The usual and unusual happenings in India

I've been so busy getting research done I haven't had much time to think about posting on my blog. I think maybe a list of the usual, the strange, and maybe the uniquely Indian things I've encountered lately would suffice.

I think I have waited over 12 hours outside the principal’s office at the PSG college over a period of about two weeks--watching her poor assistant jump up and run into the plush red carpeted office every time she rang a buzzer from behind her desk. I just wanted to get permission to do research and a letter stating such, but apparently I didn't have enough clout to avoid the waiting.

The women on the bus may fight all the way up the stairs (elbowing and all) in order to get a seat, but then are graciously willing to hold the varied belongings of those unfortunate enough to have to stand. The other day I was on a particularly crowded bus. Having fought the fight for my seat when a little boy was shoved between the two ladies I assumed he was being entrusted to my care. I spied the mother in between the shoulders of some women between us, and she was surprised to see a white girl holding her young son! They never seem to let us (the white girls) hold their brown babies. He fell asleep on my lap during the 30 minute ride home--beautiful.

I was riding the bus home one night when the driver slammed on the breaks. There was an annoyed cry from everyone standing, but the breaking didn't stop. A car hit the front side of the bus, on the drivers side! I have only seen one accident in India (an amazing thing to me with all the crazy, no logic driving that happens here), but for the first time I was actually involved in an accident. Being so close to home, I got out and stood on the periphery of the crowd to see if the people in the car were alright, then walked the rest of the way home.

A couple of nights ago Alyssa and I were sitting in the dark on the veranda talking, since neither of us could catch a wink of sleep with the power out and the fan not running. She saw something slither and said, "I think I saw a snake." I went and got a flashlight to be sure. By the time I got back sure enough the snake had slithered it's way towards the veranda. We woke up first Marc, a visiting field facilitator, then Appa, the grandfather in the family who sleeps on the veranda. He came wielding his broom (logical, since when we usually scream it's over a spider) when he saw the snake he banged on Matthew's door. Matthew came out, looked closely at the snake, said it was poisonous, and then killed it by crushing the head with a large stick. We all stood there for some time watching the snake twitch post death and Matthew would jump in and say how grateful he was we saw it and were able to kill the thing. In a concerned voice he talked about how his wife often walks out to go to the bathroom in the night without a flashlight--"she could have stepped on it" he said over and over while shaking his head. It felt like having a close call while driving my car--I'm grateful I didn't hurt anyone or anything, but feel scared at how close that could have been.

Having lived in this village for a total of 5 months I've heard lots about snakes (how dangerous they are etc.) but I had never seen them. Well Alyssa and I were walking out to the road for lunch yesterday when we saw a rather large, thick snake crossing the road. We patiently waited for him to pass and then went on our way. Two snakes in two weeks--must be an auspicious time for me.

One other thing. I went to a holiday for work--it's a Hindu holiday where they clean up their workplace and organize things and then bless all the machines and whatnot. I sat for 2 hours watching men put up streamers. I couldn't help but think it was funny watching these manly men carefully rolling the streamers and color coordinating and everything. They would have put Martha Stewart to shame. The women swept up the floor of the small factory and made a kolum (a large chalk design) outside the office door. Flowers were hung everywhere. And when the big moment came for the pooja, the men lit a long line of firecrackers that popped for at least 5 minutes while the priest was running around lighting all the camphor placed on the machines. Like many Hindu ceremonies it was long, drawn-out, and felt a bit anticlimactic, but also worth it. We ate, hung around for quite some time, and finally caught the 3G bus home.