Dussehra in New Delhi

Namaste!
I have been in New Delhi for nearly three weeks, and already I am starting to envision where I will live and travel- when I finish school and come to stay permanently.  Sitting here to write this, I am having difficulty sorting out the flood of memories, thoughts, and excitement about the rest of my internship into a coherent entry.

This afternoon, Marie (the other intern) and I had our first semi-formal Hindi lesson- finally! I proudly ordered doe (two) bottles of panni (water), this time able to specify the size I wanted (barra)! The gentlemen at the counter all gave a friendly chortle when I delivered my new vocabulary, as they have been witnessing the development of my (so-called) Hindi over the past few weeks.

I have not yet experienced Delhi Belly, but I am pleased to say I have experienced chole, gobi paratha, aloo naan, and paneer- all examples of my tasty dinners in New Delhi!

The NGO with which I am working is great.  The Human Rights and Law Network (HRLN) is bursting with interesting characters, and I feel so lucky to have met these human rights superstars who have such an inspirational commitment to human rights. HRLN works in a number of initiatives, including Women’s Justice, Disability Rights, AIDS/HIV, Child Rights, and the Environment.  I am currently ‘officially’ working in the Environment Initiative, though I still have the opportunity to learn about other initiatives as well.  My day is usually occupied with research- most recently on the Canadian Judiciary and recommendations for improvements, in order to contribute to India’s National Campaign for Judicial Reform.  I have learned quite a bit, in a way that falls under the saying “The more you know, the more you don’t know”.  I am learning about things that I didn’t know I didn’t know!

Tomorrow is Dussehra, and there will be celebrations of Good over Evil with the Burning of the demon Ravanna.  It is extremely risky for me to be writing about religious holidays since I’m certain to get storylines, names, and meanings all wrong.  It is also difficult for me to keep track of them all; there are many religions that peacefully coexist all at once! Nonetheless, I’m happy to learn that Shiva is the lord of destruction, and Vishnu the lord of preservation; that Lord Rama is returning from 14 years in the forest, and that he defeated Ravana and took twenty days to return- the 20 days of Diwali!

Before I left, many people asked me “Are you scared?” They were probably referring to my leaving family and friends, being in a new environment, or even traveling alone at night.  Not everything has been saffron and rainbows. Often I feel isolated, have difficulty sitting in the office for 9 hours, and feel a host of other frustrations.  But scared? Truthfully, the only thing that makes me nervous is with regards to my usefulness to HRLN as a 3-month intern.  I want to be as valuable as possible and have quickly realized how busy everyone already is without having to additionally deal with a new kid on the block.  That being said, my current strategy is to commit to the following: be fearless about asking questions, participate in everything, and read everything in sight.

I love this.

Victoria

P.S. There are sounds of cannon-fire, children’s laughter, and Indian music outside my window in the park.  WAIT- Timbaland’s song Way I Are is now blasting!  It is now 11pm and this has been happening for the last two nights. Very thorough preparation for Dussehra, it appears. The music has stopped. And the children’s laughter has turned to crying.