AIIS Jaipur...Swena Gokul Flats

It took me a while to adjust because I was really sick the first week but now I am feeling really excited to be here. My Hindi has all ready started to improve drastically. Now, I’ve settled into Jaipur quite nicely and am enjoying the AIIS Hindi program. The other students all come from very unique backgrounds so it’s neat getting to know everyone. It’s pretty intense and at times I feel maxed out on Hindi but the classes are varied enough to keep things interesting. The teachers have fun personalities and are more than willing to cater to our individual needs. I am living with a Sindhi host family. My living situation is great – I am staying with three other students (Mariel, Elizabeth, and Chelsea) and our family has hosted AIIS students for the past eight years so they give us a lot of privacy while also welcoming us to come upstairs and hang out with them whenever we like. By chance I happened to choose to live in a Sindhi colony which works out wonderfully for my final research project. I’m planning on learning more about the perception/usage of Hindi amongst the Sindhi population in Jaipur and living in a Sindhi residential and commercial area gives me wonderful access to the community. In the nearby bazaar, the shopkeepers speak in Sindhi all over the place.

Delhi

I’ve spent most of time in Delhi with family. They’ve slowly trickled in from Indore and Agra. We have a new jijaji in the house so it’s been enjoyable getting to know him. Tonight was a lot of fun because the lights were out for a couple of hours so we all gathered on the terrace and jammed to oldie film songs from my cousin’s mobile phone. My drunk uncles provided quite a lovely entertainment program. The scene reminded me of the summer days I used to spend in Delhi as a child when power outages occurred at a significantly higher frequency than they do now. Most memorable is the moment the light would come back and we kids would rush back indoors only to be greeted by bats (who in the darkness found temporary homes). I would run out of the house just as quickly as I ran in. My Dada got a kick out of this. Not sure where they’ve all gone over the years but there was no bat “welcome back” tonight.

I regret not listening to my Dada more when he was alive. My relatives tell me he was chock full of interesting Partition stories. I asked my chacha to show me any papers he may have left behind hoping to find Sindh property documents or letters that he wrote. Everything he had saved was in one suitcase and I carefully rummaged through it all only to find that most of the papers were from the past 25 years and primarily consisted of recent financial documents. I was extremely excited to come across his original Sindhi refugee identity card. The paper was yellowed and the pencil writing barely legible. Even though I didn’t come across a stack of letters, it was so neat to see this card. So much left unsaid though. I had the card in one hand and the blueprint for our Delhi house in the other. He left Sindh in 1948 and purchased the Delhi house in the 90s. I wish I had heard what all had happened between then and now directly from him.

Tomorrow I leave for

the first of many.

The phenomenon that is jetlag never ceases to affect me.
It's 4:00 am here and thanks to my technologically savvy cousin and his wi-fi, I can pass some of the time by writing my inaugural blog post.
My first night in Delhi would not be complete without several short power outages of course. It's not as hot as everyone has scared me into thinking. Granted, I'm in an AC room and haven't been outside in the daytime yet.

I'm the type of person who loves the idea of journaling but just can't commit to maintaining one consistent diary. I have the tendency to stop abruptly a journal just as soon as I enthusiastically start one. Over the years, I've even accumulated a collection of journals that are mostly unused except for the 10-15 entries on the first couple of pages. So why this blog then? I figure the fact that is digital and that I'll hopefully get reader responses will make it an easier/more fun process for me. A blog seems like a great space for me to reflect on my life in India while simultaneously keeping in touch with the world.

I'll be in Delhi with my family until Saturday for the AIIS orientation. I have moved to India to study Hindi and Urdu through the American Institute of Indian Studies. I'll be in Jaipur for the summer and will move to Lucknow in September. I am scared/excited as I have no clue as to what to expect. Not to mention...it's surprisingly difficult to explain to Indians here that I will be (and want to) studying Hindi and Urdu for a year. I guess it's even harder to explain because all my relatives here thought I was on the medicine track (which I was) and just assume I didn't get accepted to medical school (though I haven't applied) and need to kill time. I mean why otherwise would anyone choose to to prance around India instead of being in med school on her way to establishing a "successful" career? It's unfortunate that very few Indian people see the value in studying language (unless it's English). Most of the schools here reflect this mentality as well - my six year old cousin can write English better than Hindi. Even back in the states, our Indian relatives and family friends were mostly unable to see the value of my proposed study - as if people don't get degrees in English literature, but I suppose even these degrees are frowned upon within the Indian American community. It's all about practicality.

Anyhow, if anything, it's amusing to see the types of responses I get when I tell people what I am doing after college. Especially when my father is around - because Indian adults will invariably look at him with pity and empathy as if to say that they understand - kids today have no direction. I just get a kick out of it. It's mostly the fact that I am learning Urdu that gives our relatives and family friends a hang up... isn't Hindi enough? More on that later.
Though I am still feeling slightly overwhelmed, I am confident about the path I am taking and know that the more time I spend here, the more resolute I will be in my decision.

So here's to my new blog, one among my many new endeavors as I begin my year's stay India.