Things to do in India (I)

I still think of that fascinating place as if it was yesterday.

1. Visit the Taj Mahal and Varanasi
The first one is pretty obvious - you don't really expect to see something so white and well-kept in India, unless you're in Chandigarh. Taj Mahal reminds us all of the splendour of India. During the Mughal Empire, Emperor Shah Jahan (Son of Jahangir, Grandson of Akbar) built it. They got the marble from Rajesthan and the jewels from the West Coast (Gujarat, I think). A pity most of the time it's packed with people, and its entry ticket is not cheap like the other attraction sites. But it's worth a go, to show people you have been there.

Expect touting. That's part of India. You could quote a ridiculous price if you are slightly interested in something they are offering. My friend once reduced the price by 10 times (from Rs 400 to Rs 40). Of course, usually 50% of the price is a good way to start bargaining, but if you're outside the Taj, you could go way less. Have fun bargaining!

"ye wala kitne ka?" (this thing how much [price]?)
"five hundred only, madam. very cheap. very good."
"kya bakuas! pachaas rupee ka to bas. thi-ke?" (what nonsense! 50 rupees the most. ok?)
"nahi madam! this very good quality! four hundred." (let you touch the thing. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH, or he might try to be funny and make you pay, or snatch your money, etc)

" nahi, bhaiya. nahi chahiye. jao, jao." (no, brother [this is a term used by all hindi speakers]. don't want. go, go." (walk away, please.)
"madam! wait! haah, do sau. thi-ke?" (2 hundred, ok?)
"nahi chahiye, jao. meh sirf pachaas rupee. thi-ke?"
"haah, madam! ek sau. last price. good quality. pachaas nahi yar." (100, last price. 50 cannot)
[at this point, take it if you want. too troublesome to bargain till 50 unless if you're really really free. or just leave. he'll chase after you. just ignore. and be adamant about it.]

There is this famous golden triangle - Jaipur (palace), Agra (taj), and Delhi (capital). If you like, do it with a tour (but be prepared for lots of weird touting, and taxis driving you to shops and asking you to buy their stuff cuz he gets a commission). I've never been to Jaipur, but I heard Jalsaimer is beautiful. That's where the desert is. For an Indian palace, I highly recommend Madhya Pradesh (Orcha) if you've the time. If not, Jaipur will do. Varanasi too.

Varanasi (or Benares) is a holy city which embodies a substantial Hindu atmosphere. It's dirty. You see cows everywhere, shitting. You see people chewing betel nut and spitting those red stuff all over. And men peeing by the roadside (ok they're a bit discreet, but they really do stand there, face the wall, and pee alongside others!) It's smokey, because of the incense and the cremation at the ghat. What to see? Go to the ghat. You'll see lots of people cremating there. PLEASE RESPECT THEM and not take photos; they're mourning. At 7pm, go to Dashwashemedha Ghat, and join the puja session (prayer along the Ganges River.) They'll all shout "Ganga-ma aati, jai!" (Prayer to Mother Ganges!)

Head down to the famous Pizza place at Vaatika Cafe. Memorable food and ambiance. Head over to Dolphin Cafe if you're really rich. Avoid Lassi (the yummy yoghurt drink). They make it with Ganges River water. But make exceptions if you find that very famous stall, heh. (and you can, like me, suffer bouts of diarrhoea happily after that.)

Paakora by the roadside is yummy! And relatively harmless, since the parasites and bacteria have all been fried. Stand by the roadside and eat with those Indian kids, teenagers and old men. Quite an experience.

Visit the famous Monkey/Hanuman Temple - New Vishanath Temple, aka Birla Temple. Look at the holy Sadhus there. 40 years, haven't moved out of the temple once. And they don't really need to eat.

Speaking of Sadhus. Walk down Ganges and you'll see a lots of people bathing. And sadhus who are high on marijuana, along the river.

