They say travel broadens the mind, not sure who "they" are but "they" do have a point. It certainly makes you aware of difference and at its best makes you re-examine what you have taken as read. As a species we have thrived on spotting the difference, the new, the unexpected. In evolutionary terms i guess its from the need to not just see the familiar landscape but to see that there is now a tiger poking its nose out from behind the bush at the edge of the forest. We are not alone in taking in the world in this way, dragonflies with their massive compound eyes have a pixilated view of multiple images, its when one of those images changes, becomes different that they take note and react be it to avoid a leaf or catch a flying insect for lunch.
The world we live in is complex, chaotic, overwhelming; sights, sounds, smells, touch constantly and unrelentingly assault our senses. To make sense of what's important our brains have become expert in switching off our attention from the familiar, the understood and seeking out difference. Its a tricky job and how we react to new things will determine our ability to survive e.g. tiger spotted on the edge of the forest = run away, potential mate = hug. Get them the wrong way round and you are in a world of pain.
India assaults the senses like no other place I've been but after a while, even here the bizarre becomes common place. Deciding what to write about, what I or you will find interesting is a constant challenge as what I now take for granted you would be shocked or enthralled by.
Mostly its the little stuff, the day to day I find most interesting after all that's where we live most of our lives. Tales of how we deal with the common place, traffic, food, work, relationships, religion, living in a hot climate, keeping healthy. i could wax lyrical about the temples, the architecture, how the mists poured down the hills in Munnar, the way the setting sun sets the sea on fire but to be honest i'd never do them justice and there are myriad of travel books you could read that would do a far better job. So I stick to what i know and see, people going about their daily lives in a very different place to our little village on the edge of Dartmoor. The longer we are here its harder to do as its amazing how fast the "different" becomes the norm.
Take food, i know i keep going on about food but it is sooooo good here and so different to being at home. I know for some of you, and certainly for my mother, the thought of curried hard boiled egg first thing in the morning isn't a natural choice and when we got here neither was it for us. Now its almost unthinkable to start the day without perotta or dosas and a good egg masalla. Back home i struggle to achieve the 5 fruit and veg a day recommended and few meals are without some sort of meat or dairy, here i've usually hit the 5-a-day by lunch and the odd egg apart often go without meat for several days in a row. I can count the number of times i've had pork, lamb(goat) or beef on the fingers of one hand and can honestly say i've not missed it. Its "different".
Expectations here are different too, the most obvious being life expectancy, in 2011 it was 65.48 years compaired with 80.75 in England (for the information of those working in the NHS, the life expectancy in the US for the same time period was 78.6 years - still want to move to an American model of health and social care?). i.e just over 15 years less.
In terms of income and expectations the Times of India in Feb 2012 reported the Indian per capita income had risen to £533 per year, OK its a big country with over a billion people but to put it another way yesterday the Hindu published its business section, its a bit like the guardian jobs section. Here, out to national advert, are some of the best jobs one of which caught my eye. It was for a university librarian, the candidate must hold an MA in a relevant subject, be fully qualified and no more than 35 (age discrimination is allowed here, i didn't see a single job I could have applied for at 52 years old but if i was expected to peg it in 17 years not surprising, India is a young country). The starting salary was £70 per month pro rata. Oh and for those of you in the medical profession a specialist registrar in the government hospital gets less per month than a single Ddoc shift and full time works well in excess of the 48 hours max. just to add insult to injury the figure is reduced by 75% when you aren't needed or not working.
True living costs are lower, but the prices of all the consumer goods we in the west think are so vital to our lives aren't. At these salaries is it any wonder most of our call centres are in Mumbai or Bangalore, staffed in the main with graduates and post graduates?
Talking of call centres (and heading off on a tangent) pretty much everyone (and i'm not exaggerating) here has a mobile phone. Its said India has skipped the industrial revolution and moved straight into the technological one. Even TATA India's manufacturing giant once a tea producer (and now owner of Jaguar Land Rover) is now moving into telecommunications having its own 3G enabled mobile network and looking to team up with SKY to take on satellite TV. Even small restaurants are expected to provide access to WiFi for their customers. If you are doubting India's technological prowess, it might be worth remembering they are a nuclear power with intercontinental missiles, they are in the process of designing a lunar rover to be deployed in the next few years and are the technical hub for many of the worlds biggest IT firms, in processing power they could give silicon valley a run for its money.
That said, yesterday I saw an old lady at the side of the road, I'd seen here many times before, almost part of the scenery, she is there most days, doing her job. Her job is simple, every morning a large granite bolder is delivered to her by truck, it must weigh several tonnes. Her tools are a lump hammer and a woven palm frond. She sits under the palm frond to keep the sun off her head and uses the hammer to chip away at the bolder to make gravel for the construction industry. probably there was a similar old lady employed to make gravel for India's ancient temples. A job a thousand years away from the hi-tech multinational air conditioned glass palaces of Bangalore.
I guess "difference" is everywhere and i never fail to be amazed by it, but sometimes its things that stay the same, things we no longer see through familiarity that we should question.
Enjoy the weekend
K&S
24/1/14
No comments:
Post a Comment