'Twas the week before Diwali

Amnon and I went to the Lajpat Nagar market the week before Diwali. We went to buy Indian tunics (kurtis) for me, as I gradually introduce Indian garb to my wardrobe....HARDLY urgent, though. So, think about shopping in a popular market, the week before the Indian-Christmas equivalent, with the population of India shopping too...

Diwali Mela, IBM Research

There was a Diwali Celebration on the weekend sponsored by IBM Research. A lovely and festive event. It was also a night of song and dance performances. The Basson brothers + dad performed - - in Hebrew, English, and Hindi. It was, I am sure, the first Hebrew song that anyone in this audience had heard. And, the first Hindi song that the Bassons had learned as well. Below are pictures from the mela, AND a link to the Hindi song that they performed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2LfqFHHBqE

Diwali, and mosquitos

Yesterday was Diwali, the major annual Hindu holiday in India. It is the “festival of lights,” and gift giving, and eating/sharing traditional sweets. Lights, gifts….semblances of Christmas, and Chanukah. Though the origins are….different. I am fascinated by the celebratory similarities…at some point we must have all plagiarized the same rituals…(Jesse wanted to “celebrate” yesterday by eating Chinese food and seeing a Bollywood movie, the “traditional” activities of many Jewish people, on Christmas day.)

From Wikipedia:

Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (diyas) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil….Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman from his fourteen year long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, the Capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and burst firecrackers.

Firecrackers went off all day; fireworks (organized and unorganized) went off all night. Pretty spectacular displays. The city gets smoky from all the things burning. But I have been told, and also read, that there are good side effects for this. Mosquitoes in India are more than just nuisances; they transmit dengue, malaria, and chikungunya (yet another awful mosquito-borne illness here). And the smoke and the noise and the haze from Diwalli fireworks supposedly decimate the mosquito population.

Accessibility in India – mainstreaming issues

I had the privilege of going to a conference on accessibility in education. As some of you know, I have been involved in a project with universities for many years (Liberated Learning - -www.liberatedlearning.com) This is a consortium of some 20 universities worldwide, that are trying to make classrooms more accessible for deaf and hard of hearing students (and others), using speech recognition to caption lectures. I envisioned perhaps engaging an Indian university to join the consortium, and open up mainstream education for deaf and hard of hearing students.

Reality check. Someone involved in deaf sign language in India gave a presentation. He pointed out that deaf children in India don’t start learning sign until age 7, which leaves them pretty “non-lingual” until then. And seven years old is too late to start learning your first language. The kids end up reading on a 2^nd grade level, and generally don’t graduate high school. I imagine that there are virtually no deaf students in college, then. This dilutes a key “selling point” for Liberated Learning….there is no value in captioning lectures for deaf/hard of hearing students if:

1. they aren’t getting into college anyway
2. they have 2^nd grade reading skills

Discussions with another accessibility expert at the conference exposed more attitudes towards disabilities and treatment of people with disabilities in India. She said that the Hindu belief in reincarnation and karma reduces the urgency people feel to remediate and intervene for children with disabilities; it introduces a belief that the disability is the person’s “cross to bear” (to mix religious metaphors!). There is also a Hindu mandate to help needy people, but that (she said) translates more into “protecting them from outside forces” rather than introducing extensive interventions. So it looks like a long road to hoe if the goal is to mainstream children with disabilities. There is a need to change the attitudes; not only to introduce new methods and technologies.

Guests of honor – head of the NGO school

We were invited to the home of the head of the NGO school where Jesse and Jordan had briefly taught English. The neighborhood is a slum, though not as desperate a slum as the neighborhood of the slum school. We were treated as the honored guests. It coincided with an engagement party for the nephew of the school president, and we were included in all the festivities. We were also invited to the wedding itself on November 17^th.

