La Viva Delhi- Part II

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So, life goes on in Delhi. New projects are starting all of the time, and daily discoveries are still around every corner. I hope that things at home are as wonderful as always. I found out that one of my American friends here in Delhi is going home for Thanksgiving. I’m insanely jealous, but have promised some friends here that we will have our own.

I have some free time today to do this entry because the professors and most of the students are on strike today. Yeah, I know, just like home:) They are protesting the bad facilities, computers, and lack of hostels among other things. So, I have today off. JNU is a very political campus. Last week the University of Delhi had their student body elections and the new student president was on the front page on the Times of India with Sonia Gandhi. Students here are very politically active, but you get used to all of the "Death to Imperialism" posters after awhile. My favorite mural in one of the canteens on campus shows cartoon characters like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse in military uniform charging. In the distance is a battle ship flying the Microsoft logo as a flag and shooting cans of coke at the beach. I’ll have to get a photo of that.

I've met some great people from Rotary here and heard about a lot of exciting programs. I often see signs for Rotary Clubs as I go around the city. One of Rotary's main projects still going on in India is their Polio Eradication Program. But, there are clubs working with school, hospitals, you name it. I'm meeting someone tomorrow to talk about some volunteer opportunities with their club.

I took a post in the cultural committee of our Foreign Students Association. I will also the be representative for my hostel in FSA. I am excited about the Cultural Committee since they organize many of the events, like a food expo, that I would be really interested in anyways. Last weekend a small delegation of us from FSA went to visit one of the ongoing club projects helping Burmese families that are refugees here in Delhi. Many of them cannot speak Hindi and only get minimal financial assistance from the United Nations for 6 months.

We have taken them clothes and last weekend distributed some funds that were raised to help pay their childrens’ school fees. They get about 1400rp a month from the UN which is about $30. For the one room apartments that most of these families of 4 or 5 live in, the rent is 1500rp a month. So, you can see the problems. We are hoping to be able to set up a program that will help them long term, but that will take time.

On a lighter note we’re also organizing a theater workshop that JNU students can participate in and are hoping to have a Halloween party as well. There have been a lot of parties on campus lately. Apparently each school within the University and each hostel have their own welcome party for the "freshers." That is a lot of parties. Our hostel party is this Friday. Complete with DJ and all. A big part of the party is introducing the freshers on stage then making each person sing, dance, or answer a "mystery question." I went to the School of International Studies party but didn’t go on stage. I may not be able to get out of it on Friday, but I will try to escape with minimal embarrassment.

At the SIS party I was really surprised. It’s always the quiet ones. These meek little Indian guys would get on stage and reluctantly agree to dance with much encouragement from the crowd. Then Mr.Hyde appeared and these guys looked like a cross between MC Hammer and an being chased by a swarm of bees. I’ve never seen anything like it. No doubt that the popular Indian music and popular dance are very different from American. Most of Indian party music comes from Bollywood films. The dancing is very MC Hammer-esque with touches of classical Indian dance. At any rate it was fun to see girls in sarees dancing to Jay Z.

Another adventure lately was going to a movie. One day last week was so hot that I was truly desperate. So, I just went to the closest movie theater to find a few hours of air conditioning. The closest theater is in Pria and has only one screen, so hence only one movie. I walked up to the counter not even knowing what the film would be. Luckily it was in English, Adam Sandlers "Click." Then he asked what class I wanted. Apparently even the movie theaters have castes. I went for the best seat in the house for 150rp (about $3.) With great finesse and subtlety, the cashier said "You aren’t alone are you?" I thought it was a good thing that I wasn’t alone and depressed because this would not be the guy to make me feel better.

Upon entering the theater through a metal detector you must be frisked and have your bag searched. I always carry my camera which I found out wasn’t allowed inside. However, they have no facilities with which to lock it up. There is a small shack in the courtyard outside where you are supposed to deposit your camera for a small fee and collect it after the film. I decided that my camera might not be as safe as I’d like there so I asked the nice men at the Reebok store across the courtyard to watch it for me. No problem.

Ok, I go back into the theater and go up the stairs to the "premiere" seats. The best part about finally sitting down (besides the air conditioning of course) was when I leaned back and the seat reclined. It was no LazyBoy mind you, but it’s definitely a feature the US needs to adopt. Like Malta, they had an intermission in the middle of the film to get more cokes and popcorn. It always surprised me there and it surprised me here too. It was also at a sad part of the movie and I was crying which was a bit inconvenient.

So, life goes on. Keep the emails and comments coming.

Namaste,

Lora