From Masala to Bollywood and everything in between! Catch up with me and my time around South Asia

I don’t even know where to begin….it’s been quite a while since my last entry. Plenty has been going on and keeping me rather busy. In my studies I have been paying more attention to the treatment of and status of women in Indian culture. I’ve found out a great deal that is hard for me to grasp and really settle with in my head. Traditionally Indian culture is Patriarchal, and most of the power is given to the men, women are expected to take care of the husband and the house…but NOT in the same way it is thought in the west. Men are still helpful and loving, especially with the children and is expected to provide for his family’s every need, especially those of his wife. I have experienced these trends, many of my traditional (and even modern, to some extent) male friends feel the need to pay for the meal, or if we’re out shopping they will pay upfront and I will pay them back later, often I cannot order my food on my own, a male may ask me what it is I want, but they may not even do that and just order whatever they assume I’d like. It was nice at first but now I’m growing very tired of not having a voice that is as loud as a male’s. Bangalore is more modern than many places throughout the country, but still this is the case here. In more traditional and conservative locales bride burning and worse are not uncommon practices. Bride burning is just as it sounds—when a wife comes to live with her husband’s family (per the tradition of an Indian wife) the mother-in-law and/or sister-in-law will not hesitate to hurt the sister f she brings shame in any way to the family. This shame could come from being pregnant before the marriage, or simply disagreeing with the ways things are done in the new home. Sometimes the wife survives with bad injuries, but these are the lucky ones, many times they don’t survive. The worst part is that the husband and father-in-law won’t do anything to stop the mother/sister-in-law from these horrible acts. The longer I’m here the more want to do work with women of abuse and injustice. I don’t understand how this can still be happening, next Monday I will be going with my culture teacher, Augusta, to visit a home for these women. On a lighter note I’ve been progressing quickly in my Bharathnatyam classes. My teacher is telling me she’s impressed with my progress. Check out the pictures in the album of the performances. In three weeks Gigi and I will have our first performance at a local Hindu temple. This is where the dances are most commonly performed because they tell the stories of the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. There is a lot of details to remember—where the head, eyes, hands, fingers, arms, and legs all go at a certain moment. Then you have to consider the beat and timing of the music…my Hindi is also coming in handy here…the schlokas (verses, phrases) for the dance are in Hindi or some times Kannada (the local dialect). When they’re in Kannada I have little Idea about what the literal words are and have to just remember the sequence of the movements! The dance is so different that my previous dance training. With Bharathnatyam I use my inner thighs, I.T. muscles, shoulders, neck, hands and face to dance more than anything else. Some things never change though, the discipline, repetition and performance quality are all the same. I know I love dancing more than anything else I do, and this time here has proven that to me. It’s so beautiful to watch someone express emotion, or tell a story through movement, you don’t need to know the language or much else, just watching their expressive face, and the way they move their body you can understand what t is they’re trying to convey! Will write again tomorrow…as it is a national holiday, Gandhi’s birthday and we don’t have class!