Home Again - Final Entry

Well- I'm home now and wanted to round out my blog with a few notes on my final days.

First of all- my last day at BITS was Diwali which is an important holiday. There are lots of lights everywhere and what they call firecrackers. They seem too big to me to be firecrackers- more like fireworks that happen to stay on the ground. I actually got hit on the leg by one. Last year someone ended up in the hospital. Photos are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/Diwali

I flew home out of Delhi which is about a 5 hour drive from BITS. Given my past experience with cars here, I wanted to leave early enough to give myself enough time for several breakdowns along the way. Luckily, nothing happened with the car and I got to Delhi with lots of time to kill. So, I went to Jantar Mantar with is an ancient observatory. It was quite cool so I'm glad I was able to see it. Photos from there and along the way to Delhi are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/OnTheWayHome

My flight home was scheduled to leave a little before midnight. We boarded the plane and started out toward the runway, and then we just sat there for a while. The pilot came on after a little bit and explained that we were not being cleared to take off and we might need to reroute the flights. One of the flight attendants later told me that when the traffic control tower said they wouldn't clear us to take off for Newark- they had suggested we fly to Pakistan instead! Eventually the compromised on a plan that would take us to Laguardia (NYC), but we had to go back to the gate to get more fuel. The pilot explained what was going on and said it wouldn't take 15 minutes tops to top off the fuel tank. And hour later, he got on to explain that we were waiting for the gas truck. All in all- with the disagreement about where we should fly to and waiting for fuel- it was 3:30 am before we took off - not a fun way to start a 16 hour flight. But- it all ended well. They were able to file an amended flight plan for Newark after we left Indian air space and I made my connection to Dullas with minutes to spare. Hurray! I can't wait to see everyone!

Mussoorie

Well, better two week late than never I figure...

The pic to the left is from Google Earth. It shows the view from Mussoorie.

A couple of weeks ago, Mallika and I took a trip up north to Mussoorie- on the edge of the Himalayas. We left around 11pm and drove all night. Well- we road in the car. We had a hired driver for the trip. On the way, we met up with some old friends of Mallika's and toured Rishikesh of Beatles fame. Then we headed up to Dehra Dun where we spend the night. By this point- the car had broken down 3 times. Twice we got flat tires and then a belt broke. The car still ran so we made it to Dehra Dun, but left the driver there to figure out the problem and took the bus to Mussoorie the next morning. Dehra Dun is in the valley and Mussoorie is at the top of the mountain. It was only about half an hour on the bus and sure, there were switch back- but nothing crazy. The ride certainly didn't bother me. I can't say the same for my fellow, Indian passengers. I didn't get an proper count - but if I had to guess, I would say half the people on the bus threw up. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. People were throwing up all over the place. When we got there, getting out of the bus was a little tricky because the floors were so slippery.

Anyway- Mallika was fine so we looked around a little and hired a cab to take us to kempty falls. We walked down to the bottom of the falls. A mountain goat passed me on the way down. The falls were very pretty and Mallika waded in the water. Then we headed back to town. The main road through Mussoorie is known as The Mall. It is on the side of the mountain and offers great views. At the end- there is a Gondola lift that takes you up to the top of Gun Hill which is the highest point in town. Theoretically, you can get a great view of the Himalayas from there - but the air is quite hazy. I'm not sure if it is caused by natural organics in the air, or if it is from pollution. Either way, it was a shame. I couldn't really see much.

So, after our tour of Mussoorie, we headed back down to Dehra Dun again (by bus). Going back down- it was the same deal. People throwing up left and right. Only this time, the bus had been going back and forth all day and had built up quite a layer. I was really happy to shower when we got back to our hotel.

The next morning, bright and early, we headed back toward home. As Delhi was on the way, we stopped for a little shopping and then continued on, getting back to BITS around midnight. So, it was a very full three days, but a good time all in all.

The pictures are posted here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/ToMusoorieAndBack

It's November! (and other random statements)

It's November! I can't believe I'm coming home in less than a week. At this point, I think I've sent out my welcome back party invitations to all my Charlottesville peeps. So, if you haven't gotten it, sorry for the oversight. Just let me know and I'll send you the details.

I'd like to take this opportunity to go on the record as saying that my favorite mode of transportation has got to be the bicycle rickshaw. It is all the fun of riding a bike, but without any of the work of a regular bike and none of the noise of a motor bike. This of course excludes things from the "mode of transportation" category like say- a white water raft - since that isn't so much about getting from point A to B as it is about just having a good time.

