Transribed Asawa’s interview and edited it slightly to put on the disc for him. The editing was an ordeal. Read through the Brahminutra Basin book that Dr. Ojha gave me, and called him at about 5 so his student could come pick it up. I gave him the disc, too, since Asawa wasn’t in his office.
Finished editing the transcription for Dorjay back in Leh, and sent that on to Moses Kunzang. The video file got kicked back twice for being too big, so hopefully he at least got the transcript.
Got annoyed with the sound quality of my interviews, and just after that, I found a little electronics shop right by the hostel, where I got a microphone for 200. I also got some candy bars for the trip tomorrow. Tried to get to bed early, but couldn’t sleep well, probably from being nervous about travel tomorrow. So I wrote a lot of letters and did things that were nagging me about the upcoming semester and such. Felt a little better, but still didn’t sleep well. Keep having nightmares.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Roorkee Day 2
I think the milk must be making me sick, because this was the second morning in a row that I really couldn’t stand up properly due to stomach cramps, but then was fine a few hours later. But after I was better, I went to see Dr. Jha of the National Institute for Hydrology (whom I had met a couple of months ago), who it seemed had not gotten any of my emails at all for some reason. I double checked when I got back, against the card he gave me, and it was the right email, so it must have been going to the spam folder. It’s too bad because he’s been such a help. He once again got me some good contacts in the places I need them. We sat and chatted for more than an hour, and then he drove me to the Hydrology Department, which was embarrassingly right next door. But it was really sweet of him to drive me. He’s moving to Rourkela, or some such town, to teach at the NIT. I’m glad for him, but I hope he gets my emails in the future, or else we won’t be able to keep in touch! He’s really such a kind man. We took a picture of the two of us together.
I went to the Hydrology Department and talked to the head of the department, who was very busy. He’d gotten my emails but hadn’t responded because he didn’t think he had anything to say about the matter (so he just ignored them, ha). He said the state governments, irrigation boards, for all the appropriate states are who I want to talk to. I don’t know how best to put that I know those are good contacts, but everyone’s opinions are valuable to me. However I’m putting it, it’s not working to get them to talk about what they know. In this case, I’m sure it’s because it was near the end of the day, and he hadn’t expected me to come by.
So afterwards, I went into town to find the bookshop. But failed utterly. I did get a little lost, which I normally would enjoy while traveling, but here, as Jenny puts it, I’m the White Girl Freak Show, and everyone stares. Ginny nailed it when she said it’s because (the both of us) are sure when we’re being stared at, it’s because we’re doing something wrong. So when it happens all the time, every time we leave the door, it’s discouraging. Especially when you don’t even find the dang bookshop you were looking for. Oh well. I still have tomorrow, even though I’m counting on it to transcribe interviews and read try to read as much of that book as I can. I’ve only achieved mapping out which chapters would be best to read, so that’s a start anyway. Not all 500 pages—that wasn’t going to happen anyway. I wish I were a speed reader, but I’m not. At all.
I did eventually find my way back, under the watchful eye of EVERYONE IN ROORKEE. I felt pretty proud of finding my way back, actually.
Some kids locked me in my room. I thought I was SOL, but then I found a phone and a phonebook, so that was lucky. Someone came to rescue me, and we both had a laugh. Dang kids, get off my lawn!! The reason they can do this (just an interesting side note, one of those things that might never get mentioned) is that the way doors are generally locked around here is with a deadbolt on the outside, and then a padlock. So even without a padlock, people could just slide the deadbolt in place and lock you inside your room. And then set a fire and kill you. So even though I didn’t have anywhere important to go, I thought it was important to get that taken care of right away. It’s really the fire issue that makes me realize it’s not such a clever idea to have deadbolts on the outside, as clever as it is in ways.
As I said, I should be spending this time on work, not on this “explaining why I did not get productive work done” thing I’ve got going. If it BECOMES the reason I don’t get work done, that would be crazy!
I went to the Hydrology Department and talked to the head of the department, who was very busy. He’d gotten my emails but hadn’t responded because he didn’t think he had anything to say about the matter (so he just ignored them, ha). He said the state governments, irrigation boards, for all the appropriate states are who I want to talk to. I don’t know how best to put that I know those are good contacts, but everyone’s opinions are valuable to me. However I’m putting it, it’s not working to get them to talk about what they know. In this case, I’m sure it’s because it was near the end of the day, and he hadn’t expected me to come by.
