Jan 7 - Getting Settled in Pune, India (Part 1)
A lot has happened in the past 48 hours… (Was it 48? At this point, time doesn’t feel real) Sorry there aren’t many photos – there was a bit of sensory and bandwidth overload.
Long story short, a lot was involved in settling in… Day 1 here. Day 2 to come. Anyway, let’s start with the flight. I flew from New York to Delhi and then from Delhi to Pune.
First flight, they made me check in my carry-on. For the first half of the flight, I was worried about the logistics of getting my bag but my worries were assuaged by the flight attendant. The first 6 hours went by pretty slowly but the rest of the flight passed by easily. Highlight of the flight was watching a documentary on Mr. Rogers. As a kid, I thought the show was slow and boring but the documentary made me see the show in a new light. But Mr. Rogers was on a mission. Having graduated from seminary school, what Mr. Rogers preached was being kind and loving to all. His ending song conveys how everyone is worthy and unique. He also believed in the then-revolutionary idea that children have feelings too and that TV shows should be made with that understanding. Growing up, Mr. Rogers was taught to hide his feelings, and he wanted to convey it is OK to express your emotions. He helped children reckon with current events, such as the assassination of JFK, the Vietnam War, and later 9/11. This documentary made me see Mr. Rogers in a new light, as someone who is unconditionally loving to all and wishes to spread this good.
Once I got to the Delhi airport, I had to go through customs, collect my bag, and walk outside to another terminal. The pollution is SO BAD in Delhi. You can see the particulates hanging in the air. The airport is one of the cleanest in the world. I also used an Indian bidet for the first time here. Unlike the European ones which are like faucets over toilet bowls, Indian bidets are like a hose with a spray head.
On the next flight, they again made me check my carry-on even there ended up being room in the overhead bins. But baggage claim ended up being pretty smooth. Interestingly on the flight, they gave me a cold sandwich with cucumbers, horseradish, mayo and a soft cheese (?). Perhaps influenced by British tea sandwiches?
The real adventure began after landing. I was planning to Uber to the hotel where I would meet up with other MIT students before heading to our final destination together. I didn’t bring any rupees because I was expected Uber to accept my credit card. However the Uber app didn’t want to take either of my credit cards, which I didn’t have trouble with in other countries. I headed back to the baggage claim and asked Joseph for help. I sat next to Joseph on the second flight; he is also an American and is here for business as part of his work in a biotech consulting company. He tried to ask his driver to make an extra stop but was unsuccessful. He suggested that I find an ATM. The ATM didn’t work for me, but thankfully it led me to the Uber pickup spot. I tried stopping some Americans to see if they had rupees to exchange, but they couldn’t help. Finally, someone asked if I needed help and was willing to exchange 500 rupees for $6 (basically the going rate). THANK YOU GOOD SAMARITANS! While waiting for the Uber, I watched in culture shock as a cab driver tried to pull away before the passenger fully entered and a heated argument ensued. Exactly the guidebooks where people REALLY stand up for themselves. Welcome to India. So I was glad when my driver safely brought me to the hotel, even though he claimed he “didn’t have change” and I overpaid for my ride. At the hotel, I was a little sussed out when the security person took my luggage but he just wanted to put it through an X-ray machine and also it’s a five-star hotel… They didn’t let me up at first, but thankfully Rishika picked up the phone and worked it out with the hotel people. All in all, I was proud of my calmness in dealing with these events alone.
***
After Vidya arrived at the hotel, we had some breakfast in the hotel. More details in the food section in later in the post, but lemme just say that the papaya was so good!!! Then we headed to NavGurukul campus, where would be staying.
At some point, the road started getting quite bumpy which was not fun in the back row of the minivan. Not long after, we reached a road block – there was a pile of rocks where we were supposed to turn according to Google. So what the driver proceeded to do was a DFS (depth-first search), going through multiple roads but often reaching a dead end. We decided to stay put near the original roadblock and have the NavGurukul staff find us. That was easier said than done. A few of us waited in the car while others scouted out the area. We must have waited for half an hour before deciding to navigate towards the campus instead of the apartment. Luckily, there were no blocked roads to the campus and the route was slightly more straightforward. I’m glad we decided to go to campus together because there’s no way I would have found the place on my own.
We toured the campus before checking out the apartment. The apartment was pretty bare bones with just three beds and no other furniture. It reminded me of the hostel I stayed at during my first days in Milan, though thinking back at least the hostel had a closet. Since the apartment was pretty clean, I figured it could be worse. Rishika’s cousin disagreed. It couldn’t be worse – this is the bottom 10% of housing. We’ll deal with it I figured.
So we booked a 10-hour Uber (which is basically booking a driver to go wherever you want for 10 hours) and went to get supplies. One challenge we anticipated was that most of the space in the car trunk was occupied by the gas tank. Anyway, we returned to the hotel to shower and regroup. For lunch, we went to Chafa Café which was suggested to Rishika’s cousin by a friend. Several factors hindered my appetite – jet lag and concerns about food safety, but I still tried a few things (see food section below).
We headed to a Forex to get much needed cash but turns out they are closed on Sundays. And then the most important location – Reliance Bazaar where we acquired basic supplies like bed sheets, mosquito repellent, paper plates, and bottled water. The paper plates so that we wouldn’t have to eat off wet plates washed with tap water at the school – I know a lot of food safety things to worry about. At Reliance, we met up with Chirag and his dad who helped us transport things back to the apartment.
We took some windy roads and got lost a few times before making it to the apartment. Once, the road was too narrow for a U-turn so Chirag had to drive backwards for a long stretch (and he is a new driver). Though we had finally acquired our supplies, this was also the start of the next chapter of the adventure.
