Monday, March 27, 2006

went to rural india and all i got was ... sick?

yesterday dad, mom and i went to sitapur, and stopped in all kinds of little towns and villages between lucknow and sitapur. there was a familiar story at each place: get out of jeep into scorching weather, be surrounded by people i don't know and can't effectively communicate with, sit down with such people, and be somewhat forced to eat food. this procedure was amusing the first time, but it was a chore after that

when we were little, my brother and sister and i never learned urdu. my mom didn't speak it, and my dad didn't make much effort to teach us, and we didn't make much effort to learn. anyway, here's where it would've paid off. without urdu, i was essentially a prize being paraded around that people could smile over and talk about.

my dad was pretty busy talking with everyone, and he says that my mom and i didn't make enough of an effort to get him to be our translator. anyway, i did try a bit, but it was difficult, given that there were so many people talking to him. my cousin ayan tried to help, and did quite a good job, but it was actually his first visit in a long time too, and he was also overwhelmed! we should've hired a translator!

by the second last place we visited, i felt full of food, and a bit weak. the next morning i was sick. sigh.

here's a picture that shows how many people there were.. it's cool and all, but so overwhelming. this pic is taken from my sister's overwhelming time, as i forgot my camera

2 comments:

om said...

yup ayan was quite cool. he was really helpful and fun to be with. so was his brother, adnan.

we had a fun time with them and their parents.

twm said...

wow! your time sounded like so much fun, but so completely overwhelming. that's what it feels like when I'm in china. the mad chaos. tho i have to say that the language barrier isn't so bad, though, i think for me, the frustration is in being able to understand what people are saying but not knowing how to participate bc the words can't form in my head.

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