Blog explanation

The purpose, not porpoise, of this blog is to connect my friends and family to my experiences in Punjab, India this summer. Communicating via telephone or e-mail while in India can be difficult. Obtaining a cell phone is a laborious project requiring a copy of one’s passport, a passport sized photo, and a letter from one’s place of residence in India. Internet access, although quite cheap – Rs.30 ($0.70) per half-hour – is subject to one’s ability to find an Internet café, cleanliness, safety, power cuts, and crappy connections. The hotel I’m staying in offers wireless Internet. Although convenient to have this in your room, with your own computer, the cost is Rs.113/hour, Rs.169/2 hours, or Rs.330/24-hours. In addition, the allotted time begins when you first sign on and expires exactly when the hour, etc. is completed.

Why am I in Punjab? My thesis advisor, Gurinder Singh Mann, directs the Punjab Summer Studies program, offered through the Global Studies department at UC Santa Barbara. The program is now in its twelfth year and has hosted scholars and heritage seekers from the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, Sweden, Pakistan, and India.

The program is based in Chandigarh – the state capital of both Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh (the fort of Chandi, epitaph for the Mother Goddess) lies about 240km or 6 hours north of New Delhi. It is also known as the City Beautiful, designed by the French architect Le Corbussier in the 1950s. Nehru, India’s first prime minister, intended the metropolis to be India’s first modern city following Independence and Partition in 1947.



The program includes:
• Visits to sites of religious and historical importance located in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh
• Attending lectures in Punjabi literature, history, education, political science, ecology, art, and music presented by top scholars from universities in Punjab
• Language training in Punjabi
• Script training in Gurmukhi (of the Sikhs)
In addition, I have customized my experience to include language training in Hindi and Farsi, and script training in Devanagri (Hindi script) and Nastaliq (Persio-Arabic script). As well, I have assumed the responsibility of recording our travels with a video camera.

Our daily routine keeps us quite busy.
Monday to Friday:
7-9am, Breakfast
9-10:45, Beginning and Advanced Punjabi
11-1pm, Lecture on historical topics of Punjab
1-2, Lunch
2-3, Free time (i.e. Siesta)
3-5, Lecture on contemporary issues in Punjab*
5-7:30, Free time
7:30 Dinner

* Friday afternoons are without an afternoon lecture, providing personal time for shopping or visiting places of interest. In addition, we have constituted an entertainment committee that organizes social events such as films, lounges and clubs, and evening walks.

Saturdays and Sundays are used for travel in the region to various places of tourism, pilgrimage, and learning. Please refer to my entries on travel for more specific information.