28th September

Kapil is here in a week. How very strange. Better get writing my essay that will never seem to come closer to ending.

I was shocked this morning when Lauren appeared at my bedroom door dripping with sweat and proclaiming that she had been running. She dragged me into the gym and then ran for about ten more minutes before getting a bit bored and then fiddling about on the other machines. Amanda came running as well for a wee while. They managed to stay in there a good twenty-five minutes or so. I was shocked. They never come into the gym with me. They must be feeling amazing, or else the lack of health is making them feel the need to move about a bit more.

After the gym I tried to write some more of my essay and failed to do so. Decided that going to AIM would ultimately aid my studying. It did not. Ended up chatting with Lauren and then getting sushi to try. AIM have Korean sushi. It comes in tuna, gimtee (not sure what this is or how you spell it, all I know is that it is Korean) and tuna-gimtee mix. Whatever gimtee may be, it is very tasty. And this is the first time I have had fish since I have been here. It was brilliant to taste the fish. I think it is pickled, which made it extra fishy. The sushi here is triangular, with seaweed wrapped round a triangle of rice. The fish with some pickled vegetables is inside in a layer. We ended up getting one each. One between us just wasn’t enough when there was so much craving of fish involved. One day we will make it to the sushi and sake place in the south of the city. One day…

I have realised I have eaten a lot of pickled things in the past few days: pickled meat and pickled fish. I would never eat these at home, but here they are just splendid. The meat is a god-send whenever I just want something to chew on with a flavour other than sweets or fruit. And now pickled fish. Very odd.

Decided to go into Connaught Place to the night market for some jewelry to send home for people’s birthdays. When we got there though, everything was closing up or was already closed. And it was only half past six! Everything here is open till nine usually. We completely forgot all about Dusshera. Of course everything would be closed. We did managed to find one pair of earrings in a nice shop for Lauren’s friend. We also got Lauren walking boots for Darjeeling and Amanda some trainers for the gym. After wandering around aimlessly we decided food was in order and went to Piccadelhi, the amazing place we went to at the PVR Plaza that has the English Pub in it. We sat in high back leather arm chairs that creaked and had pasta and a greek salad. It was great to eat something other than Indian food. There was even chicken in the pasta. Lauren even managed a desert, which was impressive. Amanda and I had Irish coffee – not the best I must admit, but good enough to get you going.

When we got back to our road the place was full of people milling around getting free food off the stalls and there were fireworks in the distance. The effigies I saw earlier on were gone, and they are probably now burnt. In Calcutta they burn loads of effigies apparently, perhaps because it falls in with Durga Puja as well, which is a celebration of the Goddess Durga. Loads of little girls have been going around with sweets and garlands on, as they are given presents as a kind of living image of the goddess. Dusshera celebrates the victory of Lord Rama over the demon Ravana. It is a ten day long fast, which then culminates with lots of feasting and burning effigies of Ravana and his son and brother. It is mostly a Northern Indian thing I think. They also hold plays of Rama's victory in the nine days leading up to the main event. 

We just stopped to get juice and then went in. I had to contend with the fireworks for sleep now, but they are nothing in comparison to the heat.  

27th September

The temperature has gone up again. It is back to the high thirties all this week. Bye bye to sleep. I hate not being able to sleep other than in the hours between 1 and 4 am. At least there are lots of other girls up at half four in the morning. We all suffer just the same. Especially Marie, who has now been having two hours sleep a night for the past two weeks. She says she will have to start taking sleeping pills. You can see the difference on her face as well.
Went to Kamla Nagar to get lunch at On The Go. This place is amazing. If you merely negotiate the building site next door to it, then you can enter a world of potted plants and bruschetta. I had the Italian tomato and basil bruschetta. I don’t think I have been that happy with a piece of food in long time. The bruschetta was crispy and garlicy, and the tomatoes were ripe and there were a lot of them. Perfection in an open sandwich. After lunch we went to see if we could find the elusive FabIndia that apparently exists somewhere in Kamla Nagar. After walking for ten minutes we came to a new row of shops that we have never seen before. And there she was: Fab India, the holy of holies, on a deserted street in a strange place. Inside the shop was not deserted. It was full of women and men trying to find a kurta for whatever occasion. We really shouldn’t be allowed in this shop. Ended up buying a piar of black cropped pants, a burnt orange oriental style shirt, some iridescent purple salwaar (to go with my green pair) and a purple and gold kurta that looks like something out of a scifi film. Not good! Did I need these things? Technically I needed the tops. Amanda and Lauren got a lot of new things as well, so I don’t know if I feel too bad about it. There was a beautiful purple and lilac patterned kurta with mesh sleeves that I really fancied, but it was 1200Rs. Too expensive for me, but perhaps not for mum and dad… The sarees in Fab India are beautiful as well. We have been told that you should wear a saree on Diwali. We already have some though, so we are well prepared. All the girls in the hostel are going to wear them. I have to say I am curious as to what the Sri Lankan saree will look like. It is draped in a different way to the Indian saree.
After our retail therapy, we made our way back to the hostel to work for a little bit before dinner. I have managed to nearly complete my essay on Swift, and begin my essay on Plato/Sidney. I am worried about the Sidney one though, as I just don’t know if my argument is going to come together in the way I want it to without going well over the word limit. I might have set myself too broad a challenge. But we will see what comes of it.
I finished reading Anita Desai’s Fasting Feasting tonight as well. I have to say, it is a very good book but it feels unfinished. I don’t know if the reader is meant to be left with a feeling of frustration and the sense of incompleteness, but I couldn’t help but think that the ending was a bit of a cop-out. The book is very interesting in that it explores the nature of female hysteria and different attitudes to food. The use of food to perform ritual, to soften your emotions, to punctuate your day, keep you alive, kill you and to keep you happy or angry. She gets to the heart of the weaknesses of middle-class society in India and America very well. Her characters, her protagonists anyway, are also very weak people. You don’t like them very much, although I did like one of the main protagonists in this book: Uma. Parts of her story were incredibly upsetting, and while the story of the other protagonist was also upsetting, I just couldn’t identify with his coldness and didn’t feel particularly much in consequence.
After dinner we tried to set up Cabaret on the projector screen for everyone to watch and failed miserably. It was a shame, as so many girls were up for it, but no matter how we tried we could not get anything more than the sound to come out. So instead we went to bed early in preparation for a not very busy day tomorrow, it being a holiday. It is Dusshera tomorrow, and there are huge effigies and tents up in readiness for the festivities along our road.

26th September

Feeling a million times better today. Even went out to AIM and had the old favourite: pomegranate shake. It was great; it stayed in and everything. We did a little bit of work in AIM until Lauren got too uncomfortable and we needed to go so she could lie down. I have started getting cramps in my stomach as well, but I think it is just confused that it is being filled and not immediately rejecting it now.

Ben has decided he is going to Calcutta on Monday. It is Durga Pooja just now, and the city celebrates it more than elsewhere. I think it has something to do with Kali, but I will check that one out. He is going there by train, and then on to Assam and Darjeeling. It is an epic journey: 20 hours by train to Calcutta and then god knows how long to get home from the North East. A few of the others are going with him: Ward and Colin are flying out, and then Egle and Marie, and maybe Lauren, are going to go meet them mid-week in Darjeeling I think. I don’t know if Lauren will go though, seeing as recent events have taken a big toll on her health in general. It sounds great, but Amanda and I have too much work to contend with to even think about going. I think I will go in March next year once the winter fog has lifted again and the hill stations open up properly once more. Ah well…I suppose I am getting a free trip to Rajasthan in a week or two, not too much to complain about…

This afternoon Nitin took us out to see Di Bole Hadippa!, the latest bollywood extravaganza. He calls it a ‘masala movie’: it has all the right ‘spices’ to make the perfect movie – romance, action, comedy, thrills, etc. Sounds perfect for us. AND there are songs and dances to keep us happy. Di Bole Hadippa means ‘my heart says yippee!’ according to Nitin. How can it not be good?

It was brilliant. There was singing, dancing: a massive budget obviously. It looked great, and made us all want to go out dancing right then and there. The film is about cricket. There is an old cup match between Lahore team and Amritsar team, and India lost the last match. So to ensure that they win, the team owner brings his son, a cricketer, home from England to coach his team. A dance troupe that stays in the town has a girl who can play batsman better than most men can. She tries to get on the new team, but is turned away for being a woman. So instead, she uses the dance troupe makeup to make her self look like a Sikh teenage boy, and of course gets on the team. However, it is all complicated by the English/Indian cricket coach then falling for the woman-cricketer in her usual garb as a woman. I have to say, the beard and so on really did change her face. We all loved it. I am pretty sure that Nitin and his friend think we are either idiots or just laughing at their culture, which we are in a way. Perhaps a bit of both. But it is genuine enjoyment. It wasn’t quite as good as Love Aaj Kal, but it did have Charlie from Kaminey in it so it was certainly better on the scale of hot male leads. I really have to find out that actor’s name, as Lauren had an ex called Charlie and she finds it weird that this Charlie is hot and so we need to find another name for him. His name in this film was Rohan, but that is just too silly.

