bhut accha laga

An interesting tidbit about Hindi: there is no way to distinguish between liking something and something feel good. There is something about this imprecision which is really interesting, and which I had not thought about since I learned this until right now, when I decided to sit down and talk about my first week in Delhi. I can say that I really like Delhi AND that Delhi feels good. It's nice to be in a place with fairly functional urban infrastructure, with modern influences in food/fashion/lifestyles in general, but at the same time with a definitive Indian twist. Seeing "modern India" is really great in this way. Yes, Jaipur was certainly more accessible because it was smaller and we lived with families who could give us a lot of information, but Delhi is so much more exciting. It's HUGE! There's a ton to see and a ton to miss also, lots of markets and neighborhoods and parks and live music and clubs and theatre and restaurants. Its nice to be somewhere with a lot going on. This is why I like Delhi. Delhi feels good to me I guess also for this reason, but it's more because of the tone of the city. It's really hard to describe because it's so intangible, but within the first two days of being here and just travelling around the city in a rickshaw I just loved how I felt, surrounded by greenery and communal space, lots of people and lots of commerce. It felt comfortable right away.
But everytime I think about how much I enjoy Delhi I find myself stepping away from it, realizing I'm slowly being pacified by luxury and privilege as many wealthy Indians my age tend to be. I feel myself reminding myself every day that this infrastructure serves about 0.00001% of India's population. 70% of Indians still live rural, have little to no access to health services, clean drinking water, or education, and maybe even worse then this, don't realize that they are entitled to these things. Being in Delhi, I know I am in India, but I find myself forgetting what India is for so many and the India which I had experienced before. It's really important for me that I don't forget this, or I'll feel like my experiences and development studies will have been meaningless.
My project is going....alrite. Reminder: I am studying peacebuilding initiatives by people-to-people diplomacy NGOs in Indo-Pak relations Post-26/11. Yes, I will eventually come up with a shorter name. BUT, it has been really interesting to study thus far. Mostly I have been interviewing people involved in this diplomacy, mostly activists and members of the media. Every time I interview someone, I'm surprised by how humble they are and how willing they are to talk to me. My academic advisor has been great about getting me these contacts, and some I have gotten from the contacts he gave me, so I'm pretty set on primary research. The coolest person that I've met: editor-in-chief of the Hindustan Times, the biggest english newspaper in the country. I was really nervous to meet him, but he turned out to be really down-to-earth, and when he was busy editing something, he sent me over to the editor of the political news section to ask questions. He was also suuuper Indian in pressuring me to have a lot of chai. So wonderful. The only thing about this project that isn't so great is my lack of experience with writing a paper based on primary research. It's definitely really different, because you have to make sure that your interview questions are really good so that you can get really good info. Luckily, follow-up interviews are usually possible. BUT, it' still weird. I talked with my academic director about it today, and she helped me restructure my paper so that I could focus my questions better and tackle the whole topic a bit better. So, right now, I think I'm heading in the right direction, if a bit nervously.
So I hope all of your lives are wonderful. As of now, my summer includes a month in vancouver, 3 weeks researching at midd, and then two months interning in DC. SO, in that time, I hope to see all of you.

Love,
Mimi

ps: It's 97 degrees outside and it's around 9 PM. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!