Saree Part Two

The first Saree I ever bought, Completed!
The Girls all Fancy

Scott's Idea to make a Triangle Formation _ The Guys
*Scott is a cheerleader for VA Tech

Summer SIP 2011 Group = Family

Finally got the saree pieces back in one piece and I was anxious to try on this decorative tablecloth. So my next door neighbor, Meg, and I decided we would give it a shot. Upon first try I could barely move. I stumbled upstairs to my resident area director and she stifled a giggle while ushering me to the corner to help me put it on properly.

The time came where I had to seriously wear the Saree and this was during our cultural night/goodbye dinner to the Nordic students. All of us crowded in one of the international girls' rooms while my resident director with pins in mouth and hand, waded through the vast amounts of cloth on each girls' dress.

In the end I think it turned out pretty nicely, and we enjoyed a nice night of jokes, storytelling, great food, dressing up, and going out afterwards in the city.

And the Mummy Returns

Warangal Ruins

TAJ Mahal Tomb

King Akbar's Tomb in Delhi

Each picture denotes a 1000 words I will never know the full story behind. Tombs. I don't even know how to linguistically describe the astounding beauty of all the tombs I have seen on this trip. They are so elaborate. Every time I see a shocking piece of architecture and lean out the window to take a picture, I find out it is someone's gravestone.

It is a way for the memory and grandeur of these noble beings, kings, great leaders, hypothesized gods/goddesses to live on. It is a way for their actions and legacy to live on. It is a way for them to continually return to be a part of Indian and Hindu culture/society. So while the mummies' remains may be long decomposed, it is believed the spirits of these people stand guard and can hear your prayers or wishes when you enter into their tomb rooms; a place considered sacred.

While I am no king or noblewoman, I aspire to have such love after my death.

Fairy Tales

Do you believe in Fairy Tales? Well I like pina coladas, and going out in the rain.
India has its own version of Mythology, Aesop's fables, Cinderella's, etc.

There was a storytelling book for younger children that had tales of all kinds, meant to teach moral lessons. There was the tale of the Magic Tabla or drum, the tale of the Unlucky coconut, the smart princess, the two theives, the lady who had the lucky bag, silence is golden, and many more. I read all these stories in my free time on the roof of our international hostel and realized that while they were adapted to fit the cultural norms of India, many of the stories were very similar to American and British tales.

The below three books are Sacred Texts which build the foundation for Hinduism faith and spirituality.

Mahabharata.

It is a historical account of how Hinduism faith came to exist. It denotes tales of Gods and Demons fighting, birth of other great kings or celestial beings and the battle of the cosmic forces. I actually got a copy of this in a condensed form to take home.
My favorite story was about the woman goddess who was from the river. She would appear every now and then to either born a celestial being that would grow up to be great, or to inflict her wrath upon the evil ways of men.
The other two books also tell of heroic tales and the principles to living. I did not get a chance to read these, but was introduced to their ideas briefly in my Contemporary India course.

Ramayana.

This text tells about India during the time period 1000 BCE and offers models in Dharma. There is a main hero to the story, Rama, who lived his whole life by the rules of Dharma and is also the reason why he is revered so much. His exemplary life as the perfect son and ideal husband has impacted the way many Indian men reflect upon their own characters.

Bhagavatam.

This is one of the most important classics in Indian history as it recounts the story of Lord Krishna. As an important source of ancient Vedic Wisdom it is easily referred to as the Hindu-Bible.

Tall Tales
The tour guides would also tell us stories of how certain temples or architectural masterpieces came to exist or what Gods they were dedicated to.

Out with the Old in with the New

Oh Delhi Belly....

The fall students are here and taking things by storm. They have already fallen ill, pined at going out and about, and started their own semester flings. Regardless, they have 5 months here so they better get used to it. Although we are fighting each day to see who gets the last seat in the cafe or the last chair in our one common lounge upstairs, we are all making an effort to get to know each other, even if it is only for a few more days. Last night was a great example of bonding with students we probably won't hear from for half a year or more. The summer ISA and Fall ISA group got together to have a light snack before the movie Delhi Belly.

We went to a nice eatery on a balcony in Jubilee Hills Andra Pradesh, India. It had bungalows and sweeping curtains with low couches.


The movie itself was hilarious. It was all in Hindi, with a few words in English. It was like India's version of the Hangover but with a different plotline. There were three friends and they got themselves involved in the craziest drug war scandal with a side of the insanely tall strong ex-husband/bathroom problems/affairs and blackmail/ and an unwanted marriage.

We all were rolling on the floor with tears even with the language barrier. From taking hindi I could understand some of the commands and basic introductions, but beyond that I had to employ the help of our program director or his girlfriend for the rest of the jokes. Most of the movie was action and funny occurences so that we could understand it easily enough.

Even now I wonder how my fall counterparts in the ISA program are doing. Have they gotten to watch any more Bollywood (India's name for their cinema entertainment) films? Have they traveled? Are their classes as easy as ours were? Are they playing with my angel and keeping her company everyday? Are they making weekend trips to the boulders on campus overlooking the lake and having bonfires with a Kingfisher in hand and some smores? Are they doing all the things we did as Summer SIP students or more? One thing I do know for sure- they are having a blast! Studying abroad is easily one of the best decisions one can make.

