Sticking it to the 'men'

The best way to fuel my desire to do something is to tell me that I can't do it.  This almost resulted in my being disowned when I told my mom that I was going to skydive in Hawaii whether she liked it or not, because "what are you going to do about it?" (many hours of profuse apology later, we eventually reached a peaceable agreement and I jumped out of a plane at 14,000 ft. You're the best, mom!).  This week, I was told flat out by at least a dozen different men that women cannot ride motorcycles.

Oh really?

I’ve had a ‘need for speed’ since my dad took me 100 mph in his 1989 Mazda Miata convertible (shhh don’t tell mom) as a child.  In fact, my dad has encouraged this behavior as long as I can remember.  Just this past year we went for a spin at the BMW test track in a 414 horsepower M3, because nothing says father-daughter bonding like spinning out on the skid pad.  I got my motorcycle license 5 years ago (as soon as my mom would let me), and settled for driving a Vespa around Honolulu for the past 2 years.

The Ferrari of scooters

The point is, I have complete confidence in my ability to drive almost anything, including a motorcycle.  The men of India, however, had a very different idea.  I’ve been craving a motorcycle trip through the gorgeous countryside, so my friend Alexis and I set out to try to find bikes to rent.  Apparently, although the roads of India are full of men on motorcycles, it is extremely uncommon for women to drive them.  Scooters yes, motorcycles no.  We were literally laughed at, and told that it was "too complicated for us to possibly learn".  Another man had two friends with bikes ready to rent, but when they found out they were to be rented to women, the owners refused.  Patriarchy runs deep in India.  Helmets aren't even available in women’s sizes or feminine designs.  Even one seemingly westernized Indian friend asked, wouldn't it just be better if we rode on the back of a man's bike?

After several frustrating days, we finally managed to rent two motorcycles.  We were feeling pretty good about this accomplishment, and told one of our few supportive male friends we were "sticking it to the man."  He replied, "No no, you're sticking it to the men."

300cc's of bad-assery

Now that we had sweet wheels, we needed somewhere to take them.  So, we organized a trip to a nearby temple and set out after breakfast.  Two ladies on two motorcycles, and three men on two scooters (and one more man on a motorcycle).

Biker chicks

The temple itself (Somanathapura) was beautiful, with layers upon layers of intricate carvings.

Many carvings had deep spiritual significance...

...others were just ancient smut

We were of course followed by small children who wanted to take pictures with us

I'm not sure why they found me so funny

It was an incredible day, and one that I will never forget.  I think my favorite part of the whole experience was the look of confusion and utter shock on the faces of the men we passed along the way.

Our motorcycle gang

Food!

As anyone who knows me is probably already aware, I love food.  When I think of past vacations or cities I’ve visited, often the first thing that comes to my mind is that one meal that still makes my mouth water.  For this reason, a good portion of my phone’s memory is dedicated to photographs of food.  I was surprised, then, to find that I’ve actually taken very few pictures of food since I got here. 

I’ve always loved Indian food, but it turns out that what passes for ‘Indian’ in the United States actually represents only a tiny fraction of the foods of the Indian subcontinent.  From what I’ve seen so far, the food in the U.S. is almost exclusively north Indian.  The names of foods on menus here are almost entirely unfamiliar to me, and the tastes are more foreign still.  Through trial and error (and a little help from people who know better than I do) I’m starting to figure out what I like.  With one exception, though, I’m still not blown away by any of the food I’ve eaten so far.

That one glorious exception is a ‘street food’ called dahi puri.  It’s similar to a food that a good friend once described to me as ‘Indian nachos,’ and consists of bite-sized, deep-fried, pastry like shells filled with chickpeas, yogurt, tamarind sauce, and who knows what other fabulous ingredients.  The combination is heavenly.  The best one I’ve had so far was from a small stand on the side of the road, and I was so enamored I forgot to take a picture (so I’ve borrowed one from google).  

Yummmmm

Apparently dahi puri is something that is only served in the evening (why not lunch??).  I’m still trying to figure out what exactly is served at what time of day…

For example, most everything in this picture is considered a breakfast food.  On the left are the accoutrements that come with nearly every meal, coconut chutney and sambar, a tomato-based soupy sauce.  On the right are the four things that appeared on my plate even though I only ordered two of them.  The white one, front left, is idli.  Despite having it explained to me repeatedly in broken English, it took a google search to convince me that it is in fact made of (de-husked) lentils and rice.  It doesn’t taste like much, but dipped in the chutney and sambar it’s delicious.  The two in the back are kesari bath and khara bath, which (again thanks to google) I now know are made of semolina.  One is sweet, the other savory.  The doughnut-like thing in the front left is I think called vadai?  It’s soaked in oil, slightly savory but nearly tasteless.  I don’t like it at all, but for some reason they keep serving it to me.

