Happy Birthday Gandhi!

So, apparently it's Gandhi's birthday today... Oh! - and I forgot my sister's birthday a little over a week ago until after the fact (sorry Sissy) (although to be fair I was in Hyderabad and couldn't have done anything about it anyway - no internet and all). But yeah, back to Gandhi - I was not aware that it was his birthday today, and was calmly making my way to work when Gerald Christo popped his head out the door of his house and yelled, "Steve!" I turned, and he said, "You know it's a holiday today?"

"No way, are you serious?" I replied.

"Yeah, it's Gandhi's birthday." I was quite pleasantly surprised to find out that I don't have to work today - so I celebrated by hanging out at the Christo's all morning, and making a trip to Hosur with them. We went to a grocery store that had a bunch of products that I would normally use in America. There were several breakfast cereals that I got pretty excited about - such as fruit loops and, get this, POST HONEY BUNCHES OF OATS!!! I was quite excited at this point, but then Gerald had to be the voice of depression by pointing out that it costs 240 rupees (about $6). So yeah, probably won't be getting that very often - oh well. They also had one of those little boxes (as in the sub-juice-box sized ones) of silk chocolate soy milk - that's right, just one, at least it's the only one I saw. Again, this costs almost a dollar (which I guess isn't that bad, but I think it's more than usual).

Then, to top off the celebration we had pizza and ice cream for lunch! I had butterscotch ice cream and it was amazing. During the meal, however, I couldn't help but observe that it seemed a little inappropriate to be eating on Gandhi's birthday... Oh well, I don't feel too guilty about it.

Another interesting note - on the way back from Hosur, Dr. Christo and Naphi (Gerald's wife) were telling me about the culture in Naphi's home state (I think she's from Manipur - one of the far Northeastern states anyway). Apparently, they have a matrilineal society - in other words, the family name is passed down through the females. Also, the inheritance is passed down through the females (the youngest female usually gets the most - imagine that). This type of society is distinguished from matriarchal by the fact that the males are still kind of head of the family - although this is a little strange too in this particular culture because the uncles apparently run the show - not the fathers - I think they said it was the uncles of the mother of the household in fact. I actually think the whole inheritance passing to the youngest female makes perfect sense - she is the one who is most likely to need it. The males can go out and make money for themselves, but since the females typically take care of the children in this culture (just like mine), the females are more likely to need the support of an inheritance. The problem is that the males, since they do not see the benefit in working hard when the name they build for themselves will not be carried on, do not work hard and tend to be the hang out, play the guitar, and sing type (Dr. Christo's words, not mine). The punch line of all this is that the males feel wronged and have started a men's liberation movement. When I heard this, I started laughing uproariously - at first because I thought he was joking, but then when I found out he was serious I continued to laugh because this family organization is almost exactly the opposite of the American organization in almost every way. I thought you all might appreciate that.

So, in conclusion, don't punch, kick, elbow, or think evil thoughts about anyone today - it's Gandhi's birthday for goodness' sake!