Back from Rajasthan, and already off again

I apologize for a lapse of several days in my blog writing! I didn't realize until now that a week has passed. It has been quite a week indeed. I have attained an office space and begun to work with my research assistant. I spent three days in Rajasthan interviewing laborers, seed sellers and agents, middlemen that bring laborers to Gujarat to work in cotton seed plotting fields, and farmers. I was aided in all of that by a labor union in Rajasthan and their lovely volunteer who is my age and speaks English, Hindi and Telugu fluently (perhaps she will be willing to make a trip to Andhra Pradesh with me for some interviews!?). It was absolutely fascinating and exhausting. I have spent the day today preparing to go to Anand again to stay with a farmer friend of mine. In exchange for help contacting local laborers and farmers, and setting up an interview with a seed seller/agent, I am expected to help on the farm and cook. Since I have not had the facilities for cooking since I left Seattle I am delighted by the exchange.

In Rajasthan I found that my Hindi skills badly need refreshing. No one I met spoke or understood Gujarati, despite being very near the border with Gujarat. I had a lot of trouble making Hindi - not Gujarati - come out of my mouth. After a few days of full immersion, though, I felt it beginning to come back. I was grateful to have an interpreter who knew what she was doing and with the patience of a saint!

On the trip back I had a scary experience. The woman that had been interpreting for me had dropped me off at the new bus depot in Dungarpur. I was waiting patiently for the bus to arrive and trying to avoid the eyes on me from every direction. The bus arrived and I made sure that it was the correct one before boarding. I tried to get comfortable in my seat as others boarded and there was the general chaos and bustle. I took out my book and tried to focus on it, but after a few minutes I felt the commotion outside intensify.

I turned around to see a huge crowd of young men beginning to gather behind the buses (there were about four or five other buses getting ready to take off). They began to shout something in unison that I could not follow. I waited for them to move on, but as more and more people gathered my heart began to race. I looked at the faces of the other passengers to try to understand whether I should be fearful, or just ignore it. A man a few seats ahead looked a little westernized and likely English speaking, so I made eye contact and asked him what was happening. By this time everyone on the bus, and the other buses on each side was looking at the growing crowd, and it seemed to me with attentive, nervous, eyes. The man said, I don’t know, it seems like something is wrong. I asked whether it might be some kind of protest and he said perhaps.

One of the buses pulled out, and the men parted for it. This made me hopeful, but I was still unsure whether it would be better for me to get off the bus or stay on. Our bus did not seem to be headed anywhere. Another bus arrived and suddenly the men began to jump onto the roof of it. I took a small bit of video of the men climbing on from the back and all of the shouting. I sat anxiously hoping that our bus would soon pull out without incident. I was sort of chanting to myself, please don’t let this turn into a riot, please don’t let anyone take notice of me, please let us leave before this escalates any further.

I made myself stay as calm as possible and noticed that the crowd’s attention seemed to focus on this other bus. I was so grateful when we started to back away, and the men parted to let us through, I could have cried for joy. I hid my face and saw only a man taking photographs and a police man with a whistle. I did not find out what it was about. As we drove away I took deep breathes and calmed down. I tried to take in the sights of the countryside and just be at peace with being on my way ‘home’ to Ahmedabad.

Otherwise, though, the trip was really fantastic. I accomplished more than I had hoped to and learned so very much. It will take me several days to type up everything that I did and heard and saw. Each night I scrawled page after page of notes, but now I am going through the process of adding to them and putting them into the computer. I think that when I am finished with the notes it will be something like 25 pages typed single spaced!

I am delighted that I will be in Anand and back in Baroda for x-mas time. It would be really sad to be here on campus, not that people will be gone (most people do not celebrate x-mas and it is not a holiday here) but because it would be the same as any other day. A lot of folks here have been asking me about my plans - it is assumed that I am Christian or Catholic because I am American and white. I will be going to a birthday party on x-mas for a photographer friend of the woman that I stayed with the last time I was in Baroda.

Things are definitely moving quickly around here and I have to go finish packing and preparing for two interviews tomorrow morning before the trip! Happy holidays and I miss you all terribly!