Goats wearing cardigans!

Everyone's favorite topic of conversation right now in Delhi is the chilly weather. Men are donning sparkly (!) sweater vests and women are bundling layers of sweaters on top of saris and salwar kameez suits. This week I saw my favorite example of protection against the cold in Sangam Vihar--one of New Delhi's largest and oldest unauthorized neighborhoods--where I've been collecting data for my study on fruit and vegetable purchasing habits and preferences. Among dilapidated roads and smells that testify to the sewage and drinking water crisis in Sangam Vihar, I was amused to see dozens of goats looking grandmotherly in cardigans and sweaters. Almost every goat had one!

A young man walks his sweatered goat in Sangam Vihar. I tried to shoot a picture of this particular goat with his front legs up on a store counter, looking too human for comfort!

Sustainable community in the shadow of the Taj Mahal?

This Sunday, a friend and I woke up at 5 AM, fumbled into warm clothes, and drove out to some mustard fields just south of the Taj Mahal to watch six weddings take place simultaneously.

We were in a town called Dayalbagh, an "intentional" community near Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. The six brides all shared a ceremony. They were required to wear the same simple dress and yellow headscarf. The weddings took place in the fields at dawn, the time of day when everyone in the village puts in a few hours of agricultural work. In fact, my friend and I spent about 15 minutes pulling out weeds from among the mustard plants before we joined the crowd gathering around the wedding. The weddings don't take place every day--this was a special Sunday--so I'm more interested in writing about the weeding than the weddings.

Weeding in the fields at dawn in Dayalbagh.

I first learned about Dayalbagh at the Indian Horticultural Congress two weeks before, when I saw a poster about the sustainable cultivation practices there. The two women presenting the poster described an ideal community: Community members voluntarily work in the fields every morning, dowries are outlawed and women are empowered to organize sustainable industries, and solar panels power the university. It all sounded too good to be true! They urged me to visit.

My friend and I arrived late Saturday night to a delicious meal, complete with roti made from flour farmed in Dayalbagh and yogurt from cows we would visit the next morning. Our host was incredulous that we didn't make our own yogurt. She sent us back with a bit of her culture, and we're using it to make our own back in Delhi.

I had been dubious about whether people actually volunteered in the fields as the poster described. But when we woke up before dawn the next morning and drove out the fields, they were packed. Multiple trucks packed with fifty-plus people each headed through the fog to the fields. We weeded side by side with the director of the university and doctors--everyone had professions of different ranks, but became equal in the fields every morning.

Even after a day of touring the community, I still don't quite understand how it functions. I'll return in January to learn more!