Another agenda-filled visit

The first time I visited Pune last June, was a visit after three years. I was super excited about a lot of things, mostly about getting to spend an extended time with family and I did just that, in addition to wrapping up my data collection. The second time I visited, which was in March this year was a short 1 week visit to attend my parents’ 60th birthday celebration. This was a surprise visit for them, coordinated behind their backs, secretly between my sisters and me and assisted by my older sister’s in-laws. This third visit from June 7 – June 27 is a three weeks visit, also with an agenda. This time I was in India to get my passport stamped with a US work visa – the coveted H1B. A draught of visits and then suddenly three visits in one year! Phew!

My latest irk with Pune stores is just how environmentally unfriendly everyone is. While the West has realized or is certainly realizing that going green is no longer just a fad but a real effort in the right direction, we here in India are going the opposite way. I truly believe that India is a few decades behind the Western world in a lot of things. I know that my saying so is only inviting trouble from certain sections of society and I welcome those healthy debates. My point however is with things pertaining to the environment and more factually, as indicated by my research attitudes toward working women and the challenges they face. More on the environment….

I remember when I was in primary school, my father would often go grocery shopping to the local roadside vegetable sellers with a huge cloth bag on his shoulders. I was too young to have an opinion about bags at that time. Then times changed. Malls sprung up in town and now plastic bags are everywhere. Every store has their own carved out bags that they knot up as tightly as they can so that people don’t shop lift – what about basic trust in human beings – but then as a society can we be trusted? Why do stores think it important to tie those plastic bags with those plastic knots so we are unable to open them until we get home? Why do they write how many of those plastic bags we have on those receipts that are then verified by some security guard as we exit those stores? Why can’t we be trusted to carry out uncounted bags honestly to our cars or bikes? Don’t even get me started on the sham that is the security at stores like Shoppers Stop and other malls. Not only are women to open their shoulder bags or whatever other bag to show the lady security person what we have inside those bags, but we are also done a body search. I have no problems with security. We live in a society that has sadly brought this upon itself. My problem though is with the sham of it all. If you are doing this for security, at least do a thorough search. What is the point of opening up my bag to you if all you do is merely glance at it? What if I have something hidden inside some zipper compartment inside the bag? Why can’t security be firmed up if and with the right objective? Merely paying lip service to a shammed up process is BS in my perspective – a disaster waiting to happen. The exit door at the SGS mall is so small that in case of a real catastrophe, people are going to be crushed to death as they try to escape and exit the mall. The aisle at Big Bazaars are so narrow and so filled with hundreds of unprofessional staff who are either busy chatting among themselves or entering into your space with every step you take pretending to care about answering your question while in reality they are making sure you don’t steal anything, that one is left disgusted with the whole damn pretencefair that is going on there. But my question truly is – do we deserve this treatment? Why doesn’t anybody say anything? Why do people don’t speak up against these practices? Why do we assume that we have no option other than to put up with whatever is thrown at us.

The other day, at a ladies restroom at a Big Bazaar, two staff members were sitting on the floor chatting away. Soon entered the woman who cleans the toilets and joined the two staff members, also sitting on the floor – this left very little space for those wanting to use the bathrooms to wait in line. A child who was in one of the stalls couldn’t get the flush to work and neither could her mother so this cleaning lady simply opens the door and walks into the stall while the two staff members laugh and the mother just stands, doing nothing. I was so disgusted by the unprofessionalism that I just walked out.

I have no problems with authority that exists within reason and for a reason but needless show of authority and power, just because you can, is simply wrong. I am not done on this topic. Will continue in another blog – need to chronicle my experiences carrying around my environment friendly cloth bag to stores in Pune and the reactions that ensued. Return with pleasure.

Back in Pune

I am back in Pune after almost seven months and this time for strictly family time. This was a surprise visit for my parents to celebrate their 60th birthday.

