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Security
July 20Concerns over terrorism are strong here. Before you enter any mall, office building, movie theater or apartment complex, You must pass through a detector. Then you hand over your purse and other bags to be searched and walk into a little private section for your body to be searched with another detector. When you drive to the malls and office buildings, officials check your trunks and cars at the security point.
I was told these security measures were raised after the hotel siege in Mumbai last year, but I’m sure it also has something to do with Taliban and other threatening forces in nearby Pakistan. It’s interesting to see how the threat of terrorism affects a different part of the world. It seems more real here.
A few days ago, we were supposed to travel to Jaipur, which is in the state of Rajasthan about four hours south of New Delhi. Jaipur is a "pre-modern" city with hundreds of old temples, mosques and palaces. We were going to look at statues of Hindu gods to send home for my father’s new temple. We didn’t go because my 16-year-old cousin got jaundice, which the doctor discovered 30 minutes before we planned to leave.
Last night, my other cousin told my mom and me that the local government just announced that Jaipur and other cities in Rajasthan are on "high-alert" for terrorism, and that American and British tourists as well as Hindu priests are being targeted. Now, I’m grateful we didn’t go.
A few days ago, we were supposed to travel to Jaipur, which is in the state of Rajasthan about four hours south of New Delhi. Jaipur is a "pre-modern" city with hundreds of old temples, mosques and palaces. We were going to look at statues of Hindu gods to send home for my father’s new temple. We didn’t go because my 16-year-old cousin got jaundice, which the doctor discovered 30 minutes before we planned to leave.
Last night, my other cousin told my mom and me that the local government just announced that Jaipur and other cities in Rajasthan are on "high-alert" for terrorism, and that American and British tourists as well as Hindu priests are being targeted. Now, I’m grateful we didn’t go.
At the Mint
July 16It’s been almost four weeks in Delhi and my jet lag is gone. The city is quiet in the morning, different from the honks and yells of Delhi during the afternoon and night. Even the afternoon and evening rushes are a sight to see. We meet traffic jams while we drive to work every day and see hundreds of people walking along each street, some wearing bright traditional saris and others wearing business suits. Delhi feels more like a home each day.
The last few days have been painfully hot, with high humidity because the monsoon is delayed. I take three to four showers a day just to stay clean. The power goes out here four to five times a day, which can be frustrating when I’m in the middle of watching a movie or writing an e-mail.
To stay cool, sometimes we go "window shop" in the mall so we can walk around in air conditioning to escape the heat outside and no-electricity homes. The malls here are decadent, often six or seven floors, marble floors, five star restaurants and even swimming pools. Because there aren’t enough funds to provide everyone with electricity, the government released a statement that required all malls must to close at 7:30 p.m. each night to preserve electricity and water. I thought this was a great idea, until my uncle told me the government frequently makes statements like that for show and that the malls don’t actually close.
Working at Mint is also less nerve-wracking. Instead of jumping into writing stories about a country and a culture I know little about, I’ve began to work with the Web team on Web updates and uploading information like videos and photos. We revamped the video Web sites, which was definitely a learning experience. I’m learning a lot about the Web journalism process. Newspapers here post stories and photos on the Web site constantly, and the Web site also gives the editors a chance to publish stories and photos that don’t make it to the paper.
The cultural barriers I faced are still there. But when I talked to my supervisor, he told me that I could even use that to my benefit and offer a foreigner’s perspective on things. For example, he suggested that I look into disease patterns in the new migrant population, like whether certain diseases affect migrants who come to cities to work in hard labor jobs more than they affect other citizens. He said as far as he knows, no one has looked into this and it’s not something New Delhi citizens probably think about too much as they pass the construction workers and street cleaners every day (who are mainly migrants from rural India).
I interviewed a few people, which eventually led me to interview the district governor of the Rotary Club. The Rotary Club is an organization that takes up social causes like this, and it is giving a lot of funds and time to eradicate polio from India and Pakistan. Although my story didn’t lead anywhere, I had a wonderful conversation with him and he invited me to the Rotary Club meeting that night, which ended up turning into a party with lots of laughing and dancing.
To stay cool, sometimes we go "window shop" in the mall so we can walk around in air conditioning to escape the heat outside and no-electricity homes. The malls here are decadent, often six or seven floors, marble floors, five star restaurants and even swimming pools. Because there aren’t enough funds to provide everyone with electricity, the government released a statement that required all malls must to close at 7:30 p.m. each night to preserve electricity and water. I thought this was a great idea, until my uncle told me the government frequently makes statements like that for show and that the malls don’t actually close.
Working at Mint is also less nerve-wracking. Instead of jumping into writing stories about a country and a culture I know little about, I’ve began to work with the Web team on Web updates and uploading information like videos and photos. We revamped the video Web sites, which was definitely a learning experience. I’m learning a lot about the Web journalism process. Newspapers here post stories and photos on the Web site constantly, and the Web site also gives the editors a chance to publish stories and photos that don’t make it to the paper.
The cultural barriers I faced are still there. But when I talked to my supervisor, he told me that I could even use that to my benefit and offer a foreigner’s perspective on things. For example, he suggested that I look into disease patterns in the new migrant population, like whether certain diseases affect migrants who come to cities to work in hard labor jobs more than they affect other citizens. He said as far as he knows, no one has looked into this and it’s not something New Delhi citizens probably think about too much as they pass the construction workers and street cleaners every day (who are mainly migrants from rural India).
