Travel – Page 55 – David Kotz

More IISc wildlife

I finally got some good pictures of the black Kites.

I’m not sure whether the RSS feed highlights new photo albums, so here’s a quick entry to point out that I’ve added another small collection of IISc photos. Plenty of flowers, and I finally got some good pictures of the black Kites. [location]

This post was transferred from MobileMe to WordPress in 2020, with an effort to retain the content as close to the original as possible; I recognize that some comments may now seem dated or some links may now be broken.

An Indian Obama?

Could it happen in India?

Ever since the election, the media has been full of stories about Obama, and editorials about whether it might be possible to have such a thing happen here in India– a minority elected president. Perhaps a Muslim, or a Dalit.

In today’s Times of India, there is a very interesting opinion piece by Ashutosh Varshney about why he thinks it won’t happen:

“First, party establishments cannot easily be challenged until there are open intra-party elections for the leadership of political parties.”
“Second, the US has a presidential system, India a parliamentary one. Since a US president is elected by the whole nation, a presidential system creates a national political arena.”
“Third, to mobilise citizens for vote, one has to speak in a language that the citizens can understand.” The India electorate is multilingual.

Why I love living on campus

We live in faculty apartments on the campus of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in Bangalore.

When we visited Bangalore last August, the prime mission for our visit was to find a place to live. Many expats live in some of the snazzy new apartment complexes or walled-in gated communities of villas. We live on campus at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and are so glad we had that option and made that choice. [location]

Forest path in the center of IISc campus.

it’s like living in a park, with trees and wildlife everywhere
there is lots of wildlife (check out my photos, or this amazing Flickr album, by a grad student)
I walk to work (2 blocks!), skipping the numbing traffic of Bangalore most days
it’s quiet – because there’s no traffic and there are lots of trees
the air is cleaner – because there’s no traffic and there are lots of trees
it’s safer – because it’s a gated community with guards at all the gates
the power, telephone, and water are reliable, unlike other parts of the city (which suffers through 4hr power outages most days)
there are many on-campus services, including a restaurant and little independent shops: tailors, hairdressors, drycleaner, travel agents, copiers, bookstore, bike repair, vegetables, milk, bread, sundries
we have access to facilities like the gym and pool
my kids’ schoolbus stops at the gate on the edge of campus
my kids can safely play and bike in the streets
there are lots of kids in the neighborhood, and they all speak English; my kids have friends
they have free kids movies on some nights
the neighbors are all professors, and friendly.

It’s not perfect, to be sure – there is a surprising amount of trash around, and a clear lack of maintenance. But this is so much nicer, on the whole.

This woman had a fascinating face and a stunning sari. I should have asked her to stop.

Monkey bars – the sequel

Always bring a camera when doing laundry.

OK, sometimes it just happens. You write a blog entry one day, about the monkeys, and the very next day a dozen monkeys come by while you’re hanging laundry. They are actually Bonnet Macaques and are common in this part of India. I used photos from our visit to Mysore, but I described anecdotes about them breaking into apartments here at IISc. Today, I happened to be on the roof hanging laundry, and a band of monkeys strolled across the roof. My new personal rule– never hang laundry without your camera at hand – paid off handsomely.

A Bonnet Macaques seeking food on the rooftop of our apartment building at IISc.

This group, with at least a dozen monkeys, traveled through the trees and landed first on my neighbors’ roof. They strolled across the connecting stairwell, around my laundry, and down into the narrow courtyard that separates us from another neighbor. In that courtyard, they scrambled across the clotheslines (and clothes), explored the windows in hopes of finding one open, and entered a foyer in hopes of finding a door open. In the foyer they found what appeared to be apple peels wrapped in newspaper. These they nibbled as they climbed back up and headed on their way across the next roof.

I took over 200 photos, but selected a few good ones.

Monkey bars

We share the IISc campus with a large troup of monkeys.

When we moved into our apartment on campus, I noticed that there were bars on all the windows, even though we live on the second floor. Indeed, there are bars on all the windows of the academic buildings, too. People warned me about theft, and I assumed the bars were to keep out thieves.

*The monkeys of Chamundi Hill attempt to raid a kitchen in Mysore*.

The monkeys of Chamundi Hill attempt to raid a kitchen in Mysore; if you click and look closely, you can also see a huge spider that happened to be between me and the scene of the crime.

I was half right. The bars are there to keep out thieving primates, but not specifically humans. These pictures are from off-campus, but there is a band of monkeys that lives on campus and we have had one hanging on the bars of our dining-room window, eyeing the bananas on the table. Our neighbors tell stories of monkeys strolling into the house, opening the fridge, and walking off with whatever tastes good. We often see them poking through the outdoor trash bins (there are no covered dumpsters here).

