Gandhi Jayanthi

Today, 139 years ago, Gandhi was born. The date is one of the only three national holidays here in India. And to celebrate it, here is one rare poem I read in his memorial during my visit to Delhi last december.

The poem is attributed to Venibhai Purohit (1918-1981), a poet from Gujarat. It is said that in the later years of Gandhi's life, this poem was read by him every morning, before the beginning of his formal activities.

Whether weary or unweary, O Man, do not rest
Do not cease your single-handed struggle.
Go on, and do not rest,

You will follow confused and tangled pathways,
And you will save only a few, sorrowful lives.
O Man, do not lose faith, do not rest.

Your own life will be exhausting and crippling,
And there will be growing dangers on the journey.
O Man, bear all these burdens, do not rest.

Leap over your troubles though they are high as mountains,
And though there are only dry and harren fields beyond.
O Man, till those fields, do not rest.

The world will be dark and you shall shed light on it,
And you shall dispel all the darkness around.
O Man, though life deserts you, do not rest.

O Man, take no rest for thyself,
O Man, give rest unto others.

Bombs in India or Lost Bullets in Brazil?

The following blog wondered (sorry, it is in Portuguese) the other day whether the deaths by bombing in India are higher than deaths by lost bullets in Brazil. If you are not familiar with the concept, a “lost bullet” hit is a somewhat common phenomenon in some metropolitan areas, especially in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It happens when the bullet hits someone by accident, because the person was in its direction. In Rio it is common because of the violence (mostly due to drug traffic) but also given the way slums (the now infamously known “favelas”) are shaped in the city, surrounding richer neighborhoods in the nearby hills. It is not rare to see gunshot marks in the buildings nearer the favelas, for example. The stories of being hit or nearly hit are so commonplace that they don’t even appear in the news anymore.

And in fact, it turns out that probably more people die by lost bullets in Brazil than by bombing in India. According to the mentioned blog, 152 people died in India due to terrorist attack this year. On the other hand, it is estimated that 170 were hit by lost bullets in 2007, only in the city of Rio (Portuguese again sorry)! Because there is not official statistic of lost bullet, we can only guess the actual numbers for the whole country.

However, if we take into account all cases of murders, Brazil shows up as the really bad guy. In 2006, 46660 people were assassinated in the country. In contrast, 32719 is the number in India (this one is in English). It gets even worse if you divide the number by total population: Approximately 0.23 murders for every 100 people in Brazil and only 0.02 in India. Even if you double the underestimated total number of murders in India, the country will still have a much lower murder rate by inhabitants. The only good news for Brazil is that its rate is declining: It fell by 8.5% in the last 3 years (Portuguese).

A sunset on sundays

Lotus Temple, Delhi, India

One night of chaos in India

It all started when I left the shopping mall. The large and yet packed-with-cars avenue was duping the incautious dwellers with its traffic lights and the impractical number of headlamps. The glare was blinding them and everything seemed normal; whatever normal means in India. But I noticed the difference. Half the city was already under complete darkness and a thunderstorm was approaching.

My watch was marking 10pm sharp. The mall was closing and its staff was going home. For them, nothing else mattered, so selfishly minding their own business. But I noticed a flare. It came from the building across the avenue and it looked like it was exploding. And indeed its transformer had just blown and with it all the nearby electrical network, leaving a path of sparks over the wires like scary fireworks. I glimpsed at leaving the place but nowhere would be safe if the whole city was collapsing.

I took a rickshaw. This little devil, covered with some synthetic fabric, completely opened at the sides, was to me the fastest means to get out, zigzagging through cars in a cacophony of horns and moos and barks and shouts, in roads full of bumps and puddles. It was cold and the open sides meant no windows to close and a freezing wind surrounding my body. It was the heavy storm now all over, striking glances of light to the blackout. The lightning could be seen from a distance; 1, 2, 3 and there it was the thunder adding one more percussion to the cacophony.

With all the water everywhere, I should have expected what was coming next. A truck ran over and obviously hit one big puddle and splashed all of us. Remember, no side windows in the rickshaw. And after strings of curses from the driver, another truck came and, probably on purpose and on behalf of the previous truck, splashed us again. At least I think they were having fun.

When we finally reached destination, I was cold, wet, and in the dark when I realized I had to money to pay for the ride; Just a credit card. I didn’t speak Hindi or Kannada, he didn’t speak English. I tried to say sorry. But he probably cursed me as he did with the truck driver. The security guard of my building ended up paying him; what else could I do? Well, I did what I could to finish that day as soon as possible: took a shower and went to bed, hoping for a new day to come with better moods…

Note: This is a work of fiction. Although some true events inspired it, the intensity of the story is beyond possibly any reality. Even in India.

Incy Bella, a bookshop of note

In Cochin, Kerala I found a rather small and yet very charming bookshop this weekend. Kerala is a south Indian state known for its rich natural beauty and cultural diversity and the bookshop ended up being a very appropriate example of these characteristics.

The place was full of books on India and its many faces. Religion, culinary, cities, history, economy, rituals, landmarks, dances, music, you name it… It was all there translated into pictures and text. What was even more impressive was its collection of books on Kerala. I certainly didn’t expect that and I was obviously glad with the finding. I simply couldn't leave the place! It was so attractive that a word of caution is necessary: do not enter with a full pocket – you'll want to spend all of it.