Aftewards we went to CP to find somewhere to eat. We ended up in a brilliant South Indian joint near PVR Rivoli, just up from block A. I am going to have to bring the family there perhaps, as it is apparently where you get some of the best authentic South Indian food in Delhi. And I have to admit, it was amazing food. I am so glad I am able to eat now. We got three different dishes between us to try, as we didn’t know anything. We got a coconut masala dosa, a kind of lentil pancake and an uddapham (I think). The coconut dosa was probably my favourite. If you don’t know, a masala dosa is a kind of thin pancake, a little bit like a crepe. It is stuffed with spices and usually potato and onion and such like, though obviously this one also had coconut in it. You eat it with various sauces, with your fingers. It is an incredibly satisfying meal and you get great masal dosas at the PG men’s hostel across the road from the main university gate, in case you are ever in the area… The portions were huge as well, so we couldn’t finish it. Nitin thought we would have to order more, which was possibly a little insulting. I think he thinks we eat all the time and that is why we were so sick this week. It was served on banana leaves as well: most authentic. There were south Indian sweets down the stairs as well, and there was one particular one made out of milk and coconut that is a bit like fudge that was absolutely divine. It was a shame though, as the spice and everything was too much for Lauren and so we had to go home to bed. Next time, we will make sure we are well enough to withstand both dinner and sweets. My fingers smelt like coconut all the way home. Far nicer than the usual grime. It makes me want to eat coconuts on the beach…ah soon…

25th September

Breakfast was attempted…breakfast failed. I think the bus into uni did it. It was very bumpy and I felt terrible afterwards.
Called Lauren. Apparently the doctor is nowhere to be found and she has had to tell several nurses to go away and not take her blood without his permission. They told her that she should have an ultrasound and liver test as well, but gave no reason. We think it may be a money-making scheme, as Marie was a little bit sick and they gave her one despite the fact she quite obviously had absolutely nothing wrong with her liver or ovaries, she was just a little off colour. Amanda has gone to be with her right now and find out when we can get her out of the hospital. I will go after class.
Class didn’t happen. I am disappointed: Shirshendu is usually really good about taking all his classes, but perhaps something unexpected came up. Since I was feeling a bit crap after throwing up some of my attempted breakfast, Tanya, Nitin and I all took a rickshaw to the hospital to see Lauren. While we were there another nurse came in to take blood for no reason. Lauren asked her several times to get a doctor to explain and she just shook her head, advancing with syringe poised until Lauren ordered her out of the room. This has happened a few times. They also won’t take out her IV despite the fact she no longer needs a drip apparently. So she cannot leave until the doctor gets here, which will be at 11. She looks a lot better. I think she must just need to sleep now and keep eating.
Of course, 11 came and went. We asked the nurses when the doctor would come and they said ‘half an hour’, which means some time this afternoon. So Amanda and I left for Kamla Nagar, as Amanda wanted some new jeans. We found a nice pair in the Levis shop for only 2000Rs. I hate how you walk into stores and the store attendants do not leave you be. I find it really intrusive: I just want to be left alone to look for myself! Not have everything pulled out and displayed for me, as I am not going to buy it! They have no concept of ‘having a browse’. It gets quite frustrating sometimes, and in the end you just want out the shop so that it will end. We got the jeans however, and then went to On The Go for Lauren. She has placed an order with us for an Italian sandwich, which is a sure sign of her being on the mend. We got blueberry smoothies while we were waiting for it. I have to say, the food in here looks amazing and I will most definitely be back for lunch one day. They even do bruschetta with tomato and basil! So exciting.
By the time we got back to the hostel, Lauren was returned to us (only two hours later than the appointed time). We all went to sleep as soon as we got in. Too much running around in the heat with no energy. Not good!
Managed some soup and yoghurt at dinner. I feel I am definitely on the mend. None of the food I have had since breakfast has come back up. Most positive.
I went straight to bed after dinner. Half past eight. Not too hardcore, but perfectly justified in my opinion. I can’t face another day of this crap. And tomorrow we have to be well for the film. Nitin is taking us to see the latest blockbuster and for dinner, so we need our strength.

24th September

Lauren has gone to hospital. She is on a drip because she is dehydrated and needs fluid urgently. I feel terrible for her. She looked a bit funny this morning and I said about going to the doctors and she said no, but obviously changed her mind. Just as well she did. But it is such a shame: she hates needles and things and to have had so many stuck in you when you are already feeling upset must have been quite traumatic. Poor girl, I feel so sorry for her. Thank God Egle at least was with her. 

Amanda is a lot better today: she managed toast and jam at breakfast. I tried to eat cereal and it came straight back up. Not so cool. I feel ok though, I think I should just keep drinking water and stuff. I am going to my lecture with Amanda, so we will see what happens.

After our lecture, which was a repeat of Tuesday, we went to the hospital. Amanda couldn’t stay long as she felt too hot and needed to lie down. I stayed for a few hours with Lauren. She looks better, but she said she has been quite upset. Thankfully the room she is in is clean and the doctors here seem competent. She is in the hospital up our road, called NuLife. I promised to go back later on in the afternoon and bring her some home comforts, as they are keeping her in overnight.

When I got back to the hostel I tried to do a little bit of work. Went to afternoon tea as well and had a couple of cups of sugary tea and felt a hundred times better. Tea and coca cola is getting me through the day. Went straight to the hospital from tea; everyone else is coming in a moment or two.

Lauren looks ten times better. Apparently she has been through 4 bottles of fluid, two of antibiotics and several injections. She can’t feel anything, but at least she is sitting up and looking chirpier. Ben appeared with some biscuits, a photo of himself and the guardian crossword. An odd selection of presents, but appreciated nonetheless. Amanda managed to come by as well and we spent the next three hours or so entertaining Lauren and hassling doctors to try and find out what is happening to her. They brought her some dinner as well, but she didn’t eat much of it.

We left her to sleep at half eight and went back to see if we could manage our own dinner. Minaxi, the madam of the hostel, was really good to us and gave us yoghurt to have with some rice. I managed a couple of bites and then felt really hot and had to leave and sit down somewhere. Watched Gladiator in the TV room to take advantage of the aircon.

Called to another bloody SWA meeting where I was chided for looking downcast despite the fact I was doing my level best not to fall over. Stupid people. The meeting was pointless, and I get the impression our president is slightly power-hungry, or at least very organized and fond of structure.

I think another early night is needed. We want to go to lectures tomorrow again and also get Lauren out of hospital tomorrow morning. We will see how it goes though. 

23rd September

Got up and forced Lauren to eat three bites of toast. Amanda has been up all night running to the loo every five minutes practically. I feel so sorry for them both; they are in a lot of pain it seems. If they aren’t better later I am going to force them to take a tablet. Amanda hates taking pills so that one might be hard (I suspect her of being a believer in homeopathy).

Went to Model Town to pay my Vodafone bill. My internet stopped last night, so I assumed that was why. Turns out I was right. I also got some coca cola for the girls and some water and loo roll: the essentials when one has Delhi Belly.

When I got back I felt a bit funky, so tried to write some more essay but failed. I managed to read a bit though. There is no water anymore. I have been having showers under taps for a while, and then last night there was no water. And now, still there is no water. When I ask the housekeeper about it she just says ‘Water coming!!’ and shoos me away. It must be terrible for Amanda and Lauren having to use the loo and not even being able to flush it. It is completely horrifying for the rest of us as well. We can’t even wash our hands.

Went to get some yoghurt from lunch to see if it would settle my queasiness and instead I threw up everything I have eaten today. This is not good. I feel like crap suddenly. I think finally my immunity has been broken and I am sick. I feel so tired. I think I might just sit in the TV room and try and drink water. Lauren is already in there trying to keep cool. No chance of going to Hindi now.

I can’t keep water in me. I think I must have drunk it too quickly or something. It came back up almost immediately. I feel horrible. I wish I could wash and flush the loo. Some poor person will have to use a toilet I have just vomited in! I feel terrible about it, but what can I do. My stomach is making ominous sounds that do not bode well. Urgh.

Vomited some more. Coca cola this time. I think it would have remained inside if I hadn’t had to get up of my chair to go to the bloody SWA meeting. They had no sympathy for my state and the whole thing was near to pointless. I was put in mess committee, which is fine by me as I have many suggestions. Spinach would be good on occasion…or fruit other than bananas. Perhaps a salad now and then. Would make so much difference. Lauren is feeling a little bit better, so perhaps we will all be ok in a day or so. Amanda is still out.

After silly meeting, I collapsed back in TV room and dosed for a while before going to bed. I couldn’t sleep in there…too loud. I am hoping a night of rest will do me good, so here’s hoping I make it through the night without waking up to puke. I want to go home and have water to wash in…

22nd September

Lauren is not well. This is not good. In fact, it bodes ill for the rest of us. Especially Amanda, as she is always 6 hours behind Lauren. We will see what happens today though…

Went and met my Plato lecturer about my essay and though very helpful for my understanding, he says I should speak to Shirshendu about it. So that is what I will do on Friday when I next see him. Apparently he is expert on Renaissance theory, so he is my man as they say. Turned out I had had a pretty neo-Platonic idea of Plato anyway, so it was helpful speaking to Prof Kumar nonetheless. He is also very interested in post-colonial studies, so I think we will have lots to talk about over the course of the year. Most exciting. He is going to recommend books and stuff for me to read. I think he might be edging ahead of the others in terms of my admiration.

Went to see my head of dept as well, and told him I was planning to leave at the beginning of December, so I had to do my exam as soon as exam period begun. He seemed happy with that, I don’t think he knows the term dates really to be honest. So as the song goes (or doesn’t for that matter): I am going to Goa.

After English I met Amanda and Ben for some tchai before history. It is far too hot here. I know I harp on about it, but it is hard not to when there is hardly any water, the ground is cracked like a desert and kites are circling above you in a vaguely menacing way. History was quite interesting: all about the establishment of martial races in the late 19^th century and the ideologies of recruitment in to the army. I found it interesting that those people who were deemed ‘not martial’ tried their level best to claim full Aryan lineage so that they could be reinstated. It just shows the ideological impact on the natives as well: the prestige of working for the army that is there to control you.

