About a week ago I witnessed the weirdest of weird feelings. I felt sad, yet excited. I knew I had to say goodbye to my mama...only to return to my ema. I had to say good bye to the best of my friends...just to return to my childhood pals. I left a home..to go home. Talk about controversy, hah? Well, never mind. I'm back in Estonia and feeling kinda out of space. I guess its the reverse culture-shock they were all talking about. I have a feeling I'll never really get used to the bizarreness of Estonia. All the drinking is not very inviting for me, not anymore.
Maybe I'm just writing out of deep culture shock, maybe not but one thing I know is that this is the last entry in my blog. Although the "India Chapter" is not over in my life, the "Exchange year Chapter" is. Thanks for everybody who've followed my irregular posts.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Almost every one of my latest entries here starts with “I haven’t written here for a while” or something like that. Well this one is no exception. A lot has happened since my last entry and it’s a shame I’m writing only now.
An important event was my hospitalization. After spending the night of Saturday the 1st of December in my toilet (not going into details) I was rather seriously de-hydrated. In fact, so seriously that I ended up, collapsing on my bedroom floor. I was rather scared and so was my host-family. Since the doctors don’t make house- calls, Sukhbir had to drive me to the hospital. The first place we went to had no doctors (of course there weren’t, it was Sunday after all). Therefore we had to drive in to the city centre, to the Guru Nanak Mission Hospital. I nearly fainted on my way there and in overall felt like dying, my vision was yellow and everything I heard, sounded distant (or like being in a large room, like a Church or something). When I told this to Sukhbir, his only reply was: “C’mon don’t be such a sissy”. I’m glad that I didn’t have the energy to punch him in the face because I swear, If I could have done it, I most certainly would have.The Guru Nanak Hospital had doctors and they admitted me instantly. I was attached to a dropper almost instantly and started getting minerals. I was (almost) asleep most of the day and by the evening was recovered enough to stand up. The detached the dropper for the night and I slept well. By Monday morning I felt great already and could go home. I didn’t go to school on the next day because I thought it might be a good idea to gain a little more strength.
I think the worst effect of this illness was that I have to fight with my host-mom every day. She thinks that my illness was caused by cold and tries to make me wear thermals and a winter hat (just like Sukhbir does). I can no longer take cold showers or wear T-shirts in the house, otherwise I’ll be scolded. In addition to that, every morning I have to wear my leather jacket on top of my school uniform. As if that wasn’t enough, Harleen has been trying to tell me that it is awfully bad for my health to take a shower in the evening. This exaggerated fear of cold is really getting on my nerves and I’m trying to avoid her presence as much as possible and hope that one day she will listen to me (for a change).
Last Sunday we went to see our relatives who live in a village nearby. It was great. Their house is nicer than ours and they have a lot of trees in the garden (I miss trees a lot since Punjab only has fields). We ate saag (spinach ), cooked on fire and sat outside the whole time. I truly enjoyed myself and plan to take their offer and go there for a weekend or so. I’d like to go on 13th of March when they gather wheat. It is a big festival for the “desis” (locals, rural people) and would be a great opportunity to see a festival celebrated in a village. Unfortunately our YFU Gangotri trip will be at about the same time.
There’s some new information on our social work. We won’t be quitting DPS after all and the social work will be just an after-school activity. Instead, DPS management (which has started to worry about us, not enjoying our school) has offered to “pack” our schedule which means that we got to choose whatever subjects we would like to study. This is great and I’m looking forward to the change.
An important event was my hospitalization. After spending the night of Saturday the 1st of December in my toilet (not going into details) I was rather seriously de-hydrated. In fact, so seriously that I ended up, collapsing on my bedroom floor. I was rather scared and so was my host-family. Since the doctors don’t make house- calls, Sukhbir had to drive me to the hospital. The first place we went to had no doctors (of course there weren’t, it was Sunday after all). Therefore we had to drive in to the city centre, to the Guru Nanak Mission Hospital. I nearly fainted on my way there and in overall felt like dying, my vision was yellow and everything I heard, sounded distant (or like being in a large room, like a Church or something). When I told this to Sukhbir, his only reply was: “C’mon don’t be such a sissy”. I’m glad that I didn’t have the energy to punch him in the face because I swear, If I could have done it, I most certainly would have.The Guru Nanak Hospital had doctors and they admitted me instantly. I was attached to a dropper almost instantly and started getting minerals. I was (almost) asleep most of the day and by the evening was recovered enough to stand up. The detached the dropper for the night and I slept well. By Monday morning I felt great already and could go home. I didn’t go to school on the next day because I thought it might be a good idea to gain a little more strength.
