FAQ #1

I've gotten several questions that I thought I'd address.

First question, "How hot is it?"
Hot, but not crazy hot. The highs have been in the upper 80s and the lows in the 60s. However, we've been told this is unseasonably cool. It's expected to be in the mid-90s in a few days (they're saying 36 Celsius). That's going to be HOT. There has often been cloud cover, which reduces the intensity of the heat, and there are a lot of trees in the city. Bangalore used to be called "The Garden City". Uncontrolled growth has done a lot of damage to the reputation, with a lot of trees cut down, but there's still a lot of shade.

Our apartment has air conditioning in our bedroom (which is also where the internet access is.) It's very efficient and can keep the room very cool, but we haven't used it much; we turned it on for the first time yesterday. The other rooms have screened windows that can't be closed, so there's always air circulation, even if the air is 85 degrees. Ann's building is air conditioned, except for the cafeteria, which is under a canopy on the roof. (More about Ann's work in another post.)

Second question: Where are the pictures?
We're going to be here for quite a while, and I made a conscious decision to not carry a camera the first few days. I know that I've missed some pictures, but I wanted to first see the city through my eyes before seeing it through a view finder. I know from experience that the camera changes the photographer; for example, I've taken wildlife pictures where I've barely seen the animal because I was focused on taking pictures of the animal. Later I look at the pictures to see what I missed. That said, I took out the camera yesterday and got a few shots.

Third question: In response to some comments about begging and alms giving.
My instinct is to never give to someone begging, and I doubt if I will do it here. But interestingly, there are two distinct types of begging. The one we're most familiar with is children who pursue tourists. (Ann went out to lunch yesterday with her group and was immediately swarmed with children who were waiting outside the office where they knew "rich" people worked.) Everyone is unanimous that these people should never be given anything, as it encourages dependency. Indians would seldom be asked in this way and they would never give to these beggars.

There is, however, another tradition in India, where in the pursuit of spiritual purity, people (mostly men) give away all their worldly possessions and take up the life of an ascetic. They survive by begging, or to put it another way, they "depend upon the kindness of strangers." In this context, alms-giving is an individual's material response to a spiritual request. Since Hinduism has no central authority or structure, there isn't communal giving to a church the way there is in Christianity. So in this case, Indians will give small amounts to these people. For me personally, that is something that I am very unlikely to do. (One other note: alms-giving is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The form of alms-giving might be giving to an indigent or donating to build a mosque.)

Any other questions?