***
Throughout most of the day, we were considering the possibility of staying at a hotel or Airbnb and commuting to NavGurukul every day. We could manage at the barebones place for a week or so, but any more seemed very difficult in the moment. While we were drafting a message to the MISTI coordinator explaining the situation, Rishika’s parents found an Airbnb that we could move into that night. While Vidya and I were too jet lagged to deal with moving that night, Rishika wanted to get settled ASAP especially with her cousin around to help. At the same time, Chirag had invited us to his house for dinner.
So Rishika and her cousin went to check out the apartment while Vidya and I went to Chirag’s place. Here they call groups of apartment buildings “societies.” Chirag’s society has a shared courtyard and apparently a large percentage have lived in the US. Interesting to see this socialist (?) ideology. We received a tour of the apartment, including the altar where they worshipped many Hindu gods. Chirag’s parents kept offering food (see food section) in the typical generous fashion even though we were jetlagged and didn’t have much appetite. The entire time we were responding to messages with the MISTI coordinator and Rishika to resolve the housing issue.
In the end, we decided to move to the Airbnb, albeit the next day instead of the same night. Looking back, the primary difference between the Airbnb and the apartment is that the Airbnb is well furnished with tables, chairs, microwave, stove, and WiFi. While the Airbnb is in a less remote area, we would need to commute to the school.
On our way back, there was surprisingly a lot of activity at 10pm. The streets were packed with people approaching fruit, vegetable, and street food stands, along with many cars and motorcycles on the road. It seems that Pune really livens up at night. There were times where I thought I heard gunshots, but turns out they were fireworks. How American of me. In my defense though, the fireworks sound sharper here than in the US (one boom instead of several cracks). After a few more wrong turns and instances of backing out of sketchy roads, we made it back to the apartment. I was a bit worried about the tires on Chirag’s dad’s car but thankfully he made it back safely too. It seems that the grooves on the tires are deeper here and the rubber is probably different so that it can withstand the road conditions and go over large rocks.
Isa was at the apartment when I returned, and I could finally rest. By the time I got into bed, it was past 11pm. All the stimulation made for a very easy way to overcome jet lag.
***
Here are some thoughts that didn’t fit into the story above.
Weather
The weather is pretty nice here. Even though it’s warm (60-85 degrees F), it’s not humid and usually breezy. Unfortunately, that also means that a lot of dust gets kicked up into the air.
Driving
They drive by honking around here. While in the US honking means that you’re angry or upset, in India they use honking as a way of communication. Since traffic laws don’t exist, people honk when they pass each other or to indicate that they will turn. They also honk to tell pedestrians to watch out. To an outsider, so much honking seems like a lot of aggression but it’s partly how they avoid crashes despite the crazy driving. There are no such things as lanes here, even to separate opposing traffic. Even there are lanes, cars, autos, motorcycles, and pedestrians just ebb and flow and somehow avoid accidents most of the time. A few times, I was scared out of my mind when we drove head on towards opposing traffic. Somehow we returned to our side of the road (left side) just before cars came too close. But it was still too close for me to feel relaxed or jetlagged.
Spectrum of Living Conditions
I experienced essentially a full spectrum of living conditions in one day. There was the five-star hotel that we used as a home base, where servers would bring food from the breakfast buffet to the table. And there were the bumpy dirt roads and the barebones room. There was also Chirag’s place, which stuck out as much larger and cleaner than the barebones apartment. For instance, his room could fit a king size bed and still have lots of empty space. Driving around, you can also see the transition between more affluent and working class areas, reflecting the class disparities in India.
Food
Breakfast – at Four Points by Sheraton. I would have had more food if I didn’t have to worry about food safety.
Upma – semolina porridge. Texturally – like many fine grains. Lightly spiced with mustard seeds and some other spices
Kachori – fried pocket filled with lentils (mung beans), spiced of course
Peas and corn – even this was spiced. Surprised me since peas and corn are normally pretty bland in the US
Brioche bread
Pineapple and papaya since cut fruit should be OK in a five star hotel
Lunch – Chafa Café. Pretty Western and bougie in style, but lower chance of food poisoning?
Chocolate and peanut butter bowl – chocolate pudding with crunchy nuts, bananas, and flowers. The entire time I was concerned that this would give me food poisoning since it was uncooked. My approach is to start cautious and gradually let my guard down, minimizing risky moves.
Sweet crepes with ragi (millet) flour, coconut milk, raw sugar – first of many times having foods made of different flours. Raw sugar (jaggery) flavor really comes throughs, with subtle coconut in the crepe itself.
Pesto mushroom and spinach crepes with ragi flour – it was ok, I’ve had better plus jet lag and stuff
Margarita pizza, Indian style – thin crust, sweetish sauce (not very tomatoey), relatively lots of cheese
Paneer sandwich – small pieces of paneer, dressed in a spiced sauce. Pretty good, would have again
Dinner – Chirag’s place
Dal baati – lentils (dal) with hard wheat rolls (baati). Baati was crunchy and flavorful (aromatic from the grains)
Paneer masala – tbh don’t remember much, probably too spicy
Chapati – made with whole wheat flour around here so pretty filling
Besan chilla – thin crepe/flat bread made with chickpea flour and spices (including cumin seeds)
Manchurian chicken – Indo Chinese, pretty dark soy heavy. Just glad that it wasn’t spicy
Noodles – Indo Chinese, pretty salty flavor profile
Gajar ka halwa (carrot halwa) – not too sweet! Made with ghee, jaggery, raisins, and some almonds
Sweet bread crumbs – reminds of Yemeni sweet with stale flatbread, butter, and honey
I see so Mr. Rogers is not the same as Uncle Roger
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