The Golden Triangle - A Treasure indeed

Golden Triangle Excursion- Delhi, Agra, Jaipur - June 8-13

Standing tall at Jaipur Palace on the Mountains

The TAJ MAHAL _one of the 8 wonders of the world Agra, India

Balcony in Delhi eating Kababs

Lodhi Gardens with our new friend - Delhi, India

Great Archway or Wall of India - no not the one I mention seeing in Jaipur- this one is a national Landmark in Delhi

So now that I am officially back in Miami, I mustered up the willpower and creativity to write about my experience during my Golden Triangle Excursion. It is still a wonder that I can remember the exact emotions and awe I felt as we were traveling through these first few days. When I think about it, it is almost as if this happened last week, not three months ago.

I remember thinking how lucky I was. I remember all four of us in the ISA group just marveling over the fact that we were in India and experiencing it all. Our driver was great and very patient. He took us over miles of plains, but these plains included elephants, monkeys, dogs, lots of cows, the occasional farmer or family on motorcycle, and of course huts strewn about the landscape like trees. There were very few trees in fact, and when we passed by Rajasthan, we saw many mountains, which was a sight to see because at least where I am from its flat ground or BELOW sea level.

Of course, first was Delhi, where we arrived. My first impression of Delhi was that it was very city like, very bustling, but that there was also a significant amount of men out, not women.

Delhi was also the first place I saw immense poverty in India; this included people living in garbage bins, lying in the ditches by the roadside next to the sewage waste and dead animals, and so many undernourished people, children, babies. I knew right then it was completely different from anything I had imagined, saw on tv, or witnessed in the US. There is nothing more blatantly overwhelming than witnessing an injustice firsthand, and poverty among millions was that injustice.

A paradox to the heartfelt, civic minded individual is that you can't just give money to any one person on the street as much as you may want to, because then you become the target for the rest of the homeless to overtake you and this can be dangerous. As much as it pains you, we were advised to just keep walking or only give out food items. Many times, children who beg for money never get to keep their earnings and have to give it to some kind of overpowering master or "pimp".

Besides the poverty, there were also positive aspects to Delhi, such as the beautiful Lodhi Gardens where one could get lost in the maze of adventure. We all climbed upon ruined ancient buildings watching the sunset prey over the old tales of grandeur. It was a sight to see. We got to mingle with locals, three young friends who regularly came to the roof of one such artful construction to work out and jump rope, while listening to Backstreet Boys!

Afterwards we made the trek to some really good Kababs eatery where we enjoyed the spicy taste of this new food with mango juice on a balcony overlooking the starlit city.

The next day we were off to Agra (a five hour drive). Our plan was to hit the hotel at night and then wake up early the next day to see the Taj Mahal _ the main attraction of India and what I thought would be the highlight of my trip then, but now I know there are too many attractions in India to even count or rate which one would be the best. All of the places I visited were unique and astounding in their own ways.

The Taj was surreal. The sun was rising over a quiet sky with blue birds chirping and water gurgling in the fountain extending from the Taj's entrance to the outer wall. The children were playing and running. The tourists (us) were looking around wild-eyed and snapping a dozen pictures. It was amazing. Our tour guide told us so much about the tomb and its motivation behind the construction. Basically this Moorish King had been married to three wives, but out of all of them only his third gave him such a promising heirloom of a total 17 children. She died giving childbirth, so it is out of remorse, guilt, and maybe a little obsessive awe that this King felt obligated to give her the best memorial in all of India. He spent away numerous funds of the kingdom so that his own son had to imprison him in the Agra Fort so as to control his unresponsible actions. The King had all the workers' hands cut off, or killed after the Taj Mahal was completed so that the design would not be replicated; however a few months later he wanted to construct a Black Taj in honor of his own death and he realized he needed new workers. AT this point his son said "enough is enough" and threw him in one of the rooms_not an unpleasant space, but nonetheless he was in prison.

After Agra it was another 5 or 6 hours to what will be known as one of my favorite cities, Jaipur_The Pink City. It is such a beautifully antiquated little place. There is an old part of the city and a newer part and both have their charms. I remember the window palace with hundreds of glass windows where women used to look out at the proceedings of the day. The entire building was impressive. I remember the fort palace on the mountaintop where one of the most beautiful women used to live. There was the water palace, still being guarded by soldiers, just lying half in and half out of the water; and yes there are rooms underneath the water. It was really a unique city. We were greeted by mountains and elephants as we went further and then I saw it; The GREAT WALL of INDIA. It looks exactly how I named it. We got elephant rides up to the top of the palace and got to explore this thousand year old regime on the mountains, it was amazing.

It is pretty obvious why they call this the Golden Triangle. It is like you hit some of the most magnificent treasures in India all in this little triangular region in the north. After playing tourist, we were ready to go to Hyderabad and become civilians, students, integrate ourselves into Indian life and culture.