This time, full of sad adventures.
Here is the story:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Its-era-of-bandhs-in-AP/articleshow/5478790.cms
The Telangana movement is centered here in Hyderabad. Most of the action is taking place at Osmania University on the other side of town, but we are all being affected.
Yesterday, a young supporter of the Telangana movement decided to commit suicide by lighting himself on fire because the forming of the new Telangana state has not occurred yet. This is 160th suicide since November, I'm told.
This is also in part of trying to get students to boycott classes and upcoming exams.
Today the supporters called for a bandh - everything to be shut down - in respect/remembrance to this death/suicide.
I went to class this morning, only to be confronted with a decision - supporters of the Telangana movement are on the U of H campus. They barged into out classroom (where only 6 students showed up) and demanded that we support their movement and pay respects to the death of their friend by boycotting classes. Our teacher, furious, told them that this is a democracy - they would have to appeal to us, the students - and it would be our decision to leave. If we didn't that was our decision. He was a teacher and as long as there are students, he would teach. (I realllllly like this teacher, btw.)
We ended up all deciding that ending class was a good idea. Smart too, because we were the last class to leave and we ended up being locked in the building. It took pleading and door searching to finally be let out.
Walking back to my dorm, U of H students that are supporting the movement and boycotts/bandh were riding up and down the campus roads in screaming and singing, with the intent of not having any classes today.
I think today will be a quiet day stuck in Tagore dorm.
I am not a supporter nor do I have anything against this movement - this isn't my home. But, I do think rather poorly of suicide/suicide attempts. I do not support having to miss class because one person made the decision to kill himself. I do not support having to monitor my movements in a foreign country because of rash choices.
I do not appreciate being forced to "support" a movement that isn't mine.
Supporters are trying to form Telangana due to oppression.
But now everyone is oppressed.
Supporters of the movement keep trying to force certain members of the state and central government that are supporters of the movement (T MLAs = Telangana Members of Legislature and MP = Members of Parliament) to quit their jobs with the state and central governments. This will prevent the government from making any decisions while they don't have officers. Supporters are telling the officers to resign by the 28th. The way I understand it, supporters are hoping that the threat of losing members of the government will force the government to agree to the forming of Telangana.
Yes, this is a memorable time to be in India. I am more than happy to be in India while history is in the making. And I am very glad that I am in India during a time of immense change, this is certainly a once in a lifetime experience.
I'm rather neutral - I really do not understand the movement.
I know that I do not, could not support a movement based on force and suicide.
But what happens if I don't support?
This is India.
Didn't Gandhi teach them anything?
Change and progress through peace, insight, rationality.
Fasting... ok. Gandhi was projecting world peace, and he wasn't forcing anyone to do it with him.
160 suicides later, forced resignations and boycotts, a halt on education and there is still no Telangana... will anybody be left?
Ineffective?
I don't know how the government works and the reasoning behind why things aren't "progressing," and I don't know the mentality of the supporters.
I don't have any clue.
Riane suggests a corrupt government, scared of making decisions. She's been researching for her politics daily stories, so she probably has a much better take on it than I do.
So the new question - more how than why:
How are decisions ever made when a country is in such a state of change?
Photo courtesy of Riane Menardi
In other, semi related news, Riane, Nathan and I are planning on traveling this weekend, if the trains are going again.
It is a long weekend, no classes on Tuesday (India celebrates every holiday on the planet and so we rarely have class) so we shall be traveling by train and visiting Visakhapatnam (Vizag for short) and Araku Valley where we will see an Indian tribe perform and such. It is on the coast, so we of course will check out the beaches and markets, and there are some caves we are checking. Even a wildlife preserve. Should be a fab weekend.
We joke that it better be, because it was hell to get together.
We ended up having to go to the tourism office and the train station to make reservations, and where we all grew an extra set of elbows to prevent from being pushed to the back of longgg lines by pushy Indians.
Understand this - the lack of personal space is astounding. They do not care how long you have been somewhere, they will cut in front of you in a heartbeat.
We went to the womens line, only to be broken in front of by drag queens! Indian drag queens... like 8 of them! They were not very successful - man hands, man voices, man faces and Riane said she had a pair of fake books pressed against her for a while.... crackly, I think was the description.
I was standing next to Riane for awhile, with my arm blocking people from trying to get in front of us, when one of the drag queens actually picked up my arm and said she was trying to get through!
Tyler had to tell me to breath.
I ended up leaving the line to sit down, although I am not afraid of yelling at people in public spaces, regardless if they can understand me or not.
It would have been ineffective - they don't realize what waiting your turn is - it just isn't a familiar concept. It has never been a part of their lives and so they have no clue that others would consider it rude-ish.
So Tyler and I went to pick up chai for all of us and while drinking and contemplating Indian mentality, I saved a child from certain death.
I was sitting in a chair across from two small boys, 4-5ish and one scooted back only to fall in between the chair and the back of the chair.
So there I am, this white astounded American staring at this child with his butt stuck in a hole with his limbs protruding forward and his companion poking him.
Tyler commented later that I must have had a spring in my chair I got up so fast. He also mentioned that I sounded like a sitar with whatever noise came out of my mouth as I jumped up and yanked this poor terrified child out of his chair/hole with one hand.
The kid and I just looked at each other. I'm fairly certain he was terrified out of his mind, getting stuck in a chair only to find himself being yanked out by some white girl with a steaming chai in her hand.
I started to ask if he was ok, but then realized that he wouldn't understand me, so I just patted him on the head. Then I just walked away. I didn't know what else to do.
Tyler was howling. The man across the way was chuckling. I was howling too. But I was also a little relieved/embarrassed
I sat down and looked back at the kid - he was sheepish.
I hope I would be as proactive if a child fell in front of a train or something.
I don't know why I was so scared that this child was going to be stuck with a chair around his butt his entire life.
I wish I had a video.
I do have some videos of recent - we had a holiday last Thursday, and a popular thing to do is fly kites, Kite Runner style. Sumana brought her family, paper kites and special manja thread (made with groud up glass that is veryyyyy dangerous to the world for various reasons and we tried to fly kites and "cut" each others kites down. So we unsuccessfull "flew" kites (zero successful until late) and I snapped some photos and some videos because I do not support flying kites with manja thread.
Manja thread has killed so many in India. Birds fly into it and it cuts their heads off, people on motorcycles get beheaded, children get hit by cars as they chase their kites that have been cut... not smart. So, I just watched and took pictures.
Pavel making a kite
Riane, Vikrum and Sumana = success! See that little dot in the sky?
Kite flying viewers: Kristin, Benny, Tyler, Riane
After kite flying, I whooped Tyler's butt at frisbee (he hasn't asked me to play since then...) and Nathan and I fed some leftovers to some dogs/wild boars outside the dorm. We also did some traveling around the city:
Komal
A deceptive bicycle
Chowmalla Palace
Charminar
Small child peeing in the street
Child driving moped
Paan - the Indian bad habit
Action shot:
Kristin in the background, hating it.
Riane trying to get the whole thing in her mouth. Seriously huge, and super gross tasting. Also, full of tobacco. The reason why Indians spit so much.
So, ok.
Hope everyone is great at home.
love always.
