It rained.
Why is this so funny? Why, when I woke up ready to go to Rameswaram with my family two days ago (to be told in this entry) did I laugh/find it ironic when I looked outside and lo, a thunderstorm was abrewing?
Four reasons:
A) it is the dry season here in Tamil Nadu. I have not seen water falling from the sky since it was in the form of crystallized whiteness that ordinarily greets me on my way to Anthro class at Colby. So, I laughed in joy-- because god, did it feel good to have rain fall on my face again.
B) My host brother woke up that morning, took a look outside, and lay there shocked for 2 minutes. Those whole two minutes, I was against the wall in a very Kevin Baier-like manner (specifically after he just poached the shit out of me in a game of die) laughing my ass off. His face was epic. I won't even attempt to try and describe it.
C) As part of my IS report, I have been talking about erratic rain conditions that farmers have gone through over the past 10 years. I had just finished my paper the day before, and so, when rain came booming through the heavens, I could only think of how incredible it was to rely on it for water. I began to think about how these farmers looked up at the clouds and asked "why" on a daily basis, because the dry season left them to rely on ground water, which is quickly being eaten away. And so, I looked at the rain, and I remembered my IS project, and I asked myself how these farmers will react to such a rain in a season that is termed "dry" for an obvious reason. I'll find out next week when I go visit some of them to say goodbye and thanks again before I leave for North India and, likely, will never see them again. I can only hope that I left a good enough impression in their minds; because a lot of their stories and experiences are engrained in my consciousness, as was clear when I saw the rain, and thought of them.
D) It happened a day after I was invited to one of my informants' villages to celebrate a festival with him (story to come-- pics tomorrow?). As part of the festival, they ask for a good harvest and plenty of rain for the crops. For them, it was a show of faith in nature. To me, it was an array of color; something to be photographed and told about later (which I will do here). Now I'm not saying that this festival had anything to do with the rains straight after, but it did certainly make the point that you can't just discount parts of a culture as colorful and something I should remember. It's a part of their life, and they believe in this festival and practice it for a reason. THe fact that the rains came so quickly after this festival may have been a simple twist of fate, but it was quite amazing that this happened regardless. The potential that the weather had to do with the festival can't be the sole reason behind the rains, but it was very invigorating and inspiring to see it pay off. The people that participated in the festival were dancing, and full of spirit, and didn't care about the fact that it was currently 97 degrees outside (the sun was behind the clouds). They were bathed in sweat and dancing around like the world didn't matter. I can't put words into their mouths, but to experience this was beautiful. There was no other word for it. To be surrounded by drum beats, dancing villagers, half of which balanced plants on top of their head, rambonxious kids shouting the name of a politician that had made their lives much better within the last 5 years, adults losing themselves in the practice... was beautiful. That festival revealed a people with a deep desire to live, and they lived it through spirit. And so, the rains came, and I thought of this festival, and contemplated on how real it was, and how real the after affects were...
That rain felt good to touch and smell again... but man did it fall-- hopefully not to the point where the farmers' crops get destroyed: right now they're growing dry crops, and if the fields get too waterlogged, they'll die, and the soil will erode, and it'll just be a bad situation. I can only hope for them to not have to rely on the government to pay them back for the damage caused by nature, a value that would only amount to 1/2 of what they had invested on the lands. I'll update that as soon as I visit some of these people.
And now, my update. I'm not going to update my life from last tour, because frankly, it would take far too long. Suffice it to say that the pics of Pondicherry I have on the site are enough to tell that story.
The IS period was incredible. I've never felt so alive in my life. I can't describe to you how incredible it was to go into someone else's home and talk to them about their life. THere was a spirit in their words that I couldn't describe. Whenever I ask questions to people, I usually have to wait for the answer... but I would ask a question through my translator, and they would just talk. They wouldn't stop. They wanted me to know about every single detail. One person, once I sat down in the chair and turned on my recorded, just started to talk to me; I hadn't said one word except "vannakam (greeting word)" and shook my head in a half yes half no motion (it's the Indian way to greet someone politely for the first time). I got to touch their lives through conversation, and what was so amazing about it was that they wanted me to, even though they had only met me five seconds before I uttered a word. They saw me, and they just wanted to talk. I would get back to the SITA center with 3 hours of solid interview, much of which was not at all useful to my research, but I didn't care. The stories and experiences they told me about surrounding their lives were just so real and so incredible. It wasn't that they were incredible or epic tales of struggle or even great stories to tell at parties; it was the way in which they told it to me, or how my translator translated them. It was the way in which they were so blunt, so real, so there. I can't describe it, but regardless of what information I would get from an interview, whether it be useful to my research or not, I would always come away from an interaction with these farmers and feel full of life and full of happiness. It was such a thrill to delve that close into someones life after just barely being a part of it.
