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| A lackluster front entrance for a university. |
I explored parts of Pune today mainly the University of Pune and the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. The great thing about the university is that it is a 7-10 minutes bus ride away from where I live and the cost is a mere 7 rupees. I think that a lot of students are still on vacation and so the university has been pretty sparse. I talked to a professor there who was a little condescending and I was rather put-off by her lack of assistance.
After talking to her, I went to the library which was quite small but has a nice collection of Sanskrit literature. There I met Anant, a graduate student, who was reading a philosophical work with Hindi commentaries. I asked him what he was planning to do after he finished his masters in Sanskrit and he replied that he will be a schoolteacher. I was very impressed when he said that because to want to become a schoolteacher in India is to know that you will be living a life of poverty.
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| truly a very rare person. |
No one here in India wants to be a schoolteacher; everyone wants to study either business or engineering. Software engineers and business majors here are a dime a dozen and Anant is a 'rara avis' in the land known for Gandhi, philosophy, and spirituality. Heck no men whether young or old in Pune even wears the traditional dhoti and kurta anymore. Even more so, it seemed to be looked down upon and so you have people wearing jeans, slacks, and dress shoes in temperatures that are insanely hot. Not sure how Americans would think when they see people wearing black jeans and collared shirts in temperatures that range in the upper 90s to 100s--I find it rather odd, but then again many Indians are amused by the fact that I'm a non-Indian wearing a dhoti. Personally, I don’t think India will ever be a great nation if it continues to put the west on a pedestal.
"Happiness can come from work and pride in what you do. India lives in her villages and the terrible poverty there can only be removed if their local skills can be revived. Poverty is the worst form of violence. And a constructive program is the only nonviolent solution to India's agony. It will not necessarily be progress for India if she simply imports the unhappiness of the West." - Gandhi
It used to be a nation known to look inwardly for truth with men seeking truth not from the outside but from within. Now I just feel that India is either losing its identity or at least forgetting the richness of its cultural heritage.
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| Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |
I took my leave after wishing Anant the best of luck with his studies and walked towards the entrance of the university to catch an auto-rickshaw to Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. Here I actually found the place a lot more welcoming. This place is actually quite renowned b/c you have a bunch of foreign scholars who come here to take advantage of the vast collection at the institute. It’s also a very nice place to study even though it’s quite hard to find. The rickshaw dropped me off somewhere on Bhandarkar road even though the institute was not even on Bhandarkar road! I almost gave up trying to find the place but after asking my way around I was able to find it after about 20 minutes of walking. Here I will be spending at least 2-3 hours a day studying Sanskrit for the next two and a half months.
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| The library where I will be spending most of my time |
This Thursday afternoon, I am planning to go to Aurangabad to the Ellora and Ajanta caves. I am very excited about this trip because there will be lots of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain statues that were carved by monks. I am really, really looking forward to this trip and will keep you guys up to date. - Quang out.
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