Then of course, once a researcher, always a researcher. I have been at home mostly but recently we switched from being sworn loyalists of The Indian Express to DNA, the new newspaper in town, new as in a few months old now I guess. As is unfortunately the reality of print media these days, particularly of newspapers, glamour a.k.a. gossip about socialites and the Hindi Film industry and celebrities sells. As a result, news is no longer “news”, it’s more about who’s bum got voted the best in the country. Give me a break! Television “news” channels report ridiculous “news” stories like, “Katrina ne Salman ke kaan mein kya kaha” (What did Katrina whisper in Salman’s ears?)..Are you kidding me???? News? Seriously???

Anyway, I digress. What I was really was getting at was that one of the upside about these stories, print or otherwise is the focus on women. Tucked neatly between stories that talk about fashion trends and uber rich lifestyles, there lie occasional reports about women who have made a mark. For example, today’s DNA reported a piece about Firodia Karandak Best Actress winner Swanandi Tikekar. The reason this stood out for me was because typically, until a few years ago, none of these Karandaks (competitions) really made news. They would be written about in a paragraph or two on some obscure page or column of the city section of the newspaper, unless of course there were some great pictures to go with the piece. This focus on a college level competition is encouraging for those in the performing arts.

The cover story of the After Hrs. Sunday section of today’s DNA highlighted Harshada Deshmukh, an engineering student who excels at car building and rally driving. Her printed quote made sense. She talked about how she was always drawn to wheels as a child and how her parents encouraged her by giving her the freedom to pursue her interests, whatever the field may be. Her comment is reflected in voices of a number of my research participants. Women who have done well in life, career wise, and really excelled in their chosen fields have been those who’s parents gave them the freedom the pursue their passion. Parents stood by their daughters through their struggles and successes. Of course as Indians, such expectations seem natural to us and yet we hear of all kinds of pressure tactics used by parents to either force their daughters into a specific profession or out of it.

The message that I want to get across through today’s blog entry is that parents should support their daughters in their academic and career pursuits. I feel very strongly about this issue. We are traditional daughters who really want our parents’ unconditional support for our career growth and development. In fact, this expectation seems ‘normal’ coming from my sensibilities. This is not to say that girls without parents’ support are unsuccessful but knowing that we have their approval and that we are making them proud is just an added motivation booster. I feel extremely fortunate and blessed to have the best set of parents who have always put my sisters’ and my dreams before their own and encouraged us in everything we ever wanted to do.

Woman at the petrol pump/gas station

Today while entering into a gas station with papa, I noticed that the person in uniform standing at the entrance of the station to usher in cars was a woman. My research antenna immediately raised itself. While entering into the gas station, I pulled down the glass window and asked the woman if regular petrol was available. She courteously said yes and ushered us in. I debated for a few seconds on whether I should indeed step out of the car and talk to the woman or not. As I sat there inside the car debating on whether to step out or not, I saw another woman, this time a young girl, also in uniform walk across our car with some cash in hand, obviously transacting between the customer and the payment counter. Finally I realized I would be a fool to let go of this tremendous learning opportunity and stepped out of the car and walked towards the woman who had ushered us in. I did not have my camera, my consent forms or my recorder but I wanted to hear the woman and listen to what she had to say – and this was genuine human/researcher curiosity combined. I wanted to know the woman for knowing’s sake, I wanted to know her to the extent possible and within those time limitations of course, rather than think of her as a subject and another number on my total number of interviewees list.

As it is my project had reached data saturation and had formally concluded only yesterday. So I walked toward her and addressing her as “Tai”(older sister), I asked her how she liked her job. She said she really liked it a lot. Then on some probing and some of her own initiative, I learned that she was an orphan and grew up in an orphanage all her life. She was married now and both her husband and mother-in-law supported this job of hers. She was paid Rs. 4500 which was great for a woman she said. She spoke about how proud she was of herself and how whenever she talked to her friends, they too were proud of her and her chosen profession. She said that she had wanted to be a nurse – was very interested in that but since her education was only until the 10^th she couldn’t pursue nursing. However, she did do her ITI which meant she learned welding and all other kinds of engineering jobs. In addition to this job, she also works at a shop on MG Road she said. What a hard worker! I congratulated her on her skills and wished her the very best in her profession while also mentioning that I felt very good about her doing this for herself and for standing on her own feet. I wished I could talk to her some more but she had to work and I had to leave since papa was done paying and we were ready to go. Yet another story of common every day people beating the odds and becoming a somebodies in their own right. Bharatiya nari…I am so proud of you! It cannot be stressed enough how absolutely true it is that we learn from every single person we meet in our lives and as Richard Bach rightly said it, all the situations and all the people in our life are there to teach us the lessons that only that moment or series of moments or interactions with them can teach us.

