India :)
India was great, a lot was seen and felt. We arrived in Chennai, and I was excited!!! More excited than I had ever been about India or thought I would be. I think it was because I was excited to experience the differences. Differences in music, religion, dress, food, etc. But at the same time I didn’t know what to expect. And so as we disembarked and hopped on the shuttle that would take us to the entrance of the gate that would lead us into Chennai, my excited anticipation grew especially as I waited for Indian officials to clear me and allow me to enter their city, their country. After customs cleared us, a number of taxi and rickshaw drivers approached us. The rickshaws are three wheeled mini vehicles that seat 3 passengers plus the driver up in the front. They are a great mode of transportation and cheaper too. But more so, they are perfect for the environment considering the amount of people that inhabit India—1.2 billion people in India today. Therefore, it would be unrealistic for everyone to own cars hence many ride public transportation like the bus, train, taxi, rickshaws and the scooters. Oh I saw the cutest scooters, they’re not exactly motorcycles but they are just as cool and also more fashionable I would say, they come in different colors like pink! I do have to admit, that the air was thick, it was a bit hard to breathe throughout our 24 Kilometer ride to the airport. The different odors were not very welcoming. The sky looked a grayish brown and well it took some adjusting.
So our first stop was lunch. We were hesitant to eat everything and anything, because we were really not trying to get sick. We’ve all had horrible stomach situations while traveling: Sam in Guate. Gaby and I in Salvi. We were not trying to get sick in India especially because we knew the bathroom situation would not be that comfortable. So, we shared a meal that we didn’t even finish! And ordering was embarrassing, but what could we do, there was a language barrier. Oh man! It was funny though, to me at least. And the Naan, I LOVE Naaaan, so good! But yeah, so we headed to the airport, we were on our way to New Delhi with the tour company, Global Citizens. In New Delhi, we visited Ghandi’s ashes held at Rajghat. We walked around the great park. We paid homage to Ghandi’s wife’s ashes and memorial and then continued to Ghandi’s ashes. It was a surreal moment for me, I was in India and I was at Ghandi’s burial sight. The great Bapu; the father of India, the one who fought peacefully for its independence. At the memorial grave sight, there were two men working at the memorial, one that swept the surrounding area and another who took care of making it pleasant to the eyes, shiny and colorful. He laid the colorful orange flowers on his tomb. What devotion, I thought. The incense burned and the flame flickered. Ghandi, you are a prime example of audacious courage and for your love of humanity who you believed had the right to a dignified life.
We hopped on a bus and traveled from New Delhi to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. I’m glad we rode a bus to Agra, instead of the train because of the different landscapes I learned about. They were not pretty, but I saw the transitions from city, to village to open spaces and then to city again. The poverty I saw, the street kids, the beggars (which were not as many as they had warned us about on the ship), the open wounds, the trash, the active littering, the dust, pollution, stray dogs and free cattle— this was all so real. But when I saw this, I was wrong to think that it defined their culture. This was their reality that they needed to navigate through. 1.2 billion people, it’s easy to conclude that this is all natural right? That this is their culture. I think not.
Every A Day, I meet with Dr. Phil, the physician on the ship. He’s from North Carolina and wants to improve his Spanish speaking skills, so he's asked me to practice Spanish with him. And so the A day following India, we met but, this day we did not speak in Spanish but decided to conversate in English in order to get our points across clearer about our experiences in India. Back when he was in college, he traveled in India for three months and so I asked him, how was India this time around compared to last time? He said, “You know, there was only one time I said, “that’s horrible” (speaking about a lady begging for money and her child in a large bowl near a construction area) this time was different. I didn’t see the poverty I see today that is widespread. I thought it will be difficult to ever again see the purity of culture without any western influence hovering over a country.” I told him that I saw many horrible sights. I thought: this is globalization.
We live in a globalized more technological savvy world, at the expense of the masses who live polarized away from the wealth of the elite and abandoned in the streets. And so he asked me, “Do you think the government should be responsible for giving them housing and other things?” I quickly said YES. The government takes, it has the duty to give. It is the responsibility of government to support its brethren, its citizens, that’s what he/she is there for, to provide for the people. Isn’t that what a democracy is: for the people and of the people? (I’m not using the US as a prime example of this, because we know that’s not true). How can we conclude that it is the culture of Indians to live among filth then? The government is to provide communities with proper infrastructure for example, such as the building of sewage systems and access to education and environmental sustainability, or how else does a society flourish? However, if it is not given, then it is up to the people, but even then, you can only do so much without access and viable tools to change the situation, especially if you want to do it with peaceful measures. Ghandi’s tactics would not work in today’s context. These were also the things I thought about as I rode the bus to Agra.