Incy Bella - The Bookshop
Synagogue Lane
Jew Town
Cochin
682002 India
T 0484-2228049

A filthy rat at the restaurant

This was the first (and probably the last) time I tried Harima, a Japanese restaurant recommended by a friend here in Bangalore.

The place was organized, had a good variety, and tasty food. It was not the best Japanese I've been to but I was satisfied with my friend's tip... Until the very last minute.

We were waiting inside the restaurant for the cab when we saw a really NASTY, DIRTY, VILE, AND FILTHY RAT coming out of the kitchen running though glasses and bottles at the bar. What is worse, the waiters didn't seem to care about the ongoing episode. They simply looked at the rat as if it was the place's mascot or something...

It really puts the whole "nice restaurant experience" into perspective, right?

In the news: Obama and Saraswati Puja

This is a cut picture of today's newspaper Times of India. First of all, try to look for the price in the red box: It's 3 rupees or 4.50 along with the Economic Times. 3 rupees is less then US$ 0.08 for a colored newspaper with 40 pages!!

About the headlines, Obama is in it, of course, after winning three states in a row (plus Maine now which was still going on when the journal came out).

More interesting, however, is the small mention to the Saraswati Puja in the green box. According to Wikipedia, "Saraswati has been regarded as a river goddess and in recent times a goddess of knowledge, music and the arts. She is the daughter of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation." Puja is a religious ritual performed by Hindus for all kinds of reasons and for all kinds of gods. The purpose, as I understood it, is usually to offer something (fruits, mostly) or an acknowledgment in exchange for the god's blessings.

India's social contrasts

Take a look at the picture below:


Now take a closer look at the amplified version:

This is a construction site in Electronics City, Bangalore, located between Siemens and IIIT-B (An Information Technology Institute). Although all the buildings in this region are really sumptuous, the same cannot be applied to the ones under construction.

Some of the workers actually live in these aluminum houses behind the construction. They have no hygienic conditions and the dirt floor looks like a swamp to me. Besides, the workers have almost no protection; some of them wear helmets but they don't have proper shoes (they wear sandals) and they don't have any cables to support them while working in the higher floors.

And guess how much they get paid... I can't confirm this yet but some fellow students here where I'm living told me that they earn an average of Rs. 40 / day. That's about US$ 1 /day!!! And of course with that daily amount they need to work even during weekends and holidays to get at least US$30 at the end of the month...

I have no more to say about this...

Multilingual India

One thing that drives me nuts in India is the country's multilingual culture. Indian constitution recognizes 22 languages as National languages. Plus, 114 languages are spoken by more than 10,000 native speakers!!

So, to give you an idea of this, can you tell me which language is used in each picture below - Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, or Tamil?

Happy Onam

Onam (ഓണം), a harvest festival, is celebrated in Kerala, a state in India. It generally falls in the months of August-September. Onam is a celebration to mark the annual return of the spirit of the mythical King Mahabali to his kingdom, and a commemoration of his benevolent rule and his sacrifice. The festivities are intended to assure the King that his people are happy and to wish him well. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onam)

Actually, this is also being celebrated in Karnataka, another southern state in India where I'm currently living. Arrangements like the one in the poor picture below (sorry, it was taken with my mobile) are spread along some places downtown Bangalore.

First time in India

I arrived in India at the end of July in a traumatic fashion: Bombay can be very frightening if you are not ready for it; especially if you arrive at a rainy night and some security freak tells you that there is a bomb threat in the domestic airport.

I discovered later, after spending a $100 in a hotel nearby, that everything was part of a scam that seems to be pretty common in Bombay and Delhi. In another type of scam, some indian may tell you that the hotel you are heading to is closed or has been destroyed for some reason. Don’t believe it, my friend! In fact, here are some tips for your first arrival in India:

• First, you should try to arrive in India during the day. That can be hard because most flights come to India during the late night but it is extremely recommended.
• If you are not going to Bombay, avoid its airport at all costs! Otherwise you will need to switch between the international and the domestic airport. Believe me, that’s a 10km ride you don’t want to take just to switch airports.
• Do not believe anyone you don’t know near any airport. Just ignore the people and do what you gotta do.
• Try to get a pre-paid taxi. Usually there are offices of the government authorized taxis inside the airport.
• Do not let anybody you don’t know or trust discover that it is your first time in India. Doing that is like feeding the sharks: they will hunt you…
• Do not accept help from anyone. They will try to carry your things, they will try to get a taxi for you, and they will do anything to get some money from you. So, don’t let anybody (ANYBODY) help you; even if she is the most beautiful woman (or, in case you are a woman, the most handsome guy) and have the greatest and whitest smile. Yell if you have to!
• Finally, when you reach the taxi, pay attention to the traffic signs. All big towns I know have signs giving directions of the common places and roads. Beware of the direction you are heading.

I’m not trying to scare you as it may look… Really, India is a great place and I love it now. But you don’t want to have a bad impression of the country on your arrival here as I had…