Indian tourists who smoke always seem to be losing their lighters in the vicinity of Western tourists. It's almost daily that the question is asked of a group of Westerners 'sorry do you have a light'. The only variation seems to be in the speed at which they scuttle away afterwards. This isn't the poorer 'people from the villages' who use this embarrassingly standardised cause for interaction, though they are more likely to ask for a cigarette, it's the city dwellers as well. Once or twice the request for a lighter will be followed with the usual country enquiry. I'm not going to say I've never acted under pretense, but the lack of creativity is quite staggering. Perhaps this introduction is learned by rote, right after the repetitions of "What is your good name".
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Skilled kitchens
Indian tourist kitchens produce a staggering number of dishes covering food styles from around the world. The feat of preparing all of these in a small kitchen with limited resources is impressive. Even the hygiene is better than some would expect; the kitchen knives are washed twice a year, whether they need it or not. Enter the world of garlic flavoured ice cream.
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Shiny new bikes
Shiny new motorbikes, with various bits of plastic film still attached. It looks like the Gokarna police have had a good season.
It's only reactionary
Perhaps the man who believes his god is protecting him feels far more secure than I ever will. It would be a cold hard world if we followed my alternative to what feels like the standard 'each man has his own culture'.
Respect other cultures
The culture is not people
The culture is more powerful than people
The people were born into the culture
The culture is more powerful than people
The people were born into the culture
The people will defend the culture
But the people did not choose the culture
An irritating Scotsman, as he identified himself, once accused 'You British' of repression, and proudly declared his support for independence. I didn't have any reply ready at the time, but it led to much consideration of the true problems of his argument. It is this: that we didn't choose our culture. A baby born has no choice in it's parents, or their environment. We defend it, we are part of it, what is familiar is 'right', and most would choose it again unless faced with something really more attractive. But it isn't the same as culture being 'of' the people. Culture is not the people, the people live in a culture. Culture is an inherited title, persisting where we have otherwise accepted the flaws of hereditary privileges. A culture is a meme, an evolving concept which is transmitted between the generations outside of genetic or epigenetic information. Or perhaps 'culture' is the composite of the vast number of separate memes of the individual groups of members (Forget the misuse of 'meme' by the interwebs). Parents pass on the culture to their children, and they actively choose to do this. Isn't it right that parents should be allowed to raise their children as they see fit. But are children property of the parents, do they exist to fulfill the rights of the parents? If the same parents had been born themselves to a different culture they would defend the right to pass this on. I don't feel any compulsion to respect a historical re-enactment, or a particular artistic movement, and nor do I a culture. Respect people, respect the human being, though they may have become a permanent part of any culture. They are a human within a culture. But what if we are faced with something more attractive. What if the west is the best. The Islamic preachers defending their culture can see the threat; they will lose the young. It's fear of destruction that leads to the extreme reactions. People should have a right to belong to the best culture, let the others be consigned to books, let the second enlightenment begin.
But the people did not choose the culture
An irritating Scotsman, as he identified himself, once accused 'You British' of repression, and proudly declared his support for independence. I didn't have any reply ready at the time, but it led to much consideration of the true problems of his argument. It is this: that we didn't choose our culture. A baby born has no choice in it's parents, or their environment. We defend it, we are part of it, what is familiar is 'right', and most would choose it again unless faced with something really more attractive. But it isn't the same as culture being 'of' the people. Culture is not the people, the people live in a culture. Culture is an inherited title, persisting where we have otherwise accepted the flaws of hereditary privileges. A culture is a meme, an evolving concept which is transmitted between the generations outside of genetic or epigenetic information. Or perhaps 'culture' is the composite of the vast number of separate memes of the individual groups of members (Forget the misuse of 'meme' by the interwebs). Parents pass on the culture to their children, and they actively choose to do this. Isn't it right that parents should be allowed to raise their children as they see fit. But are children property of the parents, do they exist to fulfill the rights of the parents? If the same parents had been born themselves to a different culture they would defend the right to pass this on. I don't feel any compulsion to respect a historical re-enactment, or a particular artistic movement, and nor do I a culture. Respect people, respect the human being, though they may have become a permanent part of any culture. They are a human within a culture. But what if we are faced with something more attractive. What if the west is the best. The Islamic preachers defending their culture can see the threat; they will lose the young. It's fear of destruction that leads to the extreme reactions. People should have a right to belong to the best culture, let the others be consigned to books, let the second enlightenment begin.
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
Shivratri
A giant wagon, four stories tall and carrying about twenty people, is hauled down the road. The wagon is believed to be hundreds of years old and makes only this one auspicious excursion each year. It's upper structure is covered in flags, serving as a giant pincushion; the lower parts are decorated with limes, chillies, coconuts and various leaves. There are crowds of people filling the street who pelt the wagon with bananas, trying to get them into the door and fulfil their wishes, or relieve caste tension against the Brahmin (lightest skin) priests, I'm not sure which. Half-way a wheel on the wagon breaks, and the festival can't be completed. It's a terrible omen for the people who believe in this.
Party lights
It looks surreal, many points of red and green light moving over the piles of rubbish beside the lodges. The water bottles, some plastic wrappers, and as always in India, a discarded shoe. I'm guessing someone had a truckload of these disco lights to offload at the Shivratri festival. In another lodge the party lights wander over the large shrine to various gods and elder or deceased family members. It could be the same on every touristed beach in the world, but my world is only what I have seen.
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Not for eating
"Those are some good throwing bananas". Not so great for eating, but for pelting at the giant wagon during the Hindu festival of Shivratri, they are quite perfect.
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