My'sore in Mysore

Dear Friends,
After three weeks, the newness is beginning to wear off and things out of the ordinary seem quite normal. India is certainly a country of contrasts. Diwali Festival just ended (although I was warned that in a week there will be another grand night of firecrackers - again). I believe it was the night of 10 November - the last night of the Festival of Lights - that the firecrackers began at 6 PM and continued literally (and excessively) non-stop until around 2 AM. The noise was so constant and loud that neighbors in the house next to my bedroom window turned up the music they were playing and then were shouting at each other in order to be heard above the resulting din (gunga). The owner of one of the places where I eat meals said that the growing number of Indians working in the IT sector has produced this new affluence in the south resulting in bigger and bigger spending on events such as Divali.

Food in the south is mainly vegetarian and it is delicious. I did see a local place that advertised Fried Chicken. Just about a mile from where I am staying is a major intersection where you can find a Domino's, Subway and a Pizza Hut. I haven't seen a burger place yet. Visiting schools is quite an event. They have been very welcoming and generous with their time. Usually I meet with the Principal first, chai is served and we talk for a while then other teachers are summoned to meet me and we talk some more. Then we start off to visit the classes in which I have expressed an interest. I am escorted to evreything. The escort(s) stays with me all the time. At times they become bored with the lessons observed and suggest that we can leave now, but I insist on staying through to the end.

The students are eager to speak with me when given the opportunity. In class they are completely engaged in the topics. Sometimes they are called to do board work, at times they are simpley asked to explain a theorem or a technique. When the teacher has asked a question in class generally all hands shoot up to hope to get called upon to answer. When given a problem to solve, they get on it immediately trying to be the first to offer a solution. They use no calculators (log and trig tables are allowed) and they know plenty of short-cuts and quick-tricks to manage the arithmetic needed in either algebra, geometry, trig or calculus. All of the students wear school uniforms except for those in what they call junior colleges (this is grade 11 and 12 here and the students have a tough syllabus). I have purchased some books used for those grades to indicate the curriculum studied.

I have yoga class starting at 5:15 AM and I am finished by 7 AM. Schools don't begin until around 9:30 AM. The weather is pretty constant. About 80 each day cooling to about 70 - then the Indians put on scarves and sweaters. It's humid and I am still adjusting to that. Other things like cows loose on the streets (also ponies, goats, dogs) competing with ox carts, bicycles, pedestrians, mini Indian cars, larger SUV like vehicles, ornately decorated trucks, scooters, motorcycles and flower festooned, smoke belching 2-stroke auto-rickshaws amid a cacaphonous variety of horns and the way everything seems to mesh with little altercation makes life here even more unique. Everyone drinks filetered water - if they can afford it. I have a 20 Liter bottle delivered for 50Rs (about $1.25).
Wishing you could all have the opportunity to be here and enjoy the experience.
Lars