BUS- TED

Its rustic-red metallic body gleamed in the summer sun, giving it the sheen of a glazed cherry. Behold, I thought to myself, the bus of Mumbai. Mumbai, by the way, is the financial capital of India and the country’s most populous city, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million. In terms of population statistics, Mumbai ranks fourth in the world.
Well, that is what Wikipedia has to say about it.

To me, the city is all about hype, color, traffic, movement, flow, people, pollution. And Bollywood.



Anyway, back to the bus. The time I speak of is about four years ago, when my family had just left Muscat and we were back on apni zameen, our own homeland.

And I was, for the first in my life, all alone at a bus stop, waiting for a ride back home.

No, actually I was with a couple of friends. How else was I to understand the fancy numbers in Hindi that were no more meaningful to me than an assortment of lines and curves? These numbers told you which route the bus would follow. Until you are a headstrong adventurist, you do NOT want to get on a wrong bus.

I remember standing there and watching as the bus continued to slunk sulkily in the traffic. My thoughts went something like, God, this thing could put a snail to shame.

Finally, it was at the bus stop.



So what you had to do was continue to stay in the line and then get in the bus as your turn came.

Wait.

Line? Turn?

Whoa, let’s not forget this is Mumbai we are talking about. Here, there ARE NO LINES!

Each time, I remember how everyone would just clutter around the narrow opening of the bus, trying to clamber in as quickly as if there was a prize for the one who did this the fastest. So now I find myself in a flock of citizen- sheep, pulling and pushing as everyone tries to scramble in at once.

It is a miracle how I can even get in here, I would think each time, as the bus would begin to pull away.



An example of flow, that. Be it at a bus stop, or a railway station, you just stand in the crowd and flow with it. For all around you would be such a huge ocean of people, ki cheenti ke chalne ki bhi jagaah na ho. That not even an ant can pass through, my grandma would say. (She, by the way, has been an active Mumbaikar for about 50 (and counting) years now).

On my very first bus ride, I was awed. Later all sorts of adjectives—not very positive, I’m afraid—could be used to describe how I felt.

On that trip though, I must have looked like a bright bubbly girl of seven, thinking quietly to myself, Whoa, look at all these people!!! For there were all sorts of people around you, brushing against you. You spent three quarters of your journey standing, mostly sandwiched uncomfortably. That is the condition of Mumbai buses everyday early in the morning and then again late in the evening, when the populace is on its way to work, or returns from work. It’s remarkable just how the number swells. So, in the mornings, the bus is flooded with the mild scent of beauty soap and cologne. Come dusk, it is salty with the smell of sweat and exhaustion.



Well, the rickety mobile lumbered ahead. I stood where I was, dutifully, not so sure now that I was enjoying it. Just then, pushing his way through the mess of men, women and children, came the burly old conductor.

I know how this goes, I thought to myself. I just tell him where I need to go, give him the money and the guy punches me a ticket.

Right?

Wrong.

There are a thousand things that could go wrong, as I discovered on that fateful day.

“Airport Stop” I said.

“Huh?”

“Airport Stop.” I said a little more louder.

“Das Rupiyaa” he muttered gruffly.

Ten Rupees. Right. I had to give him the money and get the ticket.

So I wriggled a little until I had space enough to take off the bag hanging on my shoulder and hunt for the das rupiya.

It happened just then.

The bus suddenly braked to a halt.

Inertia played its part, and the next thing I know, I am thrown forward mercilessly.

It was like being in a free fall. I didn’t know when I would stop falling. I remember feeling the silk of someone’s saree, the coarseness of someone’s jeans, as I fell through all those people, unable to brake, unable to stop.

Honestly, I cannot think of another time I must have felt that hot around the neck. I knew I had gone red as a beet.

The bus, meanwhile, continued forward.

I hauled myself up, flustered but unhurt. I could feel eyes looking at me.

“Uh, I’m okay” I wanted to say but I’m glad I didn’t. Because then I would have looked like a complete moron. On a busy day in a crowded Mumbai bus, people have neither the time nor the inclination to care.

That was the good news (though I dare say, I did catch a few giggles).

The better news was that I had learnt “my goddamn lesson,” as I told my amused mother at dinner that day, “Always, always hold on the handrails of a bus when you stand.”
*

Analyzing this form a social perspective, it is evident that there are several factors at play, influencing the way people behave and interact. Consider, for one, the question of inequality. In a city with a teeming population and relatively scarce resources, there is a wide economic disparity and uneven resource allocation. This leads to inevitable inter- societal competition for limited reserves. Middle and lower middle class Mumbaikars, for example, are heavily dependent on buses and rickshaws as their primary mode of transport, since these are highly cost effective. But the available transport facilities cannot satiate the ever-increasing demand of the booming population. This leads to a rat-race where everyone tries to utilize the existing capital to the maximum. But in case of the bus, an innumerable number of users are pitted against a limited number of seats, causing unavoidable friction. According to latest statistics, Mumbai public transport carries about 5.5 million people per day.
Mumbaikars today have become rather indifferent to the pitiable quality of local buses, their low frequency and poor maintenance. They are habituated to the unending traffic jams; to the indescribably large crowd packed inside. They are unconcerned about how painful and exhausting it can be to travel back and forth in a suffocating human mess.

