Reflections Upon Leaving

(Written in the Delhi airport a few days ago)

This is my first trip to India since we lived here two years ago. On Tuesday, Jeff and I stopped by the JPAL office to see old friends and colleagues, one of whom asked me what I think now that I'm back. I said, "There are some things I miss and some things I don't." I did not provide him with this list, but it's been percolating in my brain over the past week (sorry the last post's not a funny one...).

Things I Miss (in no particular order)

• Certain foods: mangoes (mango milkshakes!), crispy chili potatoes, Choco Frappes at CCD, chai
• Good friends - Rashmi, Girish, Nikhil, et al
• Cheap and easy transportation via auto rickshaw
• Believe it or not, for nearly all of our auto rides, the drivers agreed to use the meter! Times they are a changin' ...
• Street puppies on every corner, especially the ones that look just like our Lalu
• Funny mistranslations/phrasings on most signs
• The thrill of joy and surprise when you see an imported American treat like Diet Dr. Pepper

Things I Don't Miss

• Smells: a heady blend of sweat, urine, feces, car exhaust, spices and incense.
• Constant solicitation for money, by beggars, rickshaw drivers, vendors and basically any male stranger
• "Hey! Hello! WHAT'S YOUR NAME??!!" is hysterical the first 5 times, funny the next 3 times, and then you're just done.
• Stares - not the gentle curiosity of American people-watching, but the unbreakable leer reserved especially for foreign women. 
• If I put in a little effort, I can certainly be pretty, but I have no illusions about being drop-dead gorgeous. However, these stares have literally caused at least one minor collision that I know about when I was in Delhi. Maybe it's easier for truly beautiful women, who are accustomed to unwanted attention. But as I explained to Jeff, I could cover my arms to the wrist and my legs to the toe, and the quantity and intensity of stares would not change. 

It's remarkable how quickly I slipped back into the comforts of American culture when I returned two years ago - passing unnoticed by all men but Jeff, smelling clean sea breezes, drinking straight from the tap. I actually I think I could live in India if it weren't for the constant stares of strange men; the traffic, noise and dense press of people are part of the adventure, but having to constantly guard my gaze is not. Every morning, we read the Times of India with breakfast, and there was always some prominent politician decrying violence against women. Top-level support (or at least lip-service) for women's rights is important, but, despite being very rarely in risk of real danger, it's going to be a long while before I feel completely at ease here.

Tadpoles and missing money

 Nearly every day this week, Jeff and I have walked to Green Park to explore or read in the shade. On Monday, we found a quiet, shady bench near a man-made stream with minimal foot traffic: perfect!







After a little while, we noticed a group of four young boys playing in the stream. Eventually, they wandered up to us, proudly carrying two cups with dirty water in them. "मछली? (Fish?)" they asked us. We leaned over the cups and saw they'd caught a dozen tadpoles. Then we tried to rustle up a translation for "tadpole." "मेंढक का बच्चा (Frog-baby)," we explained. Using my expert teacher moves, I held my hands close together and said, "tadpole," then gradually spread them apart while making Mario-style growth noises and said, "frog." Lightbulbs went on in the children's eyes, and they wandered off again.

Jeff and I breathed a sigh of relief - an innocent conversation with no expectation of money at the end of it. A first!

Then they came back, and, pointing to my Kindle, said, "लैपटॉप? (Laptop?) मोबाइल फ़ोन? (Mobile phone?)" Jeff explained, "इलेक्ट्रॉनिक की किताब (electronic book)," while I demonstrated turning pages and gestured to Jeff's paperback, where he turned pages too. Right about then, Jeff and I decided our solitary reading spot wasn't quite solitary enough, so we got up to leave.

At which point, the most outgoing boy started pointing to the ground in a sweeping motion and speaking in rapid, indecipherable Hindi. Finally, he said in remarkably clear English, "My money fell on the ground I don't know where." This must have seemed like a great scheme to his 8-year-old brain, but Jeff and I just replied, "Well then, you better find it," turned around, and left.

So much for the curiosity and innocence of the young...

Crunchy Frappe

In a perfect world, I would drink a Choco Frappe from Cafe Coffee Day every single day. They're similar to mocha frappuccinos, but smoother, creamier and cheaper.

On a recent visit to CCD, Jeff tried a new product they're promoting: a "Crunchy Frappe" - basically a frappuccino with Oreo. The product itself is delicious, but the ad campaign, like many here, prompts the age-old question: "How much of this bad translation is intentional?"

"Stop Honking"

Believe me, Delhi, I agree with you about the honking. But doesn't puncturing tires seem a bit of a severe punishment for aberrant parking?

The Exercise Circuit in Delhi's Green Park

Technically, Jeff and I are not in Bihar, but we're taking a glorious 5 days of vacation in Delhi in the midst of Jeff's 2.5 months at IDinsight in Bihar (and the start of my summer travels). I figure Delhi is close enough to resurrect our old blog...

Day 1 in Delhi was spent walking about 10 miles through beautiful parks and congested streets to eat and drink delicious things. We're staying in Hauz Khas, the only neighborhood I know in Delhi because it's the location of the J-PAL office and guest house. It's an ex-pat's dream: coffee shops, cafes and art galleries, oh my!

My three favorite parts of the day were: (1) having dinner with Rashmi, our friend and former colleague who's still working for J-PAL South Asia; (2) drinking so many different delicious beverages (see future blog post); and (3) walking through Green Park (the focus of this post).

"Hauz Khas" means "Royal Water Tank," and the neighborhood is named for the reservoir at the center of Green Park, built in the 12th Century, and rightfully nicknamed the "Lungs of Delhi". Jeff Weaver introduced me to the park 2 years ago on a J-PAL trip to Delhi. We entered the park at "Hauz Khas village," the most upscale, ex-pat-y part of the neighborhood, walking through 900-year-old ruins of tombs and mosques:

Of course, my favorite park of the park wasn't the ruins or even the peaceful scenery (which was remarkable - it felt like we'd completely left Delhi behind). My favorite part was the badly translated signs labeling an exercise circuit that we didn't see a single person using (besides us!).

Exercise 1: "Stradle Walk and Jump"

Exercise 2: "Jumping Jack"

Exercise 3: "Ring Exercise-Spine Shoulder, Hip-ETC"

Kind of tricky without the ring...

And my personal favorite, Exercise 4: "Balance Spinal Exercise"

If there's a theme to my international travels, it seems to be the constant pursuit of bad English translations... as Katharine and others know well :).