India, Part 2

After a five hour private bus ride, I am in Agra. Prior to coming here, our group visited the Spice Market in Delhi. What I will remember most about India will be its varied smells. Everywhere we went today, I smelled some kind of incense. At the Spice Market, I sneezed many times, my nose unsure how to digest all the spices in its midst. The Market is a site of frenzied activity--many men walk swiftly with large bags on their backs, yelling to highlight their presence. Unfortunately, the Market doesn't seem very large, and the items all seem similar after a short stroll.

We also visited the Friday Mosque in Delhi. Inside and outside, a few small monkeys wandered around, unmolested by anyone. The Mosque was large--apparently, it can hold up to 25,000 worshippers--but a bit too commercial for my taste. It is owned by or leased to the Indian government, and one must pass through a metal detector as a bored-looking military guard sits near. (What did he do to deserve this particular assignment, I wondered.) To take pictures, you have to pay 200 rupees, which isn't much, but several people who didn't pay and receive a ticket tried to use their camera phones and were immediately asked to pay the charge.

Several teenagers beckon you to take pictures and then ask for money afterwards. One of them asked me where I was from. I said, "California." He replied, "Do you have California money?" with a wide, friendly smile on his face. Some schoolgirls talked with my sister, asking only for her name. They were happy to say hello and continue along. Overall, my experience at the mosque didn't strike me as particularly religious. Perhaps tomorrow, when I visit a famous symbol of Islamic architecture, the Taj Mahal, I will have a different experience. So far, however, I've seen nothing here that exceeds the impressiveness of the holy places in Iran.

After the mosque, we visited a Sikh temple, where we were required to wear a head covering. We were able to attend and bring our cameras without charge. The Sikhs serve thousands of small food portions to the public each day--a noteworthy accomplishment in a country that has many impoverished residents--and even we were beckoned in to have some food (which we politely declined).

I had only two sweet lassis today, but plenty of naan. We stopped at a local restaurant and had a wide variety of dishes before coming to the hotel. Tomorrow we visit the Taj Mahal. Until then,

Your humble traveler,

Matthew

Bonus: Part 3 is  HERE.   

India: Days 1 and 2

I am in New Delhi, India, and it is December 13, 2010. Before coming here, I stayed overnight in London, and I enjoyed it--I got to see a dear friend, and it was the first time I'd been in the U.K. and avoided its usual rain. It was interesting seeing the cigarette boxes in the duty-free shops at Heathrow, which have the following 24-point font label: "Smoking Kills." (In case you didn't know.) After an 8 hour flight from London to Delhi yesterday, and another 30 minutes drive to my hotel, I've arrived mentally and physically.

The weather in India is delightful--California weather, really. Everyone told me I'd be in for "culture shock," but I've experienced no such thing so far. I wonder if people who talk about culture shock don't understand that poor people really do exist outside of television commercials. (Or perhaps some people view any place with weak commercial zoning laws and a removal of their ethnic majority status as sufficient to cause shock.) Certainly, I've seen poor people, including the so-called "slumdogs" (from the excellent film, Slumdog Millionaire). On the way to my hostel/hotel, several children came up to my taxicar, motioning for money. I did the Thai/Indian palms-together motion, saying "Namaste," and they left me alone. The salesmen on the street are far more persistent. Already, I've been propositioned to buy sunglasses and 32 gig memory cards for ten minutes straight. These sellers walk alongside you, sometimes tugging your sleeve gently, thinking that if they follow you for at least 10 minutes, you'll give in and buy their goods. Sometimes, and far less often, a poor woman will tag alongside you, asking for money or food, but they are comparatively less persistent. If you're not inclined to buy something or provide charity, just keep walking, be polite, and after some time, they will move on to the next tourist.

I'm staying at TJS Grand, which is located in a lower middle-class section of Delhi. Everyone here has been very nice, and many people speak at least basic English. The highlight thus far has been getting fresh chai on the street. For just 22 rupees, a hard-working man boils the milk, crushes the cardamom, cuts the ginger, dishes out the sugar, and prepares a wonderful cup of tea just for you. Overall, the food has been quite good. There's a small restaurant near my hotel called "Raffles," which has excellent food. I suggest ordering the combo, otherwise known as "thali" (pronounced "tal-ee"). I had already had some street food, so I ordered naan and sweet lassi, and I think I've found my own personal food combo. I could drink about ten sweet lassis a day and still not have my fill. I also enjoyed having cold coffee in McDonald's, which is a sweet coffee drink.

