Sri Lanka is Not India’s Little Sister

Continuing on my travels, I made a quick weekend trip to Sri Lanka. I should have done a little more research before leaving; I had very little idea of what to do there other than visiting an elephant orphanage, seeing some beautiful scenery, and their ancient cities. I’ll admit that I also kind of thought of Sri Lanka as a close relative of India, being so geographically close must result in some similarities right? Although there are a few similarities, Sri Lanka is entirely different to me than India. I am growing more and more fond of India, but I really loved Sri Lanka (and not because it’s not like India.) Anyway I leave Mumbai on my 3AM flight and arrive in Sri Lanka to meet my friend at a hotel in Negombo. We pass out for another six hours before deciding to go to the elephant orphanage. Our limited research told us to hire a driver for the day, and we had to make it to Kandy as we had a bed and breakfast reservation there. The driver would take us to the elephant orphanage and tea plantation on the way to Kandy. Well it turns out Sri Lanka does not have any highways, the first one is opening soon, so to travel the 114 km (65 miles) to Kandy would take about 3.5 hours as the road is two lanes and passes through all the cities on the way to Kandy. Wow, ok. So we set out to see some baby elephants. On the way there our driver pointed out prominent landmarks and we learned really interesting facts about Sri Lanka. I did feel bad for our driver as my friend and I did not cease conversation for the entire duration of the drive, but we had a good time! One of the best parts of the trip was the driver; he was very nice, personable, and great to have conversations with. We hung with some elephants, took a bath with them, fed them, and got fed ourselves with some really delicious fried rice and coconut dal. We were late for the tea plantation, but we stopped by an herbal garden before climbing our way up a hill to our bed and breakfast. The view was incredible. The couple who owned the house was so nice and made some really great food for us. We talked a little with an Australian couple who was staying there and finishing up their week in Kandy and then passed out.

On the way to Kandy our driver pulled over and showed us this rubber plantation. There are little coconut shells at the bottom of the trees that collect the latex. 

Getting sprayed by the elephant. I got soaked.

Sitting on the bed looking out toward the beautiful view...

...which was this.

The next morning we went to see the Temple of the Tooth, a Buddhist temple with one of Buddha’s teeth as a relic. After touring the temple with the crowd of Buddhists, we got some KFC and decide to start our journey back to Negombo as my flight was later that night. It was much too short of a trip; my friend stayed an extra day and got to see newborn sea turtles! I would love to go back to Sri Lanka for a week and really take in all the sights. The country is so green and beautiful, I felt so at peace and serene whether I was in Kandy, Negombo, or just on the road. The people are so nice and accommodating, and very genuine. I guess here is the time to explain why these appeal to me so much. There are parts of India that are absolutely stunning, but the urbanization and the heaps of trash sometimes give a gloomy, and smelly, air that really takes away from the country’s natural beauty. Our driver told us that Sri Lanka went through a very extensive public campaign to clean up public areas and it really was cleaner than parts of Europe I have been to. I think that really lets you focus on the serenity and natural charm of the country. The second is that people in India have an unexplained fascination with foreigners. This translates into staring and being talked to as a novelty, especially an Asian-American! It’s all harmless and comes from genuine curiosity, but it can get demoralizing and uncomfortable. I didn’t get that in Sri Lanka, maybe because I was a real tourist and spent time with people who are used to seeing tourists, but it was refreshing to have insightful conversations that weren’t focused on why I look the way I do or what I’m doing there. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my Sri Lankan experience and only wish I could have spent more time there.

 The beautiful flowers that are offered to Buddha, you can see some of the lotus flowers. These are later the meals for the temple elephant.

At the Colombo airport (which is actually in Negombo) where apparently clergy are VIPs.

Trying Times and Front Row at Kolkata Fashion Week

I’ll be totally honest and admit that my first couple months of being here were tough, being separated from family and friends in a very foreign country in almost total isolation were very tough on me. These months tested how much I could take mentally, socially, and emotionally and there were times where I questioned whether it was all worth it. There were times when I thought it easier just to give up and go home to perfect San Diego weather with my family and eat all the beef, Mexican food, sushi, and chocolate chip cookies that I want. However in this last month I have reached a point in my journey where I am genuinely glad to be here, and to be living this very unique opportunity. The times where I thought I would break, I didn’t, and I am now a stronger, better person for it. I have more respect and awareness for myself and my capacities, as well as a new perspective on the human condition. If you aren’t pushed to your brink, then how will you know what you are capable of? How will you grow and cultivate yourself as a person? For too long I was comfortable with my life and being here has made me realize how much life there is to live. I am deeply grateful for the chance to be here and learn these timeless life lessons. I know I will come out a better person, and I will have memories and lessons to take away that I might have never learned.