I think the worst effect of this illness was that I have to fight with my host-mom every day. She thinks that my illness was caused by cold and tries to make me wear thermals and a winter hat (just like Sukhbir does). I can no longer take cold showers or wear T-shirts in the house, otherwise I’ll be scolded. In addition to that, every morning I have to wear my leather jacket on top of my school uniform. As if that wasn’t enough, Harleen has been trying to tell me that it is awfully bad for my health to take a shower in the evening. This exaggerated fear of cold is really getting on my nerves and I’m trying to avoid her presence as much as possible and hope that one day she will listen to me (for a change).
Last Sunday we went to see our relatives who live in a village nearby. It was great. Their house is nicer than ours and they have a lot of trees in the garden (I miss trees a lot since Punjab only has fields). We ate saag (spinach ), cooked on fire and sat outside the whole time. I truly enjoyed myself and plan to take their offer and go there for a weekend or so. I’d like to go on 13th of March when they gather wheat. It is a big festival for the “desis” (locals, rural people) and would be a great opportunity to see a festival celebrated in a village. Unfortunately our YFU Gangotri trip will be at about the same time.
There’s some new information on our social work. We won’t be quitting DPS after all and the social work will be just an after-school activity. Instead, DPS management (which has started to worry about us, not enjoying our school) has offered to “pack” our schedule which means that we got to choose whatever subjects we would like to study. This is great and I’m looking forward to the change.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
My first Wedding in India & Guru Nanak's birthday
Last Monday was thirst time I saw an Indian wedding, a part of it at least. It was actually a pre-wedding party. To my surprise I found myself (along with Sukhbir, naturally) in a drinking tent. It was sort of a separate place for drinkers (which in Punjab means to all the grown up men). The men offered me whiskey (can’t remember the name but it was a single malt whiskey) and as it would have been rude to reject it, I accepted their offer. However, I refused to let them pour soda in to my whiskey, which was accepted only because I’m a gora. After having my drink, I shifted to beer. To my surprise and disgust I found that they wanted to pour WHISKEY IN TO MY BEER!!!!I made my conclusions from that and decided that drinking is a new activity to Indians and they have really no idea how to do it (properly).No party is complete without a bhangra and the wedding was no exception. It was great fun, dancing with the locals and seeing old men doing Bhangra (Babe Bhangra Pound’ e Ne).
For the first time in India, I fell ill in the evening of Tuesday and remained ill for the following two days.
I went to school on Friday (23rd November) and found out that we had only one period (chemistry) and we played cricket for the rest of the day. Cricket went well and although our turn ended after I made my one and only hit (which scored us a run), I enjoyed it. After the game, Dan bowled me a couple of balls and I was able to hit every bowl. I must say that batting in cricket is by far easier than in baseball.Our school ended earlier because of the birthday of Guru Nanak (the first guru of the Sikhs). As I arrived home, I found that the house was locked and the gate key had not been left to the neighbors’ house. This meant that I had to climb our spiked wall. I was successful and didn’t hurt myself. After getting in, Sukhbir called and said he wanted to take me out for lunch. He did as he promised and we had mutton nan at some old place which is supposed to be famous for it (Jalandhar seems to be packed with old eating places which are famous for something).
The Birthday of Guru Nanak was on 24th November (yesterday). It is the most important festival for the Sikhs. Our visit to gurudwara showed that clearly, because it was totally over-crowded. It took us about an hour and a half to go through the whole process (getting in, listening to the hymns, getting out, having langar, etc.). In fact the event was so important that my family broke their promise, not to celebrate any festival for a year. When I asked Harleen about it, she just said that it is, after all, “Dada Ji’s “ birthday. We burnt quite a few crackers and although it can’t be compared to Diwali (in terms of fireworks), I enjoyed the evening. Saturday was also important for an other reason: the grand final of “Amul Star voice of India. It was won by Ishmit, a sikh from Ludhiana. Those who aren’t familiar with Indian pop-culture and the shows which are on, will not understand the importance of Star voice of India, but I guarantee that it is VERY important.
