auspicious ambiguity...

or... things that are "very indian"

i learn something new about the indian culture every day, so i thought it would be fun to enlighten you on some of the things i'm learning... like the fact that indians use the word "auspicious" for everything. i don't even know what that word means... but i know that it's not very auspicious to wear my shawl upside-down and inside-out... so my british friend alice (again, not shown here) sent me this definition...

Aus.pi.cious. adj.
1. promising success; propitious; opportune; favorable: an auspicious occasion.
2. favored by fortune; prosperous; fortunate.

it seems pretty vague, but i take it as super lucky, especially in the "blessed by the gods" kind of way.

first and foremost... there is this head-bobbing thing i've been trying to understand ever since i arrived here. it's not a yes nod or a no nod... it's kind of in between... sort of like a bobble head really... i've come to the conclusion that it doesn't mean yes or no, but rather "maybe, if i feel like it"... or "yes for now, but that could change in a minute"... or sometimes even "i'm not going to tell you, it's more fun to watch you guess". even though the meaning is very ambiguous to me, i have found that i've picked up this mannerism for the occasions that i don't really understand something or if i don't want to give a straight answer.


















indian queuing... waiting in line in an indian post office can be pretty exasperating. indians have their own way of queuing... basically, they just think that they should be next. i'm working on being more aggressive.

indian electricity... the electrical power in this city goes out at least once a day. i find this very amusing for some reason. it's very india to me... i like to think it's the universe's way to force everyone to stop what they're doing and chill out for a minute... but really, it's probably because the city lights up the whole palace every sunday with a bajillion tiny white bulbs and they need to save up energy a little bit at a time throughout the week.

the electrical wiring is a mess here (my german friends would be horrified). there is no order or any caution taken when dealing with electricity. i once saw a random indian man walk up to a power box, snip a wire with a pair of honkin' scissors and the house in front of him went dark. i'm guessing he was the power company.

indian driving... the driving in this country is loud, fast, spastic and dangerous... i love it. i'm too scared to drive myself, but one of my favorite things here is to ride on the back of a scooter, zipping in and out of traffic, bouncing from one side of the road to the other, dodging cars, buses, rickshaws and food vendors... nearly getting killed and laughing the whole time.

most indians drive a scooter or an enfield... and they carry their whole family of five and all their belongings with them... literally. recently, i saw two men precariously balanced on a bike, one driving and the other holding a full-size computer screen under one arm and a large suitcase under the other.


















every day i see loads of things that make me smile and every day shines new light. i feel that my mind... and my soul for that matter... opens more each day. i love this country. i love its people... and i love its food (obviously). i sweat constantly and i'm completely okay with that. i like bucket baths and bucket laundry. i like smiling all the time. smiling is my favorite.