some more pictures

after a mud bath.  we used special dirt from a termite mound

study trip and back to chennai

after finishing my first three weeks of politics class in chennai at women's christian college the whole group had a week long study trip that took us around tamil nadu.  we first went to a school called garden of peace near vellore.  it was very nice to be in the country and to be camping out in thatched roof tents.  it was also nice to meet the school children.

we ended up in pondicherry and on the way we stopped at ginjee fort of which i'll show some pictures.

my humble abode at garden of peace

walking bus walking.....

so i think i've started to master how to get around this city pretty well.  buses can get you in the general area of wherever you want to get in the city for no more than rs. 10 (which is about 20 cents).  from there you can minimize the cost of an auto or share auto...or....my favorite is walking when i have the time.  that way you have much more time to notice things and to put the city on my mental map.  the roads are not so straight here, much more hap hazard.  however, i think i'm starting to get a sense of direction.

my house is a 20 min walk from the beach and is in a section of chennai called mandivelli.  it used to be a market village but, as for most villages that surrounded madras, just became a part of chennai.

as well, i went to see my first tamil movie.  it was called inidhu inidhu, translated as "unforgettable days."  basically about indian guys going to college and falling in love with girls there, plus how they handle the school experience, especially the relationship between lower and upper classmen.  what i found intriguing was how love is portrayed in indian cinema.  first of all, no lip locking what so ever.  in fact the crowed went wild over a girl kissing the guy she liked on the forehead.  meanwhile alec and i were eating up this image of love.  to us it was quite strange and funny.  as well, tamil cinema, and indian cinema as a whole, has less of what i would generally call a cinematic sound track and instead is more like a musical.  there are scenes without music split up by big group singing and dancing numbers.  its a sight to behold.

i guess should go finish my politics paper but some pictures first...

alec's rap about me:

My name is Chris im from Pennsylvania.
I walk the streets of chennai tuh make sense of the mania,
ride the bus er'y day like they is no dangah,
eat idli wen mah stomachs in a seizah.

megg, alec, and i have a serious conversation over lunch....kidding

one of my finer moments....

alec johnny and i jammin to the blues at alec's house

a position in which i find myself much of the time

attending what i would call a pentecostal ballet revival at women's christian college

host family

i am now living with a host family in chennai and it is very interesting.  my mother is a talkative and overcaring individual and she is quite sweet because of that fact.  she wants to do nothing but make sure i'm healthy and comfortable.  my father is head of finance for a car sales group.  he informs me that his group sells over 1000 cars a month.  as well he loves to talk about commerce, trade, history, politics, and economics.  this provides for many hour long engaging conversations.  i'm living in a cozy flat on the third story of an apartment building.  i really feel that i'm getting the experience of typical middle income india.

it is also really funny to see my family's conception of the u.s., especially my mother.  she's convinced that my family is very posh after she saw a picture of my big house.  in india, having a house or a property of any decent size really implies wealth, much more so than in the u.s.  as well, since she found out about the fact that my mom was a pastor, she has been asking me many questions about the bible and christianity.  we have a lot of fun trading stories; i tell her stories from the bible and she tells me stories from the hindu tradition.  i think a lot is being learned on both ends.  as for my father, ravi, he is very interested in american politics and government.  so we exchange much information about our respective governments and political systems.  as well, since i'm taking indian politics, it is easier for me to figure out what he is saying concerning indian politics.  all in all, my first two days with my parents has been engaging and delightful.  it is nice that the let me roam around the city for much of the day and go hang out with friends.  it also helps to get a handle on the bus system.

see yall later.

radhika and ravi (can't remember their daughters name thats bad)

some pics

bustling street

grace and alec at the bay of bengal

view from padma's roof

alec being cool on the streets of chennai

padma's maid and her daughter

keishav, padma's youngest son

morgan and elise

left to right, morgan, alec, grace, elise

sean

what i've learned so far

chennai, first of all, is a very conservative place in india.  with the influence of globalisation and the small world it creates, there is a constantly changing and forward moving path that always marks an attempt to reconcile tradition and the influence of contemporary capitalist society.  on the one hand there are temples everywhere which all still command a devout and incredibly large attendance.  on the other hand, i've never felt more like the incentives of diminishing marginal utility have every seemed more real than right here in india.  auto drivers for example must be haggled with.  the minute a driver sees me i am associated with wealth and he will inevitably try to rip me off (this happened the first few times i rode an auto).  however, there comes a point at which you start to get a sense of the right prices, the right way to talk, the right way to bargain.  its pretty much game theory.  i set a ceiling price that i know is the most i'll pay without getting ripped off.  if i can't get that price i just keep walking.  i continue down the road and do the same thing with the next driver.  usually one of two things happens.  1.  the second driver has seen me haggle with the first and thus knows that i'm not a complete idiot.  thus he is willing to accept a lower price since he knows he can't rip me off as much.  2. the first driver sees me talking to the next driver and doesn't want to lose money.  he can still make money without ripping me off.  in fact, i'm one of few tourists here (it is not a big tourist town according to lonely planet).  so most of there business comes from an informed local population.  thus, this driver comes up behind me and agrees to take me for my ceiling price.  microeconomics at its best.

here's the irony.  even though i'm in one of the most traditional and strictly hindu areas of the country, a rationality associated with modernism and western thought still seems to be thriving in a very non western and conservative culture.  what does this mean?  again i think we have one of two options.  1.  the rationality put forth by the law of diminishing marginal utility has been so ingrained in western thought that it has permeated a very non western society to its core.  western social influence then has a much larger role then initially is apparent.  a very non western society still exemplifies the rationality of western neoclassical economic thought at its core.  2. diminishing marginal utility and its incentives may be the very animal in us.  it may be that biological instinct that keeps us alive.  when pushed to your limit.  when labor is so cheap, how can you blame a driver for wanting to rip me off.  otherwise he may go very hungry.  this doesn't mean i'll let him rip me off.  all i'm thinking is that its quite a possiblity that although neoclassical economic thought may be wrong by suggesting that diminishing marginal utility and its incentives are the only thing that runs our lives.  but this school of thought may also be right in suggesting that a large part of us follows this rationality.  it is our instinct, it is our will to live.  at least as i see people living on pure will, i can see no other will at work than the one following a basic microeconomic model, exemplifying diminishing marginal utility.

this may also explain a bit why raja is the way he is.

the indian head nod/shake

so over here shaking your head means a combination of yes/maybe/ok.  still it's really confusing to me.  hopefully i'll be able to pick up proper use of this form of communication.