Wanderlust

This passage is not e-mailed to anyone. It's going to become a bit more personal. It partly refers to former statements which may need extension or correction. Some things may be apprehended as harsh generalizations - I am aware of the fact that my observations may be both subjective and one-sided. This is a first try to include literary style in what I write in English language - for humorous or sarcastic reason. Please let me know in case I did not strike the right note (richtigen Ton treffen). As usual, I won't mince matters (Blatt vor den Mund nehmen): anyone who feels offended - Hum to aisé hee hain (that's the way I am)!

I finally have taken the following courses: Global Competition and Strategy with Sougata Ray (which has taken lots of time and was a real challenge), Knowledge Management (D. Kumar, V. Jha), Management of Technology (we suffered of boredom), Strategic Service Management (which turned out to be Operational rather than Strategic), Globalization and Developing Countries with Jayanta Roy (alumnus if IMF and World Bank and very proud of that). St. Gallen University required only four courses; I hope they honour my ambition with taking the average of the top 4 out of 5 courses as the mark transferred... Let's see.

Expats in Calcutta belong to one of the subsequent groups:
- business people and diplomats (including their wives)
- volunteers (at charities) and interns (at GTZ, IHK; mainly last-year law students) (I could only observe Germans of this Group)
- longtime-travellers, artists, people who want to explore/find themselves

The first group tries by all means to exclude itself from the truly shabby environment by creating institutions like Tollygunge Club or British Council. I guess I'd do the same if I had to stay there 3 years (which also means 3 monsoons). A bit ambivalent was the Nov 2nd in the British Club (women only) when Mrs. Hippie sang "We are the world" with us, all of us being white (apart from one sino-American and one Indian lady who tried her best to bleaching her skin). The British Council, where we happened to meet, was a true fortress which helped us being barricaded from real-Kolkata-life.

You want and find Americans and you simply look for the obese among the palefaces roaming around downtown.

Showers as we understand it is called bath by Indians. The more I heard this word the more I sought for one since you and anything around you is and becomes some degrees dirtier than in Europe. Miele washing machines (how have I missed one!!) were unaffordable to IIM, and laundry man managed to destroy parts of my clothes with that beat-instead-of-paying-for-detergent method, so I ended up with doing the laundry myself - by hand. December became quite cold (below 10°C) - cold showers aren't that big fun then anymore.

Another thing I missed very much was chocolate - I'd have been happy with a tiny wee of Aldi chocolate. Since it mustn't melt in Indian climate, the recipe is changed. Cadbury's and Nestlé are the main retailers of that type - you hardly recognize this was chocolate. Alas - Lindt has me back now, I swear my loyalty and deepest thankfulness upon thee :-)

Durga Puja is only a federal vacation which reflects the main variety within Hinduism. Any region focuses on other gods and other celebrations. This is mainly caused by different exposure to the nature, e.g. monsoon floods, landslides in hilly regions, infertile agricultural land. The depth of belief varies as-well. Whereas the south is conservative, other regions e.g. around Dehli hardly constraint or rule anything. I believe, the way religion is practiced is different from Christianity. Whereas "we" are supposed to pray - an action of mind, Hindus rather show their belief by objects - chains of flowers, holy ash in the necklace, posters of a god, a small amount of rice spared for the gods before you eat.

The advantage of Hindi multideism is that you have very much holidays. To showing its tolerance, India also has vacations for the Muslim and Christian holidays which makes the total amount of free days extraordinarily high. Thanks to the oversupply of labor, it simply can afford that one could say cynically.

"Pantels" are properly spelled "Pandals". The temporary character of these figures reflects well the Hindi belief that anything happens in cycles. Clay comes from the Ganges, sculptures are made from it, these put back into the Ganges later on. One life or the pursuit for a destiny becomes less important since Hindi believe in a nex life. - This is how I try to explain that hang-around and let-time-pass mentality. But my inner feeling tells me it is more than that because argumentations with Indian students who became very good friends have shown that ambition to become topper and pursuit for the career generally doesn't make life happier.

Some less fair saree-wearing women wear their money in their Blouse, which causes them to grab their breast anytime something has to be paid.

The Birthday bumps are a IIMC tradition only.

Marihuana is not as freely available as I believed, business students enable it and IIMC authority connives it - that is what mislead my impression. On Holi, the feast of colors, several parts of India go entirely Bhang-tripping. I didn't manage to understand what that is, only that it is collectively chewed and induces a 30-hours or more trip.

