Happy Holi

It’s a week late, but I can’t sleep and need something to write about, so I’ll share my experience of Holi with y’all.

Holi is a festival celebrated throughout India to welcome the coming of spring, which here in Bhubaneswar means the transition from the extremely hot season to the  HOLY-****-I’M-MELTING season.  Among other things, it’s celebrated by everyone going outside and showering each other with colored pigments.

Although the 2-day holiday didn’t technically start until the 23^rd, I started to notice a few signs of it beginning on last Monday.  For one, all my favorite street food vendors were either replaced or had new stalls next to them selling brightly colored powders; it was time to start stocking up for the battle that was to come.

As the week progressed so did the random incidents of people being attacked with the colors.  At first there were only a few mini battles, which I safely observed from my room.  By Wednesday, however, students were bringing the colors into the classroom and decorating each other during class.  This was also my first experience with the colors when one of my classmates gave me a nice bright face full of yellow!

Finally on Thursday, the 24^th everything came to a head.  I woke up to the battle cries of Holi warriors as they loosed their handfuls of color on each other.  After a quick breakfast and change into some Holi clothes I felt ready to enter the warzone.  And so, my fellow Americans and I embarked with our Afghan comrades outside the guest house and into the fray.

The first thing you should know about Holi is that everyone is fair game for getting showered in the colored powder.  Old or young, rich or poor, working or not, if you are outside during Holi, you will end up looking like a neon rainbow by the end of the day.

So from the moment I stepped outside the guest house I was greeted with a face full of purple powder.  We went on for about an hour or so smothering each other in the bright pigments… and they got everywhere.  It was in my hair, ears, nose, mouth, eyes…  It was awesome in every sense of the word!  The preferred tactic seemed to be slapping a handful of pigment right across someone’s cheek.  Later on we added water to the mix, which ended up blending all the colors together into a nice deep purple that got engrained in my skin for a few days.

As the battle started winding down many of the Indian students were coming back on to campus yelling without their shirts on.  I was sort of confused as to why none of them were wearing shirts, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time.  Suddenly I was surrounded by a mob of yelling students who immediately grabbed my t-shirt and ripped it off my body, letting out a boisterous victory cheer!  I sort of just stood there for a moment thinking, what the hell was that?  Then I said to my self Happy Holi, and immediately went after the next closest person to me and ripped off his shirt too!

Probably the most beautiful thing about Holi (besides the colors, of course) is how it brings everyone together.  During the festival I knew I could walk up to any random person around me and give him a handful of color straight to the dome, and he’d smile back as he did the same to me.  “Happy Holi!” were the words of the day, and nothing else mattered besides that.  Whatever social barriers existed that day were brought down – at least temporarily – in a hailstorm of neon pigments and cheers.

Oh the Humanity!

I step outside my hotel to make a quick run to the ATM.  To my left is a near constant flow of traffic.  To my right are the various shops and food stalls.  And I’m left with a small 2-foot wide piece of sidewalk to work with as I attempt to make my way to the ATM, dodging the ubiquitous puddles of water, dogs, sleeping people, and potholes along the way.  As soon as the food stall and shop owners sense the foreigner in their midst they immediately begin calling out and beckoning me towards their wares.  Trying to maintain my cool, I make a break for the other side of the street – Frogger style.  I attempt to dodge taxis, buses, rickshaws, bikes, and any other moving object that happened to make it in the street.  Exasperated, I finally push open the door to the ATM and breathe a sigh of relief.

And so happens my first experience of taking a nice leisurely 30-foot stroll to the ATM after my friend Bria and I arrived in Kolkata last Friday.

Sensory overload is the only way to describe being in that city, and although very stressful at first, you learn to admire the seamlessness of it all after a while.

Anyway, here’s a very brief recap of the weekend:

After the initial shock of Kolkata started to fade we headed into the city for some sight-seeing.  Since Kolkata was the capital of India when it was under British rule, there’s a very interesting mix of European and Indian architecture all throughout the city.  We also rode the metro (India’s first!) and experienced the crushing weight of too many people in too small of a space.

That night we went out to a bar in Park Street, which is one of Kolkata’s main tourist beats.  Following that we stepped outside to walk around the neighborhood and proceeded to get a little lost, but it was incredible!  We wandered through winding narrow streets full of life and everyday Indians going about their business.

Saturday was spent at Nicco Park, which is an outdoor waterpark, and after over two months in 80+ weather it felt wunderschön to finally go swimming.  But of course as luck would have it, we picked the day when a rainstorm blew through the city.  Between that and the waterpark I estimate we spent at least 8-hours straight that day soaking wet.

On Sunday we went to Science City, which is kind of like a C.O.S.I./hands on museum if you’ve ever been to those.  We watched a movie in the space theatre and rode on a roller coaster that probably should have been shut down years ago.

The whole weekend was very exhilarating to say the least.  As an American, I like to compare and contrast Kolkata with U.S. big cities.  And while U.S. big cities are very impressive architecturally, they seem to be lacking something that made Kolkata so special. 

Walking around Kolkata I couldn’t help but notice the constant interaction of everyone and everything.  People were drinking tea together, conversing (or arguing).  Merchants were shouting about their products to anyone who would listen.  The various drivers on the road took turns honking their horns and shouting at each other as they jockeyed for the best position on the cramped road.  Men, women, and children were sleeping on the street.  The smells of the city ranged from absolutely splendid to just putrid and everything in between.  It’s as if the whole city is a living, breathing organism.

