Lesson Four: Come Hungry. Or, On Hospitality and Gandhi.

Hospitality is a huge part of the culture in India. When you go to someone's house, you bring them a hostess present of some type (we usually get fruit or half a Kg of a famous sweet from the shop near our school). In the same way, when you leave, it is typical for the host to send you on your way with some small gift in return. If you stop in someone's home for any amount of time at all, expect to be pressured into tea of coffee and a small snack at the very least. This is just the way things go here. For the most part, it has been a really interesting study in loving your neighbor and caring for one another. It is part of the Indian culture to show people you care for them by feeding them. Hospitality is of the utmost importance.

The drawback to this insistence on hospitality and feeding people is that we are often stuffed full of food to the brink of exploding. And try as we might to refuse the snacks people push on us, it is considered insulting to refuse someone's hospitality and we feel pressured to oblige them. Last weekend, when I opted for only a small amount of rice at a meal following a church service, the young man behind me in line made a comment about, "we're not feeding rats!" took the scoop from the girl who was dishing it out, and plopped a bunch more rice on my plate. It is practically impossible to eat a small amount unless we're in the cafeteria or else our own apartment.

The conclusion I've drawn from this is that Gandhi had a ridiculous amount of willpower! I mean, it was already impressive that the man fasted for so long. But now that I have experienced the will of the Indian woman to make people eat, I have a whole other appreciation of Gandhi's dedication.

In all seriousness though, I have learned a lot about reverence for a leader from the people of India. In my contemporary India class, my teacher was brought to tears recounting the dedication Gandhi had and the sacrifices he made for this country. Reflecting upon it, I couldn't think of a single American leader who inspires tears in the American people, especially more than fifty years after their death. Martin Luther King Jr. is probably the closest we get, and even he doesn't inspire as much reverie as Indians have for Gandhi.

The lessons here are to go places hungry (do NOT eat before you go!) and respect your leaders. Or maybe elect and follow leaders worth respecting.