No volunteering allowed – more reflections

I spoke to another expat about the Indian law that forbids foreigners to volunteer, and how peculiar I found that to be. We discussed the origins of such an edict – was it some bureaucratic error in the law? Why would a country that clearly needs assistance reject, rather than embrace, that assistance? The man I spoke to had a different conjecture - - he believes that it stems from pride. We talked about the “value systems” of different cultures. By my US standard, for example, feeding, clothing, educating my family would be high on the spectrum. For India, he believes, pride ranks closer to the top. And while a volunteer might be able to assist (say) with sorely needed teaching assistance, that would collide with the “pride” value and so India would prefer to do without. He conjectured that the deep well of pride comes from Moghul roots. I have reflected that it might also come from a colonial history, and a fierce preference now to succeed or fail on their own. It gives me a different perspective on the Indian position regarding volunteers. I think of the saying “We’re from the US, and we’re here to help.” And the answer we get is “thanks, but no thanks.”

Returning to India after years in the US

We went to a party at the home of Ranvir and his wife, also an expat family in New Delhi (although he was in India for the first 20 years of his life, and his Indian-origin wife grew up in the US.) We chatted with others at the party; most of them expats, or Indians that have returned from abroad. There appears to be a growing number of Indians returning to India after years and years in the US. Opportunities here are on the rise; while my US friends and family can attest to the limited growth of jobs in the US. One of the guests at the party said that his parents had been petitioning him to come back for a long time. Years ago, he said he did not want to come back if he had to bring with him containers of stuff unattainable in India, like zip lock bags. Now, he concluded, everything is available in India, and so he was amenable to returning. (A number of things are still unattainable or dauntingly expensive….but I guess from his comment that much less was available, a decade ago…) As I scan the crowd at IBM Research, I am surmising that there is also a critical age factor for the children of returning Indians. If someone has stayed in the US until kids reach their teen years, I am guessing it gets harder and less likely that parents will return. Most of the returnees have small children that can more readily adjust to the transition.

One of the wonders of the world - - the Taj Mahal

We took a day trip to Agra (about 4 ½ hours from New Delhi) to see the famous Taj Mahal. It was also a Hindu festival day (Dussehra), where Hindus burn effigies of the Demon Ravana. We came across a number of Dussehra caravans; some pictures of this experience included.

The Taj Mahal is an amazing and beautiful structure. But it is also a symbol from one of the many Indian invaders - - this one from the Moghuls that invaded India in the 1500s. The Taj Mahal is a magnificent tomb created in the 1600s when one of the queens passed on, and the emperor built this as a monument to her (and as their tomb). It took 22 years and cost “32 crore rupees”  - a bit excessive, perhaps; but hey, it gave 20,000 people jobs. I mused about the fact that this major Indian landmark is in fact a symbol of one of the conquering invaders, and how Indians feel about “celebrating” that. Some colleagues have pointed out that India has been subject to multiple invasions. When the invading party (like the Moghuls) took up residence and made India their home, they were ultimately absorbed into the culture and are now viewed as just another part of Indian history.

Language learning - - Amnon, and everyone else….

Amnon’s language skills have always been phenomenal. He speaks native Hebrew and Arabic, native-like English (he can challenge any of us in Scrabble, Boggle, crossword puzzles). He is competent in French, and can also get by in Spanish and Italian. He picks languages up like contact paper. Spanish was picked up through communication with construction laborers in the US. Amnon’s grandfather was said to be multilingual in 7 languages, so maybe there is some inherited trait? Another gift that might facilitate language learning is how easily Amnon adopts to the culture, the mannerisms, the nuances, the idioms. I remember once upon a time studying that foreign accent adoption requires some “attitudinal permeability” - -  a willingness to relinquish the self that so strongly identifies with how we sound when we speak. Amnon has always been unselfconscious (about this or anything else!) and so probably approaches new languages with the right attitude.

In Hindi, he has learned a lot of the functional language that he needs to negotiate markets, including the rather complex number system. More notably, he has adopted mannerisms (like head tilting) that are uniquely Indian, along with standard filler and response phrases (accha, achha). When he says just a handful of words, with the appropriate associated Indian gestures, people are certain that he has a deeper well of Hindi than he currently has. And he will, soon.

Do you speak English?