When we arrived to Agra, the sun was setting and we hurried to get to the Taj Mahal. I think that the anticipation walking there was the best. I remember being on the phone with Sam before the trip, and him telling me “We’re going to the Taj” and me not getting it because at that point he and Gaby did not think they would be doing the program after all. So when he told me we would be going together on this voyage, oh man! Was I happy! And so I remember that moment, and now the time had come, we were seeing the Taj Mahal, one of the 7th wonders of the world. The white marble building described as “the jewel of Muslim art.” Built in the name of love by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan who lost his third wife Mumtuz Mahal while she was giving birth. And yes, it was beautiful. But boy oh boy was it crowded. As we all took pictures, we had to hurry to the entrance of the Taj because there was a long line and in order to see the inside of the building well, it needed to be daylight. And so we reached the entrance as the sun was setting and the inside was dark, there was no light within and the officers inside whistled at us to do our round and exit the building as quickly as possible. It was quite unfortunate actually, because it was so quick and dark inside even though the sun had not fully set that I was not able to really appreciate its beauty. Perhaps if we had stayed there for an hour or so, it would have been better. At the end of the day it is a building. But like I said, it was great to be there because it was an experience we had been looking forward to since the beginning. A sight that we would share together and proof that we indeed made it here, to the other side of the world. We were in India.
That night, we rode an overnight train. I didn’t know what to expect. It wasn’t what you have perhaps heard about; there were no people on top of the train. But anyway, it was a sleeper train so we had a bed. It wasn’t bad at all, just for a moment when there was a cockroach crawling right next to me. I did not freak out though, I just moved and tried to kill it. I was unsuccessful however, and then a local just shooed it away and it landed somewhere else. My sleepiness however, quickly took over me and I forgot about it. I woke up the next day in Varanasi. I liked Varanasi. We were taken around and I really liked being there and experiencing the city, since we had been traveling for the first two days.
That evening we attended an evening ceremony at the Ganges River, a sacred sight for the Hindu Religion. There are cremation ceremonies held at the Ganges, at the Great Cremation Ground, where the body and spirit is granted instant salvation when cremated there or when their ashes are dispersed in the river, he/she then ascends from earth to heaven. Every Hindu who dies wishes to be cremated there, and/or wishes to visit the Ganges at least once in their lifetime. We hopped on a boat to see the ceremony better; I didn’t quite understand everything that was going on. I knew that it was a Brahman ceremony performed for the Gods, and I was grateful to be there but I felt like such a tourist in such a scared place, witnessing a holy ceremony while trying to understand it. I thought about all the Hindu devotees who have yet to arrive and visit the Ganges. And here I was, clueless. I was glad to be part of this, but still (I’m currently reading more about all this, so I can better comprehend what I saw). The following morning, we saw the sunrise at the Ganges River. We rode a boat and it was quite a sight, one that will remain in my mind. It was not only the sunrise, but it was the devotion I witnessed as devotees approached the river to bathe, wash their clothes and drink this water which to them was holy. They were purified.
That night we flew back to Chennai. Two days left in India, what would it be like I thought? I had been travelling for four days, so I had not really immersed myself in one place or culture so my experience thus far was different, I was hoping for more interaction with the locals to learn more. At this point I was getting used to the weather, the smells and the air. As we drove into the city the next day, into the center of Chennai, I really enjoyed it. We spoke to locals; we got to know their stories. On one evening we entered a silk shop at Spenser’s mall and spoke to the owner for about 2 hours. We spoke about the Muslim and Hindu culture; the political situation in India, the relationship between India and China; nursing homes (how can anyone put their parents in a nursing home? He asked.); spoke about the British influence on the partition of India and Pakistan; the poverty in India and who will be the next Ghandi? We also spoke about the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, which is under Indian rule right now. Throughout our different conversations, we also discussed the US influence in Indian politics and economy. Ohh U.S. when will you cease to meddle in other’s affairs? When we demand it to stop I suppose.
We also ran into a group of law school young ladies from Kerala, the first state to have a democratically elected communist party in rule for years after independence. They were in Chennai to present a paper at a seminar on property rights, which is growing in India today. They were so cool!! Definitely need to visit Kerala one day. That night, I realized that the few places I had been to— New Delhