29 June 2016 Talk about culture clash: Asked at the front desk for assistance in getting the air conditioner in our room to work, and the man at the desk said he would “send a boy up right away.” The so-called boy was a young man standing right there. This reminded me of the American South, where once upon a time it was okay to call African American men “boy.” A sign of dominance and power. I found it disgusting within my cultural worldview. [We were asked by our leaders to comment on the culture clashes we observed in India.] And from that of The White Tiger, the main character having no given name but Munnu (sp.)—Boy—I think it also is a derogatory term in India, stemming from the British Imperial rule. I have been thinking about The White Tiger a lot; even finding an allusion perhaps to the Ramayana, where one minor character is struck by a woman’s beauty and keeps looking back at her, to the point where he is running into an elephant ahead of him. I am wondering, though, if that book is an analysis of capitalism rather than of India; maybe both. The author describes the excesses of capitalism in gross detail. But it is over-the-top in its condemnation of India and Indians. Is no one honorable, honest, worthy? Perhaps the father, but then he is killed off by hard work and disease (by capitalism). One has to ask if the friendliness of Indians one meets is genuine or is a type of servility aimed at the main chance. That book ruined a lot of things for me. [Later note added to this section: I haven’t been thinking this recently. People are genuinely friendly.] Perhaps I’m just in a bad mood, but I don’t care for Rama [in the Ramayana] either. His treatment of Sita is unconscionable. I just finished the book. I knew from Nina Palin’s animated film “Sita Sings the Blues” what was going to happen, but it still upsets my personal sense of injustice; and I think it did that of Pankaj Mishra, at least in the Introduction. I could go on, about certain semi-important women who are not listed in the cast of characters, but I will stop being a grouch. 28/ or rather 29 June—India Arrived @ Hotel Star Plaza. The drive here reminded me a lot of Tijuana: wide boulevards, crazy traffic circles, gated hotels next to half-finished construction. India is ahead of the U.S. in gated communities, but we are catching up. Glad I read The White Tiger before arriving. Saw the turn-off for Gurgaon, the area where he served as a driver. Also the India Gate with the statue of Gandhi lifting out the masses from the muck. [Correction: This is the Salt March statuary!] Which the main character disparaged. As I saw the empty cars with drivers hanging out nearby I also recalled the book. I saw people sleeping in the street, but that was not unusual in San Diego. It was only when we turned off the main street into the hotel neighborhood that the sight of stick figures sleeping on their rickshaws that the dramatic difference became apparent. I sat on the plane with a couple from Nepal who are devotees of Sai Baba, so we had an interesting conversation about him, their family, and Nepal. Kabita said the extremes of poverty were not as great in Nepal as they are in India—that people at least had food and shelter. [Her husband’s name was Krishna.] The hotel is nice, what I would expect for people on a budget like we are. I felt bad I had no rupees for tips. I tried in 2 airports in the U.S. to get some: one had no Indian rupees; the other advised against buying $10 worth, since the service charge was $9.95. Not to mention a lousy exchange rate. I wonder if the muzak will be on all night. . . . Well, it’s atmospheric anyway. Then again, I’m hearing something from outside. Don’t think it’s the muezzin since it’s 1:00 a.m. But I’m definitely not in Friday Harbor any more! 26 June 2016 The White Tiger got me through plane changes and long flights yesterday. But it confirmed all my prejudices and fears about India. It is a very bitter book. What a contrast to Gandhi, who had been discussing his commitment to truth and absolute honesty. Well, Aravind Adiga was also honest, but the character he presents is not—primarily for reasons of survival. I was interested that he dedicated the book to Ramin Bahrani, whose movie “99 Homes” I just watched. Bahrani describes people in the U.S. so desperate they will do anything. [Bahrani] also wrote “At Any Price.”] Adiga’s discussion of caste is quite different from the conversation I had with Sandhya in Friday Harbor. She was betrothed @ 8, engaged @ 16, and married @ 20. But last year she left her husband of 35 years (India-born, but living in the U.S.) and struck out on her own. Her grandfather was a M.P. who lived in New Delhi, caste name = Naidu. Anyway, she said caste was unimportant except in politics and marriage. That it was no big deal any longer, except maybe in rural areas. She was impressed that we are going to Connaught Square, which she said was very posh and which was closed to Indians during British rule. So it will be interesting to compare her perspective from Adiga’s. Of course, there is a double standard for women, and that was not really addressed in Adiga’s book. I’ve read other novels on that subject. One last thing on Gandhi: his devotion to practice and to living out the Bhagavad] Gita is similar to another book I’m reading: devotions by Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century Christian monk. They seem to coincide in remarkable ways. By popular demand (well, at least three of you) I am going to publish the journal I kept while I traveled in India, June 27 to July 28, 2016. It will mainly be unexpurgated, though I may change a few names to protect the guilty. I welcome your comments and questions!
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Author Rebecca Moore is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. She is currently Reviews Editor for Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions and Co-Director of The Jonestown Institute. Archives
December 2021
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