Make it a point to wake up at 4 in the morning to take a boat ride down Ganges. It's beautiful, and memorable. The city wakes up, you see the dhobi (washermen) washing clothes and linen by the river, buffaloes and cows bathing alongside the many men and women. People travel thousands of miles just to come to this river to bathe. However, do not attempt to bathe in it, unless you're prepared to fall sick. It's one of the most polluted rivers in the world. It's a wonder it's still oxygenated, and has fishes in it. Someone told me it's Ganga-ma, of course. The river is a goddess/deity.

Sarnath is where the Tibetans are. Really, Varanasi has the best of Hinduism and Buddhism. Check out the Stupa - that's where a part of Buddha's remains is buried. The calmness of the place is unmistakable. Suddenly, you don't hear car horns, nor people shouting. Lots of devout Southeast Asian/Chinese Buddhists are there doing pilgrimage. Quite a site. There is also a famous temple where they feature the life of Buddha. It's a Mahayana Buddhist Temple.

Be careful of people in Varanasi. They are all out to cheat your money. If you understand that, and play along, then you're quite alright :)

2. Take the Indian train!
There's airconditioned and non-airconditioned. I've NEVER taken the AC version (because they cost so much more). It costs about SG$10/US$8 to take a train from Delhi to Varanasi on Non-AC Sleeper class. You've to be extremely vigilant about your passport, luggage, and try to make friends with ladies if you're a girl. If you're a guy, you're quite fine alone. Just be very alert.

I recommend the Sleeper class because it's 5 times cheaper. I get to see the poor people - the real "normal people from all walks of life" - on the Sleeper class. Many times I meet students, so I strike a chat with them (I calculated that the risk of getting into serious trouble is lowered when I make acquintances on the train.) There are people with "unconfirmed ticket" - they bought the ticket, but there isn't enough seat, so they have to stand the whole way. There is always this "chai (tea)" man, who goes: "chai, chai, chai, chai, chaaaiii..." even in the middle of the night, if you're unlucky, but if you laugh it off, it's quite funny actually. I often buy the "kaafiii, kafi. kaaafiiii, kafi (coffee)" It taste pretty bad (water, milk, sugar, where's the coffee?!?). But the fun lies in watching him pour the coffee. Ok, not fascinating. He stops by, does his trick, and gives you the coffee. 5 rupees. (SG$0.25) Occasionally, when it passes by other train stations, you can buy samosa/samoseh (not recommended for people who fall ill easily). There is also train food! The pantry man comes by your seat, takes order (vegetarian or chicken?) then he'll send you the food like 4 hours later or something. 35 rupees. (SG$1). Win! Occasionally you get to buy Lays potato chips. Oh the Masala flavour one is so yummy (SG$0.60)! And all is well. Scenery is beautiful outside the train. You get to open the window and have the wind blowing on your face. If the ticket inspector isn't looking, you may hang around the entrance of the train, and it feels like you're flying.

No climbing onto the roof of the train. We see that in Mumbai, on TV. Don't do that. But you may look at people doing that if there are any. I have never seen any.

NEVER DRINK ANY UNAUTHORIZED WATER. Fruit juice no ice. No pani puri (the chaat/snack with water in it, yumms!). No weird lassi by the street. No Rs.1 water by the roadside (not even if they squeeze you the lemon). Make exceptions at your own risk. I did, and had a hell lot of fun. Bottled water. CHECK THE SEAL. I kid you not. Sometimes they try to be funny and refill those empty bottles.

3. Visit the bazaars/central markets
Forget what those Indians told you - those splendid malls, whatever. Come to Singapore if you want malls. I kid you not, we've a stretch of award-winning road just for malls, and they are world-class. Head down to the bazaar and central markets. They are really fascinating to check out. From saris/salwars to pails to momos (dumplings by the roadside!), everything looks so chaotic, yet organized. You can have your shirt tailored. The tailor sits under the sun in the middle of the parade square with a pile of clothes next to him. He takes your measurement (I don't think he'll molest you), and asks you to collect a few days later. Be with someone, and be careful of your money lest you get pickpocketed (Neither I nor my friends never got that, so it's not that dangerous.) Get lost in there, then grab some KFC, momos, or what-have-you (Bhel Puri? :P a chaat/snack item that has onions, puffed rice and sauces in it.) Then catch the auto or rickshaw to wherever you want.

