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  New Delhi, Delhi, India
Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The contrasts here are dizzying at every turn. Before I start taking it all for granted, let me mention that every morning in the hotel's computer lab an attendant approaches to pull out my chair and returns a minute later with complimentary coffee and cookies. I can’t use the hotel gym without at least three attendants handing me towels, adjusting my treadmill settings for me, and of course opening all doors. And I just found out that outside the hotel, people aren’t just sleeping on the sidewalk in some random, disorganized way- they rent the spaces. Unfortunately or fortunately, our teacher group is moving at such a pace throughout Delhi during the day that we’re quite grateful for the sanctuary of the Taj Mahal Hotel… has me feeling a bit guilty.

Yesterday we visited a unique Islamic school (madrasa) for girls ages 13-18. Honestly we were treated like royalty there, with a big ceremony at the beginning in which we were garlanded and welcomed by the head of the school and all the school staff. We toured the school, which was bare of basic materials like books, paper, writing tools, etc. In the two classes we visited, the girls sat on the floor in a circle and seemed to be studying the Koran. Two girls sang for our group. Their performances were beautiful, but I felt sorry for the enormous pressure our delegation must have been putting on these singers, especially since all the girls seemed fairly shy. When we arrived at the madrasa’s computer lab, I felt as if the scene had been specially orchestrated for us- women were wearing the full black veils while sharing the computers (they seemed to be doing elementary typing).

The focus of the school as articulated by the founder and leader is a noble one- to give girls a technical education so they may become independent adults, and to educate women so they may "raise children to face the challenges of life". However, some features of the school haunted me, like the partitioned (prison-like) room where parents meet with the students twice per month and the sleeping quarters (mats on the floor- 15 girls to a room). I left wondering how this school compares to others we’ll visit, and feeling curious about how much of a relative privilege it is to attend this madrasa.

In the evening we enjoyed hearing a panel of experts representing 6 different religions (Judaism- there are 5000 Jews in India, Sikhism, Bahaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Catholicism). The discussion was fascinating! Plus two of the panelists got up in the middle of everything to respond to obnoxious ring tones on their cell phones- a touch of home. Afterward we enjoyed a very fancy reception dinner hosted by a U.S. diplomat in India, where I met other Fulbright students who are working on their doctoral studies in India- one woman is an anthropologist working in a Delhi slum everyday- quite inspiring.

I’m not sure if I’ll write tomorrow- we leave early for Pune, and today we just have a bunch of lectures…

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