rachelbrule.blogspot.com
Rachel's Blog: June 2008
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html
Sunday, June 29, 2008. As of tomorrow morning I pack my bags and kiss Lucknow goodbye (for now). Having just enjoyed a luxurious evening with an extremely gracious Indian Administrative Service Officer and his family, I feel my feet just briefly touching the ground in this strange city of contrasts. The Bhagavad Gita (2.45) councils freedom from the sorrows of contradiction ("the sorrow of the pairs of opposites") but that implies a detachment I have yet to achieve. Thanks to hard evidence. Of Haryanavis...
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Rachel's Blog: A fond farewell to Yamunanagar
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2008/08/fond-farewell-to-yamunanagar.html
Friday, August 1, 2008. A fond farewell to Yamunanagar. My spirit drew itself up as I reached Yamunanagar this Thursday. Despite the four hour wait on the railway tracks just minutes away from the city, my return was sweet because I was coming home. The monsoon rains knit a grey veil around the city that lowered around me as I disembarked, but I found help at every stage of my journey. So who finally dispersed the heady crowd? If all goes well, Monday I should arrive in Pratapgarh, UP via Lucknow, where ...
rachelbrule.blogspot.com
Rachel's Blog: Minor revelations from a wandering ascetic
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2008/07/minor-revelations-from-wandering.html
Saturday, July 26, 2008. Minor revelations from a wandering ascetic. These past few weeks have provided great fodder for speculation on why the world is the way it is. However before reading any further, please do take what comes with a grain of salt. This advice is especially important if you're in a hot climate - dehydration is a constant threat. What have I learned from this august position, you might ask? So whereas I thought that Indians were blind to the absence of soap, running water, and clean fl...
rachelbrule.blogspot.com
Rachel's Blog: Storming the fortress gates
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2008/08/storming-fortress-gates.html
Friday, August 8, 2008. Storming the fortress gates. Well, this makes one working week in Pratapgarh, but it certainly hasn't been the work I expected. Let me first give you a sketch of a man who embodies the district. This is thanks to an interview by Prem Panicker:. Kunwar Raghuraj Pratap Singh. How does one classify you? A raja, with the princely 'Kunwar' tag to your name, seeking votes from your 'subjects'? What are you, monarch or democrat? You know how courts are - ten years from now, they will sti...
rachelbrule.blogspot.com
Rachel's Blog: Divine incompleteness
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2008/08/divine-incompleteness.html
Monday, August 18, 2008. My thoughts stem from the sense of incompletion that seems endemic to field research, and is clearly illustrated in my own work. This summer's last big journey was. A trip to Ayodhya with the Singh family. Thanks to the hard work of Mr. Jaynardan Singh, I made it inside the contested site of the Ram Janambhoomi Mandir (birthplace of Ram)/ Babri Masjid. Around the Mosque/Temple complex, expecting an elaborate palace at Lord Ram's birthplace similar to the Kanak Bhawan. Please forg...
rachelbrule.blogspot.com
Rachel's Blog: Taking a breath from Haryana's slow suffocation of the fairer sex
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2008/07/taking-breath-from-haryanas-slow.html
Monday, July 7, 2008. Taking a breath from Haryana's slow suffocation of the fairer sex. Okay, I know fieldwork is supposed to be unpredictable, but I'd be perfectly happy if I could maintain some small illusion of control. To begin at the beginning, I didn't expect Haryana to be a perfect haven of progress given its skewed sex ratio. Yet given its high literacy rate, wealth, and an appreciation for new technology (the green revolution), I hoped life would be much smoother than in other Indian states.
rachelbrule.blogspot.com
Rachel's Blog: August 2008
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html
Monday, August 18, 2008. My thoughts stem from the sense of incompletion that seems endemic to field research, and is clearly illustrated in my own work. This summer's last big journey was. A trip to Ayodhya with the Singh family. Thanks to the hard work of Mr. Jaynardan Singh, I made it inside the contested site of the Ram Janambhoomi Mandir (birthplace of Ram)/ Babri Masjid. Around the Mosque/Temple complex, expecting an elaborate palace at Lord Ram's birthplace similar to the Kanak Bhawan. Please forg...
rachelbrule.blogspot.com
Rachel's Blog: July 2008
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html
Sunday, July 27, 2008. Too close for comfort. In case you haven't heard, another wave of terrorist attacks. First eight low-intensity bombs went off in Bangalore. On Friday, killing a single woman, and then 16 bombs went off in Ahmedabad. Apparently warned the media and government of the attack and challenged them to try and stop them. Given that IM claimed responsibility for a similar series of bombs in Jaipur, Rajasthan this past May, it may indeed be the culprit once again. Consists of a back-and-fort...
rachelbrule.blogspot.com
Rachel's Blog: Too close for comfort
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2008/07/too-close-for-comfort.html
Sunday, July 27, 2008. Too close for comfort. In case you haven't heard, another wave of terrorist attacks. First eight low-intensity bombs went off in Bangalore. On Friday, killing a single woman, and then 16 bombs went off in Ahmedabad. Apparently warned the media and government of the attack and challenged them to try and stop them. Given that IM claimed responsibility for a similar series of bombs in Jaipur, Rajasthan this past May, it may indeed be the culprit once again. Consists of a back-and-fort...
rachelbrule.blogspot.com
Rachel's Blog: February 2010
http://rachelbrule.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html
Saturday, February 13, 2010. Why the Turtle May not Catch the Hare in Asia's Race for Adequate Infrastructure. China celebrates its Lunar New Year this Sunday (14 February, 2010) with the largest human migration in the contemporary world. Today, its citizens will use many of the 42 high-speed train lines that will be open by 2012. Despite collecting user fees for access to running water, the board recovers only about $48 million per year. The Delhi Development Report 2006. Notes that although 75 percent ...
