My pictures on Yahoo!Photo

even though I hate yahoo for the small images that you can see, I still love it for the unlimited storage space - the only way to accomodate all my numerious pictures that haven't made it to this blog. For those complaining about a lack of pictures - pls, be aware that I haven't stopped shoting thousands of them - I just keep them at yahoo ;o)

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tarico_rico/my_photos

the new week kicked off…

I’ve got an outer pocket on my backpack. As far as I actually wear my backpack on the chest (yes, I look like a frustrated tourist, but I do not really care) I am using this pocket to carry small things for make-up etc. Occasionally I put my mobile there. Also, I put my purse there in the morning so that I can easily find it to pay my bus and then put it in a safer place inside the backpack right after.
Ok… I use such a sporty wristlet as a pocket for my mobile – it’s soft and fits nicely. So, my mobile in this wrist-lit is in the outer pocket of my backpack.

I get in over-crowded bus and search for my purse in the other pocket. I get it, get the money, pay, put the purse inside the backpack and close the outer pocket. The situation of being squeezed among all those people who you do not really know what to expect from is very stressful. Some seconds passed… and - you know that gut feeling that comes once in a while? – I glance at my outer pocket – it’s half open. I am yet quite, but panicking inside – I start feeling the pocket… yes.. right… the wristlet is there. the mobile is not… Seconds of hesitations, some more seconds of touching the pocket again…. I think I am getting now why people become numb in cases like that – in the first some seconds you cannot believe it is happening to you. You’ve been so careful, smart, good, nice etc. It could never happened to you. How come it happened? I quickly interrupt this thinking process that runs a risk to go too far. I raise my eyes on a man next to me and ask where my mobile is. No response. With a firm and loud voice I say, “Someone opened my pocket and took my mobile. I need it back”. Some excitement rises in the bus, they all start talking – Hindi, obviously. Attention is there. I am quite positive about the outcome. Some seconds and nothing happens. I repeat what I’ve said and add I’d call police. Some more fuss around - what I got they try to tell I myself dropped my phone. All the eyes are fixed on the floor and… what a miracle… my phone appears near foot of some men 0,5 meters away from me… I am getting it with a sense of relief, yet frustrated with the notion that something I never expected happened. The rest of the trip on the bus is just like stress that does not passes by.

Come to work. It’s a bit early so I am the first one in the office - as often. Open my email box - quite a few messages from my dear people. Those who remembers me, thinks of me, wonders how I am, takes time to check out my blog… Such a remedy. Such a remedy after breathtaking bus incident.

My Sunday

I guess that once you had a nice wild outing on Saturday you should be prepared to pay it with you full-fledged Sunday. The specific price would be depending on the amount of Sunday fun quantified in the hours spent, alcohol consumed, songs shouted, decibel tolerated, dances performed etc. Yet, however annoying your headache and low your energy are it’s damn nice to have a quite Sunday at home – once in a while. You are not a tourist in your own life, after all – there is not need to run around the major landmarks to make sure you’ve got pictures of yourself in front of them all. You may take it easy and stay where you like for the sake of pleasure.

My room is dark. Being located in between the other rooms it lacks any doors or windows. Waking up is always confusing as you’d never tell the time. It is permanently dark. I am feeling my mobile somewhere on my enormously wide bed and it cruelly informs me that I’ve already skipped a great deal of this Sunday. It’s 2.15 pm. I get up and realize that my head is too heavy today to carry it on my broken body. Painkillers exist, but I hate taking pills unless I am dieing. Let the body sort it out on its own. I haven’t done anything extremely destructive to it this time, so it should manage well.

The first minutes of semi-unconsciousness that I usually experience right after awakening are gone. I am heading to the nearby market to buy some fruits for my breakfast. Just now, when writing it down, I have realized that I went out in the same outfit that I had on me when sleeping. In India you definitely pick up some gypsy habits.

Once outside I realized what a warm day I am missing out. After all those yet cold mornings and already chilly evenings this warm day appears as a blessing. So more pity, however unenviable, it seems to spend it inside the house.

I am still waking up when doing my shopping and by the time I got back home I am awake, meaning open to the sounds, smells, happening around me. Breakfast on the gorgeous terrace, indifferent listening to the flatmates’ conversations regarding the today’s plans. My own one comes as a very plain and obvious.

After a short while the flatmates are gone in the pursuit of their various plans. Sinthya got back to her bed. I am grabbing piles of print-outs, books, journals (all on gender issues, believe or not) and dispose myself at our almost luxurious (if not so dirty) terrace.