There are two sayings that I firmly believe in. First, everything that happens in our life is for a reason and with a definitive purpose and even if we don’t quite get it right then, the explanation will follow in some way, shape or form, sooner or later – it will just reveal itself to us and only then lead us to some genuine retrospective sensemaking. Second, every person we meet in our life is there to teach us a lesson, however trivial or enormous the scope of the lesson, that lesson could only have been imparted by that one person. More Suchisms on their way soon…

Still got it!!!

My instincts for driving on the streets of Pune, that is. After over two months in Pune, I finally drove my Kinetic out on the streets yesterday. I had been warned against doing so for two reasons, first, the traffic of Pune has worsened since my last visit three years ago and second, there have been a number of new roads and flyovers that often render the once familiar city, strange and unknown. All these days I complied with a heavy heart. After all once upon a time I considered myself the queen of Pune roads. I loved hopping on my kinetic and zooming around town for business and pleasure. Driving a two wheeler in Pune is the epitome of ultimate freedom and you will pardon my exaggeration if you have lived in Pune and know what it is to have to otherwise depend on public transportation or expensive rickshaws. Fortunately for me, I’ve always had the convenience of a two-wheeler as it is commonly called since my school days, first a bicycle and then a Luna in my first and second year of junior college. Once my older sister went to the US to pursue her Masters, I got her Kinetic Honda coinciding with my entry into Senior College. So as you can see, I’ve never been without mobility and without that freedom.

I have been in the US for the last 7 years. The first time I visited Pune was in 2002. At the time I would ride pillion with my sister. I distinctly remember how shocked I had been with the increased levels of population, pollution and traffic. I would hang on to my sister or the tire behind for dear life as she zoomed around town. The second time I visited in 2003, in the short 3 weeks’ visit, never got to ride my kine. The third visit, 2005, I had resigned to the fate of the three downers mentioned earlier. I also rode the kinetic a couple times, once taking it all the way to Pune Central on Bund Garden Road – quite gutsy I must say. This is my fourth visit and I’ve been very obedient in not driving and sticking to the rickshaws to drive me to and from my interview locations.

Yesterday however I don’t know what got into me and I just had this great urge to drive, by myself again. This time however the kinetic, now almost 14 years old, no longer starts through the battery, it has to be kick started every time. Given me and my temperament, this doesn’t work for me – having to kick the kine a few hundred times before it finally relents – not meant for my kinda people. Luckily for me however since my sister had ridden the kine earlier in the evening, I was able to push start it (battery start) and didn’t have to go through the horrendous and tiresome kicking exercise. I had a smile on my face as I tied up my scarf – my own good old scarf (which my sister now uses), in the perfect face-covered-with-only-eyes-revealed manner – a style perfected by the girls and women of Pune and felt the kinetic come alive. I removed it from its stand, reversed it like a pro and off I went, sending a silent prayer Heavenwards.

Oh the familiar wind in the hair/scarf, the traffic, the twists and turns you make as you navigate your way through traffic, the incessant blowing of the horn or the “noise” button either by me or other drivers on the road, the heightened senses and alertness as you look in every possible direction to either avoid hitting others or being hit by them, the familiar route (I took an easy route – what was once my everyday road to work), I cannot explain the feeling. I was finally enjoying this freedom, I could drive all night and still not tire. I LOVED IT!! It was liberating. After parking it at a Pay n Park location, I went about my shopping. Finally when it was time to return home, the kinetic wouldn’t start no matter how much I kicked it (literally) – to start it of course. Finally I had to ask this random guy who was waiting on the street with his girl friend (I presume) to help me start the vehicle which started promptly with one kick of his..hmm..anyways, after that I didn’t have any more trouble, and as I returned home twisting my body and the kine through the traffic of humans and other vehicles, overtaking and speeding in the darkness of the evening, the familiar smells, sounds, and sights surprisingly calmed my senses, put a smile back on my face with a confident voice at the back of my mind reminding me that I had still got what it took to drive on the mean streets of Pune.

