India (Nov/Dec 2003)
I took over 800+ photos on my short trip to
India. It would be nearly impossible to capture the essence, the
emotions, the flood of experiences that just a simple, unplanned visit
to India generated. These pictures capture some of it. I
have tried to caption them but as always each picture has its own tale
to tell..which you will have to ask me in person :)
A brief travelogue (I wrote this
about two-thirds of the way through the trip...)
My
first trip back in 11 years. And India has me impressed, puzzled,
perplexed and humbled... It is indeed an amazing land of
contrasts. On every street corner, every place one can imagine
there is a religious diety looking down on one of the oldest cultures
in the world, and at the same time, next to the diety is a store with
television screens flashing music videos from J.Lo, Eminem and Britney
Spears on MTV and the raunchiest re-mixed Hindi music videos that make
me do a double take! I turn the corner and I find the
local street vendor taking an order on his mobile phone for a delivery
to the larger, richer, (and in my opinion, lazier and fatter) middle
class. At the same moment, behind the vendor I see a woman with
her only sari sleeping on the street with her child -- the poorest of
the poor surviving in the most deplorable conditions, untouched by the
new economy -- they sleep soundly inspite of the incredible chatter,
under the flashing neon signs announcing the Orange cellular network
and humungous billboards with the latest fads from Pierre Cardin, and
Levys..
Everyone
middle class family here seems to have a car but the roads remain the
same size when no one except the richest few had cars -- so a two lane
road now accomodates four or five vehicles side by side, plus the
pedestrians, cows and the two wheelers (reminds me of Italy). The
air is thick with smog as thick as on the worst days in Pasadena.
I cough and seem to have a perennial sore throat. My system has
been shocked into what is now India -- much of it the same as ever --
the rich, ancient traditions -- the sounds of temple bells and hymns
filling the streets -- and much that is completely new.
In
the first few days here, I met about 20 of my 30+ cousins which was
fantastic. Many I had not seen in 16 years. Many didn't
recognize me at all because I used to be quite short even by Indian
standards and was always bespectacled... now I have a earring and a
Ceaser cut and stand average to moderately tall...so it was fun
catching up with the family -- meeting families of cousins -- cousins
who are far younger than I am! Of course, I have been constantly
answering the question of when I am getting married and receiving
proposals left and right.
The
first week ended with a important religious ceremony and then a
pilgrimage to one of the ancient sites in Jain philisophy in the state
of Gujrat. The trip was exhasting -- travelling in a 3-tier train
with 16 of us was a adventure i don't intend to repeat -- nevertheless
the trip was fun and we climbed this ancient mountain called
"shikarjee" -- the place is at least 1500 years old and has the most
incredible architecture and carvings. pictures when i
return.
since
then i have been doing some shopping, meeting more of the rest of the
extended family and now am in Pune at the NCRA/IUCAA campus where I
gave a seminar today. The campus is delightful and meeting all of
the astronomers here has been fantastic. Tommorrow I tour the
GMRT, the new radio telescope built by India. Then a few more
days here and I am off to Paris and then home.