It is here, on this terrace where I learn to concentrate. Concentrate irrespective to anything around. To all the neighbors relaxing on their terraces and staring, to all those passing by, staring and catcalling, to all those passing by with their vegetable and fruit stalls and shouting “Bananas are there. Grapes are there”, to all those cars, auto-and velo-rikshaws, passing by and horning. Concentrate and read. This is great!

As expected it got dark and cold just in some hours. Good incentive to move inside. I’ve got some laundry (stubbornly refusing the services of our maid) on my agenda followed by dinner. One of the most home … not cozy.. but rather authentically home dinners that you could make for yourself is the one from the yesterday’s leftovers. Well cooked food gets even nicer overnight… Laundry, food – all in complete silence and ultimate somnambulist-like state. time to break it though – so I open my laptop and start typing…

Regarding Western women wearing sari…

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickies/1386473.cms

The Economic Times of India features glamour divas and just influential women spotted in Indians-style clothing. The major discourse here is admiration of those Western women who dare to put on sari. This undertaking seems to signify respect to the Indian cultural heritage and serious intentions regarding India. Something to pick up …

About adult literacy

There are, officially, 771 million adults in the world, two-thirds of them women, who are classified as “illiterate”. Almost two thirds are women, and nearly 1 in 5 is a young person between 15 and 24.

But these figures are notoriously underestimated, and sample studies based on actual tests of reading and writing ability have found illiteracy rates double those reported by governments. The real number of adults without basic literacy skills may be as high as two billion, or one in three of the world’s people. Many more than that number struggle to read and write well enough to function properly within their society.

Source: Report "Writing the Wrongs. International Benchmarks on Adult Literacy"

Rhythms of reggaeton

Columbian Diaspora in Delhi and AIESEC trainee house in Kalkaji enlarged with a new member, Juan Miguel, who came here to teach Spanish for a year. As much as Sinthya got happy with the Latin music he brought, as much we all got very impressed with the national stuff he brought and the amazing reggaeton steps he performed.

more about REGGAETON http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggaeton









Conversations also took place



Vintage furnishing of the Kalkaji traineehouse

More sightseeing in Delhi: Qutb Minar

Info: Qutb Minar. Delhi’s oldest monument signifies triumph of Islam.





In as early as 1199 work began on what was indented to be the most glorious tower of victory in the world and was to be the prototype of all minars (towers) in India. With this tower Qutb-ud-din-Aibak marked the eastern limit of the empire of One God (Allah). Its western counterpart is built by Yusuf in Sevillie. The tower is 73 m high and has 5 storyes. The diameter of the base is 14.4 m and 2.7 at the top. 379 steps inside are closed to the public following some fatal incidents. Not at least the minar is located in a beautiful garden (park) with some other archeological sights in it.

Sources:
India. Footprints. 2005.
Fodor’s Exploring India. 2001.
















well… and not only archeological sights…



Well, our pilgrimage realized in taking pictures of the tower and of each other in front of it. The latter appeared to be quite a task, so we tried out best and did well, I guess.








In the meanwhile this monument is popular not only with Russian and Columbian tourists such a us, but not at least with Indian families, young people and pupils etc.





Taking shots of kids was a great bonus for our tour. First, they just appeared suspicious, gave me distrustful looks and kept quite aside. I took some shots.



They just watched me doing that. I kept shooting them one after another and then a small girl came.



I took a photo of her and it was a signal. A huge crowd darted off, making clouds of dust, pushing each other - they all wanted to be on a photo. I just had to shoot as much as I could to make sure I get something out of this constantly changing situation. I would step back to have them all on the picture, but then they would make step forward to make sure they all are there.



They would re-arrange, push each other, approach me from another side – just to be on the pictures they would not ever see.



Sinthya comes and now we both put up a defence. The situation is saved by a care-taker from their school or kinder-garden who comes in. Generously giving out cuffs on the napes and boxes on the ears she gathers kids and get them home. We are left with a great catch today – most sincere and true faces.

The Kama Sutra<

Sinthya bought this book to figure out the truth about this widely discussed phenomenon. Believe or not but the book (the translation of the original one, at least has no illustrations with the fancy positions and tips regarding your intimate life. What the Kama Sutra is in fact a treatise on politics, social custom, love and intimacy. Essentially, it covers many sides of human life way beyond its sexual part. Some quotations…

The Life of a Citizen… Now, the householder, having got up in the morning and performed his necessary duties, should wash his teeth, apply a limited quantity of ointments and perfumes to his body, put some ornaments on his person and collyrium on his eyelids and below his eyes, color his lips with alackataka, and look at himself in the glass….

