the hussy of ahmedabad

So Ahmedabad, and I think Gujarat over all, is a really morally conservative state. I think I've mentioned that alcohol is prohibited out of respect to Gandhi since he was from this state. When I first moved in with my roommates, they told me that we weren't allowed to have guys stay the night at our flat, and it doesn't really matter who they are what relationship there is, just no guys. They said if we did, everyone would find out about it and it would be difficult for us to find another flat in the future. I didn't give it much thought at the time; I didn't think it would be a problem. I was somewhat shocked, when watching a Hindi film, that a young guy and girl started living together in her flat. But my friends said, that's in Bombay, you can do anything there.

Well, now I've started dating a guy from my Hindi class. He is from Iraq which is apparently more liberal than most of us Americans think and apparently a lot more liberal than this area. I really didn't know what to expect when we started talking. I assumed most women would wear the burqa or some other kind of conservative muslim covering, but he says some women may wear a head scarf to cover their hair, but otherwise they wear western clothes similar to what we wear in the US. He says that about 80% of Iraqis wanted Sadaam gone and a lot of the remaining were affiliated with terrorists, so it seems most Iraqis aren't very angry at the US like I had anticipated. He says most areas of his country are pretty safe except for Anbar province to the east where terrorists come from the surrounding countries. But he blames the media in the US and Iraq for depicting each other inaccurately.

So earlier, Haider lived in a muslim area in the old city. There was a big muslim holiday Mushara near his flat where there was a big parade with big floats. This went late into the night, and as his flat was far from mine, he suggested I stay there overnight. Since he has lived alone in Ahmedabad, I don't think he was as aware as the no opposite sex staying overnight rule. I asked if he was sure it was ok, he said yes, so I stayed. Well, a few days after that his landlord, who stays above him, that I couldn't stay overnight or Haider would have to leave. The landlord said this was because of his kids...right...because little kids are so observant of this kind of thing..

So Haider decided he would leave, for a number of reasons, so he found a flat in the new city, closer to his university. One night after staying out late for dinner and a movie, we came back to his place. As it was getting late, he suggested I stay there for the night. I asked if it would be ok with his landlord; he didn't know but decided he'd deal with that later. So now, the last time I went to his flat, it was around 10 pm and we just stopped to pick up something, his landlord who lives above was looking down from her balcony, said something in Gujarati that I could not stay the night. So that is how it is here, and now after my roommates' initial warning, I've experienced it first hand here. But as I've said, it is particularly conservative here. Other parts of the country are not like this, but I suppose some may be worse as well.