Meanwhile today I had another interview at a familiar location. Work is going well. Along with collecting data, I’ve started on the transcriptions which are going slow but at a good pace. Other than that, I am looking forward to wrapping up the project and finally go on a relaxed vacation to Goa and Mangalore…I fear that this may not be a vacation for long since I’ll have to start preparing for OCMC between now and September 3. Heaven help! But to my professors, colleagues and well-wishers who read this blog, I am doing well with the project and although things are a little slow at the moment, they are not without their good and great moments. Rest assured, I am not slacking

Restaurants of Pune

You cannot be in Pune for long and not taste its multiple cuisines, Indian as well as international. One of the most obvious in your face change that has enveloped Pune are the number of eating options available to people of every economic level. I mean seriously!! Now the vada-pav has always been a local favorite and need I add, a personal one too. If you can imagine – after staying in the US for so long, one of the first things I ate at a food mall on the drive from Mumbai to Pune was a vada-pav with garlic chutney – yummm…I was proud of the fact that despite my immune system having gone through a relatively peaceful time in the US, it still had the stomach to (literally!) devour a vada-pav…Jai Maharashtra! I digress.

So anyway, moving on from the vada-pav, since I’ve been in Pune, I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy eating out at a number of places. Among the first ones was Panchavati Gaurav on Bhandarkar Road or the vicinity. I visited this place with my entire family except Madhu of course since she was at work but the rest of us, including my older sister’s in-laws and daughter were with us. The specialty of this place is its thali lunch and dinner. Thali meals are typical in almost every part of the country. I’ve had Maharashtrian thali, Punjabi thali (coincidentally at another Panchvati Gaurav but in Ahmednagar), South Indian thali and so on. The restaurant in Pune offers a Gujarati thali which I really enjoyed – as I do most food anyway. Below is the a copy of the 31-items menu from the day we visited and another image of the actual thali – now you know how much I can eat ) and mind you, these thalis are unlimited (of course you can choose the limited versions as well where you get a pre-decided portion on every item on the menu already served for you on the thali).

The 31 items include: Welcome Drink (Jaljeera), Two types of desserts, Two kinds of farsaan (1 fried, 1 boiled), Four kinds of vegetable sabjis, four types of rotis and puris, three kinds of daals, one kadi, two kinds of rice preparations – plain rice and khichadi, chutneys and a whole lot of condiments as well as papad, and curds.

Panchvati Gaurav menu for the day

The actual thali

Then another restaurant we visited was Silkroute at Koregaon Park. Sure it has some great reviews online but I wasn’t quite impressed. Sure the crowd was among the upper middle of society and the ambiance was good but it failed miserably in a number points important to me – first the restaurant did not have a child seat for my 2.5 year old niece which obviously didn’t go down well with any of us…but then being Indians, we just did what most Indians do best, just adjusted to the situation, second – the plates had a distinct stink to them. Of course since I was the only one who actually smelt them and found the smell disgusting, it could just be me and my over sensitive nose. The food was alright. People have raved a lot about the food there but I wasn’t too impressed. Okay the food was good but I won’t go as far as to say it was great or the best restaurant meal I’ve ever eaten. The best thing about the restaurant though is the availability of multiple East Asian cuisines under one roof – Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indonesian – from what I can remember. Perhaps the next time I visit, I should go for the sushi as has been recommended by several reviewers. Then again, having tasted authentic sushi in Japan, I won’t be surprised if I turn my nose up again )

A third place we visited when my sister, brother-in-law and niece were back in town was Mainland China. Now this place, I really liked. We went to the one on Senapati Bapat Road. I have absolutely no complains about this place except the extremely strong insecticide kinda smell in the wash room. So strong in fact that when I was sure people around me could smell it. Anyways, the food was great, they actually had a child seat, the ambiance did get a little noisy toward the end of our meal but overall this was a great experience and I would highly recommend it.