What was my IS project about? well I won't write the 45 page paper that it ended up being (why it turned from a 15-35 page report to 45 pages, I have no idea, but the director said, if it makes sense, then go for it, so I did) here, or even try and recount it, because it was too complicated, but I was essentially studying how farmers around Madurai, to a large extent, have been left behind in the development model that India is using right now. Over the last 10 years, the agricultural economy has been very unprofitable for farmers due to erratic rain/water conditions (in the form of long droughts or huge torrential rain storms), overinvestment in the green revolution technologies, and a vacillating Indian market for agriculture. These factors have forced farmers to often invest, say, 10,000 rupees in their land over a three month period (the time it takes for a farmer to harvest his crops) and receive only 5,000 rupees from the crops he produced. They lose money each harvest, and are thus forced to either sell their land. Because of the money losses, they also have to borrow money, and, while the gov't gives a lot of subsidies to try and help out their money management, farmers still must deal with debt on a daily basis. "Damn my generation to hell" said one of the farmers. They have lost faith in their occupation, and in order to deal with this, they have begun to sell their land to invest in their kids education so that their children won't have to deal with this unprofitable field. The education will integrate the children into a development system that will provide them with regular wage jobs, such as a software engineer, or a teacher, or something else.
But, what is interesting about this whole situation, is that NO ONE is pointing to development as the problem. The development model that India is now running on is based on Western models of capitalism, a system that barely, if at all, helps out the lower classes. Instead, (and you'll have to trust me on this, or read my 45 pages of evidence, your choice) the development model has left people to BUY INTO IT if they have enough money, and has left out the population that most development economists have claimed to create their policies around: the poor. It favors those that can afford to get an education or integrate into this system... and farmers, trying to deal with their money issues, have only been able to do so by sacrificing themselves and their money security for their children. So, I argue, that development is leaving out what should be its chief beneficiary: the rural poor... if you want to hear more about it, I'll tell the details in person, cause I really don't want to rewrite it (beleive it or not, 45 pages double spaced is quite exhausting. Yeah, I wouldn't have thought so either).
IS was great, and it will be the part of India I remember the most. The people I met, the things I saw, and the lives I fell into filled me with such a rush of excitement: I was discovering life at the ground level, and not through a method that I have been chiefly taught at Colby: through distant sources, namely, books and scholarly journals. I don't want to sound like an elitist prick in saying this... because books are great and journals certainly have an important place in our lives (despite the fact that reading them are sometimes, in a word, a bitch) but it was just so great to get behind all the authors and understand how accounts are made... Definitely a different type of learning that I will cherish forever...
At the same time, I feel really guilty about IS. I went out and interviewed a group of people who were struggling in their society, and all for my report that would, ultimately, go nowhere. It would go to two places: A) to the SITA library of reports where other future students may use it as a template for their own research (which I doubt, cause who would read 45 pages when they could read one that was only 25) and B) to my record as a Colby student, ultimately for MY future. I used their experience for me, and I really can't get past that, cause in the long run, we're all trying to find happiness, so why should I get the credit and leave them chillin in their fields still struggling through their money problems? I dunno, I had a great time, but ultimately, I feel guilty invading these people's lives and having nothing to give back to them... and maybe, yeah, my presence as a Westerner as their guest gives them satisfaction (here to serve a guest is a great source of enjoyment and happiness), but I can't help but think that I'm leaving them with the short end of the stick.
Anyway, I have more to report, but I won't because this is far too long already, and I am quite loquacious (see comment about 45 page paper with 15 page min. required). I still have my birthday to retell, my 2 day trip with my host fam, and other IS excursions, but I can do that at a later date.
For now, I'm incredibly happy. I'm finally in India without ANY responsibilities, meaning I can just live and let live (which has, recently, become my motto). I hope you all are doing great, and I will see many of you in the near future!
Love and missage,
Has (Kerrigan/Jimmy!)
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