Yendhuku? (Why?)

Why can't I wear a nice matching shirt under a sari instead of a tight, belly exposing blouse?

Why do formal events here always need to last for several hours and include extremely long, boring speeches?

Why do women wear bangles to yoga class at 6:00 in the morning?

Why am I given a garland and ushered to the front of an event while my co-worker is left to sit by herself unrecognized?

Why can't I stand in a public place talking to a male friend without so many people speculating as to what is the nature of our relationship and what they might do to encourage/prevent it?

These are just a FEW of the questions that are constantly coming to my mind as I go from day to day here. The thing I struggle with the most is when the answer I receive is, "Because that's the way it is." This answer is simply not adequate for me. It might be because I am constantly having to adjust to the way things are done, or because the culture in which I was brought up has a few less rules and traditions that are also less strictly followed in general. In my intercultural education, I have been taught to recognize various 'right' way of doing things, so perhaps I ask the questions as a challenge to others to re-think 'the way things are' in their own minds. Maybe I'm just a rebel at heart! :) There are a million reasons for the questions in my mind... and the ways I face the realities and the answers with which I'm faced, but the fact is that they are there almost all the time. Thankfully, I have many people around me willing to hear my questions, to try to answer, and to make an attempt to understand why I bother to ask the questions in the first place.


The last week or two have been busy with not only work, but also these other things: Two graduation events at Andhra Christian Theological College here in Hyderabad (I attended 1 hour of the 7 hour graduation ceremony - and you thought US graduation services were long!?) where I saw many people that I've met here in India over the last year and a half. A dinner and music party at my co-workers house in the city. Dinner with friends a couple of times, and yoga regularly again.

I know this blog is very random, but I just have to share this dream that a friend of mine had about me. She tells it like this: "We had gone to visit you in MN and were looking at your cute home (except in the dream, it was more of a cozy cabin). We were all really enjoying ourselves and suddenly the wind picked the entire place up in the air and blew it down the street! We were all unharmed and you told us not to worry because it happened frequently. What a hoot! And the surroundings looked sort of like Switzerland."

As I thought about this dream, I was amazed at the possible meaning in it for me. I hope my home (wherever I make my home) is like a cozy cabin for visitors. My life is periodically picked up and moved in a rather abrupt and dramatic way. As long as no one is hurt and as I get used to the rollercoaster of it all, there is no need to be anxious about these drastic changes. After all, I do end up in some rather beautiful places in the end!

By the way, you might be interested in knowing that the answer I was given to "Why do women wear bangles (several glass or plastic bracelets) to yoga at 6:00 am?" is that many women NEVER take the bangles off! Not even when they sleep! I'm once again completely surprised and dumbfounded by this culture!

That's all for today. My advice for today... keep asking why without apology!