the auto rickshaw

so how do people get around in india? well, there is always the pedestrian method, which people use fairly frequently. there is also the bicycle option, another popular method. if you have a little more money and are more of the independent sort, then a scooter seems to be the most popular option. the scooter is typically driven by a male (although honda did come out with a “scooty pept” version that comes in many colors, including pink and purple, to try to encourage the female market – now you just see lots of men driving pink scooters around town). finally, for private transportation, the car or SUV is the utmost in luxury, convenience, independence, and, of course, expense.

on the public transport side, you can hire a car that comes with a driver (this is perhaps the safest option if you only plan to be here a short time and don’t have the time to learn the indian way of driving). for long distances, the train is nice, albeit a bit slow. public buses go around town and between towns. i have yet to conquer the bus system, although i always find bus systems much more difficult to navigate than subway or train systems.

and, of course, then there is the ubiquitous auto rickshaw. a three-wheeled vehicle – basically a 2-stroke scooter with an open-air cab. they supposedly run on a meter system, but there are all sorts of permutations to the meter system. in mysore, the auto meter rate was 12 rupees (US $0.30) minimum, plus 6 rupees (US $0.15) per kilometer. that was before the transportation strike. gas prices went up, but meter rates stayed the same, so everyone went on strike for a day or so. now it’s up to 14 rupees base fare, plus 7 rupees per kilometer, but with gas up to 55 rupees per liter (close to $5 a gallon), it still seems a bit of a sour deal to me.

at night, the rates are 1-and-a-half times the meter, and other special cases allow the driver to quote a price at his discretion. this usually depends on traffic, rain, direction he was originally going, and, of course, how much he deems you to be desperate to go where you’re trying to go. generally, the goras (white foreigners) tend to seem the most desperate because they may be carrying a seemingly absurd load of luggage from traveling or bags from the market. so this tends to increase the first quoted price, which usually can come down a bit, but only the most seasoned hagglers will get the indian price. if the rickshaw-wallah (driver) is alone, you have few other options except walking away, and if he is among many other rickshaw-wallahs, they tend to band together to insist that the fare the first one told you is right. eventually someone defects, and you get a slightly better fare.

some rickshaw-wallahs trick out their autos with fancy seat covers, airbrushed declarations of their love (of a wife or a god) on the back, or even install speakers to play the latest indi-pop (watch the video).

[insert video - connection is too slow here to upload from here, will upload when i get home]

while the auto is an excellent way to travel around town, it’s not really suitable for long-distance travel. technically meant to carry more than 3 passengers, the auto has been known to carry entire classes of schoolboys or entire families (including grandma, grandpa, and perhaps auntie and uncle).

the auto also isn’t exactly the best for weatherproof travel. when you’re out and about and the raincloud bursts suddenly, the auto is exposed to both the rain coming down and the puddles splashing up. however, the auto definitely provides more shelter to its travelers than the scooter – people will stand under bridges and awnings to wait out the worst of a storm.

the indian head waggle

so, when one thinks of india and indians, one thinks of the stereotype of the indian head waggle, that characterizes indians all over the world. well, at their home in india they definitely manage to hold up their end of the stereotype bargain.


meet the beautiful young saachi. she is about 9 months old, and she is already working on the indian head waggle. in fact, i would venture to say that she has already mastered it, and she is just using it to express herself before she has the words to express herself. i think she is saying, "hey mama, keep tickling my belly because it feels so good!" and because her mama understands the indian head waggle, she knows exactly what she is saying.

saachi is an HIV-positive orphan who is currently being adopted by an american couple from chicago. the process normally can take up to 2 years, but because her mama is here working on the process from india, hopefully they will be able to take her home in just 1 year. they just had to spend a week in the hospital to take care of some respiratory issues, which luckily (because you need a little luck in some hospitals here!) helped instead of hurt.

the fact that she is learning the head waggle at such an early age shows just how important and pervasive the gesture is. when i first arrived, aside from the presence of the indian mustache, the head waggle was the first thing i noticed. i've always associated it with indians, but i before i got here, i didn't quite realize how it was used for such a variety of communications. it seems that it can mean any of the following:

• greetings: "hi! how are you?", "i'm well, thanks! and you?"
• confirmations, in response to yes / no questions: "yes," "sure," "okay," "no problem," "i think you're a crazy foreigner, but i guess i'll do what you're asking me to..."
  
• confirmations, while listening: "uh-huh," "yeah, yeah, yeah, i hear ya," "mmm-hmmm"

at first, it's difficult to get used to because it resembles a negative nodding of the head in north america / western europe, but after a while, you find yourself doing it as well - just to make yourself understood.

the indian moustache

where did it come from? when did it arrive? why is it so popular? where is it going?

i don't believe i can answer all of these questions because many have tried:
a blogger about india - india's fascination with the mustache
a forum of asia's finest - why indian men like to grow moustache
even the BBC - indian police given moustache pay

kumar (otherwise known as bert), chef at the mandala cafe in mysore, india, grins a mustachioed grin for the camera. all three of the cooks in his kitchen (3 of 3) have a mustache. is it a sign of manliness? or a way to compensate for unmanliness? were they born with them? is there a religious significance? is it a relic of colonial times? that was so long ago...

i realize that i set out to answer all your questions about the indian mustache, but here i am just asking more questions. sorry about that.

when we visited the mysore palace the other day, i noticed that the maharaja who built that palace around the turn of the century had a very manly indian-style mustache back in 1894. so this trend has definitely been around for a while. what's difficult to tell is why it has remained so popular in india when the mustache has fallen out of style in the rest of the facial hair-capable parts of the world?

meet venu (otherwise known as ernie) - he almost has a shogun mustache, which seems to be the manliest form of the indian mustache. i think it fits his personality.

this is all good for the grown men. but even the young men must show their transition into manliness.

this is karthik, and he also works in the mandala cafe. he's 17 and has his own version of the indian mustache. we don't have a sesame street name yet for him, but i'm thinking elmo would work.

i hope to learn more about the indian mustache while i'm here, but this is all i've got for now.

hello!

i have finally decided that it is about dang time for me to join the blogging community, and every time i google myself, a bunch of other emi kubotas come up, so i wanted to snatch up the blog url before another emi kubota did.

i recently finished grad school and found myself facing the possibility of years of the real world without a month off to do what i've been wanting to do for about 5 years now... go to mysore, india to do a month of yoga. and now it's happening.

i leave on monday to fly to india on a frequent flyer ticket (thanks ma!) to bangalore - it'll take me 2 days to get there, and i'm hoping to make a little pit stop in singapore for some veg dimsum or laksa noodles during the day.

the big mysore guru sri pattabhi jois requires that his students book a full 2 months in advance, and since i didn't decide to make this journey until several weeks ago, that clearly wasn't a possibility. instead, i'll be studying in a much smaller yoga shala just around the corner - the mysore mandala, with mr. v. sheshadri.

i am hoping that this experience will get me focused on finding my dreamjob so i can come back and join the workforce in the big apple.

i should have internet access, so i'm going to try to blog regularly. even if you don't read the entries - the photos should be an interesting way to travel with me on my yoga journey to india!