Indian spirits are of lower quality - though my knowledge is very narrow on that, my stomach told me abundandly clear... You cannot even trust labels like Smirnoff which are botteled in India and hundred times worse. You vomit more than you enjoy your delirium. - Good way to making people abstinent.

My luggage back home contained 15kg of books (Krugman/Obstfeld, Hamel/Prahalad, Chomsky, Th. Friedman, Coelho, A. Rand, Tolkien, Tzu, R. Bach, K. Gibran), 1 formal and 2 half-western Salwar Kameez, 1 Saree incl. blouse and petticoat, 1 Kurta, lots of presents from friends, lots of souvenirs to family and friends, silken scarfs, Lacoste shirts, 2 Blackwood trousers cotton, 1 stitched Blazer with stifle collar, a Tibetean sheepwool pullover, a Nepalese hat (for men, asymmetric), a silver necklace in Tibetean Lotus style, self-burnt CD's with all Friends-sessions and 7 CD's with music, spices to make Masala. Masala, similar to Curry if not the same, is a mixture of spice, namely Cumin, Pepper, Mango Powder, Turmeric, Dhania etc (whatever that is). You buy it either ready-made or, most common, buy the ingredients and mix it yourself. God knows how it happened that this made exactly 30kg, the weight allowed.

The main reason for this working mentality as I described for the IIM but which can be found anywhere in West Bengal is the strong labor union system resulting from communist (but still democratic!) federal governance. That makes Calcutta the poorest Indian city, unable to atract investors. I found some other professions being exemplary for India's oversupply of labor: faxman, juiceman, waterman (both in one hostel's mess), clip vendor (clips are small, hence he is mobile and can follow you), beggar (I believe there is a competition among them who looks poorest) - and please believe me I tried my best to convincing me that this thinking is ignorance, taxi escort, wagon and rikshaw puller (I preferred buses because you weren't ripped off then and being transported by an engine feels more ethical to me than by human being).

The insight about sexuality has to be revised. Still it is true that some people just marry anyone because it is time to marry, no love, no affection just liking, as they can find out in the process of 'Patao'. The family's agreement to the engagement and the fitting of astrology are of highest importance. But at least the IIMC students have a more liberal choice. Apart from a few taboos, they can choose whoever they want. The small problem, as I see it is that women are less exposed to the public (which easily can be reflected by the low female rate at IIMC or in the discotheques). Love happens, though not publicly, premarital sex happens even more than the former.

Indians seem to live much more in a community, what occurs to take an extreme form with the on-campus accomodation. Lending and sharing is practiced much wider and more often than I have seen before. That is why anyone only buys a couple of cigarettes instead of a pack - he would hardly smoke some rather than giving them to friends. It ends with the disrespect of privacy. Other exchange students complained to having only little sleep or concentration because anyone just drops in your room as he feels like. It did not happen with me - maybe because I'm the girl. Apart from this, things are much more taken for granted. Consequently, please or thank you are only used to persons they have to show respect. To buy 2 cigarettes, you say 'Dada: do fag', dada meaning elder brother.

One friend's speculation is that Calcutta has been given the name "City of joy" from Suma Gachi, a red-light district in town. I am not entirely sure about that.

I am going to write other passages on the Footsteps tour and British heritage as-well as Kali, Kali Puja und Divali later on.

Mittlerweilen ist mein Gaststudium am Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kalkutta im zweiten Jahr des postgraduate programs abgeschlossen

Ich war dort Aug-Dez 2002 und hatte eine großartige, wenngleich zeitweie herausforderungsvolle Zeit.

Im Folgenden nun meine Newsletter, mit denen ich zum einen Euch an meinen Erlebnissen teil haben ließ, zum anderen mir half, Gesehenes zu verarbeiten und in Worte zu packen. Entschuldigung an alle, die des Englischen nicht so mächtig sind, habe zum Übersetzen keine Zeit.
Viel Spass!

Newsletter 1 (10.09.02)

Dear friend -

this is a newsletter due to my semester in Kolkata, formerly Calcutta. You may unsubscribe by simply answering this e-mail with a remark. English has been chosen as means of conversation since I guess that all recipients will be apt to understand it.

