Excerpted from "Indian Scenery" (published by Hong Kong Joint Publishing Company in 2018)
About the author:
Zhang Yu, born in October 1959, Leys, UK Master of Mass Communication from Special University. He served as CCTV's first chief correspondent in India and CCTV's senior correspondent in Europe (London). His books include "Indian Cultural Industry", "British Landscape", "Walking with Xuanzang", etc. He has written and directed many documentaries that have won awards at home and abroad.
Feel the heat in India
The Chinese people have long experienced the scorching heat in India. I don’t know which senior first called Tianzhu “Shendu”, which can literally be understood as “a body full of poisonous fire”, which visualized the heat of India. After Xuanzang, the monk of the Tang Dynasty, came to Tianzhu, he was also very hot. He repeatedly exclaimed: "It's very hot!" Feeling grateful that Tianzhu was the place where Buddhism was founded, Xuanzang felt that "body poison" didn't sound good, so he thought about it again and again, so he changed the name to "India". ". The Himalayas block the cold wind from the south, and coupled with the high latitude, India is extremely hot. Around 2000 BC, the Aryans drove their cattle and sheep from Europe into Central Asia and then to India. Under the scorching Indian sun, the white skin gradually evolved into chocolate color. After some Aryans intermarried with local women, the skin of their offspring simply turned brown-black. Such is the magic of Indian heat.
The heat wave in India does not make people peel off, but more like a guy with malicious intentions. He holds a branding iron and follows you wherever you go. You turned around suddenly, rounded your arms and wanted to punch him, but you couldn't find him and could only feel the infinite heat. Seeing your arm turning into a bruised elbow day by day, you can only be angry, but you have no choice but to admit defeat in the end. In this way, people, under the arrogant heat wave, were like mice being chased by cats, getting in when they saw the entrance of the hole. Heat Wave cunningly waited there, motionless, and neither did the people. Heat Wave simply covered the entrance of the cave tightly to kill time and play. One day, I couldn't help it anymore and took a plastic thermometer to measure the surface temperature. After a while, I came out and saw that the thermometer was gone. Taking another closer look, darling, the thermometer was chewed like gum by the heat wave. There are 120 days of this kind of weather out of 365 days in a year. Not a lot of time in a day. Every year from April to July, it is the hottest time for Indians. They can't find anyone to fight with and can only breathe heavily. The only good thing about the hot weather is that there are no flies or mosquitoes, they are too hot to kill.
The assiduous practice in Buddhism is called asceticism. Asceticism is Tapas in Sanskrit, which means "suffering from heat". The weather in India is hot, so "being heated" is extended to "suffering", which suddenly elevates the heat in India to a spiritual level. After Buddhism became extinct in India, Hindus became active again. They still used the word "heat" when conducting long ascetic practices. Anyone who has experienced a lot of Indian heat will have a deep feeling of "being heated" and know the taste of "suffering", so they have sincere admiration for the practitioners. Scholar A.L. Basham said: "One year Different seasons are composed of extreme heat, extreme rain or extreme drought. The climate of the subcontinent always tends to be extreme, which may also affect the Indian character and attitude towards life. "Lazy is a bad word, just say clean." Do nothing. If you want to experience it, you can only come in summer and watch Indians lying around under the shade of the trees with their eyes closed and exhaling. Extreme weather makes people extremely profound, and pure inaction becomes a state.
On hot days, New Delhi suffers from water shortages from time to time. Indian cities have no running water. The community water station provides water to residents for one hour each morning and evening every day, and each house has a water reservoir dug. Residents have to use water pumps to pump water to plastic storage tanks on the roof. The water storage barrel is black and absorbs heat. At the end of the day, I had to take a bath with the water inside, and my skin had to be peeled off. I got burned once when I first came to India, and later developed the habit of turning on the cold water pipes and testing the water temperature. The most unbearable thing is the water shortage. People have to take containers to the public water station to collect water for showering. Before they receive the water, their feet are already wet with sweat. People who received the water would go aside to celebrate the miniature Water Splashing Festival, carefully pour water on their bodies, then use a container to collect the water dripping from their bodies, and continue to pour water on their bodies until all the water in the container evaporated. It took time to line up to receive water. Some people were impatient to wait, so they jumped into the Yamuna River near the city and soaked in the water holding a wooden stick. The heavily polluted river water stinks to heaven. People would rather be smoked to death quickly than heated to death slowly.