We were going to go to Kamla Nagar after history, but Amanda’s body has caught up with Lauren’s and now she feels sick. So we went home to the hostel. Lauren looks a little better, though still quite ill. There is no food here today as the mess needs time to recover from special dinner last night, so I made myself some noodles instead and then Amanda and I went out to AIM.

After one drink we needed to go home though, as Amanda felt sick again. I feel this bodes ill. I have managed to get almost half of my English essay done though, so I am pretty happy about that. Hopefully I will have it done by the end of the week and I can do my next one all next week and then have time to meet Kapil for a bit. I can’t believe people are all coming to meet me so soon! I am so excited. There had better be jaffa cakes.

I have decided to sleep in the TV room tonight, as it has air conditioning. I was up till 5 in the morning yesterday, and I can’t sleep in this heat at all. So Lauren is coming down with me and we are going to camp out on the sofas. I have worked out that I can stretch out and have only my feet hanging off if I lie diagonally on them, which is quite impressive. I guess we will just watch movies until we can’t stay awake any more. We will have to get out of there before the cleaners catch us though, so an early start is on the cards. It is completely worth it though I think.

Today is Eid! Happy Eid to all Muslims!

We have no classes today as it is a national holiday. So instead Amanda showed me 2 of the ashtanga yoga sun salutations. Perfect way to start the day. We then went out to AIM and sat in there for about 6 hours. We need to stop living in their café. One good thing about it though was that I got to talk to Iain for ages on Skype, which was nice.

I have resolved to go to Goa in December before I go home for Christmas. I have to try and convince my English professor that I am going home at the end of November so I shall get my exam done before then. I am so excited by the prospect of lying on a beach somewhere for four days. All the pineapples and coconuts and seafood! Amazing. It is completely and totally worth flying there and back in four days for lying on that beach, and swimming in the sea...oh, to have cold water on my body! There is never any water here these days...I have had a shower under a tap three time in past week. Not nice.

Because it is Eid, tonight is a special dinner for us. We had though about going out to Chandni Chowk, but there is not much point for women I don’t think. The Muslim girls in the hostel have arranged a talk and dance for us as well, which is very sweet of them.

The talk was given by the Afghani girl next door to me. She told us about Eid and why it is celebrated. Apparently Eid is a celebration to mark the victory of Mohammed over someone whose name escapes me. So the fasting before Eid is a show of self-discipline and respect to the achievements of the Prophet, and then on Eid you eat huge amounts of sweets and give presents and celebrate. Apparently women were not really included in celebration until recently, which I find unsurprising somehow. After the talk, Mehrnoush, a girl from Iran, did a very elegant dance for us. Her dancing was great and she looked fantastic up there, but I find it so ironic that in Iran women aren’t allowed to dance in public. Evidently she has found a way, as her dancing was practiced and not unprofessional. The Iranian girls have not been fasting: their Eid is in March apparently. I had no idea it changed form place to place. After her dance we were given little Indian sweets, including the one I really like that is made out of canned milk and is a bit like fudge, only less sugar and more pistachio and almonds. It is sort of like a cross between vanilla fudge and marzipan with a bit more milk in it. Either way, it is very tasty.

Special dinner was also very tasty. There was salad, and roast vegetables, and chicken that wasn’t only bone! It was pure luxury. The kitchen really went all out on it. There was even proper naan and paneer. Amazing. Unfortunately Lauren, who had already had noodles in AIM, felt a bit sick after all the food and had to go lie down. Amanda and I though stayed down, as it is a girl from Sri Lanka’s birthday tomorrow and she had bought cake from the very bakery that Nitin told us about. It was amazing cake: very rich and creamy and not at all artificial. We are going to have to go there asap.

Went to check on Lauren and she says she is too hot. I hope she will be ok. Everyone here is sick some day or another. 

20th September

Today is the day of the wedding!
A boy in my English class, Nitin, invited me along to his best friend’s wedding tonight. An odd thing to do, but he says that I have to see at least one Indian wedding while I am here and no better time like the present. We are all so excited. Amanda is going to wear her blue silk saree she got at home, so she has had a new top made in blue fabric to match it. We don’t really know what the form is, but Nitin said traditional dress would be most appropriate probably. We asked if there was anything we could bring as well, and he said nothing. Though, I asked my mum and she said cash generally seems to be the form. I don’t know if us handing over cash would seem a little bit weird, especially when I don’t even know the bride’s name. It is a very strange setup. At home, no one would ever consider inviting their classmate to a wedding if they had never been to one. It just isn’t done. Weddings at home are all about cutting the numbers down, not about inviting everyone you have ever known, or not known for that matter. The weddings here go on for days as well, perhaps a few extras on one night of it doesn’t cause much issue. Apparently there will be about 500 people there.
Spent the day reading in Coffee Day. I am too excited to work really. We went to Chinese Bowl again for some Thukpa. Probably good to eat now rather than wait till we are there, as there may not be any food. I picked up some fruit on the way home as well. I am very happy: I have apples and bananas now! I feel my vitamin content has completely disappeared in recent days, so I am hoping some fruit will provide me with a bit of health. I can eat it chopped up with my muesli in the mornings! So civilized.
Tonight we will be wearing our sarees properly! I have studied some more and I think I can tie them now and not in an inappropriate way. Lauren and Amanda congregated in my room and we spent about an hour wrapping them in. So, to tie a saree: Start with it going from right to left round your body twice, tucking it in to your petticoat. Then when you are back at the front after 2nd time round, pleat it five times. The pleats should be quite sharp, I think you can iron them in place. Then tuck the pleats in to the front, twisting them so that the saree fabric continues on out from the left hand side of the folds. Then wrap round once more, tucking it in as you go until you reach your right side. Then draw the remaining fabric over your left shoulder. Take the ends of this (you need someone else I think for this) and fold into pleats again, so that the part going over your chest and shoulder is about 7 inches thick. Then put over your shoulder over your chest (no boob showing!!) and pin. The shoulder part is the only bit you should need pins for. And that is you: in a saree! We had to be shown the last part by a girl in the hostel from Sri Lanka. She knew how to tie Indian style sarees as well as Sri Lankan style, which does its pleats differently. We will have to try it sometime.
Nitin and his friend picked us up as promised in a tiny little Subaru that apparently was the most fuel efficient and cheap car on the planet until it was overtaken by the Tata Nano (a toy car as far as I can tell). We all packed into the back of the car and immediately had to roll all the windows down, It is very hot again. We don’t know what has caused it, but the temperature has returned to early August levels and it is not very pleasant. We drove for what must have been a hour and a half, getting lost all the time and having to double-back and ask directions. It is quite nice that you can ask directions really easily here; everyone is willing to help, unlike home. When you call out for something, you shout ‘bhaia!’, which means ‘brother’, or if it is an older man, you shout ‘uncle!’. Women don’t get asked it would seem, surprisingly enough… We eventually made it to Gurgaon though. We three were by that point sitting in a pool of our own juices. Not very attractive I must say. Apparently the whole thing is outside though, so at least we might dry off when we get out the car.
Gurgaon is one of the sub-cities of Delhi. It looks like canary wharf, and I was surprised to see some of the signs on the skyscrapers. There is a Price Waterhouse Coopers in Delhi. Very odd. We drove for yet more time until we came to a place called Tivole Farm. It was not a farm, or anything close. It was an open space with some grass over it, completely covered in fairy lights and glitter and flowers. It was in the middle of a busy street that was full of little stalls selling red rags with gold fringe and rice for people to offer up to the Goddess of the shrine it was next to. We went into the compound and were shown over to the main stage. There were little stages everywhere, but there was one main one with the bride and groom on it having their photo taken with everyone who was there. They looked amazing. They had little throne-style chairs and there were flowers everywhere. The groom was wearing a brown silk kurta with sequins designed all over the chest and arms. He had on a white turban style hat with lots of fringing and beading hanging off it. The bride was wearing a pink and green sequined saree. She was covered in jewelry: huge bangles have way up her arms, necklaces and hair ornaments. She had on a huge hoop through her nose as well that was attached to her earring and took up half her face. She had on some particular bangles that had these sort of lamp shaped things hanging down from her wrists. They were very heavy, and apparently the bride is meant to shake them on your face and that is the same as tossing the bouquet. She had done all her make up herself (though obviously not the henna, which was all over her shoulders, hands and feet) and she looked really pretty. They were about 25 I think, not too young. After we had met the couple, Nitin took us round the rest of the complex. There were stalls everywhere with Indian snacks, fruit and juice. We stopped to get some fruit and lychee juice, and then Nitin made me try an Indian sweet that he said Indian women go crazy for. It is a kind of hollow gram flour sphere with a hole in the top. You put a sort of spicy liquid syrup into it, and then eat it whole. It was disgusting. I tried it, and it was so salty and absolutely horrifying. I didn’t realise spicy meant salty. Why does this country insist on putting either too much salt or too much sugar in things that were never meant to have salt in the first place?! Sweets should not be salty! Ugh. I had to go get some more juice to wash my mouth out. Nitin found all this hilarious. We went to some of the other stalls and Amanda and Lauren got some other traditional snacks, but I couldn’t stomach anything else at that point. After walking around for a while we went to sit on one of the little pavilion things. We weren’t sitting for long though when Chor Bazari came on and Lauren, Nitin and I went up to dance for a bit. It was great fun. I have never seen men dance like that. Nitin tried to show us some Punjabi dances and he is going to make us a CD. I showed him the Gay Gordons in reciprocation and he thought it was just amazing despite it being the simplest dance in the Scottish repertoire. Lauren ended up having a dance-off with one of the older male relatives as well. We had to go sit down again eventually though as we were getting too tired and also being stared at by elderly relatives. A little self-conscious… The mother of the bride came to find us and ranted at us until we agreed to eat some more food. Everyone here has been so nice to us despite our total lack of connection to them. An outsider would never have been invited to a Scottish wedding: our weddings are about cutting down, not adding on to, the bill.
Tried my first ever pan this evening as well. Pan is a betel leaf with aniseed and mint and all sorts in it, all mushed up together. You chew it. Some pan has loads of this particular stuff that makes you spit red. Some has tobacco and some has hash in it as well. These were digestive pan, and I assume there was no tobacco or anything in them as wee kids were munching on them. It was an interesting experience. You just chew and chew and chew until all the juices come out. We all had on a look of complete confusion and bemusement. Very weird. Not unpleasant, just strange. I don’t think I will have one again…
We managed to see part of the ceremonies as well. The groom was being pasted and eating different concoctions given to him by the priests, and then the bride was allowed to join him and began to get pasted as well. It was very interesting to watch, but we couldn’t hear the chants very well.
Unfortunately we had to leave before the end of the ceremonies, as Nitin’s friend is Muslim and he needed to get back in preparation for Eid tomorrow. Nitin has been fasting too, but I am unsure as to whether he is actually religious or not. The self-discipline needed to fast for a month really is amazing. The girls in the hostel are all very excited for tomorrow as well. We get a special dinner to celebrate, which is good for them as they are all starved!
Got back to the hostel at 2 am, thoroughly exhausted. We had so much fun. If ever there is a way to repay Nitin we will have to do it. He mentioned taking us all to get cake and see a movie some time soon, so we will have to go and buy him some cake ourselves or something. Had an amazing night.

