One in the oven

I officially started my new internship yesterday. Already, I'm starting to see some slight differences in the office culture here. We start promptly at 9.30, though I was the only one here yesterday until close to 10. I learned my lesson and today I arrived at around 9.45. We are served tea promptly at 11.00 and coffee promptly at 15.30. Also, our office "peon" (yes, that's actually his job description) brings us nimbu pani (fresh lime water) just before we leave at 17.00. Besides lunch, these are the only things that seem to happen with any regularity.

Lunch was an experience of its own. It was perfect fodder for a sociologist. The entire staff, minus Madam the Director, all gather at 13.30 in the library/cafeteria. Some people bring food, others order. Whatever you bring, you get a few bites and pass it around. It is an everyday pot-luck, and a great way to try new foods.

At the end of lunch today, the youngest staff member began discussing gender and feminism with one of the "aunties" of the office. It was amazing, I only wish I had a recorder or notebook. The auntie, my supervisor Millie, declared that she was not a feminist and urged everyone at the table to consider how far gender equality has come in the last 20 years. The youngster stuck to her guns and tried to convince us that gender itself was flawed.

Without going into the academics of the two sides of the debate, I'll simply say that it enlightened my perspective. Hearing a first-wave feminist go against a third-waver in a post-colonial context so different from my Western ideology was amazing. It showed me how centrally different the issues here are from those at home. It also make me reconsider my notion of privilege.

Hmm, I'm gonna leave it at that for today. This should be an interesting 10 weeks, if for nothing more than the lunchroom fodder.

Flown by mariposa at 07:49 PM on May 18, 2005