Know your ABCDs

Gariahat Bazaar, Kolkata

Friday Manisha missed her flight to Meghalaya, the far eastern state of India where she is slated to conduct her summer research on indigenous communities' resource management strategies. She's been staying at our house for the last couple of days and it has been really fun. She and I share a status as "ABCDs," or "American-Born Confused Desis." Desi means "a person of the country" and we are often tagged as "confused" because we're culturally neither here nor there--American nor Indian. In both countries, people think of us as foreigners or at least cultural outsiders. Her parents hail from Kolkata as well and she was brought up in Long Island.

Manisha and I spent the last couple of days relaxing, reading, and darting from market to market to buy maps of Kolkata, random toiletries, and light cotton clothing for the long, hard research slog ahead. We were in Gariahat yesterday (see picture), a crowded Kolkata bazaar famous for its futpoth ("footpath") open air shops where you can find various and sundry things. The hawkers brandish their sometimes racy wares shouting at you to have a look. "Madame, panties! Very nice!" shouted one man, slinging a pair of lacy red underpants our way.

Last night I was actually on the market not for skivvies, but for a new pair of choshma (eye glasses). As I am a tad careless with my personal effects, I have managed to misplace YET ANOTHER pair this past school year. I am having some new specs made here in India. I got an eye exam, some contact solution and two very cute sets of frames made all for about $40 (US) yesterday. Hail the exchange rate--it works in my scatterbrained favor.

More later. Going to meet our friend Rubiath who is concidentally coming into Kol. from Dhaka today for work.

As they say in India, Tah-tah (not to be confused with Tata Steel Corporation).

-TKP