We all think of India as a country that speaks English. We outsource so much customer service from the US to India (rather than, say, China) because of the strong English-speaking base. But the reality on the ground is a little more complicated. There are 29 distinct states in India, and these are NOT like the states in the US. We *think* we have diversity in the US, with southerners different from northerners, east vs. west. vs. middle of the country. I think the differences across the US are subtle and nuanced compared to the differences across India. When I spoke to my (IBM US colleague) Bhuv before coming to India, she advised me that the Indian states are more like the European Union than United States. For us, those differences are most perceptible with respect to language. We have been told that the southern states speak a lot of English; the northern states do not. We, in New Delhi, are in the North, and we can at least confirm that northern rule of thumb.  Basically, only the educated population seems to speak English. My colleagues at IBM certainly all speak English, and business is conducted in English. Hallway chatter, though, is in Hindi – that is clearly their preferred language, overall. The less educated labor force - - drivers, cleaning staff, shop owners - - are generally non-English speaking. Before our trip, I didn’t think there would be much need to learn Hindi, in a country that was (I thought) completely bilingual. Given the facts on the ground, we are all doing our part to learn more so that we can traverse the country more effectively. I have been taking a Berlitz class. Amnon is practicing through Rosetta Stone. Jordan and Jesse have taken some Hindi mini-classes and plan to do more. Jesse seems to have the most functional Hindi of the kids so far. Adam wanted to take Hindi as his language at the American Embassy School this year, instead of Spanish. What a perfect environment – study Hindi formally during the day, and exploit real-life opportunities to practice after school. But the school doesn’t offer Hindi; they offer the standard Spanish, French, and maybe a couple of other languages. This was very surprising to me (as well as disappointing!)  for a school located in New Delhi. I spoke to the guidance counselor, who explained that they have *tried* to offer Hindi, but they don’t get the enrollment. Most of the American Embassy School kids will be going to universities in the US and Europe; and the “standard” languages are deemed more ….important? relevant? Seems to me that a language spoken by a billion or so people should be “relevant” too, with its long and rich history and literature. Maybe this reflects the lingering western biases….which, I trust, will dissipate over time with the rapid growth of the developing world. We do already see increased interest in learning Mandarin. Perhaps another obstacle for learning Hindi is that it won’t be the linguistic bridge you need for all of India; given the wide array of languages and dialects. I have read that there are more than 350 languages in India. There is a saying in Hindi:  "kos kos bar badley pani chaar kos par vani,” which means that in India the taste of water changes every kilometer and the language changes every four kilometers.

In case of emergency…..

As I move about in my new routines, I get the sense that I have figured things out and that I am now at ease in getting around in my new environment. I have phone numbers of taxi companies to get to and fro. All of the boys have cell phones and we call and text each other as needed. Then these little things come up that make you realize you are not quite as “on top” of things as it seems, once you scratch the veneer. Back in the states, I have solutions, as well as backup solutions if the first tier fails. In India, we don’t yet have all of those “safety valves.” Case in point: I came hope from work rather late one evening, and it was raining. The taxi left, and I approached the gate of our apartment. It was latched, and I wasn’t able to open it. (The gate is shared by the 3 families in our building, and one of the tenants frequently latches the gate.) It is possible to open the latch from the outside, but on that particular night I had trouble with this. I called the cellphones of Amnon and the boys, but no one picked up. And I started reflecting….what exactly is Plan B if I can’t open this latch? I don’t know any of our neighbors. Where would I go? Who else would I call? A work colleague that lives 30 minutes away? The police? (What is the 911 equivalent here, anyway? Is it 100?) Stuff that we take for granted back home…I fiddled with the latch for a bit, and it opened…

Hotel living

You know how you feel when you are at a hotel? You are either out-and-about doing whatever you are doing in that city (sightseeing, working, attending a conference);  but when you are in the hotel itself, life is much less hectic than “real life.” No closets to clean, papers to sort, dishes to wash, none of those projects on the “to do list” of life. Life in our Delhi apartment is not dissimilar. We don’t have all the detritus of our “real lives” with us (as described in one of the earlier blog entries), and so you don’t have major sorting to do at all times. Once you unpack your belongings and put them in your new closets, you are done….Here I don’t have the kids’ artwork from 10 years back that I still need to scan or organize or archive in some more usable fashion. And there is our maid, Chanana, who does all of the household cleaning, cooking, washing, ironing…which makes this also akin to hotel living, where you don’t need to wash your own dishes or cook your own food. Plus you have no family here, and you don’t know many people; so you aren’t “catching up” with friends and family; inviting them to your house and going to theirs…It is one of the disorienting features of an overseas assignment.