Getting Lost in the Culture

While it is less than a week since my last post, so much has happened that I thought I would share the adventures of my Saturday. This last weekend I took the suggestion to “get lost in the culture” literally and took a Rickshaw to Shah Najaf Imambara. While my intention was to meet some friends at Bara Imambara (meaning large Imambara) I ended up at a smaller shrine dedicated to Shah Najaf, the 4^th Caliph of Islam. I was the only white tourist in the vicinity and was welcomed with many “Hellos” and interested looks. Unlike Bara Imambara, which is a very large, well-known monument, Shah Najaf Imambara was practically deserted and provided a good opportunity for me to practice my beginner Urdu skills. Thus, I introduced myself to everyone that I met and in turn asked them their names and how they were doing. The only problem with being new to the language is that unless they were doing good ‘Aachcha’ I did not understand their response and could not further the conversation. But the people of the area were very friendly and did not seem to mind my limited responses. 

I eventually did end up making it to Bara Imambara and met two of my friends Joey and Kevin. Here it is important to note that as a white, blond haired male I generally provide quite the entertainment for some and have on multiple occasions posed for photos with families or even been intentionally placed in the background of photos. Bara Imambara was no exception. However, as it is monsoon season ominous clouds began to role in and we attempted to find cover. So naturally we walked to a nearby university and ended up meeting an administrator who invited us in to have tea.  The man was very friendly and was interested to learn why we were in Lucknow. After about forty-five minutes Kevin, Joey, and I left to find some good local Indian cuisine…but we ended up going to Pizza Hut instead. 

On the way to Pizza Hut we happened to run across a group of kids playing in a small park. Upon seeing the three of us taking pictures, they immediately ran up and started posing and fighting to be in front of each other in our pictures. The thing I love about kids is that language is never a barrier and it is amazing how much fun three white guys, ten children, and a camera can provide. The best part was when we actually showed the kids the pictures we had taken and their laughs and jeers at one another after seeing themselves. 

After a bit it again started to rain so we decided to take a rickshaw the rest of the way. Behold: three Americans, one rickshaw, monsoon rains, a tired driver, and lots of traffic. Epic. Long story short we all got wet and were crammed into the space of about three feet by one foot, but we made it. 

Pizza was great and then…I saw my first Bollywood movie ever: Always Kabhi Kabhi. For those of you have never seen a Bollywood film, this was basically a combination of High School Musical, a Spanish soap opera, and Star Wars all rolled into one with an intermission. Although it was in Hindi, I understood most of it and even heard some of the vocabulary that I have been learning. So, yeah, everyone should see a Bollywood movie. It is life changing. 

Well that was definitely the most adventurous day that I have had thus far, but school continues to go well. We have finished the script and are learning basic words and phrases. I never thought I would be this excited about having the language ability of a kindergartener, but I am. Tomorrow I start sentences. 

Phrases to learn for this post are: Sab Khairiyat hai? “Is everything alright?”; Aadaab “Hello”; and Phir MileNge “See you again”.

And for the Persons of the Post…drum role please…Kevin and Joey. Kevin and Joey are the two that went exploring with me in all of the aforementioned adventures. Kevin is also an IR major studying very similar things as I do but has a slightly inferior sense of humor. But he is also a true beginner to the Urdu language, so we accept him. Joey is a student of the Naval Academy and is an amazing photographer. In fact Joey took my current profile picture on Facebook. Joey is also the brother of the father of Ayushi, who I will introduce in my next post. Brace yourselves.

Well that is all for now. Stay tuned for pictures! I have to go and eat, study and eat some more. Kal MileNge!