Last week, our group took our final long bus ride of the program to the city of Bodhgaya. Bodhgaya is about 6 hours via bus from Varanasi, and it seemed to take forever to get out of the city traffic that morning. We finally arrived in late afternoon, and were bussed through the touristy streets […]
Reading My Way Through Chennai
India has been an overwhelming experience for even the most prepared of us. Every day we go out, our senses are bombarded by the variety that is city street life. It is wonderful, exciting, but sometimes really draining. One of my hidden pleasures of being in Chennai has been choosing times to find the quiet […]
Dreams of India: Nizamuddin Dargah is worlds away
My entire life I have wanted to travel to India, but now that I am here, I don’t believe it. Despite being thrown into the sights, sounds and intensity of New Delhi, I feel that my body is an empty vessel and my mind isn’t awake. While attempting to immerse myself, I find it […]
Explorations of Feminist Writing in India
My research topic will explore feminist thought and expression in contemporary India, primarily focusing on literacy/writing/literature as a means to explore the issues that surround understanding equality for women as rhetorical subjects in India’s story and now. India is the world’s largest democracy but named the worst G20 country to be a woman. Literacy rates […]
Reflections on “The History of India” by John McLeod
India’s ancient history is vast beyond the measures of Western culture, concepts of time and even historical record. The development of early civilizations in India, such as the Harappans and then Aryans, is a testament to how much more complex and old this part of the world is compared to what I know in terms […]