Hollywood goes Bollywood: Success!

Dhoni steps up to the pitch. It’s the 49^th over, only 12 more balls before the match is over. He tests out his bat. All seems well. The bowler comes fast from afar. Dhoni swings. The ball flies up and over boundary for 6! And with that, India wins the match.

The final shot of the match. MS Dhoni (the Indian cricket team captain)
with Sri Lankan keeper behind.

If you didn’t understand any of that, don’t worry (I was a novice once too). But that is a play-by-play of the winning pitch of the Cricket World Cup. India faced off with Sri Lanka in a grand South Asian battle to prove once and again that it has one of the strongest cricket teams around the world. In case you didn’t know, cricket is to India what football (the American one) is to the US. Indians go wild over cricket matches, some varieties of which can last 5 days. And when India hasn’t won the world cup in 28 years, it’s a huge cause for celebration

Throughout March, the furor for India to take home the win gained momentum as they beat team after team, including cricket powerhouses West Indies and Australia. During the semi-final match, India played Pakistan. For those of you who don’t know, India and Pakistan have had a long history of animosity – 3 wars, religious tension, disputed territory…etc etc. Thus, India and Pakistan do not play each other. The only chance is a venue like this, when the teams (both of whom are excellent) make it to the semi-final match. Needless to say, India won. And let me tell you….the streets went wild. I had been in Solapur to watch the match, and during the entirety of the match the city had shut down. Everyone was hunkered down in front of a TV watching. As soon as the final ball was hit, the fireworks began and everyone went to the streets. People were wild, screaming and yelling with national pride like there was no tomorrow.

Watching the match with coworkers.

Motorcycles whizzing by our street in Solapur. I apologize
it's not too descriptive, but it was only/best picture I could
get at the time.

And the same could be said for the final match. For the weekend, I went to Pune to visit Seth, a fellow “Fellow’, to watch the match. We decided to take the match-watching part low-key, eating and watching at a deserted restaurant above the city. But, when Dhoni (the team captain) hit that final ball, we ran down the street toward his apartment. Cue: huge dance party. We stayed out for hours, dancing in the streets and celebrating with our fellow Indians. People rode by in cars and motorcycles, waving huge Indian flags. Speakers blared with music. And everyone reveled in the joy of the day. It was fascinating to think that this was happening all over the country!! (Un)fortunately I didn’t bring my camera along, so I don’t have any pictures to document the event.

Of course that weekend had been a holiday weekend (Guddy Parwa…the Hindu New Year) meaning we had an extra day on our hands. On a rash decision, we decided to make our way up to Mahabaleshwar, a hill station 4 hours outside of Pune. A hill station is usually situated on a…hill (or mountain)…and is a weekend getaway for city folk (because it’s up high it usually has cooler weather). Mahabaleshwar receives not so great reviews on Lonely Planet (the ubiquitous traveling guide) - actually scathing comments telling travelers to avoid the place at all costs. But instead, we decided to go off some local advice about berries (yum!) and head up for a night. Boy what a smart decision.

It turns out, the weekend of April 1 was the Mapro Gardens Strawberry Festival in Mahabaleshwar. After the 4 hour bus ride, we dropped our bags at a hotel and made our way to the main road. Walking down among the throng of other weekend getaway-ers, we suddenly began to hear a reverberating pounding. A little further…and we find ourselves in the midst of a huge drum circle with dancers in the streets and women holding out baskets of strawberries. It was pure joy. Mapro, a corporate berry farming enterprise, sponsors a yearly strawberry festival. It was amazing. A slow-moving, drumming, dancing crowd down the main road giving out free strawberries. What more could you ask for.

Free strawberries being handed out by the strawberry women!

Drum circle!

The parade moving down the main street of Mahabaleshwar.

The next day, we of course had to make our way down to the Mapro Gardens Farm to check out what this was all about. The Farm is approximately 10 kilometers away from the city. Seth and I decided the best form of transportation was…horseback. After debating our way through horse vendors, we finally settled on a price we liked (Rs. 900…or about $20 USD total) and had a lovely 1.5 hour jaunt through the Maharashtran mountains. When I say lovely, I actually mean somewhat painful. But we made it to the Farm and were greeted by free samples, fresh strawberry ice cream, more dancing and drum circles.

My not-so-favorite mode of transporation,
but at least our horses like each other

Yum yum! Fresh strawberry ice cream!

On a side note, it was fascinating to see the crowd of people who come to Mahabaleshwar: middle to upper class Indians dressed in American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch. Aside from the color of people’s skin, I could have been in any US city (that had strawberries of course). Living in rural India, I sometimes forget that there is a very large, urban middle class that is strong and powerful.

The following weekend I made my way to…an Indian Water Park. Now, in the US I usually try to avoid these at all costs. But when in India… A friend on campus was going with a few buddies of his, and so I decided to go along. It was a small water park, about 5 rides, but a fantastic reprieve in the middle of the grueling heat. As you enter the park, you are given a bathing suit. I decided to use my own. The gender difference between a man’s bathing suit (short, tight nylon skivvies) and a woman’s suit (nylon long-sleeve shirt and pants). But overall, I had a great time – making a fool of myself in the water and trying to best the other guys in our group. Who needs lifeguards and chlorinated water. It was nice to let my guard down and not have to worry about work for a while.

Water Park!

Just a couple of guys...who were up to no good!

Did someone say slide?!?!

And so our weekend ended and I made my way back to Andur. Fortunately, the fun didn’t stop. As a part of my work, I had to make a series of field visits in Solapur and to villages around Andur. This was fantastic because, aside from my work, it gave me the opportunity to speak with community members about the problems they face and their ownership of the work they’re doing.

A predominately Muslim slum in Solapur.

The Community Volunteer of one slum with her two sons,
who were competing for who could write to 100 in English the fastest.

Also, for 3 days I visited a number of villages far from my NGO campus, requiring me to stay at a coworkers house in his village. Living amongst the community, I was surprised at how little they made me feel out of place. I wasn’t gawked at or huddled around. But was able to walk through the village and get a face-to-face view of how 60% of India really lives. To let you know: many houses had satellite TV, cows do roam the streets at will, almost everyone has a cell phone, and the monthly electricity bill comes out to 200 rupees (about $4). But even more so, my site visits showed me that my consumerist culture in the US isn’t the only path to happiness. That even without the luxuries I take for granted, people can be very content with their lives. Yes, there is hardship. But that is also qualified against the happiness of a good harvest, your children, a good community. Everything is relative. It puts things in perspective and makes me appreciate even more the opportunities and comforts I have merely because I was born in a certain place.