Midterm Madness

Sorry that I have absent for a long time. Midterms just got finished and I have been slammed with my school work. But I’m back!!!!!

First things first, someone told me that my last post appeared as I am home sick. I would like to clarify that this however, is not the case. I am enjoying my new life as much as ever. I am a lot less homesick then I was a month and a half ago. I just wanted to convey that exchange helps me appreciate the aspects of my life back in America. I can’t use the word, “home” anymore. It has a double meaning now.

Apparently, my relatives got the message and asked some questions. How would you compare the daily lives of teenagers in the U.S. and in India?

Well, first, in India there really is no such thing as, “hanging out.” Kids here go home straight away and live their lives with their families. Life revolves solely around academics, extra-curriculars, and family activities. All social activities basically happen on the weekends or on days without school. The importance of social activities that is pertinent in America really does not take precedence here.

You talk a lot about the differences in the style of education, but India produces some of the best students. How?

As I have talked about previously, Indian education style is mostly based off of memorization of material and not so much the application of the concepts. This of course can lead to very intelligent and high scoring individuals. The education style in India promotes the talented individual and pushes them to excel in the STEM field of education. In my opinion, therefore, we see such a high development of medical sciences and engineering in India, because jobs requiring exact knowledge of methods are extremely supported. However, in India the creative student body is lacking. I see limited development of things like government, infrastructure, and public services. This kind of education is not as supported as in the other parts of the world, which leads to a subsequent lack development of these social sectors. This of course is just my opinion.

What do you think Indians would like to have from your culture in theirs?So, for this question I thought it would be the best idea to ask Indians. We can say that the responses were extremely varied.

“Indians have varying opinions about the western culture. A teenager might refer to it at the "coolest stuff ever" and an elder might refer to it as a culture that's "too flashy and with zero values". If asked about the one thing, that I want in India from your culture, it'll be the freedom. Freedom in terms of a lot of things, be it the clothes I wear, the food I eat, my sexuality, the way I talk and the way I reason with things. Somehow, we've gotten so lost in the dreary desert of old customs and habits that we forget what it's like to change and grow with time. We talk about progress, but we still believe it to be inauspicious if somebody sneezes during a special occasion. We talk about equality, and yet women out here aren't paid as much as the men. We talk about acceptance, but people from the LGBT community are considered as outcasts. We talk about letting girls empower themselves, but when a girl is raped, her clothes are blamed. It's funny if you ask me, we Indians only talk about freedom, but there's nothing we do about it.”

I also received responses like…. I want to learn about how to celebrate Christmas, I only ever see that happen in movies. I can make that one happen.

In other news, in the past two weeks we have celebrated the Ganpati Chaturthi festival. It is a celebration of the god Ganesh, or here known more commonly as Granpatiji. Ganpati is welcomed into the house for a specific number of days, but he can only be welcomed for an odd number(no one seems to know why). He is welcomed through a celebration, which a gathering at the house and a prayer. Ganpati is asked to inherit a statue in the house, a process called Murti. We give blessings and pray, with, most likely, a hymn. After the specific number of days another aarti is held, where we say goodbye to Ganesh and give more blessings. The statue is carried around the house and then submerged into a body of water, which signifies the dispersal of the spirit.

Probably the most fun I have had in the past few weeks has been teachers’ day. It is a national holiday where in schools, kids celebrate with their teachers by making food, playing games, dancing etc. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate with all my schoolmates. I think the pictures describes it better than anything else does. It is something that I would love to see happen in the U.S.

Finally, in other news, midterms. This is the most I have ever studied in my life. Each exam is 3 hours of opened ended questions. I guess multiple choice isn’t a thing here. I am nearing the end of my exams and I am hoping to do mildly well on all of them. One positive aspect is that I have finally learned how to study. It took a little more than AP Biology to get me there. See you all next week.

My house's Ganpati offering