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.

tried to go to the bar tonight.  it was either way overpriced at a fancy hotel or i couldn't get in b/c i wasn't dressed right.  apparently this is a pretty conservative part of the country.  still, it would be nice to have a place to have a few brews.

my first day in chennai

i got into chennai international airport at 12 am local time.  it is quite different here.  mostly i notice that the smells are different and that there are always people everywhere, no matter what time of day it is.  i will be going to the beach today at the bay of bengal.  will post some pics soon.

some photos

preparing for the trip

today my parents and i drove from lancaster to hudson, ny.  My friend Alec from school lives up there in a bead and breakfast.  the house is huge.  apparently the house was originally built for the mayor.  either way it is pretty awesome to be exploring this 4 story mansion.  since it is august, there is a full house here, so that promises encounters with many different characters.  still, it will be me alec and his brother in the same room tonight.  however the pros most definitely outweigh the cons.  for example, at the end of the 4th floor there's a spiral staircase that opens at the roof.  i had a fun time relaxing and watching the sun set over the catskill mountains.  i'm kind of disappointed i didn't get a photo.  either way it was wonderful.

tomorrow i will be joining alec, his brother, and hist mom for brunch at her house in the country.  after that we'll be driving to the airport.  after that there will be a marathon of flying and lots of jet lag...