Back In Lucknow and Palestinian event

Salaam my friends!

After we came back to Lucknow from Varanasi we had classes in the diversity of Islam in Lucknow. So we had classes in sociolinguistics, different styles of Urdu and also we saw the film "Derh Ishqiya" to study the language of "Begumati" or the language created by upper class Muslim women in the Nawab courts!

Interesting indeed! I have also bought a native/afro inspired mandress from Varanasi which I wear all the time now here in Lucknow. Really comfy and I love trying different things!

We also had a lecture about the "many Muslims of Lucknow" which included a lecture about the history of Islamic Lucknow and it's different cultural, ethnic and caste dynamics!

We also visited a village, since I do my fieldwork about village politics! Truly interesting! And I love travelling in the Indian countryside, since it is so quiet and not so crowded and noisy! We also experience the awesome and tasty Lucknow Kabab festival! Another example of delicious Nawabi cuisine!

As a final touch for this week we went to a Palestinian solidarity event in Lucknow. This is since India has always been a great supporter for the nation of Palestine, maybe due to it's own experiences of partition with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
It was really intersting speeches and also there was a theatre group from Palestina which performed with the Indian theatre group, so they spoke Hindi and Arabic which was really cool. Interlingual, intercultural and international understanding about suffering! I really enjoyed it.
And the best part is that it was secular and non-antisemitic. It may sound harsh, but as a Westerner I have my prejudices, and I thought that since this event was to promote Palestine and India's frienship, i expected some form of antisemitism and speaches against Israel, but that was not the case. It was more about portraying suffering and humanity and also how the Palestinian people view the conflict.

This has been a really intense period and I will be better at updating my blog and travels! However I am busy all the time exploring, writing and learning so I wilk try my best to be more regular in my updates!

Waleikum Salaam

Varanasi

Salaam my readers and friends!

After Naila left us in Lucknow to go back to Varanasi, we came to Varanasi two days afterwards!

It was so nice to be back in a city that means a lot for me. It is simply not a city. I have memories there. I have lived there. I know the city like the back of my hand.

And no matter how dirty, chaotic and rude it may be I still love it. It has some aura of what we in Swedish call: hate-love. You hate and love it at the same time.

Anyways. We had classes, exames and we also participated in the international Hindi writing competition! Inshallah we will win it! We also had lectures to the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish students there in Varanasi and it was nice meeting other students!

We also hung out with our friends Aditya and Nirutpal and also our beloved former host family which are really good friends of ours, Vipin, Vandana and Oshi. However their son was not at home since he studies in Mumbai. It was nice meeting everyone again.
We also feasted in Japanese cuisine at IBA, our favorite restaurant since we only eat Indian food in Lucknow. There is nothing wrong with Nawabi and Lucknowi cuisine, it is delicious, but one needs some variation sometimes.

We strolled the ghats and just went through all the small alleys of Varanasi, doing interviews and research and also refreshing old memories of a city which is very important to me. For me Varanasi stands for independence, happiness, sadness (since my grandfather passed away while I was there last time, so a part of him is always there, even though he has never been in India, but my memory lives there with him), but also friendship and adventure. It sounds kinda cheezy but this city is acutally special for me. More special than Lucknow will ever be.

We will go back there in January for a revisit!