Delhi: Sarojini market and Chandni Chowk are real good everything-market. I personally love the Lajpat Nagar Central Market, and the Saturday Market around Lady Shri Ram College. Go to Khan market if you want some expatriate-standards. Or head to Dilli haat if you're cheating.

I've listed 3 things to do, but I've actually listed lots more, like bargaining, doing the really weird stuff.
To girls: refrain from going around after the sun sets. For every hour, your risk doubles - rape, rob or ransom. Unless you know the place well, of course.

It's the exam period.

In conjunction with the exam period, I have, to my great surprise, many seniors encouraging me.

The first is my boss (Yihan Tan), in response to my great dilemma "A Hopeless Battle? but..."

http://www.narutoget.com/watch/389-naruto-episode-25-english-subbed.html

Insights from this episode:
Exams aren't about learning the stuff, but learning the skills to solve those problems. (Yes I know I'm very chill about exams, to have watched Naruto.)

It almost never occurred to me that NUS really is the training ground to fight battles. Some get it tough. Most acquire battle tenacity - without realising they are battle-seasoned, to burn midnight oil, not sleep for 3 days 3 nights just to churn out reports. Some acquire the skill of being an Intelligence Agent - how to get information. Some find out what is important in life through all these pressure tests, and decide to focus. Many (in fact, most) learn to cope with failures, heartbreaks, disappointment, criticisms etc. It is noted of course that while many hope to get a "C" at least, some deem B+ as a "fail", and some would void an A-. To each his own.

The second comes from my roommate in India (Haza), to tell me how much of an irritating mugger I am, whether or not I believe I get those A's.

http://insomniac.fassclub.org/tiding-through-exams-knowing-the-buggers-from-your-muggers/

Here, there are 4 types of people we "hate" - the Elites who finished revising 2 months before the exam, the Insecure who thinks he/she hasn't been able to "finish 5 chapters" when others go "There is a textbook? (silly troll smile)" The worry-er are the smart but worry too much to perform. The last kind is "I don't give a hoot about this project, nor readings, nor exams, nor lessons." (groupmates from hell)

Fascinating. I've been tag as one of them (unsure which one though).

forgone conclusion?! but...

what do you do when faced with a forgone conclusion?
This is inspired by an academic interest, as well as a personal interest.

I'm reading Military History: The Battle of Hong Kong. It is generally understood that Hong Kong, being such a small island with little resources (military or other supplies like water) can never defeat the Japanese in face of an invasion. It occurred, in 8 Dec 1941. General Christopher Maltby however was confident that he could hold Hong Kong, for a few months at least. But he did not; it was lost, with extremely heavy casualties, in about 17 days. Why fight, and to what end was the garrison supposed to fight? Till the last man? Why send 2 untrained Canadian battalions who thought that they were not going to fight to Hong Kong, and why was it not communicated to them that Hong Kong was an outpost, and had little chance, if any, of survival? Some scholars have argued: "There's no difference if one were to send them into a meat grinder."

Alas, Maltby, and Brooke-Popham, (Air Marshal? C-in-C of Far East Asian Command?) believed that the enemy was weak.
Murfett's law: "Never underestimate your opponents."

Knowing your enemy is deadly, how do you make preparations to fight it?

Knowing that I might fare reasonably badly for this module, how do I try to save myself? Or do I suffer from inferiority complex? Am I panicky and reactionary, such that I can't think of the "best solution"?

==fight or die==
That was what the Japanese were faced with. Either you die gloriously, or you die pathetically. Either way, you die. But with a little bit of luck, you might survive.

To what extent is a "back door" a hindrance? Do people divorce because that is their back door? If there wasn't any divorce possible, could people love more, or try harder?

