{"id":756,"date":"2018-07-11T07:23:40","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T07:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sisa.ii.lsa.umich.edu\/?p=363"},"modified":"2018-07-11T07:23:40","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T07:23:40","slug":"the-real-india-doesnt-exist-there-is-no-one-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/2018\/07\/11\/the-real-india-doesnt-exist-there-is-no-one-india\/","title":{"rendered":"“‘The Real India’ doesn’t exist. There is no ‘One India’.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I can\u2019t believe all that\u2019s happened in just a little over a month. I\u2019ve loved my experience living with Swapnil, Sarah, and Sunil in central Bombay. I live in a more green and quiet area, which is the mental cleanse I need after a long journey through the city. Just down the street is\u201cJogger\u2019s Park\u201d, a seaside track that gives me a little peace of mind before I start the day. I\u2019ve always wanted to try meditating, so I try to do that for 5 minutes whenever I come +here. Swapnil meditates, chants and hums every morning, so I can\u2019t say I haven\u2019t been inspired! This tranquil home space has truly been what I\u2019ve needed. I really just enjoy coming home after work to some kind of surprise. Sometimes, it might just be a nice conversation, a jam session, or we\u2019ll watch a movie. I even have home-cooked meals and a GUITAR to play! Whenever I want to play, I ask beforehand if it\u2019ll be a bother, but I always get \u201dMusic is not noise! It\u2019s music!\u201d in reply. Swapnil even took me to see a cult rock-band called Thaikkudam Bridge. My favorite part was when the \u201cGodfather of Rock\u201d walked out on stage for a couple numbers–imagine an Alice Cooper number with a twist, and you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n

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Jogger’s Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Now that I\u2019ve settled, I\u2019ve taken a couple of weekend trips to explore the gorgeous lands surrounding Mumbai. My first stop was an overnight trek to a place called Rajmachi Fort, and I had no idea I was about to step into Middle-Earth from Lord of the Rings (yep, I had to google that name). The hike may have shattered my thighs, but the charcoal black architecture of the fort radiated a zen bliss. I\u2019ve never seen such landscape on a trek–dark green<\/p>\n

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The “Stairway to Heaven” that I was referring to. It was an endless drop beyond the edge!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

layers of bush with such vibrant, lime-green grass. We were settled in misty clouds since it\u2019s monsoon season, and Led Zeppelin\u2019s \u201cMisty Mountain Hop\u201d and \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d were characteristic of this experience. I find it funny how hiking during the rain is usually a no-no in America. Rocks are slippery and you might get stranded in a flood. Here, the advertised \u201cMonsoon Treks\u201d are anxiously anticipated and embraced. Even when I had my raincoat hood on, the trekkers exclaimed \u201cLet it down! Don\u2019t you like the rain?\u201d The next time I took a rickshaw home in Mumbai and my seat began to trickle with rainwater, I re-evaluated my discomfort more of a mental obstacle, able to be subdued with a clear mindset. The rain\u2019s not that bad, actually.<\/p>\n

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Rajmachi Fort on the right side, overlooking the lush valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The weekend after, my co-worker, Shwetha, and I decided to take a very last-minute weekend trip. Shwetha has been very keen to share her love and knowledge of India with me. One time after work, we stopped to get \u201cpani puri\u201d (a thin, fried ball filled with a soupy dish). She asked if I wanted medium spicy or spicy, and I thought I\u2019d revert from my usual daredevil trends. The medium might as well had been called The Devil\u2019s Potion. Imagine drinking the spiciest spice of all them spices\u2026 And though I was choking, smoke seeping from my ears, I did get some laughs from Shwetha and the locals. All in all, I\u2019d say this \u201cI\u2019m a foreigner\u201d moment was worth it. \u00a0Anyway, so we took our trip down south to magical Hampi! Yes, I felt nauseous even 2 days post the delayed, 17 hour bus journey. Yeah, we slightly crashed our motorbike and had to pay x10 for damages. And oh, I could actually feel my skin cooking as a side effect of my malaria pills. But, of course it was all worth it! I was reminded that traveling is not quite a vacation, and discomfort is the norm.<\/p>\n

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Hampi felt like a reverted through time to a tropical, prehistoric land. How I never spotted a T-Rex, I still don\u2019t know. It\u2019s a serene, hippy town canvassed \"\"with lines of UNESCO temples and shrines. Here, I realized why India fascinates me the most out of any country I\u2019ve been to–there\u2019s so much meaning ingrained in daily life. When someone asks me my name, it\u2019s often followed by \u201cwhat does that mean?\u201d From the colored prayer flags canvassing trees branches, to the orange and red forehead Bindis. From Lord Shiva\u2019s love story that sparked Hampi\u2019s creation, to throwing back a handful of sweet-milk and sugar cubes in the Elephant God\u2019s shrine\u2026 a question and answer is suitable for most observations. I wish I could explain what I learned in Hampi, but to be honest, it\u2019s hard to remember the details of these mythological stories. India isn\u2019t a place to absorb in just a day. Maybe in 3 months if I\u2019m lucky.<\/p>\n

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A delicious spread call “Thali”. Served on a banana leaf, Thalis offer a little bit of everything. No utensils, and eat with your right hand!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back in Mumbai, work has been a bit of a pressure-cooker, lately. I\u2019ve had the chance to develop my video script a bit more. Paromita advised me that with such an interpretive concept, it\u2019s important not to single out any culture, religion or country for its perceptions on virginity. Instead, she asked me to look into specific customs of virginity practiced around the world that collectively demonstrate how the idea has been socially constructed. For instance, with virgin brides being highly sought after in India, I learned that many people use matrimonial columns in newspapers to advertise for a virgin bride with specific physical traits. Through ways such as this, customs have dubbed virgins with \u201cgood character\u201d and have pegged non-virgins with \u201cbad character\u201d. I aim for this video to reconstruct what virginity means, ridden from the baggage its collected across generations around the world.<\/p>\n

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Inside the office…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aside from this, there\u2019s a lot to do to prepare for Paromita\u2019s new music video that I get to help out with! It\u2019s all about consent in relationships, which will be represented by 3 women–\u201dMaza\u201d (Choice), \u201cMajboori\u201d (Force), and \u201cMaza\u201d (Pleasure). We\u2019ve been drafting costume\/make-up\/hairstyle references based on the treatments, and now I\u2019ll be handling the props and social media coverage. Getting ready for two 12-hour production days…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I can\u2019t believe all that\u2019s happened in just a little over a month. I\u2019ve loved my experience living with Swapnil, Sarah, and Sunil in central Bombay. I live in a more green and quiet area, which is the mental cleanse I need after a long journey through the city. Just down the street is\u201cJogger\u2019s Park\u201d, a seaside track that gives me a little peace of mind before I start the day. I\u2019ve always wanted to try meditating, so I try…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4739,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-34","tag-gretchen-andrews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4739"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/sisablogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}