party, party, ehm.. party?!!
15 November 2012 | India, Secunderabad
Happy Diwali! That is what I have been saying very often the last couple of days. Because all of a sudden, it is the middle of November already!
And once again, a lot has happened since I wrote down my last little story :)
But mostly good, positive things this time. So time really does fly when you are having fun.
The post-halloween party, for example, was a great success. After a lot of eating, a considerable amount of booz, “dancing” on some music and laughing with my new friends we went to a place called Kismet. Now Kismet is one of the few ‘disco’s’ of Hyderabad. It is located in a Hotel on the 3rd floor, if I’m not mistaken, and the dj plays mainly up-tempo bollywood songs. So I had no clue about the music, but it was great fun. Especially to see my two female flatmates dance all the bollywood moves :P And then the day after our amazing party I went to the houseparty of another friend, which was also mainly enjoyable :) And then I had to take the Sunday to get over those 2 nights of sleeplessness…
Actually, in the last 2 weeks there have almost constantly been one party or another! Because there was also the engagement of a colleague, there were the 2 evenings that we said goodbye to two of my flatmates, I met another Dutch girl in Hyderabad which was great fun, and then last Monday and Tuesday it was Diwali!
Diwali truly is a great festive occasion, but also one that is celebrated within the family, so I guess it is less fun if you are not invited into one to join them in their joy. I therefore also feel very happy that I wás invited into two families – both of colleagues. On Monday evening I took my American flatmate to the house of one of the colleagues, where we met many of his (by now befriended) cousins and other family member and lighted an aweful lot of fireworks (mainly crackers and the heavier bombs) and then had a nice dinner.
On Tuesday, at the family where I spent my first days in Hyderabad (“so you are coming home” – the remark of one of my hosts was.. ^^), I joined in on the poojas. These are small ceremonies where you light candles on the altar of some sorts, pray to the God(s), and offer sweets and puffed rice. It was at first a little awkward to be present at such event, but my colleague explained that nowadays it is more about (self)reflection and thinking about what you would like for the time to come. Well, that I can do :P
And I could – eventually – wear my own sari! This is a little story in itself, which I hereby like to call The Sari Trilogy. In the first episode, I had to pick a sari. In the second I had to get the blouse tailored, and in the third part the sari was taken away from me by the help to get it ironed. Now the latter part would be the most extensive piece of the trilogy, because the help took it but did not return it untill 10 minutes before I REALLY had to leave on Tuesday evening. But after many, many phonecalls, asking unknown people to speak to her in Telugu, and quite a few moments of intense frustration, feelings of disappointment, and even anger (and I am hardly ever angry – it is a rather foreign emotion to me), I finally got it back. At that moment the feeling of relief was enourmous and I could enjoy the rest of the Diwali festivities both in style, and even a bit in my own style.
So those were some of the highlights of last week.
Someone asked me after reading my last entry here, whether I could write something about the food, or about ‘surviving’ in Hyderabad in general.
I think that the above story about the sari gives a little bit of a hint as to how surviving here sometimes works. Almost anything is possible, when you know local people who can support you a (little) bit whenever necessary. I realized the importance of both feeling independent (being independent is a different matter, I think) and of knowing your social network and keeping in mind the people who you can contact whenever something does not work out. Also, I learned here that it is good to venture around by yourself – see what you can do – but if something does not seem to work out it is very important to me to be able to speak to someone to help me out when I don’t feel like I can manage on my own.
In the last 2 weeks the latter has also been bothering me a bit, because at work I did not get time to reflect upon my work with my colleagues. That made me feel rather uncomfortable, but after pointing out this issue things are now better, in a way, and my days will probably be very full untill the end of the internship. Which is a good thing, because I rather do some harder, but more significant work than spend my days working on something practically insignificant (see my last blog..).
But to come back to “surviving”.. I have never felt at any time in India that I was in a survival mode. I have until now been able to find my way around (studying google maps is indispensible, though :P), I have tried, liked, and disliked different kinds of food (and also just let some things be – I would for example never, EVER, buy meat from the meatshops on my way from work to home. The smell… it would almost make you faint). And relatively minor discomforts such as no soft bed, no shower or no decent cooking pots.. well.. that takes some getting used to and some improvisation, but those are not things that make one’s stay horrendous.
Maybe improvisation is one thing that is quite essential in the Survival 101. Because what do you do, when something goes wrong? Or when there is a power cut when you cannot use it at all? Well, you take what you do have, and find another way to get (closest to) your goal. And that is what you do. Maybe it is because I have never felt entirely out of place, or because I could adapt to my new environment (that is to say: I was not offended, maybe the people around me thought I was absolutely mad..) but I think that it is just important to not be too stunned by whatever you come across. By that I mean: don’t think you cannot take it, because you can. And if you put some (will)power into it, you will even in the hashest looking circumstances). Besides, there is a maximum of six degrees of separation on this world, so even while it may take some time you’ll always get there – wherever or whatever or whoever –at some point ^^
Ok, this blog is already quite long. I’ll post another one soon, about food.