When I stopped to take these pictures, on Chamundi Hill in Mysore, Pam and the kids continued walking. Pam was carrying a small bunch of bananas we had brought for our snack during the outing. Zip! they were gone from her hand, before she had even noticed the monkeys. The following photo shows the monkey stuffing its cheeks with our bananas.

This monkey grabbed the bananas right out of Pam’s hand, while she was walking to Chamundi temple in Mysore. His mouth is stuffed with banana.

I’m told these monkeys are Bonnet Macaques.

Update: the next day, a dozen monkeys lumbered by while I was out hanging laundry on the roof.

Post-election Obamania

Obamania has hit India, too.

Obamania is here in India, too. There is much talk of it among my colleagues; even my taxi driver mentioned it and affirmed that Obama is a “good man”. The Times of India gleefully noted the appointment of an Indian-American to his transition team, Sonal Shah from Google. They have also reported on a group, though small, of African-Indians, largely from east Africa, who were celebrating in the streets.

“There are two contrasting images of America abroad. One is that of a bullying superpower that undertakes bellicose military adventures abroad, epitomised by Iraq. The other is that of a land of hope and opportunity, an open society that welcomes migrants and where merit and talent matter for much more than ethnic background or kinship ties.” [Times of India] There is general relief that America has recovered its senses. Furthermore, “Obama will be America’s first true multicultural president, with something of Asia and Africa in him.” India, like other nations, looks forward to a multilateral approach with an increased awareness of Asia in general. The New York Times noted that the “Election Unleashes a Flood of Hope Worldwide”.

More deeply, India is struck by the fact that the nation formally known as racist has remembered its core values and actually elected a black man to the presidency. “Yes, he can”, noted the Times of India in its editorial. India, the world’s largest democracy and an incredibly diverse one at that, still struggles with caste, religion, and regional differences in its politics.

Obama’s trademark line, “Yes, we can” and the amazed recognition that someone of mixed race and an unusual background can actually become US President, are deeply resonant here. I see India, as a country, deeply proud of its achievements in the past decades and with clear aspirations to become one of the leading countries of the world. The reasonable are quick to recognize that the country is far from perfect, but there is a profound optimism that India will only become more important on the world stage. Obama’s personal journey is inspirational to their national journey.

Anticipating the US election

Perspective from India.

It has been interesting to read what the Times of India — one of the leading English-language dailies — has to say about the election. Today’s paper edition has a full-page spread with three interesting articles:

Obama Nation? and why do we care?

The United States of Indamerica in the making

US & us: United they stand, divided we fall

Their website has a special election-coverage page.

Their online poll asks “Will Obama make a better president than McCain?” and the answer (at this writing) is 83% yes, 15% no.

Diwali

Diwali is one of the most beloved festivals in India.

The neighbors just fired a cannon. Or, at least, that’s what it sounds like. I nearly jumped out of my chair. Boom! there goes another one.

It is Diwali, or more traditionally, “Deepavali”. “While [it] is popularly known as the ‘festival of lights’, a more appropriate significance is ‘the new year of luck and wealth’.” “The festival marks the victory of good over evil, and uplifting of spiritual darkness.” [Wikipedia] It marks the end of the harvest season, and for many businesses, the start of a new fiscal year. Read on!

A haircut

A haircut and an experience.

I had my last haircut just before we left NH, and it was getting desperately shaggy. Fortunately, IISc has many services available on campus. Most or all are independent vendors, who set up shop in rented nooks here and there. Travel agents, banks, tailors, beauty salons, photocopies, vegies, milk, bread, you name it. So, I tried the men’s salon at the little marketplace near our apartment. I was nervous that either a) it would be unsanitary or b) they would not understand my request and I’d get a bad haircut.

Arish, who appears to be the owner, speaks good English, though his partner (who cut my hair) does not. Arish translated and explained what I wanted. The other man snipped away with what seemed to be 100-year-old scissors, while Arish chatted and worked on another customer. He asked where I was from, how long I was staying, how old I am, and why I have a scar on the back of my neck. In general, I find Indians to be much more willing to ask such questions than Americans, who avoid such “personal” questions.

Anyway, the result was a very good haircut. When that was done, he pulled out his straight razor – those things always make me nervous – and shaved the back of my neck. Finally, he dusted me off with a gentle brush and talcum powder. The price? 20 rupees! (40 cents, at today’s rate.) On the other hand, they used the same dirty scissors and comb as for the previous guy, so as a precaution I washed my hair when I got back home.

Diwali at CIS

School performance day.

Mara and the 4th grade — Mara and her classmates performing during Diwali festival at CIS.

Our kids go to the Canadian International School in Bangalore [location], and the whole school put on a show on the Friday before Diwali weekend. Mara and the 4th grade, Andy and the 2nd grade, John and the 6th grade.

Andy and the 2nd grade — Andy and his classmates finish their performance of “Rama and Sita” for Diwali, at CIS.

John and the 6th grade — John and his classmates performing during Diwali festival at CIS.