Strangers!

“A person or thing that is unknown or with whom one is unacquainted”

This is how the word stranger is defined. This is the word with which we become familiar very early during our growing years. “Don’t talk to strangers!” “Don’t smile at strangers!” These are the sentences that acquaint us with the word stranger/s very early on in our life. And, we are supposed to follow these advices! If we ignore them, then, they become strict instructions! I, generally, followed these instructions. Except for guiding some stranger to a given address, I avoided talking to them. And, I followed these instructions strictly till my school years.

As I continued my studies through the college and University, I realized that strangers are not something to fear or avoid. They are not aliens; they are fellow human beings just like us. The only thing that brands them as 'strangers' is the fact that I don’t know them.  Being a student of sociology, I also realized that I cannot avoid strangers.

People are an integral part of any sociological study. Without them, I cannot think of studying any social system, structure, function, culture, or even the most abstract concepts like myths and symbolism. People are central to understanding these concepts. These concepts do not exist in themselves; they have some relevance only in relation to people. And, people are strangers, because I may not be acquainted with many or majority of them. This is the irony!

I prefer not to call them strangers! They are the ones who familiarize me with the subjects of my study. They are the ones who introduce me to the community; take me around the community to understand its physical layout, which I consider vital in understanding its social layout/structure.

In my professional life, every now and then, I had to deal with unknown people or strangers; where the only thing known was the subject of my research and the fieldwork area. That knowledge too was based largely on secondary sources.

I vividly remember waiting at the Najafgarh Tehsil or the District Magistrate’ office to check and copy land records pertaining to the village I was studying. I was trying to understand the land use pattern. There, invariably, I used to start a conversation with fellow strangers waiting for their own businesses. Most of them were men called Chaudhries; as women seldom visit these offices unless and until it was essential to bring them in connection with some disputed land ownership or other cases.

The Chaudhries used to be very interested in knowing about the purpose of my visit. They were very curious to know what I (as a woman) was doing in the Tehsil office. They used to listen very patiently as I explained the purpose of my visit to them. Most of these Chaudhries in the Najafgarh area belong to the ‘Jat’ community. And, they have very good sense of humour! In fact, their sense of humour still amazes me! Their way of explaining something, use of words and phrases, gestures – all made those explanations very hilarious. While talking to them, I could not stop myself from breaking into laughter every now and then. Then, they would say smilingly, “Aap haste bahut ho! Accha hai!” (You laugh a lot! It’s good!).

I always had a good time there. The same thing happened when I started my fieldwork in Dhansa village. The 'strangers' were the most helpful people I have ever come across! That used to make me wonder – Are these people still strangers? With them, I was discussing and sharing everything that I would do with a friend or colleague. Over small glasses of tea (they used to drink it very often and I had to politely refuse it several times) and lunch, I could never understand when they transformed from being mere strangers into known people.

Strange are the ways of life with strangers! I can never forget them. I still break into laughter or a smile whenever I remember some parts of those conversations! It’s hard to control!  

Travel Trances

Travel has been my passion since I was born! It seemed, I was tuned for this by God Himself. The best part of it used to be the rides; rides on anything-- from a cycle to cycle-rickshaw to horse-cart to bullock cart to... the trains, ships, the steamers (small steamships) plying on river Ganga to airplanes and now the Delhi Metro. I don't remember, but my parents tell me that I used to enjoy traveling as a child no matter how short the distance used to be.

I used to enjoy, particularly, the rickshaw rides; and I still love them whenever I get a chance. But, ever since the fitness bug has bitten me, I try to walk the distance. My father still fondly remembers how once he made me walk all the distance from the bus stand to home and how infuriated I was when we reached the door! With all my Leo authority, I demanded to be taken back to the bus stand and be brought back to home in a rickshaw. That day, he had a hard time in making me reconcile with the situation, but now, I think he is the only person who could make me reconcile with and accept any situation with sobriety.

Several of my travels and also the people, in fact, complete strangers I met during these travels, are etched on my mind! One of them used to be the ferry rides across the river Ganga when we visited my father's village, Bajitpur near Hajipur in Vaishali District, Bihar. Before the construction of the bridge, Mahatma Gandhi Setu, linking Patna directly with Hajipur, people generally used the steamships, apart from the boats and canoes, to cross the river. I think, they still use them!

