India Day 16: An Indian Wedding & Bangalore Around Town

Oh my goodness, today was amazing!  The girls and Zaheer started the morning early with an Indian wedding (the one that we essentially invited ourselves to).  It was so wonderful!  The family of the bride insisted that we go up on the mandap (sort of similar to a bimah or a pulpit), and they even asked us to take part in the ceremony.  We threw rice at the couple as a sort of blessing, and in pairs, we poured milk over the couples hands and then rice over their heads before blessing them.  They were so gracious!  After the ceremony while the couple was still taking photographs and everyone was still seated, the bride's sisters ushered us into another room to have lunch.  We were seated and served before anyone else.  In front of us on the table we found banana leaves which our lunch was served on.  It was traditional Indian food and everything was very good!  It was the first meal that I ate without the option of utensils.

A little bit of information on this Indian wedding:  The marriage was arranged by the family(ies) and the bride and groom are cousins.  Apparently the wedding was tame, but to me it was colorful and loud, and very exciting!  The Families of the couple didn't buy new clothes or shoes, didn't get nails done, or hair or makeup, though the bride and groom looked wonderful.  Both in white traditional Indian clothing.  It was a wonderful way to start the day.

We followed our morning with shopping!  We shopped on Commercial Street and the surrounding areas.  I finished finding gifts for all of my people in time to go to the Isckon Temple a little south of where we're staying with Professor Dembla.  It was just the two of us which was a nice change to the group dynamic for a couple of hours.  We talked about religion and culture as we climbed the steps to the temple.  It was busy and hurried from start to finish, so the calming, spiritual experience that Professor Dembla was looking for was pretty much a lost cause.  Though a beautiful site with the gold alter and bright, colorful Gods, it struck me as very commodity-like.  I was a little disturbed by this as the point of religion is never to make money (in my mind).  Despite this, I'm glad I went as it was an interesting experience all around and I got to see a little more of India than I might have otherwise.  

The evening was filled with dinner and much needed quiet time.  During dinner, about half the group was planning to go do something off campus.  It was quite hurtful because those who were planning were doing so in front of the rest of us but not including us in the plans.  They didn't tell us where they were going or ask us if we were interested in joining them.  The ironic thing is, had I been invited, I would not have gone.  I don't want to take part in what they are doing.  But it would have been appreciated to have been included.

I ended the evening with a conversation about my hurt feelings with Nate, the youngest group member who is also one of the most mature, and is very wise.  He helped me realize that it was me being singled out which made it a little easier.  I don't care to be friends with people who behave this way, and I therefore don't care that they don't want me around.

It was a good day, overall, and I'm glad to be learning the lessons I'm learning.  I will surely carry them forever.

Until tomorrow....

India Days 10-11: Bangalore

Day 10:  Marlabs
We awoke in time to get up and get ready by 10:30 for breakfast....only to receive a knock on the door at 9:15 AM to tell us that "you come, breakfast now."  I politely argued that we were told 10:30, and I lost the battle.  In fact, we had breakfast at 9:30 AM, a lecture at 10:30, lunch at 12, site visit at 2, dinner at 8, and lock-down at 11.  Not a late morning after all, though we were late.  We were all irritated.  I didn't get a shower, didn't have time for makeup....Just a bad start to a day.  Poor Briana and Kearstyn, I woke them up by saying, "Hey!  We have breakfast in 15 minutes, get up!"  Keep in mind there are five of us in a space meant for four, with one toilet, one sink, and one shower:  Not a good combination overall.

Despite the rough start, we had a good lecture which discussed marketing foreign brands in India.  Our site visit in the afternoon was to Marlabs, an IT Outsourcing Firm.  It was an interesting talk given by the CEO.  Some of it was over my head as the IT credit I'm earning is an elective and I actually know NOTHING about IT/IS.  But it was interesting and we were treated as rock stars.  They discussed an account for the company that owns Gate Gourmet (the company that provides meals for Delta, among others).  It was a project management software that they designed which allows coordination of meals for all flights coming and going from any city.  It allows for changes for delays and cancellations, and anything else that needs to be conveyed regarding meals on flights.  It was neat that they worked with Delta which is based out of Atlanta, our home, half way around the world!

After arriving back on campus, we spent some time in Dr. Dembla's guest house.  It is far nicer than our "dungeon" as we've dubbed it.  We spent a bit of time watching a Bollywood movie which I didn't understand a word of, but it was fun.

And then The Warden called her house and told her that it was time for us to come back.  For the record, we had discussed the fact that we had to leave in 5 minutes.  We spent our short walk back griping about our "prison."

Day 11:  ITC Infotech 
We had a moderately interesting lecture this morning with a very personable professor, followed by a visit to ITC Infotech.  I was pleasantly surprised at how "green" this company is!  They run a sustainable business, both in commerce and in the social sphere.  I enjoyed listening about the projects which support the rural farmers here.  They have created a sustainable pulp supply for paper, and have educated the farmers as to positive use of soil, use of computers, distribution (which is typically done with ITC directly who offers them a premium price to do business directly with the company), and in turn the farmers are educating their families and finding work with ITC for their wives from home, nearly doubling their household incomes.

The campus was beautiful, too, with a zen-like garden outside the education building, and a small fish pond inside the lobby of the same building.  Each element of the earth (water, earth, etc.) are represented in the design of the buildings, and it creates an interesting aesthetic. 

We met some new students this evening who are interested in taking us out later in the week.  We're all in need of some fun to boost morale again as we're a bit bummed at the lack of interaction.  I think the overall thought on this part of our journey is that if we could combine the organization/scheduling of Alliance College and the fun-loving spirit of the students at HR College, we'd be set!  We're only accompanied by one student per day here, and they are apparently specifically told not to tell us about the night life.  They've been very nice, though.  The student yesterday, Dixika, was really sweet and is from Nepal.  I was so excited to talk to her about Nepal and my hope to visit there one day that I peppered her with questions about everything Nepali!  She seemed happy to answer my questions and I appreciated it.  

The lectures have been interesting and engaging here which is a plus.  We've not yet done any sight seeing yet--though this weekend we'll see Mysore and have a tour of Bangalore.  We'll also "crash" and Indian wedding...Ria has wanted to see an Indian wedding since before we touched down, so today at our site visit, one of our hosts mentioned that a former coworker will get married this weekend.  Dr. Dembla mentioned that we'd like to come, so he whipped out his phone, explained that 12 American students wanted to see an Indian wedding and asked if we could go.  And she said YES!!  So, early on Sunday morning, before touring and shopping, we'll attend an Indian wedding.

I'll load photos tomorrow.  Until then...