You Can't Run From Iran

I would say that one of the more interesting psychological shifts that I have noticed since living here is my awareness of being different, more specifically, LOOKING different. I guess as being part of the majority in the US, I never felt so conspicuous and thus never felt at all self-conscious. I sometimes have the feeling that everyone is staring at me (this is either perceived or real, I can not say for sure), and I long for the anonymity and privacy that I felt in the US since I blended with the crowd. This gives me a real appreciation for how it must feel for members of minority groups in the US, though certainly the situations are wildly different. I suppose that the sense of standing out is amplified here due to the high degree of homogeneity in India. Sure, there is huge cultural heterogeneity amongst the Indians, meaning that Bengalis are very different from Tamilians, who are also different from Punjabis, etc., but India is by no means a melting pot. So, one of the effects of this is that my eye is always drawn to the other foreigners. If there is a foreigner with a 2 kilometer radius, I will spot him or her. I seem to be particularly good at picking out the Caucasian-looking faces from a crowd, it is done so unconsciously that I feel that it must be a biological function, maybe evolution has provided a mechanism for us to seek out those that are similar to us (or conversely to notice different faces in a group, who knows).



Anyway, this is a long way of explaining that I see white people (get the Sixth Sense reference, I hope so or it is a good joke wasted). So, when I was walking home from the gym on Monday evening, I noticed a very tall, very light complexioned man standing in front of a shop near my home, looking out onto the street in front of him. I sort of did a double take because, first of all, he was tall. There are really not many tall people here, but really, I noticed him because he was white (or so I thought). So as I was on the double part of the double take, he caught my eye. I was so embarrassed because I had basically been caught staring at him, so I looked away and kept going down the street. I was waiting for traffic to go by so that I could cross the street, and who walks up to me, but this same guy! So he asks me where I am from and I say the US, and he asks what I am doing in India, etc., the typical type of questions that I get from people who notice a foreigner and are curious. I, though am equally curious because there is this strange sense of camaraderie that I feel towards other foreigners, sort of like we are in this together. So I ask where he is from as I am having a terrible time identifying his accent. He smiled broadly and said, "Guess!". "Super, a guessing game," I thought to myself, "what an excellent opportunity to make myself look like an idiot." Which, by the way, I did. So since he was light skinned with light colored hair and was clearly not American, British, Australian, or Canadian, I assumed he must be European. Okay, so there are lots of countries in Europe, which one? He didn't sound or look Eastern European so that narrowed it down a bit, and when in doubt, guess France (actually I have found, at least in the game of Trivial Pursuit, that one should always guess Reykjavik, Iceland). Well, both turned out to be wrong, so he laughs and says, "Okay, I am from the country that is most opposite yours in government." Oh boy... However, this clue does not really help me that much as my mind races through all of the countries that might have a legitimate reason to hate America, who have we attacked recently, who have we threatened, who have we offended? This takes a while, and at this point, I am really worried about offending this guy, so I tell him I have no idea. He says, "Iran!" Wow. Now I know that I have to be careful, whatever I say to this guy is going to represent the thoughts and beliefs of the whole of America. So I laugh and tell him that yes, it seems that there are some tensions between our governments (with Dick, Cheney that is, tossing around threats of war). So we go on to have a nice conversation about how in the world it was possible that Bush won a second term, nuclear energy and nuclear weapons, etc. Then he drops a bomb, "So what do Americans think of Iranians?" What am I supposed to say, that the popular media characterizes all people from the Middle East as religious fanatics waving Kalashnikovs in the air and crying "Death to America"? That these people are shown as backward idiots who need America to teach them about freedom and democracy, that they are incapable of making decisions for their own countries? This is one of those situations where I find it incredibly embarrassing to be American. Don't get me wrong, I am proud to be from America, but living abroad I have had to answer for the decisions that my government has made, and to try to convince non-Americans that we are not war-mongering, power (and oil)-hungry imperialists. This is becoming an increasingly difficult case to make. So back to my conversation with the Iranian... I decide to take the safe road and tell him what I believe is the truth about his people, my people, probably all people; that there are crazy extremists at both ends of the spectrum in both countries, they often have loud (and grating) voices, but that the majority of people fall in between and are good people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, countries are judged by their governments, and in both the US and Iran, the country gets a bad reputation based on the acts and beliefs of its respective government. In the end though, we are not that different, two countries filled with good people and led by raving lunatics. The whole experience left me feeling very helpless. Here we were, these two strangers from countries that are on the brink of war, and we had no problem at all in getting along, we have no dispute with one another. If only our governments were truly representative of the people, by the people, and for the people. I guess that must have been forgotten somewhere along the way...