Fireworks on Dada Ji's birthday
As most of the people (our family included) choose to go to the bigger gurudwaras on celebrations, the smaller ones celebrate the events on the following day.
Our local gurudwara was no exception. Today we went there to cook langar and distribute it. At first I helped the women cook chappatties and afterwards, to distribute the food. I have trouble describing how I felt after langar was over, but I can say that it felt good. I suppose it has to do with working with the locals and doing something with the community, there is just something satisfying about it. In fact, langar is the only thing in religion that makes sense to me. I feel that every religion should contribute to the society like Sikhism does.
Talking about contributing to the society, I might be quitting Delhi Public School soon and start with the social work. The point is that DPS has nothing to offer to me anymore. I have fallen behind in the studies and if I wanted to get back on track, I would have to study incredibly hard. Studying incredibly hard is, however, something which I have no intention of doing over here. Therefore, all I do in school is sit in the classroom and wait for the classes to be over. Even the interaction with my friends is minimal due to the hard studies and therefore I really have NOTHING to gain from going to school. Of course, YFU India is very understanding and is already dealing with the issue.
For the first time in India, I fell ill in the evening of Tuesday and remained ill for the following two days.
I went to school on Friday (23rd November) and found out that we had only one period (chemistry) and we played cricket for the rest of the day. Cricket went well and although our turn ended after I made my one and only hit (which scored us a run), I enjoyed it. After the game, Dan bowled me a couple of balls and I was able to hit every bowl. I must say that batting in cricket is by far easier than in baseball.Our school ended earlier because of the birthday of Guru Nanak (the first guru of the Sikhs). As I arrived home, I found that the house was locked and the gate key had not been left to the neighbors’ house. This meant that I had to climb our spiked wall. I was successful and didn’t hurt myself. After getting in, Sukhbir called and said he wanted to take me out for lunch. He did as he promised and we had mutton nan at some old place which is supposed to be famous for it (Jalandhar seems to be packed with old eating places which are famous for something).
The Birthday of Guru Nanak was on 24th November (yesterday). It is the most important festival for the Sikhs. Our visit to gurudwara showed that clearly, because it was totally over-crowded. It took us about an hour and a half to go through the whole process (getting in, listening to the hymns, getting out, having langar, etc.). In fact the event was so important that my family broke their promise, not to celebrate any festival for a year. When I asked Harleen about it, she just said that it is, after all, “Dada Ji’s “ birthday. We burnt quite a few crackers and although it can’t be compared to Diwali (in terms of fireworks), I enjoyed the evening. Saturday was also important for an other reason: the grand final of “Amul Star voice of India. It was won by Ishmit, a sikh from Ludhiana. Those who aren’t familiar with Indian pop-culture and the shows which are on, will not understand the importance of Star voice of India, but I guarantee that it is VERY important.
Fireworks on Dada Ji's birthday
As most of the people (our family included) choose to go to the bigger gurudwaras on celebrations, the smaller ones celebrate the events on the following day.
Our local gurudwara was no exception. Today we went there to cook langar and distribute it. At first I helped the women cook chappatties and afterwards, to distribute the food. I have trouble describing how I felt after langar was over, but I can say that it felt good. I suppose it has to do with working with the locals and doing something with the community, there is just something satisfying about it. In fact, langar is the only thing in religion that makes sense to me. I feel that every religion should contribute to the society like Sikhism does.
Talking about contributing to the society, I might be quitting Delhi Public School soon and start with the social work. The point is that DPS has nothing to offer to me anymore. I have fallen behind in the studies and if I wanted to get back on track, I would have to study incredibly hard. Studying incredibly hard is, however, something which I have no intention of doing over here. Therefore, all I do in school is sit in the classroom and wait for the classes to be over. Even the interaction with my friends is minimal due to the hard studies and therefore I really have NOTHING to gain from going to school. Of course, YFU India is very understanding and is already dealing with the issue.
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