Out of India

Cyclists Pause Here on Journey Around the Globe

Wednesday, February 26, 1987

Two young men traveled out of India to explore the far corners of the Earth and found…Canarsie.

And seen through their eyes, Canarsie and the rest of New York City are exotic, a place they find both fascinating and puzzling.

Purushotham Hannappa and Prassanna Kumar are taking two or three years between college and career to see the world, covering much of the distance by bicycle. They see the adventure as a way to broaden their own minds so they can in turn enlighten their people about life outside India.

“A lot of the people (in India) are uneducated,” says Purushotham, the more articulate of the two — both of them learned to speak English in college. “Before we tell them anything, we should know something.”

The expedition is being sponsored by Lions Clubs along the travelers’ route, including several clubs in the Canarsie area. The travelers left their home city of Bangalore 15 months ago with only $500 each, the limit on what their government would let them take out of the country. Relying on the assistance of the Lions and others, the two have so far visited 12 countries.

For the past couple months they have been staying in Queens and — most recently — Canarsie, while they explored New York City. The city, they said, is “100 percent different” from Bangalore — which they meant both as a compliment and a criticism.

What they admire most about New York City is its mass-transit system and tall buildings. The skyline, said Purushotham, “is something special. And if you watch if from very far it is…” — he searched vainly for a more expressive word in English — “…something special.”

The subway system is “the best thing we’ve seen anywhere,: according to Purushotham. “Because of the subway, we’ve gotten this great familiarity (with the city). We never get lost — we just look at the map. The roads are laid out beautiful.”

And because English is the primary language here, it is the “easiest place to communicate” of all the stops on their journey so far (they have toured Africa and Western Europe).

Purushotham said he and his companion are “interested in this country — the people, the standard of living, the different languages here, how they do things in daily life, the industries, the technical advancements.”

Not surprisingly, they have formed some conclusions about New York City and its people. They envy certain social freedoms but find some behavior surprising and distasteful.

“Undiscipline among youth” seems to be a problem here, Purushotham said. “I’ve never found this anywhere in my journeys. They (the young people) like drugs, they smoke in the train, throw firecrackers in the train. They shout without any reason and disturb the other passengers. If we shout back at them, we’re afraid they would shoot us.”

In their own country, said the visitors, people are quieter and more respectful of strangers. “People are very nice there, and cooperative,” said Purushotham. There is a special respect shown to elders, something the travelers have seen little evidence of in New York City.

They complained also about the drug pushers they frequently encounter here. “That’s quite common on certain streets, like 43rd Street (in Manhattan),” said Purushotham.

New Yorkers tend to go out by themselves, whereas in India people generally do things with friends and family members, the men observed. American women are much more independent than women in their own country, they added.,

One thing they admire strongly about America is the freedom to date — and marry — individuals of one’s own choice. In India, spouses are chosen by parents, and someone who marries against the wishes of parents is usually disowned. The travelers said they are unhappy with their nation’s deep attachment to Hindu religious tradition, especially the system of caste and sub-caste — a many-layered ranking of social status — that comes into play so forcefully in the matter of marriage.

Prassanna told of a cousin who fell in love with a woman of lower caste and was disowned by his family: the distress led the cousin to attempt suicide by eating rat poison, Prassanna said.

Arranged marriages “seem peculiar now that we’ve seen the outside world,” added Purushotham. “I don’t believe in religion. I’m fed up with those things.”

The rejection by parents costs a young person not only “moral support” and “attachment” — very important for most Indians — but also the financial assistance that most young people need to survive, according to Purushotham. Even in Bangalore, the nation’s “best city in all respects,” it is hard for a young couple to support themselves alone, he said: several generations usually dwell in the same home.

They said the caste restrictions are gradually breaking down, but will probably persist for at least several more generations.

They spoke proudly of their home city, despite the restrictiveness of tradition and the high unemployment rate there. If they don’t find jobs that match their training — physics and chemistry for Purushotham, physical education for PRassanna — both would be happy to take up farming.

Bangalore, they said, is “the garden city of India.” It abounds with fine landscaping and, due to the presence of defense industry, enjoys a relatively high standard of living.

What about bazaars and elephants? Yes, they have those. The stereotypical Indian street market — jugglers and fire eaters and so forth — occurs only on special occasions, however. Elephants exist mostly in parks, although occasionally there will be news reports of “a wild elephant that comes and destroys the crops.”

Bangalore, they noted, “has some of the most beautiful movie theaters in the world.” Purushotham said “Hollywood movies” are very popular in India and are “one of the reasons we travel — to see those special places.”

Driven by that curiosity to circle the globe, they remain connected to India. Letters from their families exhort: “Don’t eat beef, don’t go after bad habits, don’t consume alcohol, be careful of AIDS.” The two men say the purpose of their traveling is to make them more effective leaders in India.

Purushotham seemed to have mixed feelings about returning to his homeland, however. “If I go back to India, I can’t be open-minded,” he said. “I have to do according to them, not according to me. I (will have to) think what I think, and that’s it.”

The two lately have been staying at the Canarsie Indian Palace, where they said they were given free room and board. They planned to leave New York this month for the warmer climate of America’s south coast — their first New York winter here has also been their first experience of cold weather. They planned to fly to Miami and then bicycle westward across America, traveling west to return to the East.

Learning more — both good and bad, for better and for worse — about faraway America.

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