So afterwards, I went into town to find the bookshop. But failed utterly. I did get a little lost, which I normally would enjoy while traveling, but here, as Jenny puts it, I’m the White Girl Freak Show, and everyone stares. Ginny nailed it when she said it’s because (the both of us) are sure when we’re being stared at, it’s because we’re doing something wrong. So when it happens all the time, every time we leave the door, it’s discouraging. Especially when you don’t even find the dang bookshop you were looking for. Oh well. I still have tomorrow, even though I’m counting on it to transcribe interviews and read try to read as much of that book as I can. I’ve only achieved mapping out which chapters would be best to read, so that’s a start anyway. Not all 500 pages—that wasn’t going to happen anyway. I wish I were a speed reader, but I’m not. At all.
I did eventually find my way back, under the watchful eye of EVERYONE IN ROORKEE. I felt pretty proud of finding my way back, actually.
Some kids locked me in my room. I thought I was SOL, but then I found a phone and a phonebook, so that was lucky. Someone came to rescue me, and we both had a laugh. Dang kids, get off my lawn!! The reason they can do this (just an interesting side note, one of those things that might never get mentioned) is that the way doors are generally locked around here is with a deadbolt on the outside, and then a padlock. So even without a padlock, people could just slide the deadbolt in place and lock you inside your room. And then set a fire and kill you. So even though I didn’t have anywhere important to go, I thought it was important to get that taken care of right away. It’s really the fire issue that makes me realize it’s not such a clever idea to have deadbolts on the outside, as clever as it is in ways.
As I said, I should be spending this time on work, not on this “explaining why I did not get productive work done” thing I’ve got going. If it BECOMES the reason I don’t get work done, that would be crazy!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Roorkee
And I did basically sleep the clock around. About 12 hours of sleep later, I got up to discover what this thing called breakfast is. The food is going to be mediocre at best here, but I’ve already paid for it in full, so that’s that at least. I was so hungry on my travel day (note to self: have got to remember to eat every day), but luckily a Clif bar that Jenny had given me saved the day for dinner. I had like a mountain of toast and chickpeas for breakfast, but there was no coffee. There was, however, boiled milk. I guess that’s as good as pasteurized, but it tastes weird and bland. I tried adding sugar, but it still tasted an awful lot like scalding, boiled milk.
I wasn’t feeling too well after that breakfast, so I had to further put off my meeting with Dr. Asawa, the head of the civil engineering department. I finally felt up to walking around by about lunchtime, and went to talk to him then. We scheduled a meeting for after month, and he said he had no problem with the recording, but as everyone does, expressed doubt that he’d have anything useful to contribute. We had about a half hour interview, to be transcribed, and he definitely wants a copy of the transcription, his video (which I’m going to try to shorten for him to be able to copy to disc tonight).
After that, I had an appointment with Dr. Raj Pal Singh, in the Water Resources and Development office. He was a Ganges basin expert (36 years on the field), but didn’t want to be recorded because he thought he had so little to offer. I sat in his office about 30 minutes, and he was very genial, but I did think about how difficult transcribing his accent would have been. He recommended two fantastic resources in the form of government reports. I am going to try to pick them up when I’m in Delhi. While we were talking, my appointment with Dr. Ojha, also of the civil engineering department, got moved from tomorrow at 11:30 to this evening at 6. So I went back to my room to regroup all my stuff, just in case he would be willing to be recorded.
He was not willing to be recorded, but again for the same old reasons of “I have nothing to offer your project.” But he was again, very helpful, and I was wishing I were at least recording it for my own sake, if not for the sake of the documentary. He talked about some water issues in Simla, that I think would have been very applicable to the study. He talked about a group in Haridwar, the goal of which seems to be to find the middle ground between the environmentalists and the money-makers, when it comes to hydroelectric projects. He also talked about climate change, and how Rajasthan had a huge flood in 2006 because its infrastructure is only set up for a certain intensity of rainfall, which is now changing because of climate change. We drank tea together, and he let me borrow a book he’d written. I have all tonight to read 500 pages. Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I will read as much as I can because it does look useful. Also, I wish I had time to read and comprehend all of his Hydrological Engineering textbook, because the parts I went over looked really useful. As in, it would help me understand which data would be most useful to collect vs. which data is kind of useless. I feel like I’m collecting useless data, as well as collecting useless information in these interviews. Just generally feeling pretty useless.
