Lesson Number One: I don't know anything.
Recently I was at some cultural performance and a woman who is a chennai socialite said something to me that rang true.
"Whatever you know about India, the opposite is also true."
As far as I can tell, she's right. But then again, I don't know anything. Not only do I not know anything, no one else really knows anything either. People who have lived here their whole lives tell me that they can never understand India, but only accept what the regional rules are where they live. I read a lot about India before I got here. I know these things:
There are many official languages, many states, many political parties, many different cuisines, many different climates, many different geographies, many religions etc. One would think that this answers the question of "the one and the many," but not in India. I'll appeal to a famous quote (I attribute this to Feynman, but could be another famous physicist) "Some things you never understand, you just get used to them."
India is a land of dichotomy. Here, in south india you can see some of the world's most exquisite natural beauty alongside some of the most wretched filth. There is fabulous wealth and destitute poverty. There are many crowded cities. Densely populated cities beyond imagination and just outside are deserts, plains, open spaces without a human soul for hundreds of miles. India contains some research institutes housing some of the world's greatest minds and a literacy rate of less than 50%. Food is never mild. It must always have a lot of flavor, but the flavor can go from cloying sweetness to overpowering heat to mind-numbing savory curried rice.
I can speak like this for longer than I have left in India, but I now know only one thing about India: (aside from the previous statement) I know nothing about India, but then again, no one else does either.
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After you mentioned Feynman I kept hearing a bongo solo in my head, which made the rest of your blog read like Beatnik poetry. (My knowledge of the lives of famous physicists is pretty limited.)
ReplyDeleteStrangely it seems you could just as easily be talking about the U.S. The variety and ambiguity of India sounds exciting, like a kind of young America.
Clark, I am Darlene Slusher's friend John and I have been in Jaipur for the past 5 1/2 months. I am leaving at the end of December. What that woman said was true. I like the use the phrase (no mine) "In India, the answer is always no... until it is yes" I find this to be true in almost any situation. Feel free to contact me to talk about adjusting to life in India.
ReplyDeleteJohn