SILK CITY!!!

Saturday night after dinner, most of us headed out to FabCity, Mysore's version of a Wal-Mart, although it is much, much smaller. It had four levels; the first was filled with sundries and groceries, the second level had clothing, the third level was not very full and basically had clearance merchandise, and the fourth level was empty. Upon walking in the front door we drew a lot of attention and stares, obvious foreigners. There were many vegetables that I had never seen before and don't know how you would prepare them - like banana stems. In the produce section there was a person weighing people's produce, the customers crowded around him vying for position to get their items weighed. I have noticed that the concept of lines is a novel one for Indians. For instance, at the Bangalore airport, while going through security everyone was surging and jockeying to get into position - no line whatsoever.

Sunday morning I woke up early (for me) and headed down to breakfast. There were many Indian dishes available, as was fresh fruit and cereal/milk, both of which I passed on in an attempt to ward off Montezuma's revenge. There was quite a bit of discussion about whether the water in the hotel is safe to drink. On each floor there is a drinking water station with a filter for customers. So the management must realize the water in the plumbing is not good for a visitor's own plumbing. But I mentioned that, even though there is a filtration system we don't know how effective it is, and who knows if the manufacture paid off some government official to avoid having to meet some standard. Always the skeptic, I am. But, from our readings, it is quite evident that in India the culture is such that the means of getting one's wanted result is not what matters, the result is. Pay-offs and bribes occur on a regular basis and are considered okay, as long as they are not ridiculously lavish. Even if a person wants to hold himself to a high standard, the pressure to meet expectations can be great, tempting one to skirt the rules in order to meet them.

After breakfast a group of us headed out to do some shopping. Our autorickshaw ride was absolutely wild! At any moment we would surely crash head-on with a bus, slam into a cow, run down a pedestrian, or fly through the air as we hit a gigantic speed bump. It felt as though we were inside of a video game, weaving back and forth, all the noise of horns blaring, close calls, and near sideswipes.

Along the main commercial street there is an abundance of small shops, shoe stores, tailor shops, sundrie shops, jewelry stores - and SILK SHOPS!! What a blast. The proprietor gladly pulled dozens and dozens of items from his shelves for us. I fell for the scarves. And the price was incredible. Beautiful, soft, luxurious silk scarves for about 1/10 of what you would pay for them in the U.S. Because there were so many of us buying, the owner gave a 10% discount. I was the last one to pay, and since my purchase was large I tried to negotiate a 20% discount, but the owner wouldn't budge. I told him if I come back later this week I expect a larger discount, and he said okay. It turns out that this silk shop has been in the family for over a hundred years. I am guessing that this may be commonplace in India because it is hard to move from one social level to another with the caste system that is still in place today.

Although the government is trying to eliminate the caste system, doing so involves changing thousands of years of customs - not an easy nor quick project to complete; and it is evident as you watch people address and respond to one another. There is deference by those of lesser stance, and little eye contact. As I speak to people that are in a lower caste, even just to say "hello" or "thank you", it seems to make them uncomfortable, or they seem surprised when I look them in the eye or shake their hands.

For dinner we were taken to a palace that is now a hotel. It was built in 1921 for the visit of the Viceroy. It is located such that it has a view of the entire city, and you can see the Maharaja's palace off in the distance. We were given a tour by the chef, which seemed a bit odd. We had a welcome dinner with faculty from the University. It was fun to visit with them and compare and contrast things such as air quality in Mysore versus Minnesota, and our Master's programs to their postgraduate degrees.