What used to intrigue me during these short journeys was the small fires along the bank of the river that used to shimmer so prominently in the evening. My father told me that these were burning pyres, as the Hindus consider it auspicious to cremate their dead along a holy river. They still do so, disregarding all environmental concerns. The 'soul' has a VISA-free entry into Heaven then, no matter how many BAD KARMAS they have engaged in during their life time :(

Anyway, for the the first time, this disclosure sent a chill down my body and I was dumb-struck for a moment! I was too scared of the 'dead' and 'death'! With all the bed-time 'ghost stories' told by my grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles and aunts (paternal and maternal) and also by my father (he is a great story-teller even now; my daughter and my brothers' children have also grown on these stories), I used to wish for the journey to end as soon as possible. Those pictures of the burning pyres and the sadness and fear associated with them are still engraved on my mind!

Another strong memory is about a visit to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh with my parents and my two and a half years old daughter several years back. It was a very long train journey; and my daughter's first. She found the shaking and vibrations of the moving train very shocking. She perched herself on the seat and refused to put her feet down on the floor. It took a lot of cajoling by me, my parents, our co-passengers that she finally started walking (that too very slowly and cautiously) inside the train. Her only complaint was, “Its shaking too much and the bathrooms are shaking too.”

The only thing I still remember about this journey was the friendly help provided by a co-passenger, a tall, dark and handsome guy, who was as concerned about my daughter's fears and anxiety as me. When she refused to walk around, he made every efforts to comfort her and make her confident to walk inside the moving train. He would take her around, show her how other children were playing around and so on. I and my parents were too relieved, as earlier, she wanted one of us to sit beside her all the time. He was quite friendly!

Other co-passengers also helped us to deal with her fussy ways of eating. Everybody seemed to be concerned about and busy with her. Somebody was bringing fresh milk for her from the pantry (as she refused to drink the powder milk); another one helped by bringing bananas or other eatables from the stations where the train stopped. But MADAM simply refused to eat! Yes, every now and then, she would inquire around (with her friendly 'uncle') who was eating what and take a bite or two from them. This is how she survived her first train journey!

iSummit 2008 Impressions: ii) On reaching Sapporo, Japan

My flight arrived at Sapporo airport early in the morning around seven. The day was partly cloudy and it was raining. I was quite relaxed, as the organizers had arranged for pick up from the airport. I approached the counter and informed them about my arrival. Since the first bus was supposed to start at 9 am, I had to wait for almost two hours.

Finally, with all the participants who had arrived by that time, the bus started for the Sapporo Grand Hotel. As usual, I looked out of the window most of the time. Compared to Tokyo, Sapporo was smaller and most of the roads were four-line, i.e., two lines on each side of the divider. Again, the roads and streets were so clean as if somebody had recently washed the whole town. The same was true about the houses!

Another remarkable thing about the city was space utilisation. I had heard about Japanese obsession with everything 'small' and 'optimum utilisation of resources', but what I saw was quite awesome. Every vacant plot (no matter whatever its size), lying in between the houses was used for onion or potato cultivation. Not a single plot of land was lying barren or unutilised. The roads, too, were decorated with beds of beautiful flowering plants on both sides. And of course, all the houses had little gardens in the front. As I had mentioned earlier, it was spring season, so, the whole city was in full bloom and looked more like a garden city to me- my dream city!

I completely enjoyed the journey from the airport to the hotel. Since day one was actually a zero day, meant for CCi Legal deliberations between the organisers and their partners, I stayed back at the hotel. I was quite tired because of the long journey and the rest gave me the much needed respite. Next day, the real iSummit began. In retrospect, I can say that it was quite different from the other workshops that I had attended. Even the participants were quite different with people from the media and the art world. They were unique personalities- people with unique tattoos, body art, hairstyles, looks and dresses. Overall, the whole atmosphere appeared quite funky to me!!

Everyday, the workshops or 'Labs' as they were known at iSummit08, were interspersed with social events, like the Japanese tea ceremony; origami or Japanese paper folding art demonstrations and lessons; Japanese calligraphy demonstrations and lessons; ski jumping demonstrations and dinner at Okurayama Ski- Jump site; reception hosted by the mayor of Sapporo city at the Park Hotel, Sapporo; a concert at Xanadu, Sapporo by Digital Garage, and an excursion to Moerenuma Park. Except the concert, I took part in everything and attended all the social events.

The Okurayama Ski- Jump site was very beautiful. We were welcomed on the beats of drums. The drums sounded somewhat familiar to me, more like the Indian drum beats. I didn't know anybody in the conference! I was looking for some Indian faces and found one, Prashant Iyenger. Another person I approached was from Jordan, but he looked very Indian. He was a nice guy and I used to talk to him every now and then throughout the iSummit. I also met a person from Sri Lanka, Thiru Balasubramaniam, who was working in Switzerland. And of course, I met Cynthia Jimes, the researcher from the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), who were leading the iCommons iCurriculum project.