19th September

I was planning to use today to start my essay on Swift, but it did not go well. Decided to read for most of the day instead. Productive, but not as productive as I was hoping for.

We had extra class this morning with Udaya Kumar. I think he may be the best lecturer, though I am torn between him and Gautam. Plato or Sidney? That is the question. We have finally finished Plato though, so we are moving on to Aristotle next class. I will need to read the Poetics before hand. So much work! I suppose it will all stand me in good stead for the obscene amount of assessment I will have in October. Today’s lecture was very good. It was on the Platonic idea of the soul as an eternal thing that was an original creation that inhabits a number of bodies. The soul is not destroyed when the body dies, it inhabits another body, which means that the soul was not created with the body. There seems to be an idea that the soul has inherent memory of past life. They give an example of a slave boy in a different text whom Socrates questions until he is able to solve a geometric problem he has been given. The slave boy has had no education; his ability to solve the problem merely had to be coaxed out through the constant questioning of Socrates. Therefore, he must have had some knowledge of geometry in his memory that has been there since a previous life. We also talked about the higher and lower faculties of the soul, and how mimesis applies to the lower faculties or irrational part of the soul. Whereas diesis applies to the higher or rational part of the soul.

I got a rickshaw home with Tanya and almost took out my tongue when we went over a pothole in the road. The roads round by us are terrible. Huge potholes all over the place. On a manual rickshaw, they can be perilous. You think you are about to be thrown out every second. We complain about the state of the roads back home, but by god are these something else. They are just rubble with sporadic pieces of concrete. It is always worse though when you go through puddles or the bits where the sewer ends and just runs into the street. Who knows what all is flying up all over the place?

Once home I tried to do a bit of work and failed. Got a cup of tea to try and distract myself and failed. Went to the gym instead and sweated the toxins out. It is slightly horrifying how you go to the gym and the sweat is black and grey. Let’s you know just how polluted the air you have been wandering around in all day was.

We had to elect a representative to the student council of the hostel. Lauren came up with a game of picking hands, and I have been chosen. I cannot wait to show films about the UK. That is the main reason we wanted to be involved. We feel the first screening will be Trainspotting, and then This Is England. Give everyone a different viewpoint of the glorious UK. I feel it will be educational. I also want to see if I can teach some girls to ceilidh, and then perhaps we could get some men in to dance. Unlikely though, but no use in not trying at least. We had another wee meeting about the fresher’s party as well. They asked if I had any suggestions and I had to keep my mouth very tightly shut to stop myself from saying something like “well men and booze would be a start”. I don’t think that would have gone down well at all.

We watched the rest of Train to Pakistan tonight. It is a very interesting film actually. In the second half, the district judge, who has been sleeping with a Muslim girl, decides he will send all the Muslims in his village to Pakistan to avoid sectarian violence in the village. Outsiders come and rally the Sikhs, who were once happy to live alongside Muslims, and they end up rioting and driving the Muslims out. Everyone thinks that the Muslims can go to Pakistan and then come home when the rioting has died down as it surely will. All the people are packed onto a train bound for Pakistan. Some Sikhs hear about it though, and they set up a trap to divert the train and kill everyone. When one Sikh who loves a Muslim girl hears about the plot, he risks his life to cut the ropes that will divert the train signal. The other Sikhs see him go and try to shoot him down, but he manages to cut the rope in time and then dies from his wounds. The train manages to continue to Pakistan. It was interesting how they portrayed the ambivalence of the district judge, and the whole idea that these people were expected to be able to come home, which of course they never will. It was quite an upsetting film. It demonstrated how sectarian violence can erase so much goodwill in such a short space of time when an atmosphere of fear is created. It didn’t judge as such, it just demonstrated how the fear created two opposing sides when before there was none. 

18th September

Today I saw a man WANKING IN THE STREET. 

My road has reached new levels of filth. Usually it is men pissing every five feet (gotta love the smell of urine in the morning). But today, all was surpassed by this. He was just lying in the middle of the pavement, clutching a little photograph torn out a magazine. He didn't care that he was maybe twenty feet away from one of the huts where some kids live with their father. He didn't care that it was two in the afternoon, that the street was busy and full of traffic and people. I mean, could you not at least wait until night time or something when kids and people wouldn't have to see it?? Completely and totally disgusting. Tanya told me about one of her friends who lives in a PG (paying guest) at JTB Nagar. Every night a guy would be outside their window jacking off and they didn't want to do anything about it as they were too afraid to shout out. So Tanya decided she would stay the night and see what the fuss was about. She said that when you see something like that, it makes the entire thing so much more disturbing. She called out to the man when he was under the window and asked him what he thought he was doing there? And he zipped up and left. She thinks he had just never been told off and didn't quite know what to do about it. 

It made me very angry to see this guy. I get angry with the men peeing everywhere as well, as I know that should I decide to squat down in the street I would probably be beaten. I am slightly proud of this area. It is, as these things go, actually quite a nice area. Most people here are friendly and just trying to get on with their lives. I don't want some man to deface it.

I have decided, in my wisdom, that I am going to force my parents to walk up my road when they come. I would like them to experience the fear of death you get every time one of the massive green buses roars up next to you, or a motorbike swerves like they want to hit you just before changing direction. The lack of pavements, the pavements with the open sewer running down the centre, the men peeing, the Hindu temples, the rubbish, the dogs, the rickshaws, the soup kitchens. Everything teeming with people and animals and flies. I think if they do that, they will know a little bit of everyday life here. Far more than they will ever get in the South. In the South there are pavements, all without sewers. There are less dogs, no cows and no manual rickshaws. Even the buses are a bit cleaner. There is open space in the South that isn't a rubbish tip or over-grown jungle. There is no evil smelling river. From Connaught Place on, it is a different city.

 I only went to Dryden today, but I had to hang about in Kamla Nagar as I got a book photocopied on Platonism and the English imagination. I am writing one of my essays about this in relation to the developing of English literary theory by Sidney, and maybe Johnson. I am unsure about that one yet. Spent most of the morning in Coffee Day with Tanya, not well spent as these things go. I need to start these essays. I have very little time to do them in. Three weeks will hopefully be enough. AGH! 

I also think I need to start eating a bit less. When I thought about it, I realised my diet is mainly carbohydrates (ie. rice) and curry (ie. potato and lentils) and iced coffee. Where is the fruit? Nowhere. I might try and replace lunch with lots of fruit. I need to buy a knife though, as you have to peel fruit here so as to stop you from getting some form of disease, though I don't know which one.

Decided to go out to AIM to do a bit of reading. They still have no pomegranate tea, so I got an iced latte and then a caramel mocha instead. (See how well my eating less junk went in the past three hours?) Picked up two apples on the way home as consolation for my lack of fruit.

Before dinner we all got called into the lounge room for an orientation meeting. It basically seemed to be girls complaining about things. The first complaint was that the mouses were going missing from the computer room, and also that there were scales missing from the gym. You have to ask yourself why someone would nick that kind of thing, especially in such a closed community as this one. We also have to elect a representative from our country to SWA, the Student Welfare Association. We think we might just draw straws. One good thing though is that you get to form a mess committee to try and draw up new menus and make sure the food is ok. Which means: SPINACH! It is going to be so exciting. We get a freshers party as well, though I somehow doubt it will be like my freshers in Edinburgh: full of alcohol and with members of the opposite sex allowed in your company. Lauren is complaining that there are too many women and that it can't be a party without men. It is like we are in a sorority. We get a party on Monday as well for Id (no idea how you spell it). It is all going down...

Tonight we started watching a film called Train To Pakistan. It is quite an old film, from 1999, but it seems even older. It is about the refugee issue following Partition, and how border towns that may otherwise have remained neutral, became affected with sectarian violence. It also demonstrates the completely ineffectual leadership given by district leaders, who would rather drink whiskey and have a quiet life than get themselves involved. We didn't finish it though, as Lauren almost fell asleep and went to bed. I stayed up reading, but I wish I hadn't as I am knackered now. 

17th September

Got up and went to Fielding. I wish I hadn’t, I think it is a pointless exercise. Spent the entire lecture reading Foucault instead. I am really getting into Discipline and Punish. When I understand more of it, I will let y’all know.