On a lighter note, this new appreciation for my opportunity here has partially translated into more traveling! My friend invited me to go to Kolkata (Calcutta) for the weekend and I jumped at the chance. I was excited to see this famed city and yes, a part of me just wanted to get out of Navi Mumbai! Getting to the airport requires an auto ride, then one and a half hours on the train, then another auto ride, and making sure to get to the airport early enough to pass screening for entrance into the airport, check in, and security. So for my 8:15PM flight I left my house at 4:15PM. I usually get past security quickly because there are separate lines for men and women, and there are usually about 5 women and 100 men. After getting a chicken sandwich for dinner, I met a fellow Accenturite! (spelling?) He’s an SAP consultant based out of Bangalore but traveling to Mumbai for the client. His next staffing opportunities include a choice among Stockholm, Indianapolis, and Singapore. So unfair! Anyway, our flights were about five minutes apart so we spent some time talking about how great consultant and Accenture life is (I’m not joking).  I know that at certain times of the year, like after annual reviews, people can be a little disillusioned with Accenture. However I can tell you that after being a poor NGO worker for the past six months, Accenture is a heavenly dream. Health care! Dental care! Life insurance! 401k! Traveling! Hotels! Rental cars! And of course, really great people (still not joking). So to all those people who diss on the corporate life or complain about their jobs, I invite you to spend a week here with me living on my $7 a day and then tell me how much you want to quit.

Back to my story. I get to Kolkata, and the hotel we are staying at is on the famed Sudder St., pretty much the most poverty-stricken, dingy part of India I have been to so far. The hotel is nice, but the street’s characters were definitely a highlight of the trip. Every person was incredibly nice (except this one old lady) and as Indians, always eager to help. I crashed pretty hard after watching Family Guy (TV!) in the hotel room and was ready for a day of sightseeing. If you can believe it, Kolkata is more humid than Mumbai. I don’t know how you get more humid than 100% Mumbai humidity but you can. We saw the sights and then went back to the hotel to get ready to go to a fashion show. I did not have high expectations for this show. I half expected it to take place in a TGIF room with no catwalk and the models walking down the center of the restaurant. I had never been to a fashion show so I was excited but I wasn’t expecting Christian Siriano. Anyway we get there and the hotel is really nice. Not a bad start. We get shown to the ballroom where the shows will be taking place and it is really nice. A nice runway with full lighting and a really great DJ. Oh, and did I mention that we were front row? And this was Kolkata Fashion Week? Yea, we’re pretty  dope.  The dresses were beautiful, and after spying on all the models’ footwear I really, really miss wearing heels. I have not worn heels for six months and currently do not have any in my possession. I think once I get home I will only wear heels for at least a month. Oh and the models were gorgeous too. After the fashion show we are ushered to the after party in the hotel bar, which again is really nice.

Show 2 of the night.

The designer and her beautiful dresses from show 2.

The first day of Durja Puja started while we were here. Durja Puja is a six-day festival that celebrates Hindu Goddess, Durja. In West Bengal (where Kolkata is), it’s the biggest annual festival. It also includes the worship of Shiva, who is Durja’s husband (and if you remember from the previous post, Ganesha’s dad and mom!) There are more than 2000 pandals set up in Kolkata, and the city is covered with lights. Lots of tourists come to go “pandal-hopping” which often stops traffic. It’s referred to as the Rio Carnival of the Eastern Hemisphere. How lucky am I! Ganesh Chaturthi and Durja Puja!

Durja Puja pandal.

Sunday consisted of more sightseeing and relaxing. Both our flights were that night, to different cities, so we headed to the airport. All in all, a very nice weekend. From Sudder St. to Kolkata Fashion Week, I experienced the new and old, the privileged and unprivileged of Kolkata.

Kolkata is one of the few places in the world with hand-pulled rickshaws.

Ganesh Chaturthi

One of the festivals I was looking forward to experiencing while in India was Ganesh Chaturthi. Because I am so close to Mumbai, I was excited that I would get to witness this great celebration. I’ll be honest and admit my initial interest was sparked by Shantaram, but is that so bad? Anyway Ganesh Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha, who bestows his presence for all his devotees on earth during the festival. He is the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune, and was declared by Shiva as superior to all the other gods. Shiva is Ganesha’s father and one of the most prominent deities in Hinduism. Artisans make models of Ganesha and sell these two to three months before Ganesh Chaturthi. These are then installed in homes and public places. The public ones are larger and beautifully decorated, with communities competing for the most beautiful and biggest statue. Priests then invoke the statues to life through mantras and then the statues receive offerings. For ten days Ganesha is worshipped, on the eleventh day the public statues are carried through the streets in a procession with singing and dancing. Then they are submerged in water as seeing off Ganesha to his home in Kailash and taking the misfortunes of his devotees with him. The family Ganeshas are taken to the water on the third, fifth, or seventh day depending on the family tradition. It’s a huge event for the communities as well as artists and businesses that depend on the economic success of Ganesh Chaturthi.

There is a lake in the city I work and live in, and one of my co-workers offered to take me on the seventh day to see the processions and the submersions family Ganesha to the lake. She happened to live by the lake and had a motorbike so I hopped on and was excited for the adventure. There is a lot of fanfare for each procession! We were stopped in traffic from about a half mile from her house as the processions took up the whole street and were moving forward at a slow walking pace. On the way she took me to two of the public Ganeshas and they were beautifully and extravagantly decorated. The families themselves did not submerge Ganesha, but there were volunteer divers who would take the small Ganesha to the lake and immerse it. There was also police monitoring the procession route and the area near the lake, I guess because people can get a little rowdy? 

One public Ganesha on the way to my co-worker's house.

The public Ganesha at my co-worker's building.

One of the many processions we encountered. We are driving on the wrong side of the road to bypass it.

Now you see it, now you don't!

India Measures Itself Against a China That Doesn’t Notice

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/business/global/india-looks-to-china-as-an-economic-model.html

This article sums up so well what I have tried to portray in certain blog posts. A good read.