Hend

My life in India, 2005-2006

 

9/3/2005

 

It’s been saddening reading the news the past few days. The main reason, of course, is the situation on the Gulf Coast. I haven’t seen many video images, just text and some photos from the internet. But the stories are so ugly and the reports so tragic that I, like a lot of people I’m sure, am having a tough time believing this is happening in America. There are layers upon layers of things to make your stomach turn; if it’s not the sheer numbers of people who will undoubtedly turn up dead, it’s the inexplicably slow reaction time to the levees’ collapse, or the fact that somebody could actually shoot at a helicopter full of supplies, or the fact that the fact that one of the most glamorous NFL stadiums became a forum for filth, hunger, and violence.

 

What is going on? In the same week, nearly 1,000 people died on a single bridge in Baghdad. Over here, news like that seems just as distant, the number just as unfathomable. Things like this are even more unreal when you don’t watch any TV news.

 

To cap it all off, some kids beat a homeless guy to death one street over from where I used to live. This wouldn’t be too disturbing if I didn’t keep wondering if I knew some of these little criminals.

 

Bangalore has never seemed so safe.

 

I have only miscellaneous anecdotes this time. First of all, I think I saw the face of Amitabh Bachchan, the most famous Indian actor, 50-100 times this past week. I’d read a NY Times article about him a couple months ago, but until then I didn’t even know who he was. Turns out he’s the biggest celebrity here, bigger than Aishwarya and the famous cricket player Sachin Tendulkar (who’s probably 2^nd). Movies, TV, billboards, product packages… you name it, he’s on it.

 

I also watched a couple of episodes of “Indian Comedy Challenge” which was pretty interesting. All the comedy is in Hindi (which most Indians understand), but the beautiful woman introducing everyone always speaks English. That type of mix of languages is really common here, from big-budget TV programming to the dialogue of a couple of guys chatting on a street corner. And if you’ve never seen standup comedy in a language you don’t understand, try it out sometime. It’s actually kinda fun to try and figure out what the hell is going on.

 

Bangalore has a lot of movie theatres which I’m really desperate to check out. In the meantime, I watch a few minutes of TV with my host family every night. Every single show is hilarious to me, even if it’s supposed to be dramatic. In fact, sometimes I don’t even know if the show is supposed to be funny. I’ll find myself laughing at something I think is supposed to be funny, and then the family will look over to me like I’m crazy. Actually I find the dramas funnier than the comedies. Of course, I can’t understand what’s going on so what’s the difference.

 

Lastly, an article in the New York Times featured the Public Affairs Center where I work, which was exciting for all of us. The article is here. It’s about corruption at women’s clinics in Bangalore.

 

 

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