Decided to go the history library via the canteen for tchai. The tchai man laughs at me every time I come in, but I know now that this is a good laugh. Everywhere we go frequently, people laugh. So it must be good, right?

Got kicked out the library because they wanted to sweep under the desks. Very annoying, but it meant I got in class early enough to get a seat. First time in a while. Everyone leaves their bags on the seats ages before class begins, so usually you have to sneak into the ancient history room and nick their desks.

We are finally moving on in history: on to the army. Beginning to look at the creation of martial races and so on. I have a whole pile of reading to get through once again. Thankfully I am almost finished my essay for this, so I will hand it in on Tuesday. Then I can start my other essays for English good and proper. I still need to find my Plato book…bah.

I went to the doctor today. My first experience of an Indian doctors. I was looking for a multi-vitamin recommendation, as there are so many brands and what not it gets confusing sometimes. She asked to see the spots on my legs and declared it was the heat. So that is encouraging. Role on the cold! I didn’t get my multi-vit though…it would have been too simple to get such a thing. The uni health centre is huge. It is a full-on hospital completed with ENT, Ophthalmology, X-Ray and Gastro-intestinal Depts. I was pretty shocked, as from the outside it does resemble a shack. Turns out some trees hide the multiple floors from view. When in India, take nothing at face value.

After history we went back to the hostel and had lunch and worked on our essays before Hindi. We are going out tonight, so all are pretty excited. We were going to go to Reggae night at Living Room, but it is Colin’s, an American friend, birthday tonight. So we are going there. First off though we are going to the Habitat Centre once more to watch another film and a panel discussion about the hijab and different attitudes towards it. It should be really interesting, and is a great chance to go to the American Diner as well…

The film was really good. It was half an hour long, spilt between a girl in France and a girl in Iran. The girl in France was very conservative, and she said that the French government’s ruling over the hijab in schools had made her suffer and feel victimized. In comparison, the girl in Iran very bravely stated that she didn’t like the hijab but she had to wear it outside. Inside, she had her own space in which to smoke, to have her hair short and to wear whatever clothes she liked. But outside, she had to cover her hair. she tried to show she didn’t care for the hijab by wearing see-through scarves or hats instead of proper hijab, but this was quite dangerous for her. It was very insightful, the different meanings the hijab holds for people. Afterwards there was a discussion with Patricia Uberoi and Urvashi Butalia, among others. It was really very good. One of the women was a practicing Muslim who said she did not wear hijab because she interpreted the Koran as not saying women had to cover their hair, but instead talking about general modesty for both men and women. One of the other panelists was also very interesting, and talked about the islamophobia that is growing in France and the issues of religion when pertaining to women. All religion tries to restrict women in her view, which is probably correct when you think about it. Urvashi Butalia was very good as well: she is a world-renowned feminist activist, and can speak very well. She too wondered about the different ideas of choice in these sorts of situations for girls like the one in France. All in all, a very intellectual and feminist evening. There were a lot of men in the audience, which surprised me. If this was on at home, I doubt there would be that many.

Afterwards we went to the American diner to forget our troubles in a gluttony. I had chicken pot pie, which was amazing and tasted like things your mother makes, even if the pastry was a bit dry. It had courgette in it. So exciting. Lauren and Amanda had burgers and then had desert and managed to eat themselves to the point of pain again. It was really quite funny. It is like small children, especially Lauren: her eyes are bigger than her stomach. I am definitely bringing Euan there; he will love it and the American size portions.

Colin’s birthday extravaganza was a little mental. We only stayed for forty-five minutes or so, as Amanda felt ill. But in that time we had managed to dance to Chor Bazari and sing Total Eclipse of the Heart about ten times. There were laser lights and a DJ and everything. Tanya said you could see the lights from the hostel, which is quite impressive. Caught a glimpse of the other Americans who are apparently all here, and one was wandering around with his shirt off for no reason whatsoever. How very douche. 

16th September

Wednesday is my morning off, so I spent it going through my history essay. I have finally got on to the controversy over the age of recruits in to the covenanted service. Around about 1879 the age was dropped to 17-19, effectively excluding all Indians completely. There was a fairly sustained nationalist movement here over it, and the age was eventually raised again in face of it. I find it interesting that the early Indian nationalists didn’t want to get rid of the Raj, they merely wanted it to be more sympathetic to Indian issues. Most sources seem to say that they actually preferred British administration, because at least it was ‘fair’.

I met Lauren in Barista at Kamla Nagar for a wee coffee and a chat before Hindi. I have some books to pick up from the library as well. I love the lack of copyright laws here. I am getting a commentary on Foucault, one on Habermas and Said’s Culture and Imperialism. I am going to have a lot of books to ship home come May next year.

I went to get my books, and they are in book form. Bound with red fabric and marbled paper. They even have little ribbons on the spine so you can keep your page. Complete luxury. They look like a nice edition that you would get in Blackwells or something. Totally worth £6 for all three. If anyone wants a book for Christmas, let me know!

Hindi today was pretty difficult. We went over the future tense and some other stuff. We were all brain dead by the end. I like how he goes “you are always right!” after he has asked you something and you manage to answer ten minutes later with much prompting. I can now say I want to go to the metro though, and I feel ‘I want” is going to come in very useful. I asked what ‘to have’ is and he told me I ask too much. That doesn’t bode well I feel. I asked Egle later and she said there isn’t a verb ‘to have’ in Hindi, but she isn’t sure. Seeing as she studies Hindi for her degree, I think I may never find out what ‘to have’ is, or isn’t.

We left hindi slightly early to make the five o’clock bus. We have decided that we can’t cope with another night of hostel food and so are going to Chinese Bowl. This place is a gem. 40 Rs for a plate full of fried momos (like big dim sum) and another 40 for a bowl of Thukpa (sort of noodle soup with lots of carrot, cabbage and other veg in it: incredibly tasty and incredibly healthy). And the portions are HUGE. You can hardly finish half the plate. It doesn’t look like a very nice place from the outside, but inside is more food than you can ever hope to eat, all made with too much garlic (which Is a good thing). So, having eaten ourselves to the point of pain, we went home.

The hostel had an orientation meeting on tonight, which I find slightly ironic as we have now been in the hostel for almost a month. It was basically the provost telling us to not waste water, respect each other’s privacy etc. She did tell us about the SWA, or Student Welfare Association. This is an elected body of representatives in the hostel who take care of the mess, culture events, sports and lectures. I think Amanda might take up the representative of the UK post. It would be good to have some say over what goes in the mess though. I want spinach! The one day we had it was heaven on earth. Once more would make my year. And some chicken that wasn’t biryani or bone would also be nice. Some of the girls voiced some complaints as well, the main ones being about the cats. There are about five cats in the hostel who eat the pigeons and the mice. They are a bit scruffy though, and I can see why the girls don’t like having them around. But to be honest, I don’t really see what can be done. So long as there are pigeons, geckos and mice to eat, the cats will be there. If we got rid of these ones, then more would appear in a few days. One of the girls also complained that there were carrots in the food sometimes and she doesn’t like carrots so they should be got rid of. Ridiculous. The people here can be such babies. Pick them out for God’s sake!

15th September

My morning lecture was cancelled. Goddamn Udaya. I like him as well…I wish the lecturers would stick to their timetables. It is incredibly annoying when they decide to have a day off and don’t tell you until right before you are meant to be in their class. Met the guy Nitin again and he tried to explain it to me. He told me not to burn my blood over it. Apparently it is a Hindi expression about not getting angry and wasting your energy. He has also invited me (provisionally) to a wedding next week, which would be amazing. But seeing as track records prove so far that if a guy invites you to do something with him then you are automatically his girlfriend, I might try and get him to let Lauren and Amanda come too before I accept. It would be brilliant to go to an Indian wedding though and get the saree out for another night. Perhaps I should let someone else tie it so that I am not wearing it the ‘sexy’ way.

Nitin showed me the English Literature section in the main library, and I have to say I am slightly surprised by how many books there are. It is nowhere near the same stock as at home, but there are a few books in there that look really good. And, unlike home, photocopying the entire book and having it bound in book form costs very little money. Ah copyright laws, how thou art cast away in the face of cheap labour! For instance, a book of 200 pages will cost about 75 Rs to copy, then 25 Rs extra for proper bookbinding. Or, you could leave it at 75 Rs and just get it as sheets held together with spiral binding. There are many books on those library shelves that will become bootleg books in my time here. Nitin says it is because an average student can’t afford to buy books at the real prices, so the photocopy shops are essential. It is strange; because we all appreciate that the books here cost a lot less than they do at home to start with, so the idea that that is not affordable to most puts things in perspective. We are really incredibly lucky to have the resources we do at home.

After the library I went to my imperial controls class. As soon as we got in the two loud girls who always sit at the front proclaimed we should ‘be ready for some talking’. Did not bode well. As soon as the professor got in they started harping on about how the essay dates were unfair and could we not hand it in on a different day and so on. The essay dates were split into three group batches, so the first group is meant to hand their essay in tomorrow. Evidently the first group have not done their essay and just don’t want to say that out loud so would rather bugger the system up for everyone. The poor professor was getting very confused about why people were complaining and so he just decided to hand the organization over to these two girls to sort out dates for essay handing in and discussions. I asked one of them why she didn’t just ask for an extra couple of days and she said she couldn’t do that. She could, however, complain like a baby until the lecturer got so frustrated he gave up arguing and left her to it. they wasted fifteen minutes of class on that. And afterwards on of them had the cheek to tell us all to wait behind to help them sort it out because it was too much for two people to do. What about the poor man you have just tried to humiliate in front of his students? He managed by himself! Idiots. It was all so childish. We left and went to talk to him, told him we would hand the essay in next week and left it at that. He seemed surprised we even wanted to do the essay, and glad that we were sticking to the original plan. Poor guy. Just so disrespectful.