I contrast that with a walk down the street in Chicago, where everyone is either listening to music or absorbed in their phones.  The colossal buildings surrounding everything give off a very stoic and sterile presence, belying the fact that people actually live inside them.

The difference between these two cities is the human element.  Where it is sometimes impossible to find in U.S. cities, it is unavoidable in Kolkata.  In cities like Chicago it’s hiding behind the all the great architectural wonders (or swept somewhere out of sight).  In Kolkata humanity just kinda smacks you on the face in all its beautiful, funny, strange, ugly, and sometimes heartbreaking ways.

A Weekend of Ups and Downs

Well we managed to escape Bhubaneswar last weekend for a trip to the National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Rourkela for their International Student’s Meet (ISM).  It was essentially a weekend festival at NIT for international students studying in India.  And so it was that our entourage of 7 Afghanis and 2 Americans from KIIT University left for Rourkela last Thursday night.

Although Rourkela is in the same state as Bhubaneswar, the bus trip took well over 7 hours.  The bus itself looked like a psychedelic hippie transportation machine straight out of the 1960’s, with neon flashing lights all over the outside and bright green lights illuminating the interior.  Since there aren’t many U.S. type expressways in India the majority of the ride was spent bouncing around as we drove over speed bumps, potholes, and who knows what else.  We finally arrived at 6:00 AM Friday morning after a sleepless night and were greeted by a group of NIT students who had arranged for our transportation back to their guesthouse.

After finally catching up on some sleep in the guesthouse at NIT, I woke up around noon and stepped outside…and promptly threw up.  Now this should have been a sign that I wasn’t alright, but I figured it was only something temporary so I shrugged it off, chugged some water, and went back to sleep.  Later on that day we decided to move to a new hostel under construction inside the NIT campus.  When I say it was under construction, I mean we were literally living in a construction site with piles of cement, random holes, and dust everywhere.  During the walk there I felt progressively worse and agreed to get some medication from the university pharmacy.  Feeling much better after the medication, I went out with our group for the evening activities, which included some of the best Bollywood music I’ve ever heard as well as the shortest DJ session I’ve ever heard (around 20 minutes).

After finally registering ourselves for ISM on Saturday morning, we could start partaking in the weekend’s activities.  First up was paintball, and my team definitely kicked ass!  Unfortunately after that, the day got progressively hotter and my condition worsened with equal pace.  I tried another trip to the pharmacy for new medication before I resigned myself to the hostel for the night.  I remained in the hostel shivering under blankets until about midnight when we decided I should go the hospital.  Within minutes several ISM organizers showed up on mopeds and motorbikes to pick me up.

By the time I was admitted to the hospital, my temperature was around 104F.  After hooking me up to an IV, I was put in the semi-ICU for the night since it was the only room in the hospital with AC.  That night I was kept up by regular trips to the bathroom, random groans coming from the patients beside me as well as those out the hallways, and feral dogs fighting each other outside…a very eerie experience.

My fever (or whatever it was) finally broke the next day and I was let out around 8:00 PM, just in time for another long, bumpy, cramped, 7-hour bus ride back home in our flower-power bus.  We arrived back in Bhubaneswar around 5:30 AM on Monday.  After being awake for two nights my sleep cycle was pretty much screwed.  I spent the majority of Monday sleeping and woke up around 4:00 AM this morning!

The positive from this whole ordeal was the care I received from everyone around me this weekend.  Both the Indian students and staff at NIT as well as my Afghani friends made sure I was never alone and accompanied me everywhere.  They always insisted on paying for my medication or anything else I might need.  Everyone seemed to be willing to drop whatever they were doing to help me when I was feeling unwell.  I owe a huge thank-you to all of them for taking such excellent care of me!

On Cultural Differences

They always tell you to explore a new culture when you’re abroad, and India is no different.  The differences I noticed in Germany were always much more subtle because Germany is a Western country while the ones I notice here tend to be much more stark and often frustrating.  I constantly find myself murmuring to myself, that just doesn’t make sense!  But of course it doesn’t make sense!  It’s not supposed to make sense to me because it’s not my culture.

Nevertheless, I was starting to get very frustrated with the culture here until I sort of had an epiphany yesterday when our program director said something to the effect of, “The U.S. is a practical culture whereas India’s is relationally based.”  This beautifully sums up one of those differences that just don’t make sense to me.

India isn’t exactly known for its efficiency, just try going into any government office here.  Nor is there much adherence to schedules.  Timetables can always be adjusted; any many things are either canceled or moved around at the last minute.  It’s not practical and often frustrating for me.

What it lacks in practicality and efficiency however, India makes up for in its relationships.  Whenever I see a professor about a question or problem with the homework, he will immediately drop what he’s doing and invite me to chat with him for however long it takes while we sip on some tea.  Likewise, many of the Indians I meet immediately offer their phone number and tell me to call them if I ever have a problem.

This is all because they care more about investing time in each other than adhering to some sort of timetable.  Your relationships with those around you are the most important.  Is it efficient? No.  But should quality relationships be sacrificed for the sake of a schedule?  I’m sure I wouldn’t be nearly as close with my professors here if I didn’t sit and chat with them each time we met.