*she wrote while enjoying one of her few home-made Indo-European fusion cooking efforts, containing okra, onion, spices and… farfalle – just because that is what happened to be in the house :D nomnomnom
And once again, a lot has happened since I wrote down my last little story :)
But mostly good, positive things this time. So time really does fly when you are having fun.
The post-halloween party, for example, was a great success. After a lot of eating, a considerable amount of booz, “dancing” on some music and laughing with my new friends we went to a place called Kismet. Now Kismet is one of the few ‘disco’s’ of Hyderabad. It is located in a Hotel on the 3rd floor, if I’m not mistaken, and the dj plays mainly up-tempo bollywood songs. So I had no clue about the music, but it was great fun. Especially to see my two female flatmates dance all the bollywood moves :P And then the day after our amazing party I went to the houseparty of another friend, which was also mainly enjoyable :) And then I had to take the Sunday to get over those 2 nights of sleeplessness…
Actually, in the last 2 weeks there have almost constantly been one party or another! Because there was also the engagement of a colleague, there were the 2 evenings that we said goodbye to two of my flatmates, I met another Dutch girl in Hyderabad which was great fun, and then last Monday and Tuesday it was Diwali!
Diwali truly is a great festive occasion, but also one that is celebrated within the family, so I guess it is less fun if you are not invited into one to join them in their joy. I therefore also feel very happy that I wás invited into two families – both of colleagues. On Monday evening I took my American flatmate to the house of one of the colleagues, where we met many of his (by now befriended) cousins and other family member and lighted an aweful lot of fireworks (mainly crackers and the heavier bombs) and then had a nice dinner.
On Tuesday, at the family where I spent my first days in Hyderabad (“so you are coming home” – the remark of one of my hosts was.. ^^), I joined in on the poojas. These are small ceremonies where you light candles on the altar of some sorts, pray to the God(s), and offer sweets and puffed rice. It was at first a little awkward to be present at such event, but my colleague explained that nowadays it is more about (self)reflection and thinking about what you would like for the time to come. Well, that I can do :P
And I could – eventually – wear my own sari! This is a little story in itself, which I hereby like to call The Sari Trilogy. In the first episode, I had to pick a sari. In the second I had to get the blouse tailored, and in the third part the sari was taken away from me by the help to get it ironed. Now the latter part would be the most extensive piece of the trilogy, because the help took it but did not return it untill 10 minutes before I REALLY had to leave on Tuesday evening. But after many, many phonecalls, asking unknown people to speak to her in Telugu, and quite a few moments of intense frustration, feelings of disappointment, and even anger (and I am hardly ever angry – it is a rather foreign emotion to me), I finally got it back. At that moment the feeling of relief was enourmous and I could enjoy the rest of the Diwali festivities both in style, and even a bit in my own style.
So those were some of the highlights of last week.
Someone asked me after reading my last entry here, whether I could write something about the food, or about ‘surviving’ in Hyderabad in general.
I think that the above story about the sari gives a little bit of a hint as to how surviving here sometimes works. Almost anything is possible, when you know local people who can support you a (little) bit whenever necessary. I realized the importance of both feeling independent (being independent is a different matter, I think) and of knowing your social network and keeping in mind the people who you can contact whenever something does not work out. Also, I learned here that it is good to venture around by yourself – see what you can do – but if something does not seem to work out it is very important to me to be able to speak to someone to help me out when I don’t feel like I can manage on my own.
In the last 2 weeks the latter has also been bothering me a bit, because at work I did not get time to reflect upon my work with my colleagues. That made me feel rather uncomfortable, but after pointing out this issue things are now better, in a way, and my days will probably be very full untill the end of the internship. Which is a good thing, because I rather do some harder, but more significant work than spend my days working on something practically insignificant (see my last blog..).
But to come back to “surviving”.. I have never felt at any time in India that I was in a survival mode. I have until now been able to find my way around (studying google maps is indispensible, though :P), I have tried, liked, and disliked different kinds of food (and also just let some things be – I would for example never, EVER, buy meat from the meatshops on my way from work to home. The smell… it would almost make you faint). And relatively minor discomforts such as no soft bed, no shower or no decent cooking pots.. well.. that takes some getting used to and some improvisation, but those are not things that make one’s stay horrendous.
Maybe improvisation is one thing that is quite essential in the Survival 101. Because what do you do, when something goes wrong? Or when there is a power cut when you cannot use it at all? Well, you take what you do have, and find another way to get (closest to) your goal. And that is what you do. Maybe it is because I have never felt entirely out of place, or because I could adapt to my new environment (that is to say: I was not offended, maybe the people around me thought I was absolutely mad..) but I think that it is just important to not be too stunned by whatever you come across. By that I mean: don’t think you cannot take it, because you can. And if you put some (will)power into it, you will even in the hashest looking circumstances). Besides, there is a maximum of six degrees of separation on this world, so even while it may take some time you’ll always get there – wherever or whatever or whoever –at some point ^^
Ok, this blog is already quite long. I’ll post another one soon, about food.
*she wrote while enjoying one of her few home-made Indo-European fusion cooking efforts, containing okra, onion, spices and… farfalle – just because that is what happened to be in the house :D nomnomnom
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16 November 2012 - 01:50
Lisa:
I like! Goed om iets van je avonturen te horen! enjoy meisje!
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
