Thursday, December 30, 2010

Let me explain...


Oh hey Britney, thanks for the example. I would often get that puzzled, slightly disgusted look, modeled by Miss Brit, and then the "why India?" after someone was told where I would be studying abroad.  I have stored into my rote memory an answer that is so perfectly condensed by now that I don't know if I believe it.  My answer got shorter and shorter, but was always something to the effect of "I just wanted to experience a non-Western culture." Okay, so I don't even know what the hell "non-Western" culture means. I just really really did not want to say Eastern culture, because, be honest, the first thing that pops into your head is an East Asian country like China or Japan or Korea. Basically, I now understand how a politician blurts out an oversimplified jumble of abstract nouns when asked about some issue.

So what is the real reason I am spending the rest of my savings to go to India? There are many, and the honest answer was probably too long to explain to a person who already gave me the puzzled/disgusted look when I mentioned going there anyway. But for the people still miraculously reading this, i.e. my mom and possibly a polite guest of hers who must read this while waiting for some wine, GOD PLEASE BRING THE WINE THIS IS WORSE THAN BABY PICTURES. Anyway, sorry dear soul. First a confession: on a guttural level, it's the food. Curry for breakfast, anyone?

Okay I'm going to get even more boring. Much of my interest in India stems from a fascination with a culture that is so pivotal in world affairs yet so unknown to us Americans. India has its own pulsating powerful media that remains uniquely untouched by the American media.  Along with its own tectonic plate, India keeps to its Bollywood and its saris, ignoring our reality TV and skinny jeans.  Although this may mean that Indian culture looks completely foreign to us, I also can't help but think it reveals a common philosophy with America.  Even though much of the world is well-acquainted with American culture, we also don't allow outside media to maintain a significant place.  We keep to our reality TV and skinny jeans, and ignore Bollywood and saris.  
As a result, we can't help but have a naive understanding of other cultures, of India and Pakistan and Bangladesh and China.

And yet that area of the world is glowing with issues and events and wars and changes that will go down in history.  My urge to go there (besides the food) was probably catapulted by the fact that in 2011, this is where history is being made--even if it won't make it to American history books.  Not that I wish to be a part of that history, but I wish to better understand the context of what is going on in the world.  I often feel that I cannot truly make informed opinions about world events, because the information is so thoroughly filtered through our American media. Although India has its biases, the people understand their culture better than we do, even if many Americans may haughtily disagree with that point.  I know that India and its surrounding countries are only a small section of world relations, but it is a vital section that I feel utterly ignorant about, and I hate that feeling. Even if this is way too unrealistic of a reason to spend four and a half months in a country full of contrasts, it is still my young mind's reason.

So off I go, straight to the horse's own subjective mouth.

Cheers