Walked home with Amanda and missed lunch, so I had noodles instead. Tried to write some more of this essay. I am starting to get interested in how the civil service not only created a racial hierarchy but also a social one, transposed directly from the social hierarchies of Britain. It is interesting that there was such a concern about race, but this is almost given, whereas the concern about class status was fairly active. Even when recruiting Indians in the latter Raj, the British always went for men from ‘suitable’ families: ie. old families that were part of the landed aristocracy. This obsession with old landed gentry is really quite interesting. The civil service becomes then not only a racially superior institution but also superior in terms of class and caste values within India in a way that is recognizable as being the British social system. So colonialism is not confined to subjugation; it also has a complete transposition of the dominators social structures and class boundaries.

I ended up in AIM, where I was most depressed to find out that they have run out of pomegranate to make the pomegranate shakes. Consoled myself with a milkshake and some noodles. More noodles. My nutritional content today has been sky high.

Found out Iain has been round to my parents’ for food. This is possibly a bit weird, but if he is happy then that is good. Perhaps they are all missing me too much!

Worked through a lot of Foucault’s Discipline and Punish. I now have a far better idea of what I am going to write in this essay on Swift, which is a good feeling. It is very interesting how he asserts that there is no possible form of resistance or escape from any form of social institution of ideology, and that even resistance is in itself an affirmation of the institution it is resisting against. Also, the idea of normalization in everything we do or create is very interesting, and very relevant to my essay. I think I will try to gather information from the text itself next and get some of it in written form. I need to do the essay on Plato and Sidney soon as well! Argh. I need to speak to that professor but he is NEVER in! So annoying.

Why is it so hot all of a sudden? I hope the temperature drops soon. I am having to shower twice a day again. Not pleasant. It jut makes you feel dirty all the time. 

14th September

It is hot again. It must be like...34 degrees. I was even sweating while walking. I don't want a return to the hot old days...Bring back the rain!

Today’s class on Swift was very good. I enjoy Shishenku’s lectures a lot actually. I spoke to him briefly afterwards about my essay and said I want to do something on knowledge as a discourse of power and he said that it was a little general. So, I have revised this to include the Foucault theory in the question. Not so general after all. I think it will focus mainly upon the Digression Concerning Madness, but I hope to bring in a couple of other textual examples. Gautam’s class, my other good professor, was less interesting today. This could possibly be due to the fact that we are going through Samuel Johnson and I am not a large fan. Also, there were two boys sitting behind speaking like they were out of a Wilde play. They used words like ‘futility’ and ‘tiresome’ and spoke in a hilariously put-on English accent. At first it was so silly I thought they might have been trying to tease me for being British. But no, they actually were speaking to each other seriously in the voice. It was ridiculous. I wanted to turn round and ask them if they really thought English people ever spoke like that if they weren’t gay or an idiot. Tanya says she thinks one of them is gay; he was certainly the most annoying and up himself. The other was inviting him out and he was just acting like it was all too beneath him to condescend to grace the other with his presence. He deserved a whack. Next time I might ask them.

Tried to get some books out form the library, but of course, it was closed. Went to Barista none the less and sat reading about the Civil Service instead until Hindi. Hindi today was actually quite good. I surprise myself with how much I can say. We can now do future tense and ‘I want’ or ‘I can’, which will make asking for things a lot easier. I don’t think we know the verb ‘to have’ yet though, so that complicates things.

After Hindi I go the bus home and sat in my room, trying to muddle through my essay and eventually giving up to go for a run. Lauren has gone to Khan Market to meet Stephen. She is annoyed with him, as he has just got back to Delhi from Nepal and says he is bored. How can you be bored in this city?! There are a million things to see and do, some of them free! She went none the less, and she is bring me home some mueseli, so I can have some respite from masala omlette every single day.

Dinner tonight was exciting. It was a potato and cabbage thing, and there was chicken and the paneer balls…I ate so much. I could see the guy in the mess looking at me every time I went for more (twice) in a sort of ‘haven’t you got your share yet??’ kind of way. It was good. I haven’t eaten that much in one go for a while. I then proceeded to eat half a pack of digestives as well. Amanda helped, but it really doesn’t detract from the overall splurge. I think I needed it.

13th September

Up at the loo about five times during the night. I don’t remember having drunk enough fluids to necessitate so many toilet stops. The fun never ends.

Spent the morning in the library for as long as possible. Crazy history lady was in there and she snorts every five minutes. It gets more than a little annoying. I got the impression she was annoyed with me anyway as my headphones let out too much sound from my laptop. I am trying to write an essay on the colonial bureaucracy in the late 19th century, and what exactly made it ‘colonial’. I think I am mainly focusing on recruitment and ideology. It is very strange reading the old documents. They all talk about wanting a ‘demi-God’, someone not just intelligent but physically superior to the natives. In Burmese Days, the character of Verral: completely assured of his superiority and physical prowess – he is the perfect type. You had to undergo lots of rigorous physical tests before you went out to India as well; you had to be able to survive all the disease, the jungle, the poverty…It is almost a cult of athleticism. It is very interesting how much this feeds into the idea of the superior white ruler over an inferior (not only in intellect but also physicality) black native. It was such an important aspect of the entire structure of the Civil Service that the institution cannot be mere bureaucracy: it is a full agency and demonstration of colonial ideology and practice.

Having failed to write more than 400 words of my essay, I tried to start the note taking for my one on Plato and Sidney. This was slightly more successful, though I think I have chosen a hard topic: Platonic imagination. There aren’t many articles on it. Oh well. I will ask Nitin to show me some good books instead.
This evening we went out to a film in the South. There is a complex called the Habitat Centre on Lodi Road, near the Lodi gardens. It houses many things, including an auditorium where there is a Public Service Broadcast Trust film festival on at the moment, dealing with gender and conflict. It has stuff on every day all through the day and for free. Tonight’s film was called Firaaq: an Urdu word that means ‘separation’ and ‘quest’. It was set in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat sectarian violence and follows five different characters through a 24 hour period. Their stories intermingle and reflect each other, though they are all so different. Each have had a different experience of the violence, and while the film shows none of the rioting itself, the tales that are told and the memories each character holds creates an atmosphere of fear that is far more powerful when there is no violence on the surface and it is only lurking. It was directed by Nandita Das; her directorial debut. I need to find it on DVD and bring it home. It even had subtitles. Firaaq is probably the best and most thought-provoking film I have seen in a long time. There was a question-answer session with the director afterwards as well. While most of the questions were quite enlightening (particularly one on the censorship of ‘bloody Hindu’ in speech but not in subtitles), some were just annoying. I have noticed a tendency in older Indian women to just speak uninvited at whatever opportunity. They have no sense of propriety, they just yell out until you can’t help but let them speak merely because they are disturbing everything else. The film was brilliant however, old Indian women or no. If you can find it, watch it. It is a great piece of cinema.
Afterwards we went across the courtyard to the American Style Diner (exactly what it says on the tin, except I don’t think actual diners do red kidney bean burgers). We got shakes, burgers, and Egle even had New York cheesecake. She was shocked to learn that cheesecake requires no cooking and near to no effort. We may attempt to make one in the hostel at some point in the near future. Apparently in Lithuania you can’t get proper cheesecake and no one knows how to make it. This must change. The good thing about this diner is that if Euan complains too much when he comes here then I can just cart him to it and he can have onion rings or something as a soother.
We got home for curfew, though Marie stayed out to meet a friend in Khan Market for a little while. I really like how the autos here are very safe way to travel. Safe, and inexpensive. I don’t have too much of a problem getting an auto anywhere, as they are wholly open and move at about 20 miles an hour at most, so it isn’t like you can’t just get out if it is all going to pot. Also, most of he drivers are pretty nice and too concerned making a decent wage to cause you hassle.
I need to write my essay. Bah, This is not going as planned.