But it’s always nice to be settled somewhere. I’m always grateful for a day that doesn’t involve traveling, doesn’t involve staying conscious on a moving vehicle (difficult for me) to be hyper-aware of when my stop is, doesn’t involve arguing with drivers, or trying to find drivers to begin with. A day that involves spending a set amount of money, for instance, at a hostel.
Since three people had recommended their books to me, they also had recommended I go to the Indira Ghandi book depot in the Civilines part of town. I will be reliant on rickshaw drivers, even within the campus, because there are no campus maps to be found anywhere. I feel so at-sea without knowledge at-hand, but it makes me realize how spoiled I am. Not only to always have the internet, but to always know the internet will tell me what I want to know when I get to it. Here, I mostly use the internet for communication; getting information any other way besides email hasn’t seemed to work.
I hope I will be able to find an internet café somewhere in town, too. I ended up not going to town this evening because I was afraid it would get dark too quickly. I’m kind of a chicken about that. It’s hard enough being lost in a city during the day, but at night, it’s also scary on top of that. I also wanted to make sure I didn’t miss dinner because I was hungry. I didn’t have much at lunch. I did meet someone from the electrical engineering department, though I can’t remember his name. The people eating at this hostel aren’t student-aged, generally, but they’re very friendly. Dr. Ojha had mentioned there are two students from the College of Charleston here, so I have their numbers for when they get back later tonight. Maybe I can meet with them, although they’re not in my hostel. I’m meeting people left and right, but it’s not quite the same as meeting people somewhere roughly in my age group. These students might be actually younger than me, but I’m not sure. And I think at least one might be Indian, judging by the name.
Tonight, I’m going to transcribe as much of the Asawa interview as I can. It’s going to be difficult because the AC in the background makes the sound not as good. It’s funny that my indoor interviews have had the worst sound so far. Maybe I’ll figure it out. Maybe I just need to get a good microphone. I already edited his video a little bit, getting out the bits at the beginning, and where he answered the phone a few times. I think it’ll save some space, and now I’m compressing it so it will fit on the disc he gave me.
I wasn’t feeling too well after that breakfast, so I had to further put off my meeting with Dr. Asawa, the head of the civil engineering department. I finally felt up to walking around by about lunchtime, and went to talk to him then. We scheduled a meeting for after month, and he said he had no problem with the recording, but as everyone does, expressed doubt that he’d have anything useful to contribute. We had about a half hour interview, to be transcribed, and he definitely wants a copy of the transcription, his video (which I’m going to try to shorten for him to be able to copy to disc tonight).
After that, I had an appointment with Dr. Raj Pal Singh, in the Water Resources and Development office. He was a Ganges basin expert (36 years on the field), but didn’t want to be recorded because he thought he had so little to offer. I sat in his office about 30 minutes, and he was very genial, but I did think about how difficult transcribing his accent would have been. He recommended two fantastic resources in the form of government reports. I am going to try to pick them up when I’m in Delhi. While we were talking, my appointment with Dr. Ojha, also of the civil engineering department, got moved from tomorrow at 11:30 to this evening at 6. So I went back to my room to regroup all my stuff, just in case he would be willing to be recorded.
He was not willing to be recorded, but again for the same old reasons of “I have nothing to offer your project.” But he was again, very helpful, and I was wishing I were at least recording it for my own sake, if not for the sake of the documentary. He talked about some water issues in Simla, that I think would have been very applicable to the study. He talked about a group in Haridwar, the goal of which seems to be to find the middle ground between the environmentalists and the money-makers, when it comes to hydroelectric projects. He also talked about climate change, and how Rajasthan had a huge flood in 2006 because its infrastructure is only set up for a certain intensity of rainfall, which is now changing because of climate change. We drank tea together, and he let me borrow a book he’d written. I have all tonight to read 500 pages. Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I will read as much as I can because it does look useful. Also, I wish I had time to read and comprehend all of his Hydrological Engineering textbook, because the parts I went over looked really useful. As in, it would help me understand which data would be most useful to collect vs. which data is kind of useless. I feel like I’m collecting useless data, as well as collecting useless information in these interviews. Just generally feeling pretty useless.