Bacteria spread quickly in hot weather. This developed the habit of Indians drinking water without touching the container with their mouths. When drinking water, men, women, and children all tilt their necks upward, keeping the container half a foot away from their mouths, and pour water into their mouths absentmindedly and accurately, which has become an Indian specialty. I tried it many times and often choked until my face turned red and water came out of my nostrils. Whenever I go to a friend’s house in India, I only drink bottled water. If there is no disposable cup, they will pretend that they are not thirsty, secretly swallow and spit, and dare not touch other people's cups for fear of violating taboos. The weather is too hot, and the sweat glands in the body become big funnels, so it’s impossible not to drink water. I drank four or five bottles of mineral water a day. The water quickly gushed out from my skin before it stayed in my stomach for a few minutes. My mouth was still extremely dry.
India also has various types of air conditioners. When the weather is hot, there is a serious shortage of electricity, making it almost impossible to ensure that the air conditioner works properly.
Indians can live without refrigerators, but they cannot live without generators. If you can't afford one with high output power, buy a small one that can at least drive an electric fan. In order to ensure normal business, stores are equipped with generators, which are chained like dogs at the entrance of the store. It is said that there are at least 480,000 generators in New Delhi. When there is a power outage, the generators roar together, black smoke rises, and the entire city is smoking. The smoke blocked the strong light, the scalp no longer numbed, and the respiratory system was in trouble again. After finally staying up until night, the bed was still emitting the residual heat from the day, so I could only take a breath and endure it in a daze.
When you wake up in the morning, the temperature is 35 degrees Celsius again when you open your eyes. By noon, it has jumped to 42 degrees Celsius. People have to endure it minute by minute for four months. In July, the temperature reaches over 50 degrees Celsius. The news media began reporting on the deaths. The death toll is growing every day. At this time, the brutal heat wave gradually hollowed itself out in its brutality.
In a few days, the monsoon rain will come in a big way. After a few battles with the heat, the heat disappeared without a trace. People were resurrected in the rain. This is the time when Indians are at their most energetic. In the following days, Indians made full arrangements for festivals and celebrated them calmly and lively, one after another.
The knowledge of shaking one's head
Indians have very rich body language, which can easily confuse foreigners who are new to the country. When you want to take a Scooter to go somewhere on the street, the driver will always shake his head at you and then look straight ahead. It makes people think that Indian drivers don’t like foreigners. Indian drivers also complained secretly, saying that Indians are inefficient, but they didn't expect foreigners to take such a long time getting on the bus. When foreigners go to the store to buy mineral water, the store owner still shakes his head and yells at the waiter, but still concentrates on sorting out the accounts. When the foreign customers left angrily, the shop owner felt puzzled while my waiter was busy preparing different brands of mineral water. Why did the customer just leave? Isn't this a waste of time?
The reason for the confusion between both parties lies in a simple action: shaking the head. Indians tilt their heads to indicate "got it" or "ok". Foreigners did not understand the meaning of this action at first. A Western journalist based in India recounted his own embarrassing experience: "On the first day I came to work in India, I gave a few words to the employees. I said, 'I hope today is the beginning of a long and good working relationship between us,'" They all shook their heads. I continued, 'I hope to get your full help after I take office in India.' They shook their heads again, but I continued, 'As long as we carry forward the team spirit, I believe our work will be excellent,' they shook their heads enthusiastically, I really don't know what I did wrong..." Only if you live in India for a long time can you understand the meaning of these body movements.
Chinese people are accustomed to carrying things on their shoulders, while Indians like to carry things on their heads. I often see Indian women carrying a bundle of firewood or a water jug, even if there is a wooden prong smaller than a hat. His arms moved leisurely through the air. The man carried a sack weighing hundreds of kilograms and still walked as fast as he could. When carrying bricks or even refrigerators, you have to use your head. Over time, this makes the cervical vertebrae of Indians flexible and developed, and the frequency of use is extremely high. Indians understand that nodding means agreeing and shaking their heads means denying, but they rarely use these movements. Instead, they are used to shaking their heads to the sides of their shoulders. This action contains multiple pieces of information. It can mean "OK, not bad, it'll work". In conversation, it means "I'm listening to you, I understand what you're referring to, I understand", but it doesn't necessarily mean "I agree with you." point of view". This probably reflects the ambiguity of Indian culture.
Once, when I was photographing a national leader, I wanted to get closer, so I told the Indian police my request, and the policeman shook his head at me. I thought the other party agreed to my request, so I quickly crossed the cordon with gratitude. Unexpectedly, the policeman pounced on me and took me back. I asked in surprise, "Didn't you agree?" The policeman rolled his eyes at me and asked sternly: "Who said that?"
Indians are optimistic by nature and like to chat and laugh at themselves. They believe that sometimes actions are more powerful than words. Body language can convey a richer message. It’s just a pain for foreigners who have just arrived in India. Once foreigners understand "shaking their heads and shaking their heads", it is also a very useful "sharp tool". It can at least blur its own perspective and gauge the other person's reaction.