On different ways of lying down and various kinds of congress …When a men, from the beginning to the end of the congress, though having connection with the woman, thinks all the time that he is enjoying another one whom he loves, it is called “the congress of transferred love”

On biting: … the qualities of good teeth are as follows: they should be equal, possessed of a pleasant brightness, capable of being coloured, of proper proportions, unbroken, and with sharp ends.

However, my flat mate Christian, who was convinced in purely sexual nature of the book, has manage to find some very relevant and captivating passages. I guess, no quotations is needed – his face tells everything.

Me and my newly acquired three pair of shoes.

Went to market with some of the friends who actually needed something. I had in mind only window-shopping. However opportunities of bargaining (you can go down to double of the quoted price) inspired me so much that I went for it. And bought 3 amazing pairs of shoes.

Me, Sinthya and the wedding horse.

ok… some pictures from the outing

Sinthya (Columbia) and Kanak (India) are making a great kick-off for the whole party



"I love this song", he kept saying...


this is what happens when you ask a guy to take a picture of your pretty face…



it’s not only about dancing, it’s also important to meet people





my German flatmates





brand new Indian me :o)

Life goes on

came home. Inspired by a host of Indian recopied cooked some food... just to figure out I am not hungry and basically fancy papaya. The latter was obtained without effort. Full and peaceful after that I opened my laptop just to hear Synthia giving me 10 reasons why I should join her and Kanak for TC. Five more minutes and I already wear jeans and tank top (or, no, bare upper arms, how can anyone do that?!) – this is the first time I dress normally in India. Feel uncomfortable, oh where is my kurta? Stop it, ha! Three more minutes and Christian and Ralf both get inspired by the idea... We jump in Kanak’s car and drive to the place with some Indian music on the way :o)

Ok, we go to TC – some pub (reminds me of Scotsman in Bergen and or course Scruffy). We enter and I immediately start struggling for breath – so smoky it was that I cannot tell really. The same music as the last time – and they say, it is the always the same. Whenever bored I took pictures and therefore seriously pissed off some people – we’ll see what they say when we gonna watch the result of my photographic work tonight.

Strangely enough, felt as if all that could happen anywhere, but India. I am getting so used to the street India with outstanding poverty and stares that anything but that amazes me even more than poverty or stares. Seriously, the pub was so western, the music was so not-Bollywood, the people were so well-dressed (mostly western style) – this young middle and upper class crowd. How can one country be so... heterogeneous... They say here, there is no single India meaning the regional differences. In fact, before British came there were no India as a single entity – this territory used to comprise a number of independent kingdoms. And even now, when they all became one country, the regional variations with it comes to food, culture, language definitely persist. But.. this saying regarding “no single India”.. it is not only about regional differences, but also about this discrepancy between the street India and the India of offices, clubs. etc...

Just live it

Ok, you are excited for a week, but then...a simple understanding comes. That it is your life that is to be lived… Just the place is different, people are different and the settings are different. Otherwise, you carry on with your things. It’s not like let’s explore the Delhi within the first week and use weekends for traveling around. It’s like ok… what I do today so that I can also do something tomorrow. It’s not like living every day as a last one – swallow without chewing.. But like living, yet anticipate the coming stuff…

Space

It is person him(her)self who delimits or extends place around him (her). Your place could be as big as the distance between Norway to India and as small as distance between your eyes and your laptop’s screen. No matter how many people are running around, no matter there are no doors in the room and no matter you are speaking to someone right now. You can delimit your space. You can extend it.

And from home..... ;o(

Every day 36,000 women in the Russian Federation are beaten by their husbands or partners.
Every 40 minutes a woman is killed by domestic violence.
Official figures say domestic violence is part of the life of every 4th Russian family.