I interviewed a few people, which eventually led me to interview the district governor of the Rotary Club. The Rotary Club is an organization that takes up social causes like this, and it is giving a lot of funds and time to eradicate polio from India and Pakistan. Although my story didn’t lead anywhere, I had a wonderful conversation with him and he invited me to the Rotary Club meeting that night, which ended up turning into a party with lots of laughing and dancing.
Cultural change
June 26This has been a whirlwind. We arrived at Delhi Airport at in the evening June 22. When we landed, my grandma and uncle were waiting for us. The reunion was nice, as I hadn’t seen them in nine years. But I was and still am too afraid to speak Hindi. I understand it fully, and I know what to say, but I can’t bring myself to say it. But after a couple days, I began to speak it more.
The day after we arrived, I started my internship at Mint. We drove an hour to the office in hot, sticky weather. I think it was at least 110 inside the car, and my uncle turned the dial for the air conditioning, which ended up blowing hot dust in my face. Traffic was awful. What should take 20 minutes takes an hour each morning.
The problem is people in India don’t follow traffic rules or don’t even have them. Cars and autoriskshas drive in two lanes and drive on the sides of the road to pass other smaller cars. People don’t look before turning or changing lanes. And if someone happens to be in the lane, the other person will honk to signal that they have to wait. They usually don’t and the other car swerves out of the way. It’s frustrating because I’m pretty sure if they had traffic rules, drove in lanes, stopped for oncoming traffic, and stopped cluttering the streets, they would all reach their destinations faster.
But when I stepped into the Hindustan Times building where Mint is located, I was relieved. The building is sleek, modern and clean. The newsroom is huge and the walls are painted orange and red to match the paper’s color theme. The air conditioning is on high, making it a much-needed escape from the stifling heat outside.
But at Mint, no one gives you work to do. You have to find work, which can be difficult. My first day, I literally did nothing. I talked to the other interns, who are all nice and welcoming. We went to a little food stand in Delhi for lunch for chicken tikka rolls and brownies.
But still, no one gives us work. I learned from the other interns that I’m expected to come up with a story idea, write an outline and pitch it to the intern supervisor. If he likes the idea, he says “write it,” but it still may not be published. That’s all well and good and what I would expect at a professional newspaper.
But there are cultural barriers I’m finding difficult to overcome. Here’s the problem: to come up with solid story ideas, I need at least a bare minimum understanding of how the country works. I have a hazy understanding of the country’s infrastructure. I spent three hours at work yesterday researching healthcare and politics in India. Today I researched the public education system. I can’t just run with a story until I know some of these basics. In a hospital, for instance, I don’t know how patients pay their fees or how doctors and nurses approach patients, what kinds of laws there are, whether the pharmaceutical companies are private or public (I couldn’t find some of this information online).
This is the kind of information you absorb as you live in a culture; they’re common knowledge. It’s difficult to get around and talk to people if you don’t know the culture well. I took it for granted how easy it was to interview sources and topics to write about. Now, I have so much respect for international journalists. And I think as globalization and the Internet bring countries closer together, we will all have to acquire a basic understanding of these other cultures. We should do that, anyway.
The problem is people in India don’t follow traffic rules or don’t even have them. Cars and autoriskshas drive in two lanes and drive on the sides of the road to pass other smaller cars. People don’t look before turning or changing lanes. And if someone happens to be in the lane, the other person will honk to signal that they have to wait. They usually don’t and the other car swerves out of the way. It’s frustrating because I’m pretty sure if they had traffic rules, drove in lanes, stopped for oncoming traffic, and stopped cluttering the streets, they would all reach their destinations faster.
But when I stepped into the Hindustan Times building where Mint is located, I was relieved. The building is sleek, modern and clean. The newsroom is huge and the walls are painted orange and red to match the paper’s color theme. The air conditioning is on high, making it a much-needed escape from the stifling heat outside.
But at Mint, no one gives you work to do. You have to find work, which can be difficult. My first day, I literally did nothing. I talked to the other interns, who are all nice and welcoming. We went to a little food stand in Delhi for lunch for chicken tikka rolls and brownies.
But still, no one gives us work. I learned from the other interns that I’m expected to come up with a story idea, write an outline and pitch it to the intern supervisor. If he likes the idea, he says “write it,” but it still may not be published. That’s all well and good and what I would expect at a professional newspaper.
But there are cultural barriers I’m finding difficult to overcome. Here’s the problem: to come up with solid story ideas, I need at least a bare minimum understanding of how the country works. I have a hazy understanding of the country’s infrastructure. I spent three hours at work yesterday researching healthcare and politics in India. Today I researched the public education system. I can’t just run with a story until I know some of these basics. In a hospital, for instance, I don’t know how patients pay their fees or how doctors and nurses approach patients, what kinds of laws there are, whether the pharmaceutical companies are private or public (I couldn’t find some of this information online).
This is the kind of information you absorb as you live in a culture; they’re common knowledge. It’s difficult to get around and talk to people if you don’t know the culture well. I took it for granted how easy it was to interview sources and topics to write about. Now, I have so much respect for international journalists. And I think as globalization and the Internet bring countries closer together, we will all have to acquire a basic understanding of these other cultures. We should do that, anyway.