Day 6: Meeting my Sanskrit teacher, Dr. Aradhana Tiwari

In India, no one washes their own clothes or clean their own houses, but the houses are  super-clean. There are two domestic maids: one is a man probably in his early or mid 30s who is in charge of cooking meals for the entire house and the other is a Marathi woman who doesn’t speak any English or Hindi but the local state language. She cleans the house on the weekends and washes our clothes, the man cleans the house everyday on the weekdays and cooks really good food for all of us. Before I leave Pune, I have to make sure to give them a good tip for taking care of me. I told my housemates that in the west domestic maids are unheard of. Everyone does their own laundry and cleans their own houses unless you happen to be an upper-middle class family. And about class status, I really gave them a good education in the American class system. I think that they really appreciated the fact that I was able to answer all of their questions and more. In turn they taught me a good many things about modern Indian society.

My housemates actually drink and smoke usually in the morning and then in the evening, sometimes in the afternoon; they rarely chain-smoke. They asked me if I drink, but I said no because even in the States I don’t do any alcohol. They are not rowdy or anything so don’t worry about my safety. They are very nice folks who come from middle-class families. They said that in India the government makes it hard for people to buy liquor because they impose a high tax, but that makes Indian want to drink more, not less.

I'm still learning my housemates names.

There are like 7 ppl in this flat including myself.

I also met my teacher Aradhana today and talked with her for about an hour and a half. She told me a good many things about herself. She has two children: one boy and one girl and her husband is a solar energy salesman. He wasn’t at home when I came since he was traveling to see a state minister about some solar energy plans. She lived in Abu Dhabi for about 6 years while her husband was working there and regretted the fact that she wasn’t able to study Sanskrit during that time because she had to take care of her children. Finally she complained to her husband about the lack of mental food for her in Abu Dhabi so the family has moved back to Pune where she is now working at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research.

 Her approach to teaching me Sanskrit, which is yet to be seen, is probably going to be quite different than my sanskrit teacher, Durga Pisharam who is back in the States. I will be meeting her 3 times a week in which 2 days are devoted to grammar, I don’t remember what the third day will be. She seems to be very insistent on teaching me Samkya Karika, a philosophical work that she specializes in. I asked her if it’s possible for us to finish the book that I was reading with Durga because I am so close to finishing it but she simply said that I should finish it with Durga. She said that she will be my guide but I will have to do the walking which I am well aware of. I told her that my goal for the summer is to have memorized all the sabdas (declension of all noun paradigms, there are about 160 of them in Sanskrit) this summer. She told me that it was not necessary. The important thing is to read and keep on reading, and practice, practice, practice. I will try and find out what she meant by that. The pay for her is quite expensive--15,000 rupees for a month worth’s of class which is equivalent to $375/month a bargain for one on one class but still very steep since I only see her for an hour three times a week. However, she told me that if I have any questions whatsoever, I can always call her. I need to find out whether there are any Sanskrit recording for the sabdas because that’s how I memorize many of the paradigms, by listening to the recitations by Durga. I really have faith in the rigorous methods that Durga forced me to do when I was studying with her. The methods was brute memorization which is extremely helpful and I need to continue to do that while I am here for 2 months. But I will try to be open-minded to Aradhana’s methods because she will be teaching me grammar which I have learned half-assed at Berkeley. The grammar in Sanskrit is very complex, and even Durga herself never started grammar with me because I was not ready until I have learned some of the basics--hence my skepticism. Durga also told me that if nothing else, I should remember to enjoy India...because that’s why I’m here. I haven’t forgotten those words.

Women sit sideways when riding a motorbike, not men.

Today, I actually went on a really fun motorbike with my housemate, Vikas, a really nice dude. Man, at first it looks scary as hell but it’s quite safe. He’s a good driver, but without any helmets and protective gear...an accident could be deadly. I wonder how many motorbike related accidents in India?

Vikas from Bihar...very nice and funny roomate

 We drove around town, went to a mid-price restaurant and shared a mutton masala with very good rice. The mutton was delicious. The atmosphere was nice, not too many people which kinda sux...I was kinda on the lookout for cute Indian girls. I wanted to buy more shirts and dhotis. We went to Fab India which I think is equivalent to the Gap or Banana Republic, bought a kurta (an Indian shirt) there. Then we went to a kind of pop-trendy store that surprisingly sells dhotis. I bought one set which has two dhotis in it. Then the workers there helped me put it on. None of my housemates know how to wear a dhoti. Unlike the lungi that I was wearing earlier which is a like a dress for men, a dhoti is like wearing very loose pajamas like slacks. It wraps around the waist and legs---very comfortable than the other type of pajamas styles which hugs tight to the legs and thighs. The only problem is I need to learn how to put them on.

They cut the set into two dhotis all for the price of 650 rupees.

Two men help me put it on...they did it fast.

 

The finished product! I luv it.

Someday I'm gonna master wearing a dhoti

Oh, one more thing...because I will be stuck in Pune for most of the summer, I will definitely want to travel outside of Pune on my weekends--maybe even take a three day weekend every week to go somewhere new. Otherwise it really won’t be much of a vacation or very fun if I were stuck in this apartment for the entire summer. So definitely every week, I will plan out a trip around India.