But it’s always nice to be settled somewhere. I’m always grateful for a day that doesn’t involve traveling, doesn’t involve staying conscious on a moving vehicle (difficult for me) to be hyper-aware of when my stop is, doesn’t involve arguing with drivers, or trying to find drivers to begin with. A day that involves spending a set amount of money, for instance, at a hostel.
Since three people had recommended their books to me, they also had recommended I go to the Indira Ghandi book depot in the Civilines part of town. I will be reliant on rickshaw drivers, even within the campus, because there are no campus maps to be found anywhere. I feel so at-sea without knowledge at-hand, but it makes me realize how spoiled I am. Not only to always have the internet, but to always know the internet will tell me what I want to know when I get to it. Here, I mostly use the internet for communication; getting information any other way besides email hasn’t seemed to work.
I hope I will be able to find an internet café somewhere in town, too. I ended up not going to town this evening because I was afraid it would get dark too quickly. I’m kind of a chicken about that. It’s hard enough being lost in a city during the day, but at night, it’s also scary on top of that. I also wanted to make sure I didn’t miss dinner because I was hungry. I didn’t have much at lunch. I did meet someone from the electrical engineering department, though I can’t remember his name. The people eating at this hostel aren’t student-aged, generally, but they’re very friendly. Dr. Ojha had mentioned there are two students from the College of Charleston here, so I have their numbers for when they get back later tonight. Maybe I can meet with them, although they’re not in my hostel. I’m meeting people left and right, but it’s not quite the same as meeting people somewhere roughly in my age group. These students might be actually younger than me, but I’m not sure. And I think at least one might be Indian, judging by the name.
Tonight, I’m going to transcribe as much of the Asawa interview as I can. It’s going to be difficult because the AC in the background makes the sound not as good. It’s funny that my indoor interviews have had the worst sound so far. Maybe I’ll figure it out. Maybe I just need to get a good microphone. I already edited his video a little bit, getting out the bits at the beginning, and where he answered the phone a few times. I think it’ll save some space, and now I’m compressing it so it will fit on the disc he gave me.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Travel day: Delhi to Roorkee
Ugh, another bad day on a bus. Getting to the ISBT in Delhi took much longer than I remembered, and I had to leave a little late so I could get my phone minutes topped up before I left (I had zero). I said goodbye to all of Jenny’s roommates, only one of whom I’ll see again (a bit sad, as I’d gotten to know them a bit living so much at Jenny’s). I got to the ISBT, and was headed confidently to the Uttaranchal section, as I’d gone to Dehradun already this way, but someone redirected me to a “deluxe” bus. I suspect this person was getting a commission for selling a private company route instead, but last time the person directed me, they indeed sent me to the correct stall. This time, not the case. The bus was bound of Haridwar, and they swore it would stop off at Roorkee for me. I paid as much as I did for the AC bus to Dehradun, but there was no AC on this “deluxe” bus. I can’t count the number of times during the journey I thought “In what way is this bus deluxe?” It was rather filthy as well, and bumpy. I at least had a nice seat-mate, and elderly gentleman, about 70 he said. But he helped me out, and told me after the rest-stop when to get up. I spent the first half of the trip asleep with my mouth gaping open, so no telling what dust and bugs ended up in my digestive tract. I haven’t gotten sick yet, so maybe it’s just yet another punching bag for my immune system.
So, by the seat of my pants, I got out at Roorkee, got my bag out from underneath the bus, and hopped quite quickly onto a cycle rickshaw, who took me straight to the Civil Engineering building, and then to the hostel, when the department turned out to be closed. I went in and crashed by about 8pm. The place was swank! Hot water, toilet paper, AC, two sheets and everything! This is probably the nicest place I’ve stayed since the Madhuban in Dehradun. It turned out to be about 350, much more than the WII hostel, but then again, it really is nicer, and I’m here a shorter time. After all, it’s really just $8 that seems so steep to me.
I dream every time I close my eyes of being home. It makes me want to sleep for the next month, till I got home. That’s so awful to say! But I’m so homesick. And exhausted by everything.