Surprisingly, what I learnt from this module is how willpower can triumph over dire circumstances. Amazing leadership, according to my Prof, does wonders. It can resurrect the dead even (no, it can't, i'm kidding), turn the tides, and make all things possible.

Could it be well-calibrated, cautious confidence, that leads one to victory? well-calibrated here means knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, and knowing the demands of your task ahead. Cautious is self-explanatory; always be prepared, for the worst scenarios. And whatever the case, have faith in victory - otherwise, "the battle is half lost."

And it all seems so paradoxical. How can one be cautious yet confident? How can one be confident in being well-calibrated enough? Having done all, resign to fate? >.<

Murfett's law: Luck. Machiavelli's favourite word: Fortuna. She only sticks to the bold, those who afford to take a calculated risk.
(And of course, what is a calculated risk? Does it factor in how dire the situation is?)

Actually, there's something I haven't spoken about.

First, I noticed that humans admire those who recognise and are not afraid to admit they have weaknesses.

Second, sometimes the conclusion isn't so much in winning or losing. George Osborne, a soldier, threw himself on a grenade and saved 6 lives. He lost his life. But he won in many ways. He won my respect, the respect of the soldiers around him, and he won a Victorian Cross, the highest ranking medal.

Thirdly, while victories are often clear-cut, defeats aren't. Because there are many levels to being defeated.

Hmm...

Infaaatuation!

Does anyone understand the feeling of picking up your phone, typing a text message to the guy you like, and then deleting it, and going back to work, only to find yourself doing that again in the next 10 mins?

Or the feeling of searching through the entire Google database for his name secretly, keeping track with every update of his on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace...

Or just... wasting the day away thinking about him, about how nice it would be if you were with him, forever... when you barely know him?

She who says "I'm not that irrational" is probably lying. Well, even if she has alternative sexual preferences, she still thinks of such things.

But he doesn't. The guy, more often than not, doesn't spend the entire day thinking of the girl he fancies. He usually thinks of her during the times he needs some company, understanding, etc - when he's feeling lonely, bored, or upset.

Introverts prefer to wait and see if things happen, and when it doesn't they blame themselves for not trying. Extroverts try to make things happen, and when they fail, they blame themselves for stupidity.

So ends my first posting on Infatuation. It happens everywhere, even in the most conservative male-female segregated Middle Eastern culture, the arranged-marriage Indian culture, and of course, the neither-here-nor-there Singapore culture. - dedicated to BrinkyT

Insight from Christian Louboutin

In case you're as backward as I am in fashion, Christian Louboutin is a 47-year-old man. But his name is synonymous with shoes. And what's so special about his shoes?
1. It's synonymous with platform heels
2. This pair over here costs (only) USD999. There are more expensive ones, of course.
*3. Red soles

Whoever thought of red soles must have been... It's the last thing people think of. People don't even think soles should be seen, let alone remembered. Louboutin has branded himself for RED SOLES.

My first brush with Louboutin shoes happened when I was viewing "Marry the Night" MV by Lady Gaga. It really did not occur to me that these red soles are so famous.
Victoria Beckham ordered an 8-inch heel for her Royal Wedding.
When I was in Abu Dhabi, every other girl was wearing a 6-inch Louboutin. Under the black abaya (robe). And they have enough not to repeat the same pair for 2 weeks at least.

Hmm.

Some sort of conditioning - strange, it sounds - that makes one fall in love with these red soles. My point for the day is: something as inconspicuous yet conspicuous can make money. My class on conspicuous consumption (in Evolution) has not really addressed this.

These shoes are not vastly different from those in the market (unless you compare intricacies like detail, cut, etc). And red soles. Yet they have outcompeted every shoe company in 20 years to become one of the most prominent shoe brands.

Lessons from shoemakers:
1. Louboutin first painted those soles with red nail polish. Great ideas don't cost a bomb.
2. 9-year-old Ferragamo stayed up all night to make a pair of shoes for his sister, because his mother had no money to buy any. Hard work and dedication is always the way to go.

love (and politics)

Such were the two things that inspired this post today.

