Keylong

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 Keylong Now I'm resting in Keylong before moving on to Spiti. I enjoyed my short stay here on the way to Leh, and I'm enjoying it again now. Today I heard the sound of a beating drum and followed it until I found a secondary school. As a few students played music, two regiments of students - one boys and one girls - marched around the schoolyard. I was quite horrified by what looked like a very militaristic way of schooling children. I later was invited into the school by some teachers, and they explained that the students are training for the district-wide tournaments held next week where all the schools of Lahaul compete. The marching is merely for the opening ceremony. They also compete in sports (I watched some excellent Lauhauli girls practice volleyball), declarations (speeches), and cultural shows. I also got to watch students practice one of these performances - singing, dancing, and music. I was surprised that they actually had boys and girls dancing together. Actually, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. This is Himachal Pradesh, after all, a state known for being exceedingly more liberal and progressive, especially on issues of social and gender equality - than most of India. That said, the teachers, though very friendly towards me, still acted somewhat obnoxiously patriarchal. They sent a schoolgirl to go get me tea, and then they smoked cigarettes in the schoolyard in front of students. But I spent a pleasant 2 hours at the school, talked to several teachers, and students, and am glad that I went.

When people ask where I'm from, I never know exactly what to say. Do I say "America", "The US", "The USA", "The United States", or "The United States of America"? My country has such a stupid, long name. How bout something nice and succinct like "India" or "France"? I usually say "America" since it's short and easy. But today I got an interesting response: "Oh I see. North America or South America?"