bye bye Bangalore

Tonight is my last night in Bangalore. It's kind of crazy to think back to first landing and how long it took me to adjust to things. Now, I'm elbowing people out of the way and chugging chai as fast as any auntie ji. I'm leaving this congested city with a layer of baby fat and a substantial new appreciation for India.

I will be the first to admit that I was kind of miserable to begin with. It was lonely and often jarring to be face to face with the ugly aspects of my own culture that I had drowned in apple pies and American flags. It was isolating, at first, being foreign to Indians and foreign to fellow Americans. But, because of the struggle, I was able to negotiate my own terrain and claim a chunk of this culture as uniquely my own. I am definitely more excited to apply to medical school than I had been and I'm looking forward to a year of serious anthropology ahead. Why, yes, I am a nerd.

I may never get a chance to come to South India again, but I'm glad I learned about this part of the country. I even got to see a bunch of temples. My sister came to India on Saturday to go around the country together and see some sights. She met me in Bangalore and we're going to New Delhi on the 10th. From Delhi, we'll go to Haridwar, Rishikesh, and my birthplace, Dehradun. From there, I'll get back to Delhi for some maternal family time and she'll go to Lucknow for some paternal family time. We've been obnoxious and giggling the whole time and getting into fights, the usual sibling stuff. Ain't nothin' like a sister special.

Yesterday, in fact, we went to the holiest of holy pilgrimage sites, Tirupati's Sri Venkaswara Temple. We took a tour bus package, that allowed us to move as a group to the hostel to take a shower and get some breakfast, and it included tickets to see both Balaji and the Goddess temple. We were shepharded by our faithful "Marcy." We called him this because he would address the whole group as "sir" and sometimes bhiya (brother). An example of Marcy's speeches commands would be something like:

Sir! you will take off your shoes on the bus before you get down, sir. You will not bring your cameras or mobiles, bhiya. get off the bus now!

Needless to say, we didn't know why he was yelling at us the whole time or would ask us to get off quickly before the bus came to a stop. Regardless of this dude's customer service skills, it was a beautiful darshan (quick prayer & peek at God, before you're forcibly shoved by a security guard) after over an hour's crowded wait. They say whatever you wish for/pray for at this temple will come to you, this temple has that kind of power. People will even shave their heads to show their devotion. Needless to say I didn't shave my head. I prayed hard and felt a little Mexican jumping bean in my heart. Who knows, maybe it's just like the Secret and if you think it, it'll happen. So far, this has worked with wondering why I hadn't seen any peacocks, talking about what a shame it was the Shins broke up, and why there are no burritos in India (saw a peacock that day, the Shins are on tour with a new album, and a Taco Bell just opened at the mall).

Maybe I will get married to the Mango King? I have a video I made for my shaadi.com personals page.