Today from Baroda
February 1, 2019
It is sunny, here in this vibrant city named after the Banyan tree, not a single cloud is visible in the skies. The temperature around 80 degrees is comfortable for foreign visitors, cool for those who are used to heat and humidity. Nobody here can imagine what the weather feels like on the other side of the globe.
The nice weather invites for a stroll in the park, just across from the university. There is a new amusement section with bumper cars, trolleys, and roundabout rides. Somehow, the entertainment seems out of place, only monkeys running across the pathways stand for the natural environment that it once was. Still, there is much to be said for the green lung in midst of the busying traffic.
The cars, the bikes, the rickshaws all flow in perfect chaos over and under, right and left. Crossing the street is challenging, not recommended for the faint-hearted. The best technique for visitors is to wait for those who know how to manage the traffic. When they move, move – when they wait, wait. The modeling effect works all the time.
Globalization is the theme around which scientists have gathered. Whether some want to realize it or not, the world is interacting more closely, paying attention to developments in other regions of the world. Here, in one of the most populous centers of the world, a new middle class is emerging, the people who used to barely meet basic needs can now afford to buy goods and services. To be sure, some are still left behind, scraping together food, barely comfortable in shelter. Yet, they have cell phones connecting them to the world beyond.
But why would they want to live to 100? They say, the purpose of late life is to let go, let go of material wealth, let go of the body, let go of the mind. Yama decides who goes on to eternity and who returns to this world after death. The young generation questions how we could possibly increase life expectancy. As we deplete environments’ once plentiful resources, as we make more and more poor health choices, how can we possibly survive? Perhaps the Indian spirituality, perhaps moral judgements can help.
The students have changed, over the years. They are more engaged, more outspoken, more involved. They ask questions, they explain, they discuss. And they still like to dance Gujarati garba, all night for nine nights every year. They dance, and dance, and they dance until their feet are blemished with blisters, they dance, and dance, and dance. At night, they bandage their wounds, only to continue with their folk dances the very next day. And they still wear colorful saris and salwaar kameez, and they still cry when given away at weddings. The smashing of a coconut is not helping the promise of good fortune.
Life is still thriving on chaos in this town, an organized disorder is mixed with enthusiasm, intensity, and passion. The new global perspective including new Hyatts, new shopping malls, and even meat dishes in a vegetarian state are changing the culture and life for everybody in this town, where traffic is still frenzied, where life is more promising for many, and where colors still dominate the scene.