Hi all, I bet you were excited when you saw I had updated. "Yes! I've been literally holding my breathe for your fantastically comprehensive travelweek blog," you thought to yourselves. SORRY! Still too busy&lazy, however in lieu of the mighty entry, I will share with you a small anecdote, instead.
I have this pair of sandals that I bought and wore literally every day this past summer, but a few weeks into their life in India, they started to fall apart, so I retired them. As the Monsoons recede, I realized I wanted to wear them again, so I decided to take them to one of the several street-side shoe repair-people whom I pass by on any given day in Manipal. They're essentially one-man (or woman) businesses that exist street-side, sometimes in a small shed-like building (one woman sits on the sidewalk by the mess hall greens under just an umbrella.) and they generally provide some combination of shoe repairs, umbrella repairs, shoe cleaning or bag cleaning. These makeshift repair stores are probably "illegal," as many stores of all varieties tend to be in India, but without them, many people would be without any form of livelihood. Anyway, I paid a visit to the man who sits near the canteen where I like to eat breakfast and, to my surprise, he fixed my shoes in less than five minutes, holding the shoe between his feet as he quickly sewed them up right in front of me. Having expected to simply drop the shoes off and return for them a few days later, I was pretty impressed. I asked him how much and he responded "how much you pay me?" so apparently the shoe repair system here has some sort of "suggested donation" system." Hoping to overshoot the normal price paid by an average entitled Manipal student, I gave him 100 rupees and was relatively relieved when he made some sort of blessing action with his hand and placed the bill in his toolbox.
So I know getting shoes fixed isn't the most exciting story, and probably not what one expects to read about on a study abroad blog, but what it made me realize is that in India, I find even the most mundane of tasks somewhat thought provoking. On the disgustingly hot walk home today, I was dwelling on my wonderful experiences with India's service industry. What I decided is that India is filled with skilled people, like the shoe repairman, but what's lacking, instead, is the necessary infrastructure and institutions to organize all of the talent and knowledge. The other day a few of us here were discussing how we respond to the one question we constantly get from people back home, "how's India?!" While it feels like everyone is expecting some deep, self-reflective answer, one of my friends said she responds "it's real life, just somewhere else." Sure studying abroad is about "finding yourself," "gaining a global perspective," yadda yadda yadda, but I think what, more importantly, I'm coming to realize is that living in India is, in fact, real life, but everything is interesting. Even the smallest of occurrences sparks a question and I've found that these questions rarely result in answers, but often in new questions, instead. Food for thought, I love you all!
here's some pictures of Indian shoe repair people that I stole from the internet for all you visual learners...
and here's a teaser for your viewing pleasure, welcome to the beauty that is Hampi.
I have this pair of sandals that I bought and wore literally every day this past summer, but a few weeks into their life in India, they started to fall apart, so I retired them. As the Monsoons recede, I realized I wanted to wear them again, so I decided to take them to one of the several street-side shoe repair-people whom I pass by on any given day in Manipal. They're essentially one-man (or woman) businesses that exist street-side, sometimes in a small shed-like building (one woman sits on the sidewalk by the mess hall greens under just an umbrella.) and they generally provide some combination of shoe repairs, umbrella repairs, shoe cleaning or bag cleaning. These makeshift repair stores are probably "illegal," as many stores of all varieties tend to be in India, but without them, many people would be without any form of livelihood. Anyway, I paid a visit to the man who sits near the canteen where I like to eat breakfast and, to my surprise, he fixed my shoes in less than five minutes, holding the shoe between his feet as he quickly sewed them up right in front of me. Having expected to simply drop the shoes off and return for them a few days later, I was pretty impressed. I asked him how much and he responded "how much you pay me?" so apparently the shoe repair system here has some sort of "suggested donation" system." Hoping to overshoot the normal price paid by an average entitled Manipal student, I gave him 100 rupees and was relatively relieved when he made some sort of blessing action with his hand and placed the bill in his toolbox.
So I know getting shoes fixed isn't the most exciting story, and probably not what one expects to read about on a study abroad blog, but what it made me realize is that in India, I find even the most mundane of tasks somewhat thought provoking. On the disgustingly hot walk home today, I was dwelling on my wonderful experiences with India's service industry. What I decided is that India is filled with skilled people, like the shoe repairman, but what's lacking, instead, is the necessary infrastructure and institutions to organize all of the talent and knowledge. The other day a few of us here were discussing how we respond to the one question we constantly get from people back home, "how's India?!" While it feels like everyone is expecting some deep, self-reflective answer, one of my friends said she responds "it's real life, just somewhere else." Sure studying abroad is about "finding yourself," "gaining a global perspective," yadda yadda yadda, but I think what, more importantly, I'm coming to realize is that living in India is, in fact, real life, but everything is interesting. Even the smallest of occurrences sparks a question and I've found that these questions rarely result in answers, but often in new questions, instead. Food for thought, I love you all!
here's some pictures of Indian shoe repair people that I stole from the internet for all you visual learners...
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| thanks becca |
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