option), raw veggies, and chips that all came with. This kind of tali totals to 32 Ruppes, which is about 65 cents. |
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| On this given day, we chose to share the tali, along with a two-egg omlet and an alu parata (basically mashed potatoe stuffed bread) |
There was a point this semester when I thought eating rice twice a day was going to kill me, but I have come to really love eating at Gopes, and am always looking forward to trying another mystery dish. I am REALLY going to miss is being able to buy a freshly cooked, well-rounded meal for under a dollar.
Dinner usually happens around 8:00pm, but tea time at 4:00 breaks up the long afternoon. Chai number two of the day is usually accompanied by a few buscuits, which is like a cookie/cracker with an identity disorder. If I meet with my peer tutor, or get out of Hindi class early, or decide I need to treat myself, chai number three enters the evening.
Back in the saftey of the Ramanans (which is one of my most-used phrases this semester), dinner is always the event of the evening. Durga usually starts us off with a typical south Indian rice-based entity, such as idlis, dosas, or rice mixed with spices and squished into a ball (dont remember the name for that one). This is served with either dal, curry, or sambar (kind of like a vegetable stew). As we eat, she comes around and serves a side vegetable (often eggplant, potato, okra, or green bean), which is cooked to death and chopped to oblivian so that it is easy to smoosh between our fingers and mix into our rice. Each dish gets a little compartment on these nifty metal plates so it can be mixed with rice to our personal desired proportions. When we finish the rice-based item, we get a big heap of rice, which we keep nom-ing as she refills our dal/curry/sambar. Every meal is topped off with homemade curd served over white rice. Uncle takes his with salt, while Suzanne adds sugar, and Kyla and I opt of ginger pickle (I dont know how to explain what that is, but its delicious). I no longer feel satisfied at the end of a meal unless its topped off with some perfectly tart yogurt!
I have picked up a lot of Telugu from dinner interactions with Durga. Its funny because when I show off my Telugu to Indian friends, I realize that my vocab is really only relevant to someone serving me food. I can communicate-- just a little, thats enough, thank you, I want, I dont want, serve me please, take this, I ate well, nice, very nice, water, rice, yogurt, ginger, etc. Durga lets out a huge chuckle when we butcher the words, but that makes it all the more fun to learn.
Weather
Its getting to be serious winter here in Hyderabad, meaning 60 degree mornings and 85 degree days, WOO FREEZING! Actually, the 50 degree nights are feeling pretty cold, since my body is so used to the heat now. But the daytime weather is really perfect-- beautiful, sunny, and warm, but not sweltering. I can go a whole day and not even sweat through my clothes, which I definitely could not have said a month ago. My last trip is coming up this week and I am heading out to Kerala, India's Southern most state. We will be laying on the beach and renting a houseboat on the backwaters, soaking up this perfect weather for our last week here!
Power outages
As some of you know from trying to communicate with me online, the power in India goes out a lot. And the internet goes out with it. (I am currently typing this post in a document that I will later transfer to the web when the internet comes back.) Every day, the power goes out around 9:45am and comes back around 12 noon, and then goes out again around 3pm to return by 5ish. These times are pretty flexible though. And there are also unscheduled outages that can happen whenever. I have taken a shower in complete blackness. I have learned to charge my laptop when I can, just to be safe. I have learned to plan my laundry around these dangerous outages, or else the load gets stuck sitting soggy in the machine for three hours. If I sleep in (rare here) and come down during the morning power outage, I just get bread instead of toast, and there's a BIG difference.
At first, I was under the impression that these scheduled outages were part of the Telagana Separate State Movement strikes that were happening all across the city. But that issue has settled recently and the power outages persist. Auntie mentioned once that it has something to do with a shortage of coal or something, I'm not really sure. Businesses that need their power and internet to be consistent have to invest in a generator that kicks in a few times a day. I feel like no one would stand for this in the US, but I have noticed that in India, it is often up to individuals, private companies, and NGOs to make up for the government's deficient services.
Bike
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| SIP 40, forever and always |
My bike is a big part of my life here. Every morning, I leave the house and walk to the main road, where I catch a shared auto or a bus to the campus gate, where I pick up my bike and begin the 20 minute ride to class. We are not allowed to take our bikes off campus, which at first I thought was ridiculous, but now I perfectly understand. Roads here are chaotic to say the least, and the campus is just a little bit better than city driving. Biking is definitely the best way to get around this sprawling, green campus. Its amazingly faster than walking, and on the hot days, biking can generate a refreshing breeze. There is really a culture for biking on this campus.. almost every student has one!
In India, everyone (is supposed to) drive on the left, but the pervasive potholes often require drivers to bend that rule. These roads are shared by pedestrians, bikes, mopeds, motorcycles, cars, shuttles, school buses, trucks, tractors, and wild animals. Its pretty insane. To add to the chaos, students like to walk arm and arm four friends across or park their bikes to have a quick convo, assuming that traffic will just get around them. My right hand has been trained to quickly snap down to my little bike bell, which has literally saved few times. Did I mention there are no bike helmets in India? Cause, no one wears helmets in India. I don't even think I could find one in a store if I tried.
Unfortunately, there have been a few incidents when my bell couldn't do anything to help me. The first bike accident was 100% my fault. I decided I could answer my phone while biking (Indians seem to do this effortlessly all the time). But I had only one hand on the handle bars and had to jerk around a bump as a giant bus started passing me and I jerked too quick and then counteracted too dramatically and went directly into a light pole on the side of the road. I was totally fine besides a little rip in my capris and a giant bruise that made it look like I took a cricket bat to the thigh. Woops, lesson learned.