Source: http://www.amnesty.org/russia/womens_day.html

Statistical Overview of Women in India

496 mn - Women (2001), 48% of population
933 Women for every 1,000 men
54% - Literacy rate (compared to 76% men)

Every 26 minutes, a woman is molested
Every 34 minutes, a woman is raped
Every 42 minutes, an incident of sexual harassment takes place
Every 43 minutes, a woman is kidnapped
Every 93 minutes, a woman is killed

540 maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births (The National Family Health Survey: 1998-99)
60 % of female population is anaemic
2.3% of married women in the 45-49 age group are childless (The National Family Health Survey)

Women are under-represented in governance and decision making positions. Even today, women occupy

Less than 8% of Parliamentary seats,
Less than 6% of Cabinet positions,
Less than 4% of seats in High Courts and the Supreme Court
Less than 3% of administrative and managerial positions


Source: http://www.indianngos.com/issue/women/overview.htm

Humayn’s Tomb

last night Synthia showed her pics from the recent trip to Pakistan. I got really captivated by the shapes, colours and ornaments of the Muslim mosques. Wednesday was a day off at work (due to some National holiday – Muslim religions one, by the way).. so I headed to Humayn’s Tomb, presuming “the best in Delhi example of the early Mughal style of tomb”. In fact, a beautiful piece of architecture: geometrically arranged garden and the tomb itself – in red sandstone with some white marble. In fact, smaller version of Taj Mahal in Agra.
Entry is 10 Rs for Indians and 250 Rs for foreigners. The ultimate price discrimination. But… so good to get a nice tip in time… as a holder of Indian registration (stay longer than 3 months) I am eligible for the Indian fares in such occasions and places. Very handy :o)

Stop complaining!

the best way to stop complaining about your housing is to visit some other trainees' accomodation ;o)

Updates from CSR

According to the recent research by CSR (www. csrindia.org) nearly 5 mln (out ot 25 at all) married women in India are victims of domestic violence (DV). Only 1 out of 1000 DV cases is reported. Out of 100 cases that are ordered for investigation under 498A (Legal Act that deals with DV), only in 2 cases the accused get convicted.

In a majority of the cases before a victim filed the complaint under Section 498A, the minimum period she suffered physical and mental torture, was for about three years.

In the cases tracked, the normal trial period was between five to ten years.
There is a general tendency to avoid seeking redressal among the victims of domestic violence. However, when a victim of domestic violence seeks help from any of the agencies, be it family, friends, NGOs, or lawyers, before registering a complaint, at each stage she is asked to reconcile the matter or to put up with the situation. Reconciliation in 498A cases takes place at every stage including the police station, Crime Against Women Cells and courts.

Going out in India: westerns just wanna have fun.

Integral part of going out in Delhi is dealing with rickshaw-men. Getting one, negotiating the price, getting to the place. The place, the right one. I really took it easy, as least knowledgeable person at this point. Otherwise for those who led the process, it really took considerable efforts, number of phone calls, minutes of complete misery due to the lack (no) of clue regarding the directions. The initial plan proved to be not feasible: the place we wanted to get into charged 1500 Rs (34 USD) for entrance only. Some bar was suggested then. Great place – very western though, decent public (minimal stares), felt really secure. Danced for some hours. Were kicked off around 1-30 and went to some hotel to continue there. In fact, as also the guidebooks say, it’s kind of not really great with night life in Delhi. Many of the outing places (mostly bars, with free entry, but very expensive drinks) are actually hotel bars. Our destination (some bar at a hotel) was closed. Got amazed by the luxury of the 5-star hotel which seemed extra-luxurious after what you observe in the streets of Delhi...

First sightseeing

….just an organized array of impressions….

I walk along some avenues at what I mostly see is different kind of fences – massive brick ones with very beautiful forged gates. So, everything is fenced to make sure every one knows his/her place – behind the gates or in front or maybe under…









Palm trees and many more trees that I could not even tell the names of – in fact, I see all this tropical vegetation for the first time.



India gate - the arch constructed to commemorate Indian soldiers killed in the First World War. Massive and boring monument, I am sorry. Much nice open cupola in front.



Area around is a place for family entertainment – people walk, have picnic, eat ice-cream. Nearby there is very spacious area fenced with dried bamboo stems - younger people play crocket (some say, it’s the only kind of sports in the country ;o)



Along the Janpath there is a number of lanes with small markets and some bigger ones in them. Many kind of Indian crafts (not expensive Kashmere shawls, though) could be found along. Overprices like in every tourist place, but I could not resist bargaining for a marvellous pair of ear-rings ;o)











Got to the Connaught place – three ring road inside each other – essentially, shopping area with adidas flagship store and stalls with some cheap small things in the same neighbourhood. Seems that everything in this city is more or less about shopping.. and selling… commerce.







I reach New Delhi Central Railway station and the market nearby. Here I find the ultimate chaos – crossing (almost crashing) flows of busses, cars, rickshaws and motorcyclists. People in between all this. Me not really sure about the direction and all those mam, mam around… First time in Delhi I really feel unsafe and rush to leave it asap.