So, by the seat of my pants, I got out at Roorkee, got my bag out from underneath the bus, and hopped quite quickly onto a cycle rickshaw, who took me straight to the Civil Engineering building, and then to the hostel, when the department turned out to be closed. I went in and crashed by about 8pm. The place was swank! Hot water, toilet paper, AC, two sheets and everything! This is probably the nicest place I’ve stayed since the Madhuban in Dehradun. It turned out to be about 350, much more than the WII hostel, but then again, it really is nicer, and I’m here a shorter time. After all, it’s really just $8 that seems so steep to me.
I dream every time I close my eyes of being home. It makes me want to sleep for the next month, till I got home. That’s so awful to say! But I’m so homesick. And exhausted by everything.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Delhi
Finished up a transcription and started another. I started with the easy ones, and now have only the very quick-talking Sonam Jorgyes’s interview to transcribe. Finally got in touch with a professor at Roorkee who can fix me up at the hostel, and he has done it for me. So nice of him! I also have an interview set up with him later tomorrow, so I hope my travel plans go OK. I don’t have any money left on my phone now, and I don’t know when I can get it refilled. Schnikes! Got in touch with LBSNAA, after tracking Kalpana Dube down in Delhi, and finally getting in touch with someone at the academy, after being hung up on countless times. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. Maybe speaking English is my problem. Anyway, I feel like my plans for the next week and a half are at least shored up, and that’s a relief, though I still have to get through the actual travel part of it tomorrow. I hope I have something to read on the bus. There are a few reports that Jenny got for me that I still haven’t a chance to look at, and they’re in my bag. So maybe I can do that, if I don’t get carsick from reading. I feel I’m again going to be last one on the bus, with my giant backpack, which means I’ll be at the back again.
I just feel like a lot of this project is going to be more drab, without Sarah or Alex or Jenny to return to in the evenings after I’m done. I will have to keep being “on” all night, meeting all the new people in the hostels. Which is OK, really, I’ll appreciate the experience and getting to meet so many people, but it leaves me little time to recharge my introvert nature.
I think it was today that I spoke with Dr. Eaton, who was very encouraging, but I still feel I’m accomplishing nothing (hence, I’m still keeping this journal up). Even as I transcribe these interviews, I feel I “did them wrong,” and there are so many points in the interview I want to shake myself and ask “Why didn’t you say or ask this??” So frustrating to myself. Still, when I talked to Dr. Eaton, I probably sounded positive because I had gotten three very friendly interviews recorded, and a number of others achieved, though in written form. But I still wonder: how much useful information am I really getting?
I just feel like a lot of this project is going to be more drab, without Sarah or Alex or Jenny to return to in the evenings after I’m done. I will have to keep being “on” all night, meeting all the new people in the hostels. Which is OK, really, I’ll appreciate the experience and getting to meet so many people, but it leaves me little time to recharge my introvert nature.
I think it was today that I spoke with Dr. Eaton, who was very encouraging, but I still feel I’m accomplishing nothing (hence, I’m still keeping this journal up). Even as I transcribe these interviews, I feel I “did them wrong,” and there are so many points in the interview I want to shake myself and ask “Why didn’t you say or ask this??” So frustrating to myself. Still, when I talked to Dr. Eaton, I probably sounded positive because I had gotten three very friendly interviews recorded, and a number of others achieved, though in written form. But I still wonder: how much useful information am I really getting?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Monday: Delhi
Today I spent a lot of time on the phone, running down my already-paltry supply of minutes. I wasn’t able to get much accomplished despite that. I did finish my transcription and start on another one. I felt so tired, it was hard to keep up momentum on any one project. I went down and bought a lot of stuff at the market to make me and Jenny and Stephanie some dinner (what turned out to be moussaka and French fries). Even if I don’t have a productive day, at least I can support someone who did. I did send out a lot of emails/letters to the Roorkee contacts I have, but I was unable to book myself into the hostel, so I’m worried about that.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Sunday
Today, I’m planning on transcribing as many of the interviews as I can. I will start with the one I don’t have the recording for, Mr. Dakpa.
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Well, I didn’t get as much transcribed as I had hoped today. Having everyone around makes it harder to work. That’s my line anyway. I was able to do half of one, with my earplugs in, but I felt quite rude with everyone around being social.
