I was up early in the morning. Part of my work in India was to create partnerships for two of my projects: one - to create a multimedia inventory of educational material in order to promote Sanskrit language and present its capacity and depth; the second - to establish an education-cum-cultural center to study India as a gift to the future generations of children of immigrants of Indian origin. The latter called "India Discovery Center" was my motivation in visiting Nehru Center in Mumbai. I was happy with the concert the previous night. I thought about the intensity of the culture seasoned with centuries of experimentation. Development of culture is a function of time. The raw and rubbish get eliminated through time; the good gets polished and stays. Indian music and dance traditions fall into this category. India belief system in life and death has been strongly affected by continuous invasions and fear-mongering. The music and dance adapted, the philosophy contrasted. Individualized thinking as in the west was rejected in India thousands of years ago. In the absence of a study place, I played with the TV. There were hundreds of channels. The offerings looked like a complex jungle. The Government itself was providing tens of channels for various groups defined through India's secularism. India is a large experiment, the protection of diversity is unprecedented. India did respect all in her history, but to provide resources to all for their mere existence must be a drain on India's poor. I was glad with the official protection of diversity. Destruction of language and culture is easy in the name of globalization.
I listened to some music from the north east hill region of India that I had not heard before. I had difficulty in understanding the language, but I enjoyed the tune and the instruments. Origin of old martial dances of India could tell the story of early human habitation and migration in the country. There are various conjectures promoted as history taught to children. I was fed such material in school. Teachers taught material from the textbooks and the latter were reproduced from the colonial days. There was little research. Jawaharlal Nehru, though not a scholar, guided the syllabus. Others followed. There was no time or patience to check the facts.
The newspaper man brought the papers. Jitendra was up and the maid had arrived. We had tea and some special snacks that Jitendra gets from a bakery several miles away. Indian snack can be a luxury. Cooking gets influence from various traditions and refines itself to subtle tastes. Consuming the special freshly baked crackers in the morning was one of the few "luxuries" that Jitendra nurtured. This time, our driver friend showed up as usual. He looked disheveled and pensive. He said that he had a death in the family and asked if he could leave for his village. Many workers from the nearby villages do maintain their relationship with their extended family. Many others coming from the distant villages do not carry the incentive or the resources to return to their home village.
The driver's request was immediately granted, a peculiar humanitarian gesture that drives India's culture. The Moghuls did tolerate it, but the British wanted to change. The rules were made how one can take "leave". "Family" was newly defined. One could care for one's wife and not for one's brother. People started cheating and deceit entered the workman's conduct. Humanity is respect and truthfulness. Another life is as important as yours. Do unto others as you wish to be done to you! I admired Jitendra's style of operation.
I had thought to visit Nehru Center again to study more leisurely in order to review the medieval history of India where new material was added. I wanted to evaluate the display methods with an eye to teaching children. Then I wanted to talk to the resource persons at the Center to help create new content providers. While scanning the newspaper, I noticed the play "Ek mulaqat" being staged downtown. It had an excellent review. Jitendra agreed to come along for the evening performance. I reserved the tickets online. I was ready for my outing to Nehru Center with an estimated return at 5 PM to go to the play.
The driver's absence gave me an opportunity to try out the Mumbai subway, which was my favorite transport forty five years ago. Jitendra dissuaded me, but I had my mind fixed on the ride. In my discovery tour, I must meet everyday people as much I should. The subway could give a good sample. I took a three-wheeler which went through various narrow alleys and small roads to arrive at a crowded area. The area was packed in traffic. The driver asked me to get down, the custom being that one saves time by walking the rest of the distance. I did not know where I was, I followed in the direction the vehicle was facing.
There is always a busy market near a railway station. Most shops were cheap eateries but fruit, vegetable and stationery stores existed. The road had holes, but was clean. I noticed a swarm of people climbing the stairs to go on to an over-bridge. I followed people. The over-bridge was about a hundred yards long with occasional stairs to go down to the platforms. I did not see a place to buy the tickets for the train. Upon asking a person, I learned that the ticket office was where I climbed the steps. I was puzzled, I had not seen anyone doing any ticketing there.
I returned and upon re-asking I was shown a fairly large non-descript building hidden amidst the shops. It had a broken entrance. Upon entering I saw a crowd inside. The ticketing was brisk. One went through the queue and informed the clerk of the destination. The price was much cheaper compared to London, Paris or Bangkok. I wondered about electronic automation. Machine ticketing could be helpful. But India's priorities and style had to be different. I appreciated the decency of the crowd. I felt good that people wanted to build their country. Can India be the great country it was?
