feet on the ground

Arriving thus far has been a whirlwind. Coming into Delhi I was a bit surprised at just how normal and un-un-familiar every thing has been. Talking to people and getting around the city has been no problem, though I must say I very quickly tired of cris-crossing the city in an autorickshaw everyday for registrations and meetings. Hopefully I'll be better sorted for my next visit there in January. I guess the big news so far is that I'm changing before my very own eyes into someone who is really living and working here, as opposed to someone who is here as student/traveller. I now have friends I want to visit in Delhi, Varanasi, Jaipur, Pune, Mumbai, and Madras. I have a mental list of places I'd like to get to in Delhi and Uttaranchal. My meeting with my contact at the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts saw me transformed from an erswhile graduate student to a "junior fellow" being introduced to several notable Indian scholars and talking about when I might give a talk at the center. After finding out third hand about a major conference on ritual happening in Delhi, I finally had the opportunity to introduce myself to the foremost western authority on the area in which my research is located (Garwhal), and through him met a German anthropologist who has been working for years in exactly the area in which one of my research sites is located (Ukhimath). At her invitation, I met her in Dehra Dun (having arrived in Mussoorie the day before) because a group with whom she was working was giving a performance at this year's Uttaranchal Heritage festival. She then introduced me to the members of this group, most of whom live near or in Ukhimath. So even before I arrive in Ukhimath I can happily look forward to numerous friendly contacts.

Now I'm in Mussoorie, a hill station that was the one of the first places I ever stayed in India. I'm catching up to myself a bit at the moment and doing some language work, enjoying reunions with several teachers whom I've not seen in six years or so. One of them has greatly improved his ping pong skills and handed me my you know what today in our first rematch. Being here is also existentially useful as it gives me an opportunity to remember myself as I was six years ago here in India, before starting my phd and before my time in Israel. I was definitely better at ping pong then.

Under the heading of special things that have happened so far three come immediately to mind. At the Uttaranchal Heritage Festival I spent some time just hanging out and waiting for things to get under way. During that time, an artist created a rangoli (a design created on the ground using color chalk that employs geometric and sometimes figurative elements) on the ground between two sets of bleachers found on the grounds of the festival (Ambedkar Stadium in Dehra Dun -- somewhat ironic that the Hindu rangoli was placed directly beneath the name Ambedkar, who is famous for championing those Indians most often victimized by the established Hindu social system...). This rangoli (identified as an Omkar rangoli from Pune) was an image of the Hindu god Ganesha, elegantly situated inside a canopy which was itself situated inside an oval. Watching the rangoli come to life was quite magical, as was watching the crowd that gathered in fascination as the artist worked. Children were entranced, and many women (who are usually the rangoli makers) were clearly touched by a combination of seasoned appreciation (as experienced rangoli makers themselves) and nostalgia for the times when many more people used to create them. The roughness and brightness of the powdered colors was powerful to me in a way that a manufactured image would have trouble being. I felt lucky to be there.

The second special thing that happened was that last night I was walking along the pedestrian mall at Mussoorie (which is a bit of a tourist trap) and one man kept looking at me and began to beckon. Since this often happens and is usually a sign of incipient pressure to buy something, I started to show annoyance when he said hey, don't you remember me? I interviewed you in Kedarnath a year and a half ago for my documentary on the Char Dham! He was right. Two Mays ago, I made a preliminary visit to Kedarnath for about a week, and had consented to an interview on the condition that I speak only in Hindi, which was fine with him. So he remembers me, and I'm going to meet with him sometime in the next week or two and get his advice about my research -- he appears a compendium of knowledge about sacred places in Garhwal so it should be a good meeting.

Finally, on the bus on the Delhi Meerut road, I saw through the window a shop called Time and Space Repairs. Kant would have packed up and gone home.

So things are off to a good start, though I do feel a bit lonely at times.