Winding Down

A lot has happened since my last post! I can’t believe I leave in less than 3 weeks! My two months have zipped past me—I honestly don’t see how people can visit India for less than two months—there’s just too much to do and see. I’m quite excited because seven of us from Projects Abroad are going to Delhi on the 25th of July. I’ll be in Delhi till Monday and then I fly back to Chennai. It’s Chennai for two days and then I’m St. Louis bound! We’re going to Agra for a day to see the Taj Mahal (I’m probably most excited about this!) I was on the NPR website the other day and they’ve just renamed the seven (new) world wonders—the Taj Mahal is one of them. Delhi has a lot to do so we’ll be quite busy; I’ve heard the Ghandi memorial is worthwhile and there will be excellent temples to see on top of shopping and feasting on North Indian cuisine (it’s much different than southern fare). I have a week left of work and I will be incredibly busy. I’m working on 4 articles (the health benefits of yoga, animal welfare, local dog breeders, and a comparison/contrast between Bollywood and Hollywood…i.e., “From Hollywood to Bollywood”). By the end of my stay here, I will have 5 articles. However, I’m hoping to bring a lot of ideas back home so I can write about them with more freedom—I’ll go into more detail. 

Journalism here is completely different than journalism at home. Even when I’m reading “The Hindu,”(India’s leading English language national newspaper) I notice little peculiarities. In one of their photo captions about the ongoing conflict with Pakistan, the caption read something to the effect of “the Indian Army has smoked out all the Pakistanis. Once again, India prevails.” The U.S. media has no qualms about being biased at times as well, but the Indian media really doesn’t like to expose India’s problems. In journalism, there’s never just one side of the story. I’m actually quite worried about my articles because I have a feeling the director will either not publish them or just edit them to the extreme that they are no longer “mine.” It’s interesting because my articles aren’t that critical—they’re just typical clips talking openly about social problems. I really wanted to write about women’s’ issues but it’s difficult to get people to “talk” honestly about their feelings. I’ve become much more appreciative of my right to speak my mind in the United States—for all of America’s problems, we are encouraged to criticize, to analyze, and to think for ourselves. At times, it feels like we are “shut up” by the government, or our rights are taken away—but it’s nothing compared to the silence that permeates throughout India. 

Last weekend, four of us visited an ashram (the Auroville ashram…renamed “horror” ville by one of the other volunteers!) outside of Pondicherry (a 14 hour bus trip). Friederike (my friend from Germany) and I got food poisoning and we were extremely out of it for most of the weekend. It was probably one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life and I’m glad to be feeling better now. We were in an un air-conditioned hut and our fan wasn’t working (120 degrees outside!) I think I lost six pounds in two days. Auroville itself was unbelievably unfriendly and unwelcoming; it was clear they did not want us there. Auroville started in 1968 as an “ideal township” dedicated to “experimentation in human unity.” Here is what the brochure reads: “The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity – in diversity. Today Auroville is recognized as the first and only internationally endorsed ongoing experiment in human unity and transformation of consciousness, also concerned with - and practically researching into - sustainable living and the future cultural, environmental, social and spiritual needs of mankind.” It sounds okay on paper, (maybe a little strange to most people) but it’s just not reality. After staying there for two days, I got the impression that people came to Auroville to hide from the world’s problems, not to help solve them. I would recommend going to the website (http://www.auroville.org/index.htm).