Earlier this week, we visited Moti Mahal, a restaurant on Dhole Patil Road. Now the name Moti Mahal isn’t exactly appetizing, nor is it very tempting. The food however was excellent. My sister and I enjoyed our Latino and Margarita drinks and the meal itself was great – rightly spiced, appropriate food quantity, clean (and non-smelly) plates, courteous servers, and a good ambiance all over. One negative factor however (yes, there is one) was the fact that people could actually smoke IN the restaurant. I didn’t get this – such a wonderful place and then one major spoiler – there was this guy at a table across from us smoking – imagine!! I actually thought of walking up to him and snatching his cigarette but restrained myself. Not that the smoke or his smoking per se were bothering me but the complete lack of concern for the patrons around him as well as his about one year old kid sitting on the mom’s lap right next to this smoker was what was getting my blood to boil.

Much earlier in the visit, we had visited Flags, the restaurant next to INOX. This restaurant served international cuisine as well and the food was great, really wonderful and we all enjoyed a yumm meal. The only problem however was a housefly that had gotten near our table and found the perfect person to victimize – me. Other than that, no complaints. The ambiance was good and the food was great. The staff was alright.

Besides the ones mentioned above, a number of restaurants have mushroomed around town, including international fast food chains such as McDonalds, Subway, as well as Papa John’s. Not to mention the likes of Pizza Huts that have already consolidated their position in the local Indian market. Overall for those with the money to spend, the energy to hop restaurants, and the willingness to try new cuisines from local fares to international delights, Pune certainly stands proud and tall as a food connoisseur’s paradise.

Women are sincere workers

Today I was at a local Marathi medium school to interview three peons – all of them women. Even though mid way through the first interview, my participant was sent for by the high school principal, I was able to start and complete a second one right then. Just being among the three peons and having seen them work on the two other occasions that I have visited that school, I just know how sincere and committed they are toward their work. While I was waiting for my first participant to return, I saw the third peon walk up to the school, three flights of stairs carrying two huge and heavy bundles of BalBharati books for standards 3, 4, and 5. Soon after she climbed a few more flights of stairs and carried the books to the respective classrooms and as soon as that was over, she went across the street to get some things photo copied. Meanwhile, the peon I had interviewed completed some work in the principal’s office and then at the appropriate time climed a flight of stairs and rang the school bell signaling the end of that class period. On other occasions, I’ve seen these women make and serve coffee to visitors, arrange chairs and tables for visitors as well as for programs held at the school – and all this in addition to their other regular jobs including keeping an eye on the boys and girls.

When it was time for me to conduct the interview, we needed a couple chairs to be pulled into the room and these were not the chairs with rollers, these were regular wooden chairs and the participant peon insisted on being the one to lugg them all the way and of course I refused and carried my own chair. I could clearly see that this made her uncomfortable. There are several possible explanations for this – could be that I was a visitor to the school and so as host she wanted to be the one playing the perfect host and make things easy for me or it could be that she just didn’t think that a petite woman of 5′2 was capable enough to lift a heavy chair (given that she was at least 5′8 and of athletic built) or it could be positional differences, visible class differences/educational levels or some such effectively differentiating demographic factors. Even so, the interview was progressing well until we were disturbed but then I made the most of the situation and interviewed her colleague, another peon.

The number today is 56 and a half I guess. I am traveling to Mumbai tomorrow and hope to collect a couple more interviews there. Also before I leave tomorrow, I will visit Prabhodini again and complete some necessary work.

Until I return…

Pics – on the way to and in Mumbai

On July 28, 2008, all of us visited Mumbai to attend Amey and Amanda’s wedding ceremony and reception. Even though rains nagged us throughout the journey, the sights along the drive were picturesque and made the drive worthwhile. After attending the ceremonies, we left for Pune around 9:30 and reached home around 1:00 a.m. great time with no halts along the way. The last picture is one taken within Mumbai city – a certain area was water clogged for a while but it did not bother our drive or purpose in any way.