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Well, I didn’t get as much transcribed as I had hoped today. Having everyone around makes it harder to work. That’s my line anyway. I was able to do half of one, with my earplugs in, but I felt quite rude with everyone around being social.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
No work day: Delhi
Today was mostly spent getting a few errands done for Sarah before he plane left. Bangles bought, FabIndia visited, coffee drunk. Then we went to Jenny’s “parlor” down the road, got the thick coat of dirt scraped off our feet. Packing ensued. Taxis called, last minute time spent. Then Sarah was away, in her taxi, hopefully successful on her flight because once you’re in the Delhi airport, it’s hard to get back out.
After excruciating discussion with the rickshaw drivers, less about money and more about if they knew where we were going, we got a ride to a party that Jenny’s friend was having. Everyone there was nice, and we left by about 1:30, when more excruciating rickshaw negotiations ensued.
After excruciating discussion with the rickshaw drivers, less about money and more about if they knew where we were going, we got a ride to a party that Jenny’s friend was having. Everyone there was nice, and we left by about 1:30, when more excruciating rickshaw negotiations ensued.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Travel Day: Leh to Delhi
Another day full of traveling. We got to the airport before it even opened, which caused a few problems because we were two hours early for our flight. But after a few baggage scans, and several pat-downs, we were safe in the terminal, where we met Shlomi, from Israel, who partook of a prayer session the likes of which neither Sarah nor I had ever seen before. We tried not to gawk, but it was very interesting.
After we arrived in Delhi, there was a heated rickshaw exchange, and we had to pay 30 more rupees than I had had to pay to get to the airport in the first place. But we really were not given any choice. I guess I lucked out on the ride to the airport, even if he dropped me at the wrong terminal. So we got a ride to near Jenny’s house, and camped out with all our stuff at Café Coffee Day for a few hours, then retired to the park near Jenny’s house to sit on a bench and talk for the next 6 hours. Jenny’s phone had died while she was at her conference, so we couldn’t get in touch with her. I promised myself another weekend workday to make up for the day of not working. But there was nothing for it, so there was no point getting frustrated, and we tried to enjoy sitting out for hours in the scorchingest part of the day in the Delhi heat. It was easier because I had Sarah with me. I’m worried about similar situations when I’ll be alone again.
Sarah was very sad that night about her impending departure, so we tried eating ice cream and watching Sex and the City to cheer her up. But the real problem was probably that we were so tired from our scant few hours of sleep, and sitting out in the heat all day.
After we arrived in Delhi, there was a heated rickshaw exchange, and we had to pay 30 more rupees than I had had to pay to get to the airport in the first place. But we really were not given any choice. I guess I lucked out on the ride to the airport, even if he dropped me at the wrong terminal. So we got a ride to near Jenny’s house, and camped out with all our stuff at Café Coffee Day for a few hours, then retired to the park near Jenny’s house to sit on a bench and talk for the next 6 hours. Jenny’s phone had died while she was at her conference, so we couldn’t get in touch with her. I promised myself another weekend workday to make up for the day of not working. But there was nothing for it, so there was no point getting frustrated, and we tried to enjoy sitting out for hours in the scorchingest part of the day in the Delhi heat. It was easier because I had Sarah with me. I’m worried about similar situations when I’ll be alone again.
Sarah was very sad that night about her impending departure, so we tried eating ice cream and watching Sex and the City to cheer her up. But the real problem was probably that we were so tired from our scant few hours of sleep, and sitting out in the heat all day.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Leh :Day 4
This morning I had the interview with the CEC, who much be a pretty big-wig, top-brass kind of guy. His house was ginormous, and when I told the taxi driver where I was going, he knew the name of the person who lived there (“Chering Dorjay?”). Basically, this guy was the governor of the Ladakh region, so he had no problem letting me film the interview. The view was beautiful, and afterwards he gave me some tea, and there was once again belabored small talk. The problem is they don’t ask questions back. I wonder if there is some cultural difference, and they’re thinking “God, she talks a lot, doesn’t she ever stop asking questions?” While I’m thinking “It’s like pulling teeth to get this conversation rolling!” Maybe it would be nicer just to sit in silence and sip tea. But it would have been awkward because he wasn’t having any.