It is really hard to explain Halloween to someone who has never heard of it without making yourself and anyone who celebrates it sound completely insane.

I was in a rush to get out the door this morning because I was late for my breakfast meeting with Mallika. Around 3 in the afternoon- I realized that my pants were on inside out.

Here is a video from a temple service: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7159809111151560757&hl=en

Oasis

Every year, BITS puts on a cultural festival where they invite schools from all over the country to come participate. There are professional shows with Indian pop starts, dance competitions, jam sessions, art showcases- all sorts of stuff. 40 schools sent students (around 1000 students total) so it was a bit crowded here. Classes were canceled, students from other schools were camped out in the classrooms, and there were events, non-stop, for 96 hours.

There was a program for the week, but I quickly discovered that it was more of a vague idea of the sorts of things that might go on, rather than an actual plan. Many of the things I tried to go, I was never able to find. Sometimes I would randomly stumble onto to something I had wanted to go to at a different location, on a different day, and at a different time. And, often- when events did happen- they weren't as advertised. The western acoustic jam, for example, was all synthesizers and electric guitars. So, I quickly learned to not get all that worked up over schedules and just wander around vaguely and see what I ran into.

On the whole I was saddened by how most of the students just seemed interested in trying to copy western styles of music and dance. There was very little that didn't have an MTV feel about it. One truly Indian thing though, happened at one of the professional shows I went to. The performer was Lucky Ali- who is apparently a really big deal Indian Pop Star/ Bollywood actor. So at the concert, the students all rush to the front and are dancing. Well, I ended up getting roped into sitting with some faculty and this big deal guy in the administration is there with us and we are sitting on the second row. So, this guy gets mad that the students are all standing and blocking his view. I suggested we move to the balcony for a better view. But of course- it was also not at all cool that men and women were dancing with each other, so he starts telling them to sit down. And here is the part that I couldn't believe- they actually did! And keep in mind- a lot of these students didn't even go to BITS. They were from other universities. They had no idea who he was and knew that he didn't know them. And when I say all- I mean all. He spread the word to every students- not just the ones in front of us- to sit down. It took almost the whole concert of him going- hey- pass the word to the guy in the red jacket- but he got them all to sit down. So around the time he got the last of them to sit down- the show was over. Then Lucky Ali came out for the encore- and everyone jumps to their feet. He started trying to get them to sit down again. It was so hard not to laugh at him.

Anyway- the pictures are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/Oasis Sorry there aren't too many. Most of what I took didn't turn out at all because of the weird lighting.

Crazy Indians

Fire! Fire! Quick- get the extinguisher! Er... I mean sand bucket...

I've made a couple of posts with crazy white lady stories, so I figure it is fair to note some crazy Indian stories.

There is a new guy working at the hostel that doesn't understand English. He speaks it ok- which is deceiving because it makes you think you can talk to him. But you can't. The worst is that he has hung up on Michael I think a total of 5 times now because he didn't understand "room 309 please." As you might imagine- I had a few words to say about this. So, I think in his mind- I'm the lady the bitches about the telephone. The other day, I came up to him and asked, "Can I have my room cleaned?" He said, "Telephone?" - because you know, those two sentences sound so much alike... I ended up having to wait until someone else came on duty.

I took a trip recently up to the mountains in Northern India. The professor I worked for insisted that I get permission from my husband before I could be allowed to leave. I resisted the urge to slap him (I sort of need him to like me at this point.) and said sure. I asked Michael to send him a letter saying I could go. This was his reply (and I quote)

Dear Wife,

No you may not go to Dehra Dun this weekend. I will not have you traipsing off with god-knows-who to god-knows-where without my presence and direct supervision, since you are subservient and clearly not to be trusted. You must come home directly to cook for me, clean the house, bring me little umbrella sippy drinks, and rub my feet.

Sincerely,
Your Husband
A.K.A. the boss of you

Luckily he sent a more favorable note to the professor.

Another rather interesting thing here is the use of candy for money. I doubt this is actual legal tender, and I haven't tried to actually spend it, but businesses keep hard candies or gum in their cash draws for use in place of small change.


One of my favorite bizarre Indian stories isn't actually mine- it is something that happened to Melissa when she was here. She was talking with this guy and he started talking about his kids. He said that his children were strong because when he was young he had "abstained from the sensual pleasures" so he had potent man-juice. After that- we always referred to him as "potent man-juice."