There are a few things I would like to share about India and
Navdanya that don’t fit into any particular theme, so I thought I’d dedicate a
blog post to them.
The suffix “-ji” added to any name is used as a sign of respect. Periodically, I have heard it in the context of “Gandhiji,” but nearly every adult gets addressed as “-ji” here. It can also be added to ordinary words, such as “namasteji” (hello and goodbye) or “danyevadji”(thank you).
We had a session with the Gandhi Legacy Tour group from the United States, which is led by Arunji Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. More to come later as I read Gandhi’s An Autobiography or the Story of My Experiments with Truth and do a little more research on how Navdanya’s mission fits into Gandhi’s notion of self-sovereignty.
Kamalji is the cook. One morning, I saw him and said “Namesteji, Kamalji” in an excited voice, and he replied “Namesteji Imliji,” and then dissolved into giggles. Elizabeth, another American who was walking with me at the time, said, “Sometimes I feel like he’s just mocking us.” I later found out that he was, in fact, mocking us. Specifically, he was mocking me. It turns out that “imli” means tamarind in Hindi. So now Kamalji and I have a relationship based on the fact that he finds my name hilarious.
Before I got here, Margaret always told stories of Jeetpal. Now I’ve met Jeetpalji, and I understand why she said he inspired her to learn Hindi. He's taught me a lot, too.
I can already tell that I’m really going to miss Navdanya when I move to the next portion of my trip.
We had the greatest few days of storms about a week ago. While I really enjoyed the thunder, lightening, and downpouring rain, this is like it is during monsoon season. And it doesn’t usually do this at this time of year. It could seriously damage crops. Climate destabilization, including changes in rainfall patterns, has been part of the predictions about climate change for a long time.
I’m spending so much time around Westerners – mostly people from the U.S., but also Canada, Italy, Spain, and Greece. There is someone from China as well. This is not only true of the farm, but most of my experience in India so far.
I get cravings for the weirdest things. Right now, I want real maple syrup. Thanks for reintroducing me, Amos and Cheryl.
Food sanitation is just a little less important now. We had to borrow (yes, borrow) some rice for someone’s computer because she spilled tea on it. The kitchen staff made sure that we knew to bring back the rice when we were done with it. But it was going to be cooked, and it was dried out in the open anyway.
Foreign travelers should take probiotics not antibiotics. Broad spectrum antibiotics can kill everything in your stomach, making you unable to digest the foods you are eating easily.
I am on the other side of the world, and almost everyone I need to communicate with speaks my language.
In india, if you dig through the earth you won’t get to China; you might get to South America. If you dig from England, you will get to Australia.
The suffix “-ji” added to any name is used as a sign of respect. Periodically, I have heard it in the context of “Gandhiji,” but nearly every adult gets addressed as “-ji” here. It can also be added to ordinary words, such as “namasteji” (hello and goodbye) or “danyevadji”(thank you).
We had a session with the Gandhi Legacy Tour group from the United States, which is led by Arunji Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. More to come later as I read Gandhi’s An Autobiography or the Story of My Experiments with Truth and do a little more research on how Navdanya’s mission fits into Gandhi’s notion of self-sovereignty.
Kamalji is the cook. One morning, I saw him and said “Namesteji, Kamalji” in an excited voice, and he replied “Namesteji Imliji,” and then dissolved into giggles. Elizabeth, another American who was walking with me at the time, said, “Sometimes I feel like he’s just mocking us.” I later found out that he was, in fact, mocking us. Specifically, he was mocking me. It turns out that “imli” means tamarind in Hindi. So now Kamalji and I have a relationship based on the fact that he finds my name hilarious.
Before I got here, Margaret always told stories of Jeetpal. Now I’ve met Jeetpalji, and I understand why she said he inspired her to learn Hindi. He's taught me a lot, too.
I can already tell that I’m really going to miss Navdanya when I move to the next portion of my trip.
We had the greatest few days of storms about a week ago. While I really enjoyed the thunder, lightening, and downpouring rain, this is like it is during monsoon season. And it doesn’t usually do this at this time of year. It could seriously damage crops. Climate destabilization, including changes in rainfall patterns, has been part of the predictions about climate change for a long time.
I’m spending so much time around Westerners – mostly people from the U.S., but also Canada, Italy, Spain, and Greece. There is someone from China as well. This is not only true of the farm, but most of my experience in India so far.
I get cravings for the weirdest things. Right now, I want real maple syrup. Thanks for reintroducing me, Amos and Cheryl.
Food sanitation is just a little less important now. We had to borrow (yes, borrow) some rice for someone’s computer because she spilled tea on it. The kitchen staff made sure that we knew to bring back the rice when we were done with it. But it was going to be cooked, and it was dried out in the open anyway.
Foreign travelers should take probiotics not antibiotics. Broad spectrum antibiotics can kill everything in your stomach, making you unable to digest the foods you are eating easily.
I am on the other side of the world, and almost everyone I need to communicate with speaks my language.
In india, if you dig through the earth you won’t get to China; you might get to South America. If you dig from England, you will get to Australia.
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