12th September

Woke up this morning feeling like someone was using my forehead as a bouncy castle. Not an overly pleasant feeling. I have extra class this morning as well, and I don’t think this bodes well. Forced myself to have breakfast in the hope that the sugar will perk me up or something.
It didn’t.
Managed to get through one of my extra classes. It was on Samuel Johnson, for literary theory. It was quite interesting, and I think I could write a coherent answer on it in relation to Romantic theory or Aristotelian theory, which is always a nice sensation. I think we are only doing the Preface to Shakespeare, which is probably the longest tract, but I wouldn’t have minded doing some of the other stuff that is in the Norton as well. I might just go through it myself and use ‘wider knowledge’ as a secret weapon come exam time.
I didn’t make it to Udaya Kumar on Plato. I couldn’t…I was suffering too much in that damned room with all the damned aircon on and me freezing and in pain. I couldn’t even muster the energy to speak to my lecturer about my essay, so that can be Monday’s task instead. I feel more than a little bit pathetic, but I do not care. I am beginning to worry about these essays, especially seeing as I also have a history one due and then a timed question for English to do in class. I am sure I will get them done. I just hope they are actually good though. Here, 60% is considered an A, and seems virtually unattainable. The usual marks are in the fifties. It seems so strange to us, who would consider 60% ok, but not great. They think it is amazing. One guy I spoke to told me the highest mark he knew of was 75%. At home that is pretty good, but here that is mark of genius.
After English I met Amanda and Egle in Connaught Place. I had to be directed to the music shop they were in, and so this very friendly Indian guy took me there. It was really very nice of him, I hadn’t asked for a guide, only directions! He said what they all say: Indians are more famous for their hospitality and helpfulness than Westerners. This is true, but you still have to look out a bit. He had thought he had seen me the night before in a club (not as bad a line as “I saw your face in Connaught Place…*cringe*”) so perhaps he had slight ulterior motives. Either way he took me to the music shop and wandered off. CDs are very cheap here. It is about a fiver for the most expensive I saw, which was Dire Straites Live. An odd CD to have in an Indian music store but there you go.
We were in Connaught Place to find the yoga centre that we had seen advertised in First City, an amazing magazine that gives you complete listings of all the restaurant and bar deals going on and any free cultural events round the city. It turned out to be quite far from CP, and closer instead to Patel Chowk. We found it eventually, though the main entrance is secreted up a back street (as per.). When we got there the guard told us to go away as there was no one in and everything was locked. What was funny about this was that there were people inside the building wandering around. Not a very good lie when the building is made partly of glass. After five minutes of arguing, a man appeared and told us to follow him. Shocking how people come out of the woodwork and suddenly materialize inside locked buildings isn’t it? We got a timetable for yoga, and there is a class on every day at 4 to 5 or 5 to 6pm. Amanda and I can only go to one three times a week, so we are thinking Tuesday, Friday and Saturday or Sunday. It’s hatha yoga, so it should be nice and relaxing. I hope they don’t mind the fact that I am the most inflexible person on the planet and not able to touch my toes, let alone bend into shapes. It is only 100Rs for a month, so even if we don’t make it all the time, it is most definitely worth it.
By this stage I was feeling most definitely worse, so we came back to the hostel and went to AIM, where I had a restorative cup of ginger tea. That tea is like a lifesaver. Very spicy, very sweet and generally amazing for any cold. I think I should try to find some of it before I leave.
I came back to the hostel before the others and went to sleep until dinner. Dinner tonight was fairly exciting: there was a potato dish we had not seen before that is apparently the sort of thing you are meant to get in dhosa. To be honest, anything is exciting when it is different. We have decided that we need to begin trying properly in Hindi, so we are copying our notes out nicely and starting afresh. Perhaps we may even learn something.

11th September

Managed to speak to Prof Sanpathi about my assessments. He says I can do the essays, but also sit the internal assessment. So my first week of October is going to be fun and games. Thankfully my new friend Nitin (not Natel as I had previously thought) is going to give me some old question papers to look over. He also wants to take me to the library at the British Consulate; apparently it is really good. He also told me a fairly interesting thing about the professor I don’t like: Raj Kumar. He said the University was made to take him on despite him not being a very good lecturer. He didn’t tell me why, he only said it was the government that had made it so. Perhaps Prof Kumar is a product of positive discrimination. Either way, he is an awful teacher.

I think I am getting a cold. It has been raining here for two days now pretty much non-stop and it is the sort of rain that soaks you in a sly way and you never dry fully. Not nice.

When I came back to the hostel, Amanda wasn’t here. She has gone to AIM I suppose. I feel really tired, so I may sleep.

Slept for two hours. I haven’t done that since being here. Very odd. To perk myself up I ran 5km; it felt good to be somewhere near my former standard of running. Now all I need to do is slowly double it and we will be back in business. Did a little bit of my essay as well. I have a plan and my introduction written. Now all I need to do is make proper detailed notes on everything else and find good quotations. I am hoping to have it done by the middle of next week so that I can properly focus upon English, but we will see.

Looking on the net, and apparently five girls have been stampeded to death in their school. I find this at once horrifying and amazing. How does a girl get trampled in her school?? Apparently they were in a collision on the stairs with some boys from another class, but jesus God that is not enough to kill a child surely? And why was it even allowed to happen? Why were these children running with such force that they were able to do this? It is just horrible.

I got bored and came to AIM, where I am now sitting with some ginger tea. I managed to speak to mum and Susan, Granny and Grandpa and Iain all in one go, which is pretty good going connection-wise. I also had an affogato (espresso with ice cream) so I feel it has been a good evening. Think I will call it an early night though, because it may be only half nine, but walking down our road any later would be a bit silly. It is a busy residential street, but the motorbikes do get bolder in their ‘almost-hit-and-swerve’ pick-up tactics.

There were two elephants on the road on the way back. I love seeing these things lumbering along next to the buses and autos…so surreal.

10th September

We got back at three am and were a bit drunk. Not as bad as Lauren, who fell asleep in the auto home. She was being bought drinks by random men all night as well as the free mojitos. Possibly not a good plan, as she is still drunk now. I am evry glad we don’t have class today. The rain has cancelled everything. It rained all night, and now everything is quite flooded. It is strange, the rain isn’t heavy, just like it is at home but it is so constant that everything is just as soaked as it would be other wise.

Last night was great fun. We had about four or five free mojitos and hit the dance floor for hours. My thighs hurt this morning from the amount of dancing I did. We met a couple of really nice people whom Egle (the Lithuanian) knows and I met a guy form Rotheram and another from LA. The one from LA told me that he works for a production company that has been affiliated with Paramount pictures and that he used to work for Conde Nast. I don’t know if he was lying or not with some ulterior motive, but he was a nice guy. It was very funny, on the dance floor Indian men do the craziest moves; everything is straight out of Bollywood. But the guys from the UK and US danced like the boys do back home: awkward and slightly calculated to try and look cool. Where were the jazz hands? Where was the hip shaking and shimmying? Just not good enough.

Thankfully I am not hung over this morning. I think not drinking after midnight and having masses of noodles before going out was a good plan. I think I might be getting a cold though instead, which is not good either. Ah well. I have a quiet weekend writing an essay ahead of me anyways. Fun times.

Stayed in my room for most of the day trying and failing to work. Had to go to AIM just to get out of this damned place. I was distraught to learn that they had no pomegranate shakes. The old faithful has failed me! Consoled myself with a chocolate one instead. I also bought some noodles so that I can make myself food when I like rather than eating curry at the prescribed meal times all the time. Shall be good.

Lauren and I came home for dinner and for her to pack. She is off to somewhere up north (sounds like Napitka) for the weekend with Ward and Ben and some other folks. She has the advantage of having no class on Saturday and Monday, unlike Amanda and I. We have told her to take loads of pictures and to avoid Ward’s sleazy charms. Amanda and I were laughing about how in the sleeper carriage she might have to use Ben to protect her. It is consolation for us not being able to go. Spent the rest of the evening in Amanda’s room munching almonds and chatting about the fun-filled topic of the Indian Civil Service.
Spoke to my mum on the phone as well about my hair. She says I should maybe look to get some more vitamins in my diet, so I am eating as many bananas as I can get my hands on and drinking OJ. MUST BE HEALTHY!

Who am I kidding? There are no fresh vegetables in this place…If it ain’t curried it ain’t food.

9th September

Woke up this morning with a strange blister on my lip that popped. Not so cool. Perhaps I have been drinking too much chai or something.
My hair has started coming out again. This is getting ridiculous. I don’t know what to do about it.
I had no classes this morning, so I worked out and then Amanda and I went to AIM to get some toast before Hindi. It began to rain while we were in AIM, but left off once we came out to catch the bus. Once at the university though, it poured for ten minutes incredibly heavily, and so all the others got soaked on their way in. Hindi was complicated today. I need to start practicing it outside of the class as he is asking me things like what is quarter past two? And I have no idea. Not so good.
We stopped at Chinese Bowl, a little Chinese place on the way home. I got only a half bowl of ginger and garlic chow mein, and thank god I did because Amanda and Lauren hardly made a dent in either of their full bowls. I managed to maybe eat half and then gave up due to pain of being too full. It was terrible, we left so much food, but you like and learn. It was really nice, though the chow mein was super spicy and our mouths were on fire for quite a long time. Great value though: a huge bowl of noodles and chicken for only 65 Rs. It was raining again when we left. A sort of drizzling rain, not like the usual flash flood. I hope it doesn’t keep up, as you know what tonight is? Tonight is Ladies Night! I am so excited by this it is unreal. We ate early specially so that we had a good amount of food in us to soak up alcohol but not too late on so we have no food baby for going out. Genius plan.
I am going to wear my mirrored harem pants and ridiculous eye shadow and hope it stays on my face in the rain. It is a shame: South Delhi is the only place where we could get our legs out, but getting to South Delhi you need to take the metro from the north. And in the north, there are no legs on show. Every second girl is in salwaar or saree. It would create a scandal. The French people and the Lithuanian girls are coming out with us, so we will make quite a large group on the dance floor. It is going to be epic. We have our Bollywood moves primed and ready to go. Roll on Chori Bazari and Twist! (I suggest you youtube Love Aaj Kal soundtrack to get a perfect sample of the music we listen to.)

8th September

This morning I had a really interesting Plato lecture. It actually went into some depth on Plato’s ideas of imagination and also the Aristotelian ideas of imagination. It actually gave me something new to think about as well, which was a very pleasant and welcome surprise. My lecturer spoiled it though when I tried to state my essay plan to him and he told me to come back on Friday and that he would see what was happening. Perhaps this one has ideas, or maybe he just likes following rules. Either way, he couldn’t be bothered talking to me. So I tried to visit Professor Sanpathi but, of course, he was not in the office. At least the men in the office told me straight rather than pretend not to speak English. Perhaps the feigned ignorance is only for complicated requests.

My history lecturer has given us our first assignment. We have to write a very short essay on the Indian Civil Service, looking at what made it ‘colonial’. It is quite an interesting topic, as the methods of recruitment and the ideology behind it are very specific and important in the creation of the typical English Raj bureaucrat that rests in our minds: florid, out-doorsy, sporting, upper class, calculating, assured in his own physical and mental superiority.

