I hope people appreciate these pictures because it took about 40 minutes to upload them, the internet is so freaking slow, otherwise I would have uploaded much more. The first is the busy market street in Laghpath Naghar. The second is a little girl with her brother that was very taken with my camera. She really enjoyed me taking pictures and then showing them to her.
I really miss my independence. I am not used to being in a place where I can't go out by myself. If I want to go anywhere I have to find at least one other person to go with me, which usually isn't hard to do, but I am a person who likes my alone time. I have never been so aware of my gender before.
I do have to say that I am also growing tired of the stares. The first couple of days it was almost fun. Now I have grown weary of always having people's eyes on me: some staring like I am a one woman freak show, and others give me a look that would make a prostitute blush, but still worse are those that follow. It has ceased to become strange when five or six men follow a group of us down the street.The irritations aside, I have been in Dehli for about nine full days now and I am surprised at how much of the city I
have been able to see, much of this is thanks to a brilliant history professor named Sunil Kumar. Many of the ruins, mosques, and monuments we have seen have been unmarked. They are usually also taken over by people, monkeys, birds, bats, and cities. Having Sunil take us around the city is like having your own personal history text book on Dehli. He not only explains the history of each site we see, but he then explains the historical process that has changed the monument over time, (for example why and at what time it became an extension of a city, and in what ways the population now interact with it). I have also enjoyed his approach to teaching us. Along with the field trips, he has given us two assignments where we had to basically get lost in the city of Dehli and rely on maps and the kindness of the people to get home. And I have just finished with my first paper in which he asked us to find a place and and write about the way the people interact with it and the activities that go on there. I chose an art gallery that doubles as an environmental center. Their mission is to link art to the environmental work that they do. They also believe in expanding upon the notion of an exhibition by scheduling discussions, debates, as well as having the artist present, so the viewer can have a more well rounded impression. I very much liked the gallery, but it was really only for the elite of Dehli. It was gated and the guards made sure that only a certain type of person was granted access.
have been able to see, much of this is thanks to a brilliant history professor named Sunil Kumar. Many of the ruins, mosques, and monuments we have seen have been unmarked. They are usually also taken over by people, monkeys, birds, bats, and cities. Having Sunil take us around the city is like having your own personal history text book on Dehli. He not only explains the history of each site we see, but he then explains the historical process that has changed the monument over time, (for example why and at what time it became an extension of a city, and in what ways the population now interact with it). I have also enjoyed his approach to teaching us. Along with the field trips, he has given us two assignments where we had to basically get lost in the city of Dehli and rely on maps and the kindness of the people to get home. And I have just finished with my first paper in which he asked us to find a place and and write about the way the people interact with it and the activities that go on there. I chose an art gallery that doubles as an environmental center. Their mission is to link art to the environmental work that they do. They also believe in expanding upon the notion of an exhibition by scheduling discussions, debates, as well as having the artist present, so the viewer can have a more well rounded impression. I very much liked the gallery, but it was really only for the elite of Dehli. It was gated and the guards made sure that only a certain type of person was granted access.
Well I don't know if any of what I have said will be interesting to any of you, but like I said I don't really like to explicate myself on a regular basis. I am still not sure how to process most of the stuff that I am seeing, so it is hard for me to explain any of it on a blog. I wish everybody well and I will wait another week and a half or so to write again.
Love from Dehli,
Alex
yay
ReplyDeleteWow Alex, what great posts!! Brought back vivid memories I hadn't thought of in a while...especially the gender bit. Good thing for Sunil, otherwise I might have lost hope in the entire male species (: The staring was also hard for me most of the time I was there. If you go to NE/South India, the staring lessens.
ReplyDeleteOh man you made me miss India so much. Take care lady and keep up the beautiful writing. Tell Rika and Aukeem hello.