On the highway to Mumbai from Pune

Cruising along the mountains to Mumbai

One of the many tiny waterfalls en route to Mumbai

Just another rainy day in the life of a Mumbaikar

One question at a time

Research is moving along at a slower pace now compared to the steam it had gathered in between. I have completed 55 interviews till date and although I feel like I am approaching a certain level of data saturation, I do believe that collecting another 15-20 interviews will only help my cause. Of course I am hesitant to narrow down on an exact number as is the case with any qualitative research but given how the nature of data being collected I can reasonably say that the number of interviews stated above should be good.

Yesterday and today I had the opportunity to visit Dnyan Prabodhini and interview two female priests. I must say I am impressed with their attitude and general demeanor. Going into it and despite having read about the number of female priests in Pune, I did not go into the field with any pre-conceived notions about them or about what to expect. They look like your typical Indian woman clad in saries and a bindi adorning their foreheads. They were soft spoken, friendly and very encouraging of both my research as well as their participation in it. They are organized and extremely professional with how they approach their work assignments and yet very accepting and inviting of random people like me who call them out of nowhere and request interviews. It was a good experience and more of that in my actual dissertation.

The story so far…

Now for some serious talk. I am progressing well in my research. I have slowly but surely started noticing certain commonalities and themes in what my interviewees are saying. I think I know which way this is going and I think I know what I can do with the data I am gathering for my analysis and interpretation. Numbers wise, I am currently at 43 and have two interviews scheduled for today and two for tomorrow so far with perhaps two more working out.

With this research, I am actually learning how absolutely wonderful of a job I currently have. Despite the minor setbacks with interviewees attitudes and no-shows, I cannot believe what a tremendous learning experience this is turning out to be. Surely I knew it was going to an educating experience and I certainly expected to learn but the actual learning I am getting is so much more than what can be put into words. This has been a journey of self growth and development almost as if the on field data collection was an excuse for my learning. The greatest pleasure I have in life now is derived from the fact that indeed, just as I had envisioned, I am able to use my Western education and training to understand the lives and experiences of people of my own country. How fortunate am I! The stories the women tell me, about their lives, about their careers have been inspirational. On a number of occasions, when my interviewees shared the moments of their lives few have been privy to, I have had to pinch myself underneath the table – not because I couldn’t believe what they said or that I needed to stay awake but because I didn’t want to cry and however lame it may sound, I pinched myself so I could contain the tears slowly starting to swell up in my eyes. I have such a greater respect for women and our lives now. It’s amazing how life’s different situations teach you so many unexpected things.

I have been humbled by my experiences and I feel so truly blessed to have had the opportunities I did to do what I am doing now. All the people in my life, all the situations have been there for a reason and I am glad I took most of the lessons they were there to teach me. I certainly hope to do a great job with my research and contribute to my discipline and make my professors proud. Beyond that however, selfishly speaking, it has been an introspective journey – a journey that continues…

Visit to Lonavala

Earlier in July, since my older sister and her daughter were with us, we decided to visit nearby Lonavala for a little break. We left on July 8 and returned on the 10th. My little sister had to take a couple days off from work but we all got to go and take a family mini-vacation after a long time. Now Lonavala is famous for its Chikki – a desert made with sugar syrup and peanuts as the main ingredient even though modifications of this original recipe are common. It is a hill station of sorts and a popular destination and a quick getaway for wearied folks from places like Mumbai and Pune. We didn’t care much for chikki or to make this like a touristy visit. We were there to just be with each other and spend quality time together which is exactly what we did. This visit of mine to Pune is after three years – my last visit being when I came down to renew my US visa in 2005. My research was going well and I was comfortable with how things were going which was important for this trip. Moreover, sis and niece were leaving for Mumbai that Friday so it was an opportunity to be together before she left. Otherwise my self-imposed no-pleasure-trips-until-I-complete-my-research agenda has remained unchanged.

Here are some pics taken from the car during the return drive from Lonavala to Pune.