Jan 10 - Finally some normality and Phoenix Marketcity

First India post! The posts are coming in reverse chronological order as I clear the backlog.

For breakfast, I tried some black tea with cardamom in it, as well as a jam made with a bunch of fruits.

I took an auto (short for auto-rickshaw) for the first time today! Thanks to the fact that we couldn’t get an Uber car and we were only three people today. I wore a mask to avoid inhaling too much dust on the road and did my best to not fall out. I kept trying to make sure that my shoulder was fully in the auto, especially in bumpy parts and turns. Maybe I was just tense but I really felt my core engaged. It was a fun experience overall. 

We observed some classes and brainstormed ideas for workshops we could run with the students. For lunch, we had okra (yippee!) and more dal. Then, we took some meetings before heading back. 

We tried the Indian Lays that we ordered. In general, they are thicker and crunchier than American ones. These are the flavors:

• American Cream & Onion – like sour cream & onion but less sour and more onion

• Magic Masala – initially black salt flavor (umami, eggy because black salt has sulfur), then heat with some tomato

Then, we headed to Phoenix Market City, a chain of huge malls. There were metal detectors upon entry, where they initially questioned me about a metal rod. I didn’t understand and thought they were asking about the tiny first aid scissors that they stopped me about in the airport. So I ended up turning the scissors in, which I could retrieve on my way out. The metal rod they were looking for was just part of my binder. There are many many more stores than malls in the US - We passed at least five luggage stores. Along with Indian and other international stores, there was Skechers, Rebook, Adidas, Nike, Asics for American shoe brands alone. 

lol

There were restaurants along with the food court and there were about 20 food court options. Here’s what I chose to eat:

• Dosas

• Served with tomato chutney (garlicky, coconut chutney, sambar (toor dal, tamarind, turmeric; tamarind and turmeric together made the sauce red)

• Crispy edges, softer doughier centers

• Ragi dosa – made with millet, so it was very flavorful, brushed with ghee

• Paneer dosa – made from rice and gram (chickpea flour), grated paneer, and a little bit of spice

• The ragi dosa was more filling than the paneer dosa due to flour

• Chimney with afghan garlic chicken – tasted meh but I just wanted chicken

Rishika wanted ice cream and so we went into Amul Ice Bar. Each flavor was associated with a country eg. English Apple or Spanish Tango (tomato??).  One of the employees immediately handed me a sample of the Japanese Matcha – take what you will from that. It had some artificial green apple flavor that isn’t normally in matcha. Rishika ended up getting the Jamaican Coco, which is mango and coconut. It was very flavorful, with the aroma saturating my upper palate and nose.

In the mall, there was a hypermarket equivalent to a US superstore. The produce wasn’t very fresh, but I saw some cool things:

• Drumstick (Moringa oleifera) – We saw both the pod, which is like a long thick bean, and the flowers.

• Two types of chana – brown chana and kabuli chana (which are basically chickpeas)

• Many types of dal, including urad dal which turns black when cooked

• Two types of mung bean – green ones and the yellow split ones?

• Fox nuts (lotus seeds) – when toasted they’re crunchy and airy like corn puffs but nuttier and less sweet

We got soup for Isabel who went to the hospital again. 

We waited a long time at the cash register because the customers in front of us demanded that the cashier double check every item he scanned. When it was our turn, I wanted to break up a large bill to have smaller bills for paying auto drivers. But the cashier wanted me to pay with smaller bills. The amount of effort he spent asking for me to pay with a smaller bill is more than the effort it takes to give me two more bills! I thought, if you want to be Indian with me, I’ll be Indian with you. So I stood my ground and had a tiny rant in English, which made Rishika’s day. 

Also I saw piano on our way in and felt the strong urge to play. We came back later on our way out. I wrestled with the urge to play, sitting down once with Vidya and Rishika before giving in the urge to try. I confidently walked past the rope and uncovered the piano but unfortunately the lid was closed. Oh well better than torturing myself with a bunch of what-ifs. Sorta wish I didn’t see a piano because then I would have never felt the urge. 

On the way back, we passed a guava stand – intensifying my fruit cravings. I also saw a sidewalk for the first time here (in front of the air force base). It’s actually pretty – with the ornate parallelogram tiles exactly like those in Armenia.