Heart of the People

In 'Oprah's Next Chapter', the first in the series on Oprah Travels to India was an entire episode showcasing her visit to my Mumbai. Oprah visited the slums, had an elaborate meal in the epitome of the joint family system, graced the Bachans home and was one of the select few to see Beti B and finally experienced the glitz and glamor of Bollywood and mingled with the billionaires of India. In her visit to the slums, I appreciated when she said she did not want to touch on the poverty, instead wanted to get a sense of the ‘Heart of the People’.

Ever since the show aired and actually over the past seven years that I have lived in the United States, I have been asked countless  questions about India: the people, the paradox, the slums, the caste system and of course Bollywood. I feel we are mini ambassadors to our country and have to constantly balance between the truth and showing the world what India is all about. I appreciate a curious mind and am always fascinated when I come across people who know more about the Indian culture than I would know at times.  I have fielded constant questions on the caste system and tell people how it was first formed for division of labor but it did and does exist very subtly today and is similar in many ways to the underlying racism that exists. There was a time when my claws came out to someone who was the biggest fan of Glee and attacked Bollywood for its song and dance sequences :).

Yes, India is a paradox and we are sometimes a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I cannot put a finger on one thing and say this is what we are and this is who we are. We are like the spices in our food, each of us different and unique but when we come together, we make one lean mean curry. We are as colorful as the colors that adorn us and have a common thread running through us.

It was heartwarming when Oprah said she was in the slums to get to know the ‘Heart of the people’. She did manage to get the pulse of the people and made me choke when the father of the slum she visited started crying.

After watching that episode, I couldn’t help but go back in time probably around 25 years ago. In India, most of us have at least one maid who comes in and does the basic household stuff once a day. Our maid, who was there with us since I was little, lived in the slums near my house. She invited us over to her house for Ganpati festival. I was a kid and barely remember how we made our way to their humble home. But, I do remember the warmth in their welcome and how their faces lit up to see us there and the one thing I will never forget is how they offered me my favorite cola drink – ‘Thums Up’! A ‘soft drink’ was so expensive back then and here were people who struggled to get water for the entire house went out of their way to get the ‘Thums up’. My dad insisted that we split just one bottle between us so that they do not feel let down and their pride would not be hurt. To me as a kid, it didn’t matter that we were in the slums in the middle of nowhere but the love and the sincerity that came with the Thums Up was priceless.

Till this date, when I have a rare treat of the Indian store bought Thums Up in America, it always humbles me and I reminisce the time I had the Thums Up in the slums of Mumbai, bought from hard earned money but most importantly with a lot of love from the 'Heart of my People’.

India and Peru

Indian chica didn’t think in a million years while setting up the title for her blogs, that she would discover a little bit of India in Peru! I always carry India in my heart wherever I go and maybe a part of me always looks for that connection but this is the first time I knew there was a deeper connection and must have gone hundred times in my head “oooh that’s just like how it is India”.

My first day in Peru and in central Lima, I hear loud thumping Bollywood music. I did think at that point that I just might be hallucinating because I am a big Bollywood junkie. But turns out there was an Indian clothes/music/accessories store right there and right then I knew that Peru and I would be best friends for life. I walk a few blocks down and next to the new Twilight release – Breaking Dawn, I saw the poster for ‘Mi Nombre Es Khan’ or ‘My Name is Khan’ – a Bollywood blockbuster which actually released in 2010. The larger than life Shah Rukh Kan and Kajol (actors of the movie) poster, were staring at me in my face and I am sure my soul came out of my body that split second and did a little summersault!!

As I went from place to place, I could not completely put a finger on what really made me reminisce India so much..maybe it was the smaller things....

Banana chips sold loose in Lima..tasted EXACTLY like the ones in India

 

Indian buffet in the middle of Cuzco..yumm!

 Or it could be the bigger things like the hardworking people, the varying landscapes, the flavorful food, the fact that there is so much history and folklore or the fact that the Incans worshipped the sun and the moon and the whole of Machu Picchu was built by the Incans and was so simiar to Vastu ( Hindu architecture based on the premise of the laws of nature and its affect in our homes). 



Ancient terraces of Machu Picchu





Ancient Temples of India

 But most of all it reminded me of the India I left behind in early 2000s, Peru seems right at the helm of an economic boom…construction sites everywhere especially in Lima. Lima the ‘City of the Kings’, has such a striking resemblance to the city I grew up in and carry in my heart everywhere I go –Bombay or Mumbai. Lima is a bustling city where tall, modern buildings  in places like Miraflores co-exist with the humble neighborhoods. Lima, like Mumbai is by the sea..Lima now a gastronomical capital of South America had little bakeries and eateries everywhere and beautiful restaurants that serve the best cuisine.

A funny comparison is that, Lima has a park by the Pacific Ocean called ‘Love Park’ (actually all of Peru is a love park ;) and oddly enough Mumbai has a similar park with a similar setting called ‘Bandstand’ by the Arabian sea meant mainly for couples. Any Bombayite worth their weight in gold who's reading this, will know exactly what I am talking about.

LIMA

MUMBAI

 

And as I was flew out of Lima, I felt a tug in my heart similar to one I feel when I leave my Mumbai and said a similar prayer for the country and the people! And then said to myself ‘Asta la vista baby and I’ll be back”..yup borderline corny but hey  ‘Corn’ happens to be the staple diet of the Peruvians :)...on that note stay tuned for the next blog on 'The Foods of Peru'!