Happy Valentine's Day (celebrate with a Bundh)!!!

Hi everyone! I hope that you are having a good Valentine's Day, it is sort of celebrated here, but is certainly not as recognized as it is in the USA. But not to worry, though we are not really celebrating Valentine's Day, we did get to celebrate a Bundh (pronounced bundt, like the cake) on Monday (okay, celebrate is not really the right word, but as the result was a day off of work, I had reason to celebrate). A bundh is basically a strike, and due to the Cauvery tribunal verdict (see previous post if you have no idea what I am talking about), the city of Bangalore shut down for the day. And when I say shut down, I mean it. There were no shops open, businesses were closed (Motorola, for instance), and transportation ground to a screeching halt. Actually, that is not true, without the traffic, there was no screeching at all.



But let's not get ahead of ourselves. When I last wrote, the verdict had just been delivered and many people were very nervous about the reaction that it might elicit in Bangalore (remember, that in 1991 there were major riots). Businesses immediately shut down and schools sent the children home. Here at NCBS many people went home very early because rumors were circulating that riots had broken out in parts of the city. I left at my normal time (the 5:40 shuttle, which is normally packed) in a mostly empty shuttle. The traffic was non-existent (I feel that there should be a threat of riots everyday to keep traffic reasonable) and it was so quiet. It was actually quite unsettling though, walking home from work in the peace and quiet. I am so used to the chaos of my evening commute that the town had an eerie feeling to it. Anyway, I made my way to the gym, and like most other shops and businesses, it was closed. That night, we learned from the news that there was no violence in the city, the reports that we had heard were just rumors. However, we also learned that many state organizations were calling for a bundh on Thursday.



To me, the theory of a bundh is seriously flawed. The major fear associated with the ruling of the tribunal is violence and rioting, so here's a great idea, give everyone the day off so that they can riot and cause violence. Idle hands are the devil's tools, right? Well, at least on Monday they weren't. There were some demonstrations, but from what I have heard, in all the bundh was pretty tame, but I must admit it is kind of exciting living in a place where all hell could break loose at any minute, sort of like in L.A.



Since I missed out on any excitement due to the bundh, the universe remedied that this morning when I was involved in a traffic accident on my way to work. I take an autorickshaw (pictures above for reference) to my shuttle stop, and most of the drivers drive like they are possessed. This morning my driver and I were at a light waiting to turn left when the light turned green. Now, in Bangalore, when the light turns green the drivers (not just autorickshaw drivers) act as though they have seen the green flag at the Indy 500 and really put the petal to the metal, there is no such thing as gradual acceleration, it is all or nothing baby. Well, for some reason the big jeep ahead of us also floored it, but then stomped on the break while my driver was still in Indy 500 mode. Crunch. Everyone was okay, but my driver and the driver of the jeep both jumped out and started screaming at each other, and there I was standing there looking like an idiot. I wasn't exactly sure of the proper etiquette involved with car crashes, but I felt that I needed to get out of there as the drivers were really going at it and I didn't want to be around if it escalated. I handed my driver my fare, and got out of dodge. I have been told that here in India, an accident is generally deemed to be the fault of the larger vehicle, and that even in the case of rear-endings, this holds true as well.



Who needs holidays like Valentine's Day when I get all the excitement I need with bundhs and collisions, and the month is only half over!

Super Sundays, Melancholy Mondays

Well, maybe in another twenty-two years... It turns out that the Super Bowl was, in fact, televised in India, LIVE. This of course means that the coverage began at 4:30 AM on Monday (India time), and like good fans, Eric and I were up and ready to watch the Colts get shut down by our beloved Chicago Bears. Well, you all know how it turned out so I won't belabor the point, but what a bummer! It actually made me sort of grateful that we weren't in the suburbs at a Super Bowl party because, boy, what a letdown. The game SUCKED, I mean, by the end of the season one would think that the quarterback might actually be able to receive a snap!!! I guess what I stated in an earlier post is not true, it is not Eric and I, but instead the crappy offense that kills the Bears. Oh well, maybe 2029 will be our year.