After tuition, I headed home and it felt really good to be back. Everyone was around; laughed at my little brother's increasingly oily face (he's starting puberty, and by talking about it I help him transit), at my father's listening to radio and youtube stuff (he seemed to pay such attention to every word I said to him, it's really nice) and my mother (who told me about her work and asked if I wanted food).

And I thought about Clarence, and how blessed I am, to have found a man who makes life a heaven on earth, in every sense. He understands me, cares for me, surprises me, listens to me... He asked if I wanted to go catch a movie with him. I haven't done that, mainly because my lack of interest does not justify my ticket purchase. And I was so surprised, that he asked, even when exams are looming. So adventurous, though he seemed so mundane at first sight.

I thought about being a teacher, and that vaguely reminded me of the previous guy I dated. "Just another HDB light," he sniggers. Being a teacher is all too normal, it's becoming the 80%, the mediocre. But Clarence shares such a powerful insight.

Would you rather be born into an upper-middle class family, do well in school, find the love of your life, get married, have kids, get promotion in work, get rich, grow old, and die at 70, have lots of people remembering you... or would you rather be...

a slum kid, who often got beaten, had only an illiterate mother, who fights his way up the rungs of his realm, gain respect, get into drugs and quit, grow up, start a small business and fund his own university education, fails in business, then having tried many times, succeeded, gain prominence and got into politics, got married to the girl he'd been chasing for 10 years, child dies, and finally become the president of the State, then have an illness which renders him crippled, but nonetheless he continued and impacted the world greatly?

Some would choose the latter, but most would choose the former. There's a difference between happiness, and fulfilment. A difference between having a good/happy life, and a meaningful one. I had felt ashamed to become a teacher despite really passionately liking the experience, because it makes me "just another HDB light". That was also another thing my previous church taught - being a light on the hill. It's a tall order and not everyone attains it. Having found Clarence, I really don't care what others are doing. I'd rather be a happy person, HDB or not, than have a meaningful life without the immense happiness. I just met a friend who kept joking that he'd be the next prime minister. He, however, has a love-life problem. My question to him was: What's the point of life if you, having become the Prime Minister, has a dysfunctional home?

Brings me to my next point. Home. And freedom. I posted a question to Clarence, asking what would he recommend a person who desires freedom but also wants to settle down.

Birds are symbols of freedom. I wonder who first came up with that. If there were no branches, no place for the birds to rest their weary wings, they may even regret having wings to fly with in the first place. Perhaps true freedom simply means having a place you can return to...

I didn't agree at first, thinking that it didn't address the question of freedom. But it's legit. And maybe he's right. Love, and freedom, need no logical-mathematical reasoning.

evolution: good and bad, at the same time

Through my life in NUS, it is admittedly the first time I see two vehement camps in Evolutionary Biology.

Evolutionary Psychologists seek to answer this question to every phenomenon:
-How is this maladaptation a consequence of the long evolutionary history of mankind?

Human Behavioral Ecologists seek to answer another kind of question:
- How is this trait beneficial in its own way to have survived in the gene pool?

I was talking to a Psychology student, trying to explain to her why the wearing of high heels increases fitness. To that, she frowned and responded: "Just because depression is on the rise, do you say that depression has massive advantages and is therefore not eradicated from the population?"

I frowned. I was stumped.

"Well," she continued, "The reason why depression is on the rise is because of change in environmental circumstances. Stress, which had not been present in the past, has overwhelmed and activated the once-silent genes of depression present in a certain percentage of the population."

Sounds convincing. So I went to my evolution class after that having this idea in mind - not everything should be argued as "fit". My classmates were presenting on Non-suicidal self-injury, or in layman terms, self-mutilation. I frowned. Such a morbid topic.

"These people who engage in NSSI are fit."

