Hey y'all!
Blogger has not been kind to me here in India, and I had a REALLY cool post planned for Friday with photos, and gizmos, and EVERYTHING....but the internet hates my blog =(
S'okay though, because I'll just have to debut this post at a later date...TO BE CONTINUED. Trust me, it's worth the suspense. Maybe not. You can decide next week for me!
So what has Janavi been up to?
Since last Wednesday, I was staying with my Aunt Prabha in another part of Mumbai, called Andheri. Previously, I was in Mulund with another aunt/uncle (it's about a 45 minute drive away with Sunday afternoon traffic).Prabha Periamma works as the head librarian at Sophia College in South Bombay, which is a women's college where my professor-mentor also works at.
For the seniors reading, Professor Tendulkar is not my "mentor" (that's Lucy, who has been mentoring me in the world of photographs) , but she's been my contact here in India as far as my research goes. However, Ms. Tendulkar has been working on her PhD, and thus couldn't even respond to an email from October to February - coincidentally, when all my research was (supposed to be) happening.
Thus, when I arrived at the college Wednesday morning, I was told that all the research I'd been doing for the past 4 months wasn't acutally going to do much for my project. Insert mental sobfest here.
Luckily for me (or maybe unluckily, depending on who you are), I was handed a big black book by G.S. Ghurye (pronounced gooh-ray), a caste studies pioneer from back in the day (like the baby independent India day), and told to read.
I spent all of Wednesday and a good part of Thursday taking notes and absorbing the knowledge in front of me. It was interesting though - all thoughrout my senior year I felt like I was stuck in a project where the research was useless and heavy. I had used to LOVE research in my Div 2 days, and I was convinced that my love of books was leaving me....
But now, being in a new place, with renewed focus, I am loving the books again! Every minute I spent in the hot, dusty library made me feel like I was learning something. Which for me, is the most powerful feeling in the world. Yay research! Yay libraries! Yay India!
On Thursday and Friday, I discussed my project with a handful of random professors that my aunt rangled up to come talk to me. While I appreciated my aunt's enthusiasm, I was kind of pushed into talking to people who
a) Knew nothing about my project.
b) Cared little about my project.
c) Were only talking to me in order to justify what they were doing/explain why they were "the best"
I've noticed that culturally, it's a lot more acceptable here to treat young people with the mentality "seen, but not heard". It's been a frustating experience trying to get adults to take me seriously, when, just because I am a "young girl" they refuse to listen to me (I'd like to think being 18 would at least touch adulthood, but that is sadly not the case here).
HOWEVER (and this is a BIG however), those who have offered to help have done so with their entire heart/mind/body/souls. Even though many of those who have taken the time to help me have final exams they are administering and classes/students they are still teaching, they gave me a complete and total 45 minutes of their day, with ears perked, and honest and worthwhile advice at the ready.
Also, my aunt's coworkers might have just been the most adorable people ever, encouraging me, and bringing me all kinds of Indian snacks to try whenever they had a chance to sneak in a coffee break.
Because Sophia college is still run by "nuns" (less like Sister Act, and more like really scary old teacher ladies), the librarians are only allowed a half hour for lunch, and nothing more - but they sort of sneak off for tea time, and bring cakes and samosas to share.
Their intern, Shruti, saw that I was wearing my brooch collection on my last day there (Friday)
During her lunch break, she snuck off to get me these two to remember her by.
One of the ladies we ate lunch with (in back, two from the right, in the green sari) did a special prayer for me for the success of my project, and though I'm not a particularly religious person, there a was sense of genuine love coming out of what she did for me. I'll never forget any of them.
So what on my plate now?
Blogger has not been kind to me here in India, and I had a REALLY cool post planned for Friday with photos, and gizmos, and EVERYTHING....but the internet hates my blog =(
S'okay though, because I'll just have to debut this post at a later date...TO BE CONTINUED. Trust me, it's worth the suspense. Maybe not. You can decide next week for me!
So what has Janavi been up to?
Since last Wednesday, I was staying with my Aunt Prabha in another part of Mumbai, called Andheri. Previously, I was in Mulund with another aunt/uncle (it's about a 45 minute drive away with Sunday afternoon traffic).Prabha Periamma works as the head librarian at Sophia College in South Bombay, which is a women's college where my professor-mentor also works at.
 |
| Everyday, my Prabha Periammma commutes from the Andheri to the Grant Road Station, on the Orange line. It takes her 40 minutes on the the train, plus 1.5 hours traveling on the bus. My other aunt/uncle live on the Blue line, though they are nowhere near the train station. (You can right click on the map for the source). |
 |
| One of my only shots of the college. |
Thus, when I arrived at the college Wednesday morning, I was told that all the research I'd been doing for the past 4 months wasn't acutally going to do much for my project. Insert mental sobfest here.
Luckily for me (or maybe unluckily, depending on who you are), I was handed a big black book by G.S. Ghurye (pronounced gooh-ray), a caste studies pioneer from back in the day (like the baby independent India day), and told to read.
 |
| Credit |
But now, being in a new place, with renewed focus, I am loving the books again! Every minute I spent in the hot, dusty library made me feel like I was learning something. Which for me, is the most powerful feeling in the world. Yay research! Yay libraries! Yay India!
On Thursday and Friday, I discussed my project with a handful of random professors that my aunt rangled up to come talk to me. While I appreciated my aunt's enthusiasm, I was kind of pushed into talking to people who
a) Knew nothing about my project.
b) Cared little about my project.
c) Were only talking to me in order to justify what they were doing/explain why they were "the best"
I've noticed that culturally, it's a lot more acceptable here to treat young people with the mentality "seen, but not heard". It's been a frustating experience trying to get adults to take me seriously, when, just because I am a "young girl" they refuse to listen to me (I'd like to think being 18 would at least touch adulthood, but that is sadly not the case here).
HOWEVER (and this is a BIG however), those who have offered to help have done so with their entire heart/mind/body/souls. Even though many of those who have taken the time to help me have final exams they are administering and classes/students they are still teaching, they gave me a complete and total 45 minutes of their day, with ears perked, and honest and worthwhile advice at the ready.
Also, my aunt's coworkers might have just been the most adorable people ever, encouraging me, and bringing me all kinds of Indian snacks to try whenever they had a chance to sneak in a coffee break.
 |
| My Prabha Periamma & her intern Shruti |
Their intern, Shruti, saw that I was wearing my brooch collection on my last day there (Friday)
 |
 |
| I swear I spent HOURS trying to get a decent photo for y'all. Maybe some other time, I'll have better luck... |
One of the ladies we ate lunch with (in back, two from the right, in the green sari) did a special prayer for me for the success of my project, and though I'm not a particularly religious person, there a was sense of genuine love coming out of what she did for me. I'll never forget any of them.
So what on my plate now?
- Tightening up my interview questions
- Identifying who to interview
- Interviewing them
- Then, the photographing begins
Lots o' love
XOXO Janavi
No comments:
Post a Comment