Then I walked down to the Women’s Alliance, which had its headquarters and a café right down the road from his house. I was there very early, but luckily there were some tables for the café outside, so I sat down and wrote yesterday’s entry by hand. Then a little later, two women showed up, and I hoped they were some of the ones I had the names of to contact. They were all whities’ names. But Sam and Ellie, the women, were just tourists, here for some breakfast, so we all ate together. They lived in Goa, but were from England and Cyprus. After they left, I wondered a round a little bit because more and more people were finally starting to show up. I asked around, and found one lady on my contact list (Sharon Hoffman), and she suggested Alex, her colleague, also participate in the interview. Sharon turned out to have lived in New Orleans for a while, so we hit it off about that. I liked them both a lot, and they were so nice to submit to the interview without any advance notice. I hadn’t had any contact information for them. On the way out, I got a video about the NGO and the Ladakhi region, thinking it could count at research, but it also looked moderately interesting to me, too. It’s about local Ladakhi’s traveling to the West to see the “civilized” world, but of course they also see all the downsides that they don’t have to deal with, like nursing homes and landfills.
After Women’s Alliance, I tried to walk to LeDEG, another NGO right down the road, but I couldn’t find it despite Alex’s very good map. So I kept walking into town, and eventually got a taxi out to the guy that the Mr. Dorjay, the governor, had recommended I talk to. It turned out to be basically in the next town, so it was a long taxi drive, and then once we got to the Power Project Development Compound itself, the taxi driver had to take me around to a few different buildings, trying to help me find the right guy. Eventually, I found him, and he had a line out his door, so I knew this was going to be a foreshortened interview. I did get to skip to the head of the line (Why does this happen, I wonder?).
I forgot to say that I had gone home to change out of my green salwar-kameez because I realized it was doing more harm than good—it was Indian culture, not Ladakhi, and I was interviewing a lot of Ladakhis. So when I went out to PPD to interview SK Kakroo, I had changed to pants and a white kurta. And wouldn’t you know it, he was Indian. But I am not good at guessing from the names because I don’t know any of the languages I’m working with.
The “interview” was not particularly successful. He was very brusk, and also had his executive engineer, MK Varikoo, in the office with him. Both answered the questions, and neither seemed happy with me. But I got a few smiles out of them, so maybe they were just rushed and over-busy, and it was very nice of them to meet with me at all. I didn’t even ask to record this interview because I was pretty sure they wouldn’t want it recorded, and it would just set a poor tone to begin the talk that way. I probably only talked with them 15 minutes, which was frustrating considering how far I’d ridden to get there.
They did recommend I talk to someone else, Dean Mahmood, the executive engineer who would have the discharge data on the Indus. Of course this was very much of interest to me, so I walked around the compound to find this guy, but ended up finding only a few of his colleagues, who said he wasn’t in that day. Curse the luck, and it was my last day in Leh! I talked to his colleagues for a while. I seemed to attract an entourage wherever I went, which was weird. I don’t know if my research is really all that interesting, or if it’s just because I’m different and foreign and seemingly interesting. But anyway, after another short interview with this “subsidiary” guy, he mentioned I could walk to the Indus from where we were.
I was very excited about this possibility. Suddenly, the long taxi ride didn’t seem like a waste. I managed to go get some shots of the Indus, and it really was beautiful. There was a bridge over it, covered in prayer flags. The river was so small, it was hard to think of it supporting all of Pakistan. It will be interesting to see Tabby’s photos of the same river, and try to reconcile the two.
I then called the LeDEG guy to get the directions to his place. Grabbed a taxi straight back to him place, and conducted the interview, which he let me record. His name was a difficult-to-pronounce Sonam Jorgyes. He was helpful, but in a hurry, so the interview, while dense, was only about 30 minutes. I had to use the video camera, not the camera-camera’s video function because the batteries were dead. I was really nervous about the sound, but at least it was the first indoor-interview. Later, I at least found the sound was hearable, if nothing else.
Afterward, Sarah and I went to get a yak-cheese sandwich for dinner. I didn’t do my interview transcriptions that night as planned. We instead packed up for most of the evening, got all our bills taken care of, etc. Then went back to the roof to sleep, but it was already raining. It stopped eventually, so we got some sleep at least. Despite our rude Belgian roofmate.
