It is just three days until Indian Independence Day, and fitting enough, I just finished Midnight’s Children not twenty minutes ago. I recommend Rushdie’s book to anyone who wants a truly fantastic yet somehow very realistic view of this country. Not only is there insightful (and from what I can tell mostly accurate) information but is also a great story. Enough about Rushdie for now though.
Today we went to one of the nicest restaurants (part of a hotel) in Pune—the Taj Blue Diamond—and had some quite fantastic cuisine. Srikanth (our politics professor) warned that the five star restaurant might not put out as its price tag suggests, but Taj Blue Diamond did right by me. We had a delicious personal smorgasbord or all sorts of Indian delicacies including Paneer, my favorite Indian dish. Cathy Benton (our American professor) took us out as a treat since she goes back to Lake Forest to teach for the semester. I have mixed feelings about her leaving, but overall, I think it is time.
After Lunch we took a tour of the famed Osho Ashram in Pune’s Koregon Park. Koregon Park is a beautiful area of the city and was the main neighborhood of the British Occupiers. It is sort of loathed by the locals, partially because of strong ties to colonialism, but also because of the Ashram. Osho is a super-liberal Ashram founded by the Guru Osho and is now more of a resort than an honest-to-goodness ashram. For more info go to www.osha.com where you can not only learn about this free-love illegal-substance mecca.
Seriously though, I feel like I am being a bit hard on Osho. I think that the ashram concept is really unique. To me there is something rather comforting about being taken in and taken care of, someone telling you what to do, and being able to meet others with the same goals and intentions. At the same time, the idea completely terrifies me. There is no intention of questioning Osho’s teachings as “the way”. There is no room for criticism of their divine prophet, and everyone there is really into the ideas there, completely buying into everything that is told to them. Rather like a cult, no?
The various personalities in the group are beginning to weigh on me a bit. I feel like I am getting to know people’s flaws and idiosyncrasies so fast that I do not have to adapt or adjust to them. I need some time away from them, to be on my own and re-center myself. It is hard though, because I almost feel that if I pull away from the group to do my own thing, I am separating myself and thereby being anti-social. This is a tough group to win friends in. People are all very assertive and know what they want from others and from this experience, but there is almost an obligation to make friends because otherwise I become just some American girl alone in India. This is also a group of very intelligent and driven women and some—not naming names—come across as needing to prove themselves. One girl in particular has all the answers all the time, but is so busy with her previous knowledge that she does not enjoy any of the experiences we are having. Everything relates back to something that she read at home or something that she did once, and there is no reflection of our experiences.