I hope you're well on - Be it with starting, continuing or taking on again your studies in St. Gallen, Milano, Helsinki, Marburg, Jena (?), Chemnitz, Dresden, Washington, Yale; be it with having an exchange semester yourself in Singapore, Seoul, Paris, Rotterdam, Redhill/California; be it with exploring your creative and academic potential in a Master's or Ph.D. thesis (SG, Seoul); be it with taking on an exciting job with JP Morgan, P&G, McKinsey (BLN, LON), DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, AmeriCorps (?) or in your own company; be it with managing Hotel at Zurichsee or having a baby. Enjoy your life, live! (for those who don't find themselves mentioned: I don't know what you're on right now - please let me know)

It was big luck that I made it to Kolkata, and the main reason admittedly is simply because an application letter did not arrive Guanghua School of Management Peking, my former aim. However - loaded with tons of Traveller's Cheques, Vaccinations, some presents and clothes which took a lot of time to imagine whether they would be appropriate, I arrived on Sep 9.

Priority will be the courses I'm going to take at the Indian Institute of Management - Mergers & Acquisitions, Globalization and Ethics, and Knowledge Management of course :-) I'm going to visit Sikkim and Darjeeling (light trekking), Bangalore if possible. I will spend a lot of time to intensively exploring the 14m town itself and to making my handikap. German Consulate announces a party for Oct, 3.

First lectures:
- showers with cold water can be pleasant in this hot climate, detergent cleans you anyway
- birthday is not a happy rather than awful day: boys are kicked and bumped, girls get cake and sirup into face and hair (i.e. good opportunity for revenges)
- filthiness of the houses and spiciness of the food aren't as bad as feared of - when expectations are low, surprise can only be positively
- fellow students are so nice and help me with anything
- Hindi uses English 10% - so you somehow get out what others are talking about

Take Care
- maple.

Dear friend-

hope you are well on. - I am happy to telling you that I am. Mosquito bites here and there, disappointments about how long laundry needs to dry, dealers trying to part me from my money, severe & demanding Professors - but nothing I couldn't easily deal with. No culture shock, no homesickness, no overtime on toilet, and the average spiciness is no problem to me no more.

Some new insights I'm going to share with you:
- fans are noisy, create headache but are the only way to face these temperatures and not to sweat through your clothes in shortest time
- IIM Campus has many beautiful lakes and lawns. Any road is shaded by high trees. The probability to being "bombed" by bird droppings is 0.3 per way.
- Indian bureaucracy is as bad as its reputation. I applied for a Tourist visa, paid a tourist visa, have the duration of residence permit for a tourist; but a small "S" (for Student visa) made me to visiting 5 offices in 3 buildings. A quadruplicate form, 6 photographs and an HIV test have to be handed in
- Indian children are sent to nursury school in the age of two. They start writing aged three. Primary education is mandatory what doesn't mean that any child attends it.
- Marihuana can be bought anywhere (although illegal), (Pils) beer is quite expensive and the foam (Krone) you have to imagine yourself
- even if you go to a high-end western shop like "Westend", best (west style) clothes are still 20% under Prager Strasse(Dresden) prices. Books are sold at "developing country discount" which makes it still a good bargain for me to buy and ship it.
- IIM students usually have four hours sleep per night, be it with extracurricular projects, ambitiously reading the professors' reading lists, watching a ripped film on the computer screen, or hanging around with friends. This behavior may be due to the weather, I also don't need more than 6 hours as soon as I arrived here.
- communication with normal people can become very difficult. Take for example a taxidriver who just drives anywhere without understanding where you actually want to be driven to.
- picture postcards are very lousy, considering motive and quality. Still, I'm going to send some around - I promised it.
- Indian academic enthusiasm and brilliance is motivated through the creation of archrivals. I enjoyed quizzes and debating competitions of Eastindian Business Schools

I saw lots of beggars whom I didn't give anything. But until now I certainly have not met the poorest.

On a sightseeing tour, I visited Victoria Memorial (tourist fare 15000% of the resident fare), the Botanical Gardens (there is a 250 years old Banyan tree which has the 2nd largest canopy in the world with 400m circumference), and Kali Temple (I fortunately missed the goat sacrifice).

For Puja (national vacation week 14-18.10) a trip with 3 other exchange students is already planned to the Himalayas - my big dream. Train tickets weren't available without bribery, but still they were.

Until now I didn't find an appropriate foto camera to buy. But please have a look at another exchange student's web site - some fotos of us will be shared there soon. http://werner.ekonomika.be/India

Wish you all the best
- maple

Newsletter 3 (24.10.02)

Dear friend -

This newsletter needed quite a while to be finished - please excuse that. To the main part, the delay is due to the immense workload local professors are assigning me with. That takes away any free space from me. But still we had one week Durga Puja vacation because of which I still can give you some extracurricular stories of my experiences in India.

I guess this newsletter is going to reflect a bit more negative impression on India. Let's call it realistic - it would be a lie to not calling it a developing country despite the few rich surrounding me at IIM, Park Street or Tollygunge Golf Club.

