You are Christian, Madam?

Once again, the afternoon call to prayer outside of our flat is cause for some introspection on my part. I realize that in this blog to date, I have spoken of my experiences with Ramzan and briefly outlined some Hindu traditions but I think it's time to explain a bit more about the way religion functions in India. Despite its status as a secular state, religious traditions of all types permeate every aspect of life in India, but in some ways you wouldn't expect.

A new friend of mine, recently arrived to the country, was surprised by the fact that I have Muslim friends who also will share a table with my Hindu friends. I was a bit taken aback by this shock. I mean, growing up with what I would see as a fairly diverse group of friends, this isn't exactly an anomaly. But the way that we view religion in the west, especially Islam, is colored a bit differently than things are here.

For starters, let's take the burkha. Most Americans see it as a means of oppression or at least don't quite understand the sentiment behind it. But I also think most would be suprised to visit my school where the teachers walk in wearing burkhas but immediately take them off to reveal beautiful sarees underneath. Instead, the burkha is treated similarly to how we would treat wearing a jacket from place to place, and is just a part of the daily routine. That is not to say that there are not plenty of women who wear only the burkha in public, but for the most part, one's religious identity here is a fluid concept. I know plenty of Muslim women who wouldn't be caught dead in anything but the newest designer jeans and trendiest shoes and who have hardly worn a headscarf a day in their life. Just like I know Hindus who scoff at the idea of wearing a saree to anything but a wedding. To be Hindu or Muslim or Sikh is a fact of life and not necessarily the end all or be all of a person's identity and doesn't necessarily define every action you take.

One of the first questions I was asked by the students in my school was my religion and whether or not we fast like Muslims or Hindus do. Of course, it's easier to just say Christian than to try and explain the complicated nature of my religious identity. And when I told them that fasting isn't exactly something I have ever done in my life, they were shocked. Because following religious traditions comes as naturally to them as taking Labor Day off from work for us does, even if someone chooses to do so by different degrees. No one blinks at the fact that school is a half day every Friday for prayers or closed on a random Tuesday for a celebration of the god Ganesh. Talk about coexistance to the extreme.

Similarly, when it comes to food, you have all of the options in the world. 'Veg or nonveg' is always asked because some Hindus won't eat meat, some Muslims won't eat pork but there are a fair share of people (like ourselves) who are just plain carnivores. And no one judges anyone else for their decisions. There might be a meat shop nearby a Hindu temple and no one really gets put off by that. Can you imagine the controversy in the States if a McDonalds opened right next door to a Hindu temple? Let's just say there would definitely be some legal suites pending...

Of course, India has had its fair share of religious violence and this is not to imply that the country has found the right way to deal with such pluarality. But there is something to be said while I watch the Hindu and Muslim girls at my school gossip with one another, share food, and respect each other's religious and cultural differences. So much about what we fear in the west is the unknown, "the other," and this xenofobia is often directly connected to religious identity. Yet it's hard to fear someone when they are your neighbor, classmate, or friend. Tolerance, even if a function of proximity and necessity, really is something to see here. Still though, don't expect to see me fasting any time soon. There's definitely a Dal Fry somewhere nearby always calling my name.

From Polo to Performances

Okay first let me just apologize for being a horrible blogger these last two weeks. But you know, life in India isn't all about sitting on the computer despite what my constant facebooking may suggest. I mean I've been busy! You know, with the usual: going to school, research for projects, interviews, riding horses, watching polo, sleeping, eating. Oh wait, I guess a few things on that list do stand out a bit, so let me start from the start.

First of all, due to Eid, I had quite a few days off of school which meant I actually had free time. So I decided to go with a few friends out to ride at the Hyderabad Polo and Riding Club. It does seem that no matter where I go or what I do, I find horses. Or rather, they find me. And who am I to pass that up? Anyway, I went riding, which was fun although I was stuck on a lesson horse that hates life. And we kept cantering by jumps that, of course, I was itching to jump. But my self control got the better of me and I refrained from possibly making my horse lame.

After riding, my friends and I were about to leave when a car pulled up and out walked the brand new HPRC polo team and a blonde Brit. Seeing two Americans must have surprised him because he walked up and introduced himself to us and starting asking what we were doing there. When we expressed an interest in watching a polo practice, he suggested that we come to a game that weekend, and even better, to the press conference and photo shoot where the new team would be announced. Why not? I figured at the very least, it would give me something fun to do while most of my friends were partying it up in Goa, and besides, I can never refuse an invitation that involves horse riding.

The next day, me and two of my friends showed up at the 5 star Taj Krishna hotel and were completely taken aback by the number of photographers buzzing around. Polo is not exactly a well-known sport in America, and the press generally would rather write about a new political scandal than about a team galloping around the field at high speeds and attempting to score points. So needless to say, the swarm, who also took pictures of us, was surprising. The reason for the madness became clear as the owner of the team, a famous Tollywood actor, appeared and the photographers were literally yelling and pushing each other out of the way to get a picture of him. I didn't even see that much jostling around when I heard Obama speak.

By this point, my interest was piqued in polo. I mean, it's a sport on horseback, dangerous, and thus highly entertaining, and the best part is that it is played outside on a huge grassy field, which is, of course, something I miss. Greenery is not exactly a Hyderabadi thing. So on Saturday, we headed out for the first match of the season, which runs about 20 days, and it was intense. Mallets swinging, horses and riders bumping into each other, plenty of adrenaline. The horses were incredible and since we had made friends with the team, we were allowed to sit over by them which is definitely the best place to see and hear what exactly is going on. Thoughts of starting a women's polo team started creeping into my head but after seeing how fast the game is played, maybe I'll just stick to some cross-country jumping instead.

Aside from my polo shenanigans though, school has been great fun these last few weeks. Last Monday was Teacher's Day and while I didn't quite make it to get a Saree, it was still a blast to watch the 10th standard girls don their own sarees and teach classes while the teachers observed. The best part had to be the dances at the end of the day where I got to see everyone from 4th graders to 9th graders showing off their moves to Bollywood and Telegu songs. Thank goodness I was able to just be an observer for this. They even gave me a present like the other teachers which was sweet. Thank goodness they nixed the idea of having a student dress up like me and be an IDEX Fellow for a day. I can't imagine trying to get them to understand how to create a business plan on my laptop or teach another student about logarithms while being told how to say them in Hindi (yes that actually happened).

Okay now at least I feel like I have completed my duty of being a mediocre blogger. Stay tuned for more random, weird, and wonderful Hyderabadi shenanigans. Until next time...