BRTS, Dummy schools and Good bye Indore and Goddess Durga3

2013/10/08

I am in Mumbai again, circle India tour to visit everyone I know is finished and I am on my way back. There is still some more shopping to do and things to share but the circle is on the return cycle. In Indore, it rained most of the time but I managed to see everyone I wanted to see and had a wonderful time.

I finally got to see Goddess Durga in its full glory.  Nine days festivities are everywhere and people are celebrating the power of Goddess in all her forms, Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati ( Goddess of Power, Wisdom and Prosperity). In India Women are all powerful in all aspects of life as long as they are Goddesses. I find it ironic that in the country where the Goddess are worshipped with such devotion, parents advice their daughters to never go alone anywhere, and they  are afraid  to leave the little girls with the nanny or even get them driven to school and back ( even in the bus).

Dinner Break

Family at Durga Pooja

Ganesh and Laxmi

Goddess Durga

Happy Cat

Indore Airport

Solar Lamps Decorations

Tribal Dance

But, then again, India reminds me of the elephant and the five blind men story.  Each of the blind man touches a different part of the elephant and describes the elephant based on his experience. My comments are based on what I see and what my friends/relatives face ( who are living in India). From what I can tell, the middle class educated girls have lot more opportunities and freedom than a generation ago but they still have very long ways to go to be assumed as being treated equal, as someone here said, “ certain things are just not done here” . Socially, there is lot of violence ( physical and mental) against women in poor families ( may be that is why they remain poor) and at the same time much more equality in more affluent families. But, from what I see Indian society is very much a patriarchal society. I feel that more often than not, society in general gives permission to criminally mined men to be violent against women  by blaming the victim. ( at the same time worshipping the Goddess for their power, wisdom and wealth) . To be balanced and fair I have to say that some families of my generation feel that because the girls have protection by law against the family violence , they misuse it to gain power in the complex family situations.

I will stop my soap box now. It is not raining in Mumbai and weather is little cooler. I hung out with my sister in law , trying to understand the complexity of Indian society and justification of ( my perception)  hypocrisy. It is fun to hear and understand the views of people in India who have made it and have the luxuries that no money can buy in western society ( ok, maybe people like Gates can) . We went out to see some decorations and celebration with my nephew/niece and grand niece. The money and time spent on these festivals far exceeds anything even USA spends on Xmas and these festivals will go nonstop for another six weeks.

I should sleep now. I wanted to talk about the Dummy school but that has to wait. India is changing so fast and inventing so many social phenomenon that one can write volumes about the issues and ingenious solutions. Good night…