06/20

00:57 (writing this on 06/22)

Blessed. I went for a run with my roommate, and it felt so refreshing; the weather felt just like San Francisco! We ran from our room to the crops and back. Then, I took a cool shower and headed to breakfast. I sat down with Mariah and an Indian student. I asked her so many questions about India and the food. If i was her, I would have been annoyed. Anyways, I learned that ICRISAT is in the district of Patancheru in the area of in Madek and in the state of Andra Pradesh. The names still throw me off, but I am learning the demographics and the history of India one day at a time.

I spent the rest of the day on a city tour with the Cornell kids and Princeton lads. We went to one of their "westernized malls". 

The mall literally looked like Westfield with the HD LED advertisement screens that hung on ceiling, the food courts at the top of the mall, and all of the westernized shops. I spent the first hour with my Jamaican friend, Gabby, in airtel since she needed a SIM card. It's unbelievable how many paperwork is needed to get an Indian SIM card, but it's all worth it. Then, I ordered my very first binyari dish. My taste buds were jumping up and down because of all the flavors! If you are ever in Hyderabad, make sure to eat binyari because it is unlike any other rice dish especially if you mix the yogurt milk/curry in it.

After two hours in the very Westfield-looking-mall, we went to clothing/jewelry place ten minutes away from the mall. At first, I felt so overwhelmed with all of the stores; there were about 100 different ones! While looking around, I realized that most of the workers wanted us to go to their shops because we obviously looked like foreigners. And apparently, foreigners always have money. As a trailblazer, I decided to go to the stores that did not lure me in to go to their store. My first purchase was a black and red saree from this very friendly woman. She even taught me how to wear the saree! 

Hyderabad is apparently known for its pearls. So, I obviously bought my pair of pearls from another welcoming woman. She had to convince me that all her jewelries were real. She also showed me her artisan ID (lol). Then, I made my way to buy long skirts. I bargained with the worker and he ended up selling me two long skirts for 600 rupees/$9.50 (originally 800 rupees). I felt bad for "scamming" him, so I gave him 50 more rupees. Finally, I spent another 700 rupees on a scarf from a very persuasive guy. Well, I primarily felt bad that he took out a lot of the scarves from the plastic covers, just to show me its style. So, I basically bought the scarf for his effort, but again, I bargained with him. I noticed that most of the workers will lower their price with what the customer sees fit. It made a lot of sense because they had a lot of poor/good quality that might never be sold. If they ever get the chance to sell their merchandise, then they will allow to lower their prices just to get rid of them. 

Before we left the market, I talked to this very smart man that was selling scarves with Mariah. He explained to us that many of the other Indian workers feel hostile with Americans/British folks because they do not buy their items. Many of the workers do not take into consideration the fact that those Americans/British folks work long hours, and their trip to India is their reward for all of their hard work. I felt so enlightened to hear him explain the cultural differences. Then, he even showed us how to differentiate from real/fake quality scarves. He didn't even care if we spent our money or not! Instead, he wanted to have a conversation and to share/exchange ideas. He definitely opened my eyes when he told me that his goal in life is not to be rich, instead he wants to be happy. At that point, I concluded that all of us get very caught up in our day-to-day routine and our ambitions that we forget the main goal of permanent happiness. We work tireless hours that make us age faster to climb up the financial ladder while we have to sacrifice our precious time, and even our physical/mental well-being. That is the work of capitalism. Throughout this entire process, we somewhat trade in our happiness for our monetary goals. I'm not saying any of this is bad, it's one's personal decision to choose this type of lifestyle. I know that I want to be wealthy in terms of: good health, great family/friend relationships, and a peace of mind. Money will come and go, but the main goal is permanent happiness.