That’s what I’ve been getting into these past few weeks. I may finally be getting better, after seeing a specialist about my stomach problems.
I interviewed the district secretary of the Communist party yesterday as part of my fieldwork research. I went with an assistant of the program to the party office, which is quite far away from our program house.
We left, according to Indian time, twenty minutes later than the meeting was supposed to start. Then, of course, were further delayed due to the crossing of the road by the water buffalo. Made me a little nostalgic for the days when I’d be late every day for my kathak lesson due to those things!
We finally arrived, then were ushered up a very dark stairway, through someone’s house where a guy was bathing in the courtyard (“is the Communist party office up this way?” “of course! just through that hall!” the man answered as he sloshed his back with a cup of water) and into this large room filled with ancient paper bundles and dusty wardrobes.
Now, ALL bureaucratic offices in India look this way. Post offices, stores, any kind of office. It seems that a man, in 1967, locked that cabinet in the corner and no one has bothered to open it since then. I doubt if anyone has the key…
And, as I asked the official my questions regarding his family, philosophy and party’s agenda regarding emigration from India, my eyes looked up a few times. Down from the wall stared Marx. And to his left? None other than Stalin!
Two weeks ago, I spent a Sunday with my friend Jo and two religion professors from the US who are doing research in Sarnath. They came to Varanasi for the day, and we acted as their guides.
Being able to walk along the ghats as if I were a tourist was great, something I have wanted to do since last fall! Now, it may seem silly to you, but living in this place for so long, I don’t feel like a tourist at all anymore. Taking the time to stroll along the river and sip chai was something I do not think I can afford to do most of the time, since I have so much work to do. There’s fieldwork notes to take! Books on the economy to read! Grammar constructions to memorize and practice!
But on that Sunday I learned a lot about Varanasi. Being guide for a religion professor is like getting mini-lectures about Hanuman, Ganesh and ‘idol worship’– something when you ask Westerners about, they think is strange and has nothing to do with their own lives. When, in reality, there are many parallels between Hinduism and our, say, idea of Santa Claus.
Steve has developed a wonderful theory about Santa. Do we leave offerings for him? (milk and cookies) Do we think of him as a symbol of some eternal truth? (compassion and generosity, warmth and health (he does wear red and come from the chimney in the cold of winter!)) and do we receive from him ‘darshan’ and ‘prasad’, or blessings? (stocking stuffers!) Isn’t that fun to think about? Makes Hinduism seem quite easy to understand, and important.
We met an Untouchable whose family runs one of the burning ghats in Varanasi. There were about three bodies being burned that day, all of them wrapped in bright yellow clothes and covered in flowers. No women were allowed to come to a loved one’s cremation, because, he said, they would cry, and this was a happy time when the person was being released from their life.
We saw the place where the eternal flame (even older than the Olympic eternal flame I think), the one that Lord Shiva gave to the Untouchables (those who oversee cremation) at the beginning of time. It wasn’t a big flame, with some coals. Shiva’s tridents were sticking out of the ashes as though he were still watching over them.
The untouchables who run Varanasi’s burning ghats are quite wealthy, since it is considered very auspicious to die in Varanasi. That makes for a fascinating social dynamic, since traditionally the Untouchables have been the poorest caste.
On a lighter note, we’ve been popularizing the sport of frisbee throwing around the University campus here! Tonight I’ll attend an engagement ceremony, which should be fun.
Oh! And Happy Republic Day!
Congrats