What matters to them most is that the bus can carry them over long distances for only das rupiyaa. Ten Rupees.



At first, I found it really difficult to digest the hustle- bustle of the metropolitan city. But the interactions I had largely helped define perceptions of my own looking- glass self. This concept was very well explained by Sociology Professor Geoff Harkness as: “Our identity is based on what we think of ourselves and what we think of what others think of ourselves.” This socio- psychological concept of how one perceives oneself has largely to do with his/her level of integration with a society. In my case, Mumbai initially made me conclude that I was naïve and inexperienced; that I was an alien trying hard to fit in an entirely different culture (which ironically, was my own).

Propounding on the concept of identity definition, it is fascinating to note that one’s identity continuously keeps changing, with respect to society, people etc. “ Not the whole of our identity,” said Professor Harkness, “but certainly, a part of it.” In other words, there is always an element of our identity that chameleons other people’s attitudes and behaviors. Every new experience adds to our knowledge base, influencing our identity inconspicuously.

My big fat Arab wedding

Family and marriage are two aspects that are very important in most cultures. In most societies marriage is defined as being a group’s approved mating arrangements marked by a ritual, such as a wedding ceremony, that indicates the couple’s new status to the public. Many people are familiar with the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It revolves around two people overcoming their cultural, racial and social class differences and getting married. The family portrayed as the Greek family of the bride, in the movie, reminds me of Arab families quite a lot. The large, loud and opinionated extended family that somehow always comes as a package.

Most of the time people tend to get married to others who are similar to them in age, education, social class, race, and religion. When someone decided to break that norm and get married to someone with different customs, both partners will receive some form of cultural shock when they meet both the nuclear and the extended family. Exogamy is often not encouraged in Muslim families, as they believe their sons/daughters should marry within the social group in which they belong to, and continue to pass on the traditions and customs of Arab cultures.


This summer my cousin got married to an English guy, who she met while she was studying in London. A small number of the groom’s family and friends flew out to Amman to attend their wedding. The wedding incorporated traditions from both sides of the bride and groom’s traditions.

At the beginning of the ceremony there was the Arab norm of the bride and groom’s nuclear families standing at the entrance to greet their guests. When the bride and groom later arrived they came down an aisle separately and were accompanied with their best man and made of honor, and bridesmaids. My younger cousins even had the roles of being flower girls and the bride’s niece was the ring bearer. After the newlyweds had their first dance together, the Arabic traditions began to kick in. There was the traditional palestinian zaffeh, where men dressed in traditional clothes play instruments and dance Dabke, and later on there was a belly dancer in the center of the stage.

I talked to the groom’s dad and asked him what he thought of the whole ceremony, he was really surprised with the large number of family members and how close everyone was to one another. Having a belly dancer and a Dabkeh dance at a wedding was also an experience that was quite foreign.

Style

When I was in London, my style was as eclectic, out-there and diverse as the city and the throngs of people that lived there. The rhythm of the city, the sights, sounds and colors influenced all my creativity and individuality in my choice of clothes, shoes, bags and jewelry. On the streets, there was such a mix of styles and personalities -- no one really dressed like the other but ironically, I think that sometimes, we were all alike in our common individuality.

When I came to Doha, it was a sort of a culture shock to me. It was much more reserved and the cultural norms were different from what I was used to. Coming here was difficult not only because I was leaving all my friends and the city I loved, but because I would have to put the brakes on the sort of weird and wonderful style I had created as my own and adjust it to suit the cultural norms of Qatar. I self-consciously reigned in my need to dress differently as I experienced the cultural gap between me and my new environment. Even though I wasn’t expected to wear the abaya, I felt myself to be restricted and my personality was drawn in.

Now being a student at VCUQ, we are encouraged to cross boundaries, express ourselves and be creative. Wanting to go to the Fashion Department, I was inspired to express myself through my clothes. Confidence in my fashion choices has increased and I am beginning to feel more at home. Interestingly, I am beginning to realize, that, in fact, quite often, sitting among my new friends, we all seem to be dressed quite similarly, while standing out as individual personalities. This fits the definition of subcultures. These are, according to Ferrante:

“Groups that share in some parts of the dominant culture but have their own distinctive values, norms, beliefs, symbols or material culture.”

I strongly believe if I had been in any of the other Education City universities, my style of dress would have been markedly different.

How I Prefer Qatari Culture

My relationship with Qatar goes back to the day I was born, which means I have been in Qatar all my life. I was born and brought up in a street named Al Nasr (nearby Al Sadd). However, I was not educated in a Qatari school, but in an Indian school. I am not writing a biography about my life, or me, but I am going to explain how I have become a part of Qatar, culturally and socially.

As a little kid, I used to hang around with some of the Qatari kids. As a result I got to learn the Qatari version of Arabic language, their culture and it was religiously easy for me to integrate with them because I am a Muslim like most of them. I am at a stage where I love Arab food more than anything. I even got some of their passion for football, which I think is a blessing because Indians are crazy about cricket and I despise that sport. Most importantly, I was able to get rid of the culture shock. For instance, I was used to being a guest at my friends’ Majlis, a place basically where all the Qatari men gather to drink coffee, watch football and gossip. I was aware of the folkways and the accepted behaviors in such a place.



