Nandan took me to his family doctor today. excuse my typing but this keyboard has problems. s near as I can tell no appointment was made and yet the doctor was available upon arrival. He looked to be fifty years old and Nandan told me he was 77. I believe Nandan but even this, the second time I have seen this doctor, I am amazed by his appearance.
He prescribed exactly four antibiotic pills, zenflox-oz by mankind pharm. lso he gave six daily pills of vizylac, some vitamin, by kalandi. my concern from the last hospital visit was that their five-day supply was not long enough, but I trust this doctor’s judgment. The visit seemed to have cost nothing and the pills cost Rs 32 total.
Rajan attempted to make a horoscope for me with a computer. It seems that everyone here has a horoscope made at birth by a Pandit and that it is consulted periodically. t birth the pandit makes predictions about marriage, wealth, health, and other things. Nandan showed me the book – I forget and do not understand the name – for his cousin, and showed me what was right about it. my computer horoscope was to be much less precise.
nyway, Rajan was explaining the system to me, and the Greek zodiac system was prominent. I asked about the meaning of the Hindi words and he translated them as I would the latin words that I know, with the exception of capricorn, which he said was a crocodile. I asked him why the system was the same and he said the Greeks must have taken it from India. I asked him if he knew mythology behind the characters, because I do for the Greek system. He did not. I wonder at the origin of this system.
Rajan talks a lot about girls. It seems that males and females are quite segregated here, as I have seen already. females hide and even social events with music and dancing are exclusively for males. Rajan asks a lot about american females and everything I tell him makes him want an american or european girlfriend due to greater ease of familiarity. I wonder if the traditional ways here will survive as social networking sites, like myspace or facebook or youtube or livejournal or whatever, become more popular.
Nandan took me to some temple yesterday and it was beautiful as so many are. On the second floor it had a room with an admission charge. I paid Rs 5 for the both of us not knowing what I was getting, and was thrilled to walk into a series of chambers containing automatons acting religious stories. I was glad that I was able to recognize about half of the scenes. There were about thirty on show. The workmanship was folksy but extremely effective and more cheering than any stained glass or statuary I have ever seen. If christian churches could adopt such a method – which typically they could not due to bucking tradition – then I have little doubt that people would have a greater interest in Bible stories.
When we left I told Nandan that I wished Christian churches had such things because it was good fun. Nandan told me that it was not fun, it was devotion. He said that was how people who cannot read learn the stories. He said that was how he learned the stories when he was young.
I have a great interest in pedagogy. These moving figures are a powerful tool. I will say this repeatedly, but the devotion and interest that Hindus have in their religion is a marked superiority to christian culture. If I ever had association with a church I would certainly apply Indian techniques to its programs.
my teachers at bhasha bharati seem to have deserted me. already they have canceled four classes and today they called to cancel two more. Nandan and his father are arranging for me to meet other teachers. I met one two days ago and he returned today. By my american intuition I perceive that he behaves in a style that I would describe as flaming homosexual, but men do such strange things here that I do not know how to perceive their actions. a lot of boys hold hands and hug here in public, and it strikes me as blatantly gay. I have asked about this and have been told repeatedly that this means nothing other than simple friendship. I want to stress that a lot of men, especially under age 25, do this and often and everywhere. I made no assumptions about this teacher but Nandan told me he is described as a “disco boy.” He works in decorating as well as English instruction, and he teaches female dance and organizes weddings. Nandan says all his friends are girls but he would not tell me that he is gay. I would normally never ask about any such thing, but it is acceptable here. Everyone – everyone! – I talk to for more than five minutes asks me if I am married and why not. I tell them that in America it is not usual to get married before age 30 or later, especially if one pursues university life. I am curious as to how such a person as this teacher functions in society. Certainly his family would arrange marriage for him, and so far as I know they always have their way.
nyway, this guy is nuts. He is an okay teacher but he will make me crazy. They have other suggestions for me and I welcome them.
I have to go… I wish I had time to type for another hour.