Then I walked down to the Women’s Alliance, which had its headquarters and a café right down the road from his house. I was there very early, but luckily there were some tables for the café outside, so I sat down and wrote yesterday’s entry by hand. Then a little later, two women showed up, and I hoped they were some of the ones I had the names of to contact. They were all whities’ names. But Sam and Ellie, the women, were just tourists, here for some breakfast, so we all ate together. They lived in Goa, but were from England and Cyprus. After they left, I wondered a round a little bit because more and more people were finally starting to show up. I asked around, and found one lady on my contact list (Sharon Hoffman), and she suggested Alex, her colleague, also participate in the interview. Sharon turned out to have lived in New Orleans for a while, so we hit it off about that. I liked them both a lot, and they were so nice to submit to the interview without any advance notice. I hadn’t had any contact information for them. On the way out, I got a video about the NGO and the Ladakhi region, thinking it could count at research, but it also looked moderately interesting to me, too. It’s about local Ladakhi’s traveling to the West to see the “civilized” world, but of course they also see all the downsides that they don’t have to deal with, like nursing homes and landfills.
After Women’s Alliance, I tried to walk to LeDEG, another NGO right down the road, but I couldn’t find it despite Alex’s very good map. So I kept walking into town, and eventually got a taxi out to the guy that the Mr. Dorjay, the governor, had recommended I talk to. It turned out to be basically in the next town, so it was a long taxi drive, and then once we got to the Power Project Development Compound itself, the taxi driver had to take me around to a few different buildings, trying to help me find the right guy. Eventually, I found him, and he had a line out his door, so I knew this was going to be a foreshortened interview. I did get to skip to the head of the line (Why does this happen, I wonder?).
I forgot to say that I had gone home to change out of my green salwar-kameez because I realized it was doing more harm than good—it was Indian culture, not Ladakhi, and I was interviewing a lot of Ladakhis. So when I went out to PPD to interview SK Kakroo, I had changed to pants and a white kurta. And wouldn’t you know it, he was Indian. But I am not good at guessing from the names because I don’t know any of the languages I’m working with.
The “interview” was not particularly successful. He was very brusk, and also had his executive engineer, MK Varikoo, in the office with him. Both answered the questions, and neither seemed happy with me. But I got a few smiles out of them, so maybe they were just rushed and over-busy, and it was very nice of them to meet with me at all. I didn’t even ask to record this interview because I was pretty sure they wouldn’t want it recorded, and it would just set a poor tone to begin the talk that way. I probably only talked with them 15 minutes, which was frustrating considering how far I’d ridden to get there.
They did recommend I talk to someone else, Dean Mahmood, the executive engineer who would have the discharge data on the Indus. Of course this was very much of interest to me, so I walked around the compound to find this guy, but ended up finding only a few of his colleagues, who said he wasn’t in that day. Curse the luck, and it was my last day in Leh! I talked to his colleagues for a while. I seemed to attract an entourage wherever I went, which was weird. I don’t know if my research is really all that interesting, or if it’s just because I’m different and foreign and seemingly interesting. But anyway, after another short interview with this “subsidiary” guy, he mentioned I could walk to the Indus from where we were.
I was very excited about this possibility. Suddenly, the long taxi ride didn’t seem like a waste. I managed to go get some shots of the Indus, and it really was beautiful. There was a bridge over it, covered in prayer flags. The river was so small, it was hard to think of it supporting all of Pakistan. It will be interesting to see Tabby’s photos of the same river, and try to reconcile the two.
I then called the LeDEG guy to get the directions to his place. Grabbed a taxi straight back to him place, and conducted the interview, which he let me record. His name was a difficult-to-pronounce Sonam Jorgyes. He was helpful, but in a hurry, so the interview, while dense, was only about 30 minutes. I had to use the video camera, not the camera-camera’s video function because the batteries were dead. I was really nervous about the sound, but at least it was the first indoor-interview. Later, I at least found the sound was hearable, if nothing else.
Afterward, Sarah and I went to get a yak-cheese sandwich for dinner. I didn’t do my interview transcriptions that night as planned. We instead packed up for most of the evening, got all our bills taken care of, etc. Then went back to the roof to sleep, but it was already raining. It stopped eventually, so we got some sleep at least. Despite our rude Belgian roofmate.
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