I am now waiting to have breakfast in the hostel/hotel, and then we will be going to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, for two days. We've got an excellent tour guide from Gap Adventures who calls himself "Luv." The name actually suits him. He speaks perfect English, is in great shape, and very sociable. He lives an hour and half away from this hostel and had to leave early to get back to his place. That reminds me: traffic. The small cars here compete with tuk-tuks, small motorbikes, and various other methods of transport. At first, the honking seems incessant, but once you realize drivers are honking not out of anger, but to advertise their location, it all makes sense. I have walked through dense traffic and not been scared, but my sister took half a day to adapt. She seems fine now. Walking with me, we received a few stares, as we're obviously out of place with our non-Indian features, but we've never felt unsafe. Some dogs roam the streets, but they all seem docile. Bottles of water are about 15 to 20 rupees, and I recommend picking one up for your hostel/hotel room, as tap water isn't known to be completely safe. If you go into some restaurants, they will serve you a large soda in a cup for just 20 rupees. The exchange rate is about 45 rupees to one American dollar, so while it's possible to spend loads of money on nice lodgings and fancy food, it's also possible to live quite cheaply here.

Breakfast will be served soon, and I don't know if I will have access to a computer at my next stop, but I will try to post again if I can. To more chai, naan, and the simple things in life,

Your humble traveler,

Matthew

Update: this became a 5 part series.  Part 2 is HERE.

On India

Why India has a long way to go before I will believe in its long-term economic success:

We live in a democracy, but it is not for Muslims. We live in silent dictatorship.

-- an Indian Muslim lamenting the failure of inter-faith cooperation, in today's New York Times

There are 161 million Muslims in India.

Indian Newspaper

For those of you looking for non-mainstream news, here's an excellent Indian periodical:

http://www.indianexpress.com/

The North American August 8, 2008 edition had an informative insert called, "61 years of India."

Obama, India, and Terrorism

I'm back. Cabo San Lucas was relaxing, and I will write more on that later. For now, I just wanted to share an interesting article on Obama and make some comments about the senseless massacre in India. 

1. The LA Times (Nov 30, 2008) thinks Obama should be sworn in as President using his full name, including his middle name: 

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-oath30-2008nov30%2C0%2C7859834.story 

I like their gusto, but I don't think it's going to happen. 

[Update on December 10, 2008: I was wrong--see Barack Hussein Obama] 

2. The tragic killings in India have resulted in many commentators blaming Pakistan. One specific, recurring comment has been that "ordinary Pakistanis" need to be marching in the street, condemning the violence. Meanwhile, the Indian government is on record saying that they will get information from one of the captured killers and make him "sing like a canary." One Indian official, according to the WSJ, talked about having certain methods that would make the captured killer talk. 

First, India does itself no favors by implying it uses or condones torture as an interrogation tactic. Even hinting that torture is acceptable raises the stakes tremendously, because it implies that India does not comply with U.N. rules or does not take them seriously. This failure to adhere to generally accepted international standards of conduct should concern the world when both countries involved have nuclear weapons. In addition, if India does use torture or provokes an unnecessary war against Pakistanis, even the ghosts of Gandhi and British imperialism will not prevent the damaging hit to India's image as a respectable emerging superpower. 

Second, many commentators--both Indian and American--have lambasted Pakistanis for not protesting the violence publicly and in large numbers. This complaint is similar to the one lodged against Muslims post-9/11--that by not openly condemning 9/11, they were somehow implicitly supporting it or not doing enough to show their true colors. 

This argument has some emotional appeal, but fails due to its unsound assumption that silence automatically means support. This theory of "speak-or-forever-be-suspected" applies primarily to face-to-face encounters on a specific topic--such as when a person refuses to answer a question of, "Did you take that document that had trade secrets to your home?" or "Does this make me look fat?" Such questions fail to elicit any relevance when they are applied to actions or thoughts made by strangers who happen to share a similar characteristic as some other group. For example, Timothy McVeigh had white skin. When he committed his act of terrorism, did the failure of massive numbers of white persons marching in the streets of Canada imply white Canadian support for his acts? Of course not. When an unarmed black man (Amadou Diallo) in New York is shot 19 times by Christian police officers, does the failure of Christians across the United States condemning the NYPD mean they condone senseless killings? Of course not. Such examples can be made ad infinitum, and it should be fairly obvious that an absence of mass protests or vocal opposition has no relevance as an indicator of general support or non-support. 

The reasons for silence among most "ordinary Pakistanis" are simple. Muslims in Pakistan don't know the killers in India and don't feel any connection to them. To the 99.9% Pakistanis who live their lives peacefully, there is no connection to the killers in India and therefore no reason to say anything publicly about their heinous acts. I hate to be dogmatic, but anyone who says differently is a demagogue seeking to incite ethnic and religious violence. Such ignorance is dangerous and may lead to retaliatory killings of innocent Muslims in India. In addition, 40 of the 170+ victims were Muslim, showing that terrorism knows no ethnicity or religion. 

Personally, I feel tremendous sadness for all the victims of the attacks. The story of Moshe Holtzberg is particularly heart-breaking.