Other nice people I met at the iSummit were Shinya Ichinohe, a gentleman from Japan, who shared a lot of interesting things about the commons, Japan and Japanese people. Kim Tucker was a co-participant at the education lab, who shared similar concerns about the commons and the developing countries. Jaroslaw Lipszyc and Grazyna Czetwertynska, both from Poland, were also co-participants at the education lab. I also befriended a lady from Japan or rather she befriended me, who had spent some time at Kolkata in India. She recognised my Indianness from my Bindi. She gave me company in between the breaks.

I also learnt the Japanese calligraphy and chose to write 'Woman' in Japanese. After two or three trials, my teacher was satisfied with my work and stamped my paper for accreditation. Its very precious for me and I have saved it. I also participated in the 'tea ceremony' and made some mistakes even after good instructions from the nice lady in 'Kimono'. I was supposed to turn the cup only three times before sipping the tea, but I turned it too many times. Anyway, it was all new and exciting and I was a very happy person in the end.

The actual iSummit started on the second day with a plenary that had some very interesting presentations by Heather Ford, Jimmy Wells, Joi Ito, Mohamed Nanabhay, James Cairns, Johanna Blakley, Erin Mckean. Linking the virtual 'commons' movement with the physical 'commons' of the yore, such as the pastures, forests over which the rural community exercised free access rights, Heather's presentation provided an overview of the movement and its penetration into unique knowledge areas, like fashion, media, art, business and so on. After the plenary session, I was a much enlightened person. I had no idea that the virtual 'Commons' trace their roots back to the 'Commons' or the 'Common Property Resources' as we know them in India.

iSummit 2008 Impressions: i) the Journey from Delhi to Tokyo

The opportunity to attend the iSummit 2008 at Sapporo, Japan from July 29 to August 1 came as a BIG surprise to me. I had never expected any such overseas travel although there were a number of opportunities to travel within India when I was doing the Indian case study for the iCiC project.

This was my first trip to Japan and I was a little apprehensive, especially about the language as many well wishers had warned that English wouldn't work there very much. Anyway, my enthusiasm was too overwhelming to leave any scope for worries or apprehensions. The ticketing and visa was not a problem as I received a personal invitation signed by the Mayor of Sapporo city. The invitation, written in Japanese, was more like a piece of art and that's why I have treasured it till date.

I left Delhi for Sapporo on 27th July by Japan Airlines. It wasn't a direct flight to Sapporo; I had to take another domestic flight from Tokyo's Haneda airport. Even my baggage wasn't booked for Sapporo directly. My travel agent had informed that I had to reclaim my baggage at Tokyo's Narita International airport and then proceed to Haneda, which was approximately 0ne hour bus-ride away from there. As I was travelling alone, I was a little anxious and could actually feel butterflies fluttering in my stomach!

I arrived at Narita International airport in the morning (28 July) around 9.30 am. After reclaiming my baggage, I went straight to the enquiry counter. My homework for the trip had shown that I would find all the help there. Since I had a lot of time at my disposal, they suggested two options: I could either take the train or the bus to Haneda. I preferred the one hour bus ride as I wanted to see Tokyo city at a leisurely speed as compared to the train. It cost me only 3,000 yen. The first thing that struck me about the Narita airport was that everything was precisely organised; there was no scope for any kind of confusion.

The weather at Tokyo was the same as that of Delhi. My bus ride was fantastic and provided a good view of the city and its suburbs as we passed from one district to another. I looked out of the window most of the time. Tokyo didn't look any different from other metropolitan cities. But the small towns on the way were amazing with beautiful and small residential buildings surrounded by little gardens. The traditional ones looked awsome, just out of this world! And strangely, none of them looked discoloured or worn out as if they had been recently whitewashed.

Finally the bus stopped at Haneda airport and I followed my co-passengers to the departure terminal. Here again, the information counter did the trick and I had a trouble free check in and security check. To while away the waiting time, I just moved around the departure lounge and relaxed preparing myself for the rather short journey to Sapporo.

Sapporo is the favourite holiday destination for the Japanese and because it was the Spring Season, so I could see a number of Japanese families heading towards it. Most of them were young couples with two kids (yes, not any more or less!). The babies looked almost like dolls! I had a good time watching them playing, laughing, crying, tugging at their parents' dresses and being stubborn or just refusing to move from one place!

They kept me engaged for a long time and soon it was time to board the plane for Sapporo. Looking out of the window, I spotted a very strange kind of airplane. It was bright yellow with Pokemon characters painted all over its body. I could see Pikachu on the side facing my plane! It seemed as if it was taking off for Pokemon land. This was really surprising and made me wonder... are the grown ups also as obsessed with these characters as the kids! Imagine... a Pokemon plane!

So, enough for the journey! My next blog in this series will take up some serious issues around understanding the "commons" concept and its various manifestations.