 The most common breakfast food here is called a dosa.  I’m not a huge fan, so I don’t have any pictures of the typical dosas (masala dosa- super fried and oily, or set dosa, basically a savory pancake), but here is an onion dosa that was actually super delicious. 

Most restaurants and households here serve food on metal dishes.  I’m not sure why this is, but it makes for a very interesting alarm clock when my landlord’s family does their dishes every day at 5AM.

 

Dessert or pond scum?

 Because this is a town that caters largely to yogis, it’s actually surprisingly easy to get western-style food, although it often has a distinctly Indian twist.  For example, this delicious homemade pasta was served with baby corn and took over two hours between ordering and eating.

I've now taken an Indian cooking class and a western-style baking class and somehow managed not to take any pictures of either, but here is a crème brulee made by the same pastry chef who taught the course.

Apparently it took him 2 years to find a blowtorch in Mysore

Another memorable meal was from when I was sick, shortly after arriving.  I was lying around my apartment in a daze, recovering, when I heard my landlord’s wife knocking urgently at my apartment door.  She burst in with a set of dishes, all stacked on top of each other and clipped together, and proceeded to take them apart and tell me what each of the foods were.  I was so deeply touched by this loving gesture and was thanking her profusely as she left when she said, “125 rupees! You pay tomorrow.”

Home cookin'

One last note on what is perhaps my favorite Indian food of all, chai!  The chai here is simply sweeter, creamier, spicier, and more delicious than you could imagine.  It (like everything else) is served in metal dishes, with a clever twist so as not to scald yourself on a regular basis.

The chai is served piping hot in a small metal cup, with a wider, shallower cup underneath.

You can then pour out the chai, either a little bit at a time or all at once into the broader dish in order to cool it and save yourself from third degree burns.  At this point I'm so spoiled I think it will be difficult to drink "chai" back in the states ever again...

I now have internet in my apartment for the first time in 6 weeks, so (hopefully) my posts will be a little more regular (and if anyone wants to skype, hit me up!).

Weeks 3 and 4

Since I last wrote, I’ve been busy.  I went on a safari, explored a cursed temple, destroyed several small children in Connect Four (and then was badly beaten in speed-Connect Four)… my thoughts seem to occur non-linearly these days, so I’m just going to post and talk about a few of my favorite pictures from the past ~2 we

Indians tend to load a lot of people on scooters.  It’s extremely common to see 3 (the legal limit), and not at all uncommon to see an additional child (or goat, or giant pane of glass??) packed on the front. So, coming back from a restaurant one evening, four people, one scooter, with no rickshaws in sight, we thought we’d give it a try…

Shh, don't tell my mom!

I was later reassured to find out that my friend, the driver, is a former motorcycle racing champion (or at least second place).  I was less comforted to know that his butt was not in fact touching the seat the whole time we were driving. 

Fun? Extremely.  Will I do it again? Probably not.  When even the locals are laughing at you, you’re probably doing something stupid/crazy.

Speaking of driving, here are a few pictures of common Indian road hazards.  Cows (who have more of a right of way than pedestrians), road-blocks, and even a “road work ahead” sign. 

Cleverly hidden in the shadows to keep things interesting for scooter drivers

yes, it's a branch

Fortunately, Indian automobiles are paragons of road safety.

I think the best part of our safari through Nagarahole National Park wasn’t the safari itself (although seeing wild elephants was pretty special), but the sights and sounds of the country roads we took to get there.  As a friend here said, the most beautiful thing in India is the children.

On another outing I visited the temples of Talakadu, which were recently excavated from under ~30 feet of sand.  The sand dunes seem wildly out of place in this fertile river valley, and legend attributes their presence to a curse.  On the way there, my travel companion and I had stopped to recharge our GPS when we were invited to a celebratory meal honoring a snake god.  We ate food with our hands off banana leaves as people all around us stared inquisitively.  It was fantastic, easily my favorite meal so far. 

The temples were fascinating, but still my favorite part of the trip was again the drive.  We got caught in a rainstorm on the return, but once it had passed, the rays of the evening sun shone through the mist… it was sublime.

 

...and here's a gratuitous monkey

I’m taking my trip one day at a time, but now that I’m starting to get more settled (and no longer ill!) I’m finally feeling truly content. 

India is overwhelming and life-changing… and I think I like it.