Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I live 20-30min outside of Delhi in a city called
Gurgaon in the state of
Haryana. Gurgaon is considered India's Cyber City -
in many ways the city is still a say 70-80% of the city is under construction; there's no escape of the dust, noise, and road bloackage created by the boom of office and apartment buildings.
The city in many ways lacks culture; the exact words of my Indian work colleagues were:"...there's nothing to do around here in Gurgaon except for going to one of the malls. And they all really look the same."
Only 20-30 minutes outside of the capital of India, Gurgaon, in many ways represents to me a perfect example of what Thomas L. Friedman examined in his book,
The Lexus and the Olive Tree. According to Friedman, the world is currently facing two struggles: the drive for prosperity and development facilitated through globalization, symbolized by the Lexus, and the communal desire to hold on to and retain cultural identity and traditions, symbolized by the olive tree. This idea of the constant struggle of our increasingly globalized world is so apparent in Gurgaon - a city where the demand for new red brick high rise buildings to accommodate the outsourcing needs of multi-national corporations doesn't seem to cease or slow down; where new billboard-plastered shopping malls appear out of nowhere everyday to meet the increasing demands of the Sari-wearing young professionals with now extra disposable income to spend.
Every morning on my way into work, I find myself fascinated by the different scenes I find my self surrounded by: there are rikshaws, packs of cows, people in business casual attire with their laptop messenger bags, company executives and western expats in the backseat of shiny white 'Tourist'-marked cars reading the India Times, the street vendors offering quick bites on the-go, street-side barbers, and the traffic jam. I feel like I'm presented with that amazingly mind-boggling experience every morning.
I can't help but think about Friedman's two challenges; the demand for young educated women in this emerging economic superpower has pushed the community to abandon some of its most traditional customs. Young women now live away from home for work, sometimes by themselves, sometimes with other young women. Some of these women are yet the same women that follow some of the most traditional Indian customs, such as arranged marriages and the dowry system.
The contrast of tradition and globalization is so apparent in every moment of everyday life here...
(Heather, me - looking awfully sick, & Pallavi)
World's largest canon, has only been fired once - for testing purposes.
(Sushmita, me, Pallavi, Mrinalika, & Sweta...oh, oh, and don't forget the random dude in the background)
...and Sush lost!
We made it into Amritsar pretty late, around 1:30am or so. So, we went straight to our hotel, which was conveniently located a few blocks from the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib). Outside of our hotel:
Above a typical merchant's house - the architectural integrety is still intact, but the house is fairly run-down and is now, from what I saw, is used as a community house.
On Saturday morning after grabbing a quick bite to eat, we made our way to the Golden Temple.
(My breakfast)
The Golden Temple is absolutely magnificent and not just in an aesthetic way, but I think what fascinated me the most was how representative if a continuum of life.
Some devotees believe that their visit to the temple remains incomplete without bathing at this spot. So, it has become a custom to stop and bath here for any kind of healing.
in many ways the city is still a say 70-80% of the city is under construction; there's no escape of the dust, noise, and road bloackage created by the boom of office and apartment buildings.
Every morning on my way into work, I find myself fascinated by the different scenes I find my self surrounded by: there are rikshaws, packs of cows, people in business casual attire with their laptop messenger bags, company executives and western expats in the backseat of shiny white 'Tourist'-marked cars reading the India Times, the street vendors offering quick bites on the-go, street-side barbers, and the traffic jam. I feel like I'm presented with that amazingly mind-boggling experience every morning.
After a nice lunch in Khan Market, I visited Delhi's Lal Qila with friends from work and the flat-mates. The place was packed with families and visitors.
(William, Me, Daud, & Tim)
We climbed on-top of one of the tombs and I think at one point while I was taking pictures on the other side I lost track of the guys, but they were right there on the other side peaking at me.
(James, Mrinalika, and Pallavi)