sunday off

We had a free day on Sunday, although it ended up being the most tiring being out in the heat and humidity all day long. I spent the day with Esha (my roommate from Bombay) and Karl (from Detroit, but at college in Edinborough).

This is a picture of me outside of Parthasarathy Temple. An old woman just came up to me and put this powder on my face and then asked for money. I gave her a couple rupees, and then wiped it off...


We weren't allowed to go inside the gate here, so I'm still not sure what this temple and moat was all about, but it was very beautiful and peaceful.




This was a piece of the temple that they were in the process of building out front. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the temple, but that was definitely more picture worthy than the few shots I was able to get outside. We arrived right at 4 and walked around to the house of 3 different gods. They pulled the curtains back (closed throughout the day so that the gods could rest) and allowed people in to pray and offer gifts to the gods' feet. The statues of the gods were amazing, so big and beautiful. Most of all it was great that Esha was there because she's also Hindu and was able to explain any questions we had.



After the temple, we went down to Elliot's Beach. This is me with Esha.


A few fellow interns - from left to right is Karl, Shalin (India), Eivand (Norway), and Nikhita (India but an undergrad at Brown).


This next picture is one that got us all talking. This young girl (probably about 5-6) was doing tricks on this tightrope while a large crowd was gathered around. I think it really impacted most of us that weren't from India that a practice like this could take place. There was a man and woman playing music, presumably this girl's parents, but there's no way to be sure. A few of us launched into a depressing conversation about the prevalence of child labor in India and how big of a problem it really is. The Indian natives were offering a unique perspective, not condoning or justifying the practice, but explaining how and why it comes to be. They provide a simple example that if a husband dies leaving an unskilled and uneducated woman as head of the household who has no job prospects, is it better for the child to be taken out of school in order to beg for money/clean a wealthy person's house/walk on a tightrope for entertainment, or for her to starve to death on the streets. I have no answer to this problem, and seeing it first-hand was truly depressing. It justifies that NGOs and other humanitarian organizations are fighting so hard to eliminate child labor. However, it seems so prevalent in this country, that it would take a drastic shift in mindset of the entire population to accomplish this goal. Not impossible, but discouraging...


Well, that conversation happened right as we arrived at the beach, and we decided to salvage the rest of our day and try to enjoy ourselves. Here are just a few shots I took...it was really surreal to be at a beach where everyone was fully clothed on a 95 degree day.




My foot and Esha's foot.

The boys got to strip down and go swimming. At first I thought they were lucky because there weren't any norms preventing them from doing so, but then I thought about how gross the water was (with trash flowing up on the shore) and I wasn't too disappointed that I was missing out!

Shalin again and Dany (Venezuela).