Anyway, the previous Sunday was a much more pleasant experience than Super Bowl Sunday. Some of my lab-mates and I went on an outing about 100 kilometers (62 miles) outside of Bangalore to a place called Mekedatu, where the Cauvery River flows through a narrow, rocky valley which is surrounded by forest. This place is very beautiful and serene (especially in the morning before all of the swimmers come and fill up the relatively shallow pools of water that form around the river). The one thing that I have to keep reminding myself is that in India, water is a VERY precious commodity and it is rare to find unspoiled bodies of water that one can frolick in. As a result, many of my lab-mates were quite excited to jump right into the pools with their jeans and everything on. It was only later that people thought to remove shoes, watches, cell-phones, etc. I did end up going into the water up to my waist (in my jeans) and we played and relaxed in the water for a few hours before having a picnic lunch on the beach. By this time I had roasted to fiery red from the Indian sun, so we left to check out our next stop, Chunchi Falls, but not before we saw a herd of wild elephants come to the water's edge and bathe themselves! Chunchi Falls is a place where the Cauvery Rivers squeezes through a narrow gorge and falls in two cascades. As we went during the dry season, much of the riverbed was dried up, revealing huge boulders and the depths that the waters must reach during the wet season; I have never seen anything like it. There was a sign warning visitors to the dangers of the falls, among which are tide pools and crocodiles! We descended a rocky and treacherous path before finally seeing the falls. It was really beautiful and peaceful, with very few other visitors. I was mostly struck by the size of the rock formations and the depths of the valley; it left me thinking that I should really go to the Grand Canyon when we return. I have included some pics to give you an idea of what I am talking about.



After exploring the falls, we were all pretty wiped out, so we headed for Bangalore, stopping for some really delicious tea on the way. The downside of this trip was, naturally, by Monday I had become the host for yet another stomach bug. The drugs did the trick once again, I hope that these bugs never develop antibiotic resistance or I am up the proverbial creek without the all important paddle. This time though, the GI bug was worth it, as I had a great time on our outing.



A side note: A major ruling was just released from the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in the last couple of hours that ties in with the water issues that I mentioned earlier and underscores how important a resource water is here in India. There has been a long-standing dispute between the neighboring states of Karnataka (Bangalore is the capital of this state) and Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery River (which I spoke of just a bit ago) has its mouth and is dammed in Karnataka but runs through Tamil Nadu, supplying water for irrigation to both states. However, if Karnataka wants, it can refuse to release water to Tamil Nadu, and a battle between the two states has been raging for 16 years (it has really been going on since the 1800s, but the Tribunal was convened 16 years ago and has been hearing arguments since). After the Tribunal was set up, Tamil Nadu demanded the immediate release of water that they believed had been withheld by Karnataka over the years, the Tribunal refused and Tamil Nadu appealed to the Supreme Court which subsequently instructed the Tribunal to reconsider. So the Tribunal did and awarded Tamil Nadu a bunch of water and also mandated that Karnataka not increase its irrigated land area (both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had happily been increasing its irrigated land mass throughout the dispute). After a bunch of lawyering, the ordinance was upheld by the Supreme Court. This caused a huge outrage in Karnataka, and the people went a little nuts with demonstrations which ended in violence with around 20 people killed as a result. Did I mention that the riots were in Bangalore, oh, well, they were, and they lasted for about a month.



Enough about the history and now back to the present. The Tribunal today ruled against Karnataka, demanding that the state release 419 billion feet of water to Tamil Nadu (the agreement of 1991 had Karnataka providing 205 billion feet of water), and everyone here is on edge worrying that there may be a repeat of the riots of 1991. There have already been reports of riots at Mehkri Circle (just beyond where we live) but I am not sure if that is rumor or fact. Anyway, here is an e-mail that I just received from one of the administrators at the NCBS to give you an idea of the state of things:



"Dear All



Due to verdict of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal there is a slight
concern about the situation in Bangalore. There are reports that most of
the schools and shops are being closed as a precautionary measures.



However, no incident has been reported till now. We are keeping a close
watch on the situation and we are in constant touch with the Police
Control Room also.



So, please do not panic. We will periodically review the situation and
will keep you informed.



thanks & regards
Ashok Rao."



Wish me luck making it home tonight! I will let you know if anything happens...