- when men touch each other or walk arm in arm, this is only a sign of friendship, not homosexuality. I do not get used to this sight (and, admittedly, it makes me envious).
- waiting for someone has to be taken into consideration, be it a meeting, a request in an office etc. The only place when this rule does not work is the lecture room.
- the bigger the mosquito the bigger the bite. Killing a mosquito during the bite doesn't help anymore. Special crafty creatures aim at the sole during your sleep.
- IIM has many employees. But I have to doubt their efficiency: when more than 2 work in a group, one is there for supervising the others' work; crows vandalized a dust bin and these guys just watch and clear up later - clever strategy to justifying their employment I guess.
- painting gets a new definifion: bookshelves are painted as they hang, when painting a window's frame it's no problem to also leaving paint on the glass, in order to not having to re-writing doors' numbers, one just paints around them
- sarees do not have pockets. That women can wear at least a bit of change money they inevitably need for public transportation (e.g.), they either wrap it into the saree at the hip or tie a knot of a tissue into the saree
- Durga is a goddess which, according to old epics, won over an evil demon and afterwards went home to her parental home with all their four children. Durga Puja, majorily celebrated in West Bengal, celebrates her homecoming and leaves opportunity to the wives to visiting their home (some time ago, this has been the only opportunity in the year). Pantels are big sculptures of Durga and the children, and any neighborhood invests big amounts of money to creating the best one. Locals' behavior interestingly doesn't exceed a come-and-see-and go mentality: they don't remain longer than two seconds in front of one of these pantels (Calcutta was supposed to having 4500!), I hardly saw someone praying or otherwise practicing this as a religion. I'd define this as temporary kitsch art - the pantels are thrown into Hooghly, arm of Ganges, after the celebration; and the big bamboo tents are taken down.
- I have been invited to the 3rd October Party by the German General Consulate to the top-end Hotel Taj Bengal only with the initiative of a nice girl working there. I happened to meet there several business people (Germans, Europeans, Indians) and volunteers. It still is surprising to me that none of the volunteers (physiotherapeuts, nurses, pharmacists) was male. Maybe you must be female to choosing such a (thanks to Mother Theresa notorious) even for India underdeveloped dirthole like Kolkata.
- Sexuality is either non-existing or taboo. Youth is happy and convenient to letting their parents looking for a fitting partner to marry.

- Darjeeling is much more the city of joy rather than Kolkata. People are smiling, it is amazingly quiet, the air is cool and fresh. A perfect refuge for Kolkateans. We happend to see a buffalo sacrifice - the police and some officials were doing that. Unfortunately, of reasons I couldn't find out, the stabbed melon-like fruits instead of a buffalo...
- Japanese tourists were happy to take a foto with us - strange people - Sikkim has a magnificent cuisine with major impacts from China. Incredible variety I haven't dreamt of after five weeks Bengalese Rice&Chicken.
- Seven holes per ear are supposed to bring luck. The amount of silver hanging from it represents the family's wealth. How this is going to look like, I leave to your fantasy.
- I saw two funerals from distance in Sikkim. No tears no emotion. It is Hindu belief to bringing all elements together to great events in Human life. That's why the body is burned (fire) over a stream (water), air blown to it, earth thrown into the fire and power conjured by the priest
- a bus with 30 seats easily can hold 55 passengers. What kind of adventure six hours along a montaneous serpentine full of holes with anyone's ass pressing towards your face is, you can imagine easily.
- quite any place in Sikkim is holy, be it a lake, a mountain, a spring. They must be very happy to be under special military protaction due to the proximity to China since this allows only little change in the country. Kanchenjunga (3rd top mountain in the world, 8598m) can only climbed to 10m below the top since the top belongs to the mountain's ghost(s). What happens with the mountaneers climbing the top from the Nepalese side I didn't learn.
- Günter Grass' "Zunge zeigen" (showing tongue, referring to Kali's gesture of shame when she killed - or better slaughtered - her husband) accompanies me better than any traveller's guide through the culture. Interestingly, most things still are appliccable, little has changed. He refers a lot to Tagore, India's biggest author. I guess I'm going to continue with him then.

You can find this and all previous newsletters on http://www.stud.unisg.ch/users/abihler/likalk.htm Werner is going to update his ekonomika webpage with new pictures of our journey soon.

OK. that for now.

I urgently have to go back to my paper on migration and cultural consequences (and book the IIM library could provide me is either very old (before 1940) or socialist crap - I'm very upset, seriously)

- maple.