My jaw dropped. If depression isn't "fit", this is definitely a maladaptive trait!! It must have arisen because in the past there were less stress, more social activities (think tribal), less boredom, greater need to roam and hunt. I raised my hand but my professor missed it. He responded to one of the similar questions in the class, "This trait is fit relative to other depressed sufferers."

My god. He succeeded. He was still consistent with his argument on fitness, in that every single trait has its own fitness!!

How can this be? Two sides to a coin, and both sides never meet. Evolutionary psychologists treat everything as an "exception", hence they are studying such phenomena. Human behavioral ecologists treat everything as the "norm", and seek to explain why such phenomena exists, by normalizing them.

From a commenter:
Evolutionary psychology does seek to explain the phenomena in terms of its evolutionary adaptiveness. Hence, they also claim that maladaptive traits/disorders are actually adaptive in some sense. Thus, are really talking about the same thing, rather than 2 sides of the same coin.
And as for your Psychology friend, it just sounds like she doesn't buy the Evolutionary perspective, and she is right that it is unlikely to explain maladaptive traits. Still, the evolutionary prespective is very useful in explaining many phenomena, but it cannot explain everything too (although it tries..and seemingly fails). In that sense, that is when other frameworks/perspectives should be used, like the environmental demands, etc..

Be a clam; do the right thing :)

I heard this from Clarence last night, when he shared about his philosophy class.

"Would you rather be born into an upper-middle class family, do well in school, find the love of your life, get married, have kids, get promotion in work, get rich, grow old, and die at 70, or would you be a ...

A clam. A clam is immortal. He sits there every day. Maybe he occasionally get some good food, some clam sex [whatever that is!], but he's immortal. His happiness level will increase 0.1 every day, as compared to the human who has a "happy life!", but dies at 70.

If you are a hedonist, you should pick the clam! Because there comes a day when the clam lives long enough to exceed the happiness of the human!"

I was stunned. Would you be a clam?

The story continues.

"Unfortunately, many humans said no, hedonist or not."

The surprising part's coming.

"However, if you ask a clam whether he wants to be immortal and have his happiness increasing every day, or being a happy human and dying at 70, he obviously would choose to be a ~ ?"

- my thoughts: Human! why would he choose to be a clam?! Such a boring life.

"A clam, of course. Why would he want to die at 70? It's so nice sitting on the ocean floor and doing nothing. Imagine forgoing clam-sex for the rest of your life!"

- My thoughts: He probably can't understand the kind of happiness humans can have, and instead look at the "die at 70", frown, and rather be incrementally happy each day. -

Lessons:

1. We don't choose to be a clam because we don't understand what being a clam is like, and cannot relate to its happiness.


2. When you think about it, it really doesn't matter who you are, what situation you're in; you'll always prefer being yourself to being a clam.


3. There's something good about your life that you don't see, that no one understands. Find that, and you'll be happy as a clam! (How ironic!)


4. Don't compare. The other life might not be as good as the one you're having :)
   

If you would choose to be a clam, well done there too! Simplicity as a way of life. The argument has to be put into context: it was on decision-making for the hedonists. Those who choose to be a clam after reading this post might not have been a hedonist :P
Even more amazing:
Quek DF: I'd much rather be a rock. One of those metamorphosis rocks basking in the warmth of the nearby mantle. Gradually accumulating bliss for billions of years.
Ooo, from another commenter:
Those who willingly choose the clam are the true hedonists, because they seek to maximise their total pleasure in a clam life (or rock life). In that sense, I would probably probe them further as to whether they would choose the 70-year-old happy person, or be a infant who gets injected with heroin every second (and then dies within a few weeks). If they now choose the 70-year-old person, then they have some thinking to do about why they prefer the clam, but not the heroin baby.
It's intriguing that people would claim that they won't choose the human life. Hypothetically speaking, of course anyone can choose the clam, especially since it bears no outcome in this thought experiment. One would probably stand out from the crowd by claiming to choose the clam. All's hypothetical; if the person is really faced with this decision in front of the divine being, and he knows that his choice will 'seal his fate', how many will still opt for the clam?