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.