At the same time, I am also in touch with my mother culture. I can speak my mother tongue fluently, still love the Indian food that mom cooks and I am well aware of Indian history, culture and heritage. Many of the Indian folkways are still foreign to me because there are a number of them, but I am still very comfortable with the Indian way of doing things. However, I do not play cricket.



If I had to make a choice between Qatar and India, I think I would choose Qatar, the reason being my emotional attachment to this country. With globalization, I can still relate to my Indian backgrounds with ease and at the same time be a part of different social and cultural groups.

Abaya - A Fashion Statement

Butterfly, fold, and jumpsuit are three of the many names given to the designs of the modern Abaya. Originally, it was a cultural garment worn by women in the Middle East to cover up the shape of their body. In fact, women in the past did not have to wear it since most of them covered themselves up modestly. Today, in the Gulf countries in particular, the designs are constantly in change, depending on the trending world of fashion. Rather than having a loose black cloth, it now comes in various shapes and with multiple embroidery designs.


Since the clothing under will not show, girls tend to portray their fashion sense by the Abaya they are wearing. Not only is it a type of material culture that women use to cover up, but it also shapes the social relationships. I remember having a Syrian lady visiting us in Doha. She was shocked by how the Qatari girls wore the Abaya. It was a culture shock to her, as she was used to the plain loose black cloth, and not the multiple designs. However, since the material component is shaped in some way by the non-material culture, she has adapted to this trend as everyone else was following it, and is seen as a sign of modernization.

New designs are out everyday, ranging from very loose to very fit. Those designs come from other countries and act as a cultural diffusion. The neighboring countries influence us. Therefore, when there is an Abaya exhibition such as Heya or a fashion show, young designers from all over the Gulf countries would display their unique designs, and the Qatari girls would buy them. Here are a few abayas I bought from the Saudi section

The young girls here are attracted by each other’s unique Abaya designs. I was ordering popcorn before entering the movie at Villaggio, and I saw this girl wearing an Abaya that attracted my attention. So I went up to her and asked her where she got it tailored. She replied by saying that she had it made in one of the Abaya exhibitions held at Doha Exhibition Centre. I kindly asked her if I could take a picture of the Abaya in order to make the same. Here is how it looked like.

Not only is the influence regional, but is also Western in some way. For example, in one of the exhibitions, I saw a design that had studs on the shoulders, along with others that were “funky”. I kept thinking inside my head that I saw those designs on a dress a star was wearing, and now it is implemented on the Abaya. Lady Gaga acts as a major influence to all those girls that want their Abaya to be extra original. Also, recently young girls have their Abayas tailored in a way that it would look like a jumpsuit from the bottom, which is also influenced by the West. I have also seen girls that deliberately shortened their Abaya, and when I first saw it and asked them why, they would say that they wanted to show their heels off. I completely understand that it is a cultural norm, and those designs just keep getting updated by the day.

Culture shock?

If someone would ask you, what makes you different from Person A or Person B, you would probably be able to come up with a list from the top of your head, without even having to think, like nationality, language, religion or even food habits or education.

In other words, the way you have been brought up is what differentiates you from the others. A sociologist defines this as culture. The way of life of people or more specifically, the human created strategies for adjusting to the environment.

For some of us, seeing different culture is the best part about traveling, where as for few other, they have a culture shock coming from place X to Y. Culture shock is the strain that people experience while traveling from one region to the other, and must reorient themselves to the ways of the new culture. And this was exactly what happened in the movie Outsourced, where an American products salesman (Todd) heads to India to because of his replacement, after his entire department is outsourced. Being unaware of the beliefs and values of India, he found himself in a very inconvenient situation. For example, in India, Cows are considered sacred and play an important role in the Hindu religion. Whereas when Todd goes to India, being ignorant, he talks about cows as a food product without realizing how sensitive a topic it was and he goes on doing the same sort of mistake, until he finally finds someone who could teach him about the Indian culture.

People’s behavior and values change from culture to culture, and that is rooted to the shortage and abundance of resources in different regions. For example, the video shows how common begging is in India. However, in Qatar it is hardly seen in public. The economic structure of the country breaks the conservation-oriented behaviors of its people.



According to Sociology, some of the most important types of non-material cultures are beliefs, values, norms, symbols and language. And some of these aspects were clearly noticeable in Culture Shock, an Al Jazeera documentary, on how African migrants find ways to deal with the European culture. These African migrants face instances of racist violence in Germany, where because of their skin color, people assign symbols. People assign offensive names.

Despite being immigrants, some of their habits perfectly match local customs, which is a case of cultural universals, which refers to things found in every culture. But sometimes people hold on to the viewpoint of ethnocentrism, because of which these African migrants are not being accepted by the social norms.

Click here to check out the documentary on Al Jazeera

Culture Shock: What is it like to live in Europe with an African identity?