After our class we caught the bus home and went to lunch, which was incredibly exciting. They had these vegetable ball things that I am fairly fond of in a very gingery sauce. After lunch I just went to the library and stayed their working until the late afternoon, when Lauren and I got bored and went out to AIM. I tried to skype my gran, but to no avail. The internet died soon afterwards anyways. It was really annoying. I would have liked to have spoken to dad or Iain. Dad called me to say that when I had tried calling him it was very awkward, as it had flashed up on the computer screen during someone else’s consultation in his room. They need to learn how to sign out.

Dinner was an unappetizing mush, so I had a chapatti to make up for it, my first in a while now. I generally only get rice, as it is better for the dal.

After dinner we were invited out to the French couple, Brunelle and Guillame’s flat for some drinks. We stopped at the Wine and Beer shop on our way up though, and got an awful lot of odd looks and a few proposals that were not very appetizing. There were about thirty men just sitting on the pavement and in a deserted house next to the shop drinking out of brown bags. You can’t display alcohol on the streets here, like California. On the way to their flat we passed through an area near by to ours that we had never seen that was full of little shops. I feel we should explore one day, as there were a few that looked quite interesting. We got lost a few times on our way, but finally Guillame found us and we went up to the flat. It is like a proper student flat, and felt very homely. They have one other flatmate: a French boy called Bruno, but he didn’t really speak to us. The other French girl who is en-route to Cambodia was there as well. She is leaving tomorrow morning early, and is a little bit apprehensive. Apparently she is finding it very difficult to get her rupees exchanged into dollars, the currency in Cambodia. I will have to remember this for when I am coming home and plan ahead to get rid of as many of my rupees as possible or else begin to exchange them by degrees as early on as possible.

It was a very pleasant evening I must say. They had snacks (olives!) and beer and everyone was in a generally very good mood. I think they are going to come out with us tomorrow night to Urban Pind. Guillame is an enthusiastic dancer it seems. I wonder if he will be able to keep up with the Indian guys and their ‘moves’. They have invited us to come round again and we will all cook pasta together. I feel a trip to Khan Market to find some good cheese in the European shops is necessary. Who knows? Perhaps we will even find Parmesan! It is good now we have been here for a while. We were thrown together, but it has become more than that now. Amanda and I have decided that in May once we are finished here we are going to take a long route home through Europe and go to Bologna and Madrid and maybe somewhere beachy in Spain as we have friends living there for the year. I am already excited about it.

7th September

I have decided that I no longer care what the English Dept think. I am going to corner my lecturers and state what I am going to do and if they don’t like it they can just suck it up. I am determined to spend the ten days in October with my family whether they like it or not.

My lecturers actually agreed! I managed to corner Prof Shikendu (not sure if that is how it is spelt) and Prof Chakrabati after their lectures and said I would like to do a two to three thousand word essay for the first week in October. Prof C has even invited me to meet him on Saturday to discuss possible topics! It is amazing. I think they had no idea what to do with me, so are actually fairly glad that I have suggested something myself.

I feel so relieved. Went to Barista and got a banana muffin to celebrate my victory. I was even awake for Hindi! And that never ever happens. We learnt how to write our names. It was all very interesting.

After Hindi we came home and pottered around for a bit. I managed to tell mum my good news about the essays and it is like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Dinner tonight was fairly unexciting as well, though there was paneer, and I think I might have a small obsession.

Today has been a very uneventful day, save my lecturer conquest. To be honest, we are so tired after yesterday that doing anything today just wouldn’t have been possible. We have made a plan though to go to Urban Pind on Wednesday for Ladies Night: free mojitoes and free beer for girls! Amazing. Also the nice Bangladeshi girl Sabrine has invited us out on Saturday to an Indian ‘disc’ (disco)! It will be great to go out with them, I imagine their taste is as cheesy as hell.

6th September

We got up in the dark at half past five to get to the Taj Mahal for opening. We hadn’t appreciated in the dark how close everything was to us, so we literally walked out our hostel and 30 seconds later we were at the West Gate. Tried to convince the man at the ticket counter to give us an Indian ticket on the merit of our student cards but that went down like a lead balloon and they got quite aggressive and began to yell at us until we went to the foreigners booth. There were all these guys wandering around saying “Government approved guide!” which is code for scam-monger. Anything that says ‘Government Approved’ here is most likely not government approved and is most probably a scam for naive tourists. These poor Japanese people in front of us attracted the attention of one of the men and he hounded them for about half an hour and taking advantage of their broken English. It was a real shame. He did tell them something useful though: you get a free bottle of water when you go in the Taj from a stand next to the ticket office. This is a deal done by the people running the Taj thing themselves, so it is actually ok to drink it.
You go through a large red stone gate, like stone used at the Qutb Minar and the mosque in Delhi. There is white marble effacing even on these, decorated in an intricate flower pattern. You go into a kind of outer courtyard, then pass out of yet another red arch way into very lush green gardens. There is a red stone building to the left of you, and you go up the steps into it, it also being covered in the geometrically arranged flower patterning, and then pass out the other side and you see it. The Taj Mahal. A great shining white beacon against the dawn light. It was completely beautiful, far more than I had anticipated. There are several blocks of gardens lined with frangipani and dotted with rectangular pools that reflect the Taj Mahal and the red buildings that surround it completely accurately in the stillness of the water. As we walked forward, the dawn changed the colour of the white marble to blue, lilac and gold and the sky became a fantastic deep blue as the day set in. It wasn’t too hot, though there were many flies that you had to keep shooing off. There were hardly any tourists in the compound; we had been among the first six inside. We could take pictures with no one in them for a good half hour. There was dew in the grass as well, and we walked through, barefoot, as you have to take off your shoes. We walked around for hours, going up into the mausoleum itself and looking at the marble graves. Everything was decorated with the carefully painted flowers. It is a work of extraordinary craftsmanship. When it was completed the emperor had all the hands of the craftsmen chopped off so that such a thing could never be built again. It is strange, but now that we are here seeing this, I really feel an overwhelming sense of being “in India” that I don’t feel so much in the city. I suppose because the Taj Mahal is such a symbol of all the romance of the East that it really resonates in my mind as being particularly exotic. I think this might be Orientalist, which I find a bit amusing seeing as it is what I am interested in studying for the next year and a bit. I don’t know, I think I am just being a bit silly. Or maybe it just feels like I am on holiday here, rather than in the city where I live and work.
We came home from the Taj Mahal and went straight to sleep for two hours in the hostel. When we woke up we thought it was like 4pm, but it was actually half eleven. Decided to get to the train station as fast as possible incase there was a twelve o’clock train home. When we got to the station everyone was trying to direct us all over the place to get tickets from their friends rather than from the booth or to get us to take a taxi (!) back to Delhi. Ridiculous! We finally fought our way to the front of the queue though and got our tickets, which were surprisingly cheap at 62Rs each. All was revealed however when we got on the train at second class and they told us we all had to pay a fine of 330Rs each. We could have killed someone. So stupid! For future reference: if anyone sells you a ticket to/from Agra for less then 100Rs then you are being conned. You will get on a train and the conductor will appear and fine you. You argue with him for a long time and you get the fine down to an ‘upgrade’ whereupon he can no longer fill in his form to say he fined someone so he can pocket the cash instead. Complete money-making scam. An Indian guy who was sitting by us argued with him for a while on our behalf and in the end we paid 600Rs all together. Its still too much, but at least it wasn’t general class. Ben decided he would try out general class anyway and got into a nice routine with a man using spitting his pan (betel juice) out the window Ben was sitting by to try and steal his seat. A little boy with a painted face and a hat with a bead on it that he swung round as he walked came begging on the train. He had a tiffin tin and two sticks to make a make-shift drum kit. He stopped by us and beat the tin and I gave him a dried apricot and he did a backwards roll for me. It was quite cute. The Indians next to us gave him a packet of biscuits that he promptly put in his tin and wandered off, still swinging the bead. He was a cute little thing, and I was glad I had food on me. I don’t like giving money, because you don’t know where that will go. But if you give the kids food, you are pretty sure they are going to benefit from it themselves.
When we came back into Delhi, we girls made it back to the hostel just in time for afternoon tea. Lauren and I decided to stop and get an orange juice at the stall across the road from us beforehand. When we drank it though, it had salt in it! Absolutely disgusting. We had to subtly pour it in the gutter. I don’t think we are ever going back for shame. We need to know how to say ‘no salt’ in Hindi. Urgh. It is in everything here as well.
I managed to finish my book on the train, and it is was brilliant. It is so relevant to everything we are studying right now in history: the attitudes of the Europeans, the changing social structures of colonial elites, the cooperation of the native population in domination of the other. The other great thing about it is that it is entirely unsympathetic. You love and hate both English and native characters in equal measure. Each can be as evil, as shallow-minded and as ‘barbarous’ as each other in their methods. Flory, the main character of the book is a spineless and unlikable man, but he is the only character to show any kind of sympathy for the natives that doesn’t feel wholly Oriental in nature. Of course, such a man cannot exist within the colonial system and therefore he must be destroyed. Those that survive in this world are cunning, ruthless and assured of their racial and rank superiority of those they rule over. It is an incredibly interesting book, and I think I now need to go and read more Orwell as a matter of urgency. I should really read my history stuff first though and some more theory. Fun times!
There is apparently loads of confusion about my English mid-term assessment. No one seems to know what is happening, and as far as I can tell English and History depts. May actually be following different calendars and giving differently spaced mid-term holidays. I called mum to tell her about my difficulties as it may mean I can’t spend all my time with them when they are here, which would suck major ass. I am really annoyed and frustrated: why does no one ever know what is going on??? Argh.