Bike accident number two was 90% NOT my fault. I was biking down a hill on the main road and a moped jumped out for a foot path short cut intended for walkers. I would have had right of way in the States, but Im not sure that concept exists here; both drivers just have to pay attention and go around each other. And, this time, we were not paying nearly enough attention. He drove perpendicular into my front wheel, which turned on impact and my body went into my handle bars as I went down. I was pretty shook up and I still have a giant bruise fading on my thigh (again) and one on my stomach (ew), plus a nice series of scabs on my hand. Oy, India. Its such incidences that make all of the terrible culture shock symptoms come out when I just hate anything and everything that makes India different. This spill happened just this week, so I reminded myself I have two short weeks to keep surviving until I return to the safety of home. Only a few days after this accident, I returned my rented bike and got back the 3500 rupees ($70) that I put down as a safety deposit. Felt sooo good-- goodbye stressful biking, hello money in my pocket!
But let the record show, for the most part, I have really loved getting by on public transport and biking this semester. Its nice to power myself with the energy in my legs rather than paying at the pump!
Sandals
Remember how my Birkenstocks died? A while back, I replaced them with custom leather shoes made by the tanner on campus. They are the same color as my birks with a different style, and I have worn them almost every day since I got them. They cost me only $7 USD, so I can't complain that they are stretching out and wearing down a little. People on my program have been trying to get all sorts of dresses, suits and shoes custom made because the service is so cheap here, and I would definitely say that these sandals were one of the more successful endeavors.
Dogs
Who noticed that adorable pup in the pic? A dog on campus just had a litter! I got so many cute pics of puppies. Nothing picks up a dragging day like seeing some adorable puppies waddle by while you sip your chia!! Sometimes, the dogs on campus are really upsetting because they are so thin, sad, and sickly. Its hard to see dogs like that when we are accustomed to seeing them so health, happy and pampered. But here, dogs are wild animals that are just more comfortable around humans, kind of like squirrels in America or something. But, unlike squirrels, these pups are ADORABLE! We decided they were too young to be diseased and even pet them a little (and then immediately washed our hands). While we're talking about k-9s, I MISS KUBI!
Indian English
When I said I was going to be living in India, a lot of people asked me if I spoke Hindi, and I reassured them that I would be at a University where everyone would know English. But the truth is, I hadn't realized just how pervasive English really is in India until I arrived. English is enthusiastically embraced by Indians, because it is associated with education, Westernization, globalization, business, politics, opportunities, etc. Hindi, on the other hand, is sometimes resented, because many feel that it was arbitrarily chosen as the national language and they shouldn't have to learn it when English is more useful. Besides the government schools that only serve the poor, the entire education system in India uses English. So, children grow up learning their mother tongue, Hindi, and English, at the very least.
In everyday speech, certain worlds, like mobile, are always in English, because Hindi never generated a word for cell phone. There are other English words or phrases that have come to be more common than their Hindi equivalent. If you watch a Bollywood movie, you could probably piece together the plot just by following facial expressions and the intermittent English that is constantly thrown in. There is really no ideal of purity in the Hindi language. Our Hindi teacher actually told us that if you don't know a word, we should just insert English, so we will say sentences in class like, Mera man pasand movie Garden State hai (my favorite movie is Garden State). I specifically remember my Spanish teacher always saying that if you don't know a word, you should find a way to communicate the thought using words that you do know. I find it so interesting what these different approaches say about each language and culture.
The English spoken across India is very distinct, often referred to as Indian English. Many of the phrases are British, like Auntie's favorites Nonsense of a bloody fool! and You dare fellow! Other British vocab includes calling flashlights torches and bathrooms washrooms. In India, cup means what we call mug, and glass means what we think of as cup. Bike means motorcyle, and cycle means bike. Sleeping late means you went to bed at 2am, not you woke up at 1pm. Its a confusing world I live in!
Other funny phrases combo Hindi and English, like ek minute, which is used instead of one minute, even if the conversation is happening completely in English. I have learned that some of my phrases are unique to America. When I first moved in and Uncle offered me more food, I said, No, I'm good. He responded, I never though you were bad, I just thought you might want some more rice. He was kidding, but then explained that my response was totally American and made no sense to him.
My favorite aspect of Indian English is the awkward sayings that crop up because of the imperfect way that Hindi translates to English. For example, in Hindi, there is no word for a or the, though the word one is sometimes used in such places. So, Indians will translate English the same way and say, I am staying in one nice hotel in Chennai this weekend. Also, in Hindi, the sentence always ends in a verb, so many Indians will structure their sentences in English in the same fashion. When we would say, There are many options, and Indian might say, Many options are there. In Hindi, live and stay are the same verb, so people ask me, Where does your family stay? and I say MD, but I want to add that they've been there for a long time and aren't going anywhere soon haha. There is this word in Hindi that is used for emphasis and it translates roughly to only or actually, though it is used in many places where these English words are not. In the following two examples, this emphasis has a specific implication that the Indian is not actually intending to insert-- I stay am studying computer science only, or I am feeling sick actually. When any number or letter repeats, Indian English calls for saying double or triple rather than saying the repetition. So, an Indian would spell Mississippi by saying M - i - double s - i - double s - i - double p - i.
This might not be as interesting to all of you as it is to me, but now at least you will be able to understand me if I come home with a few Indian English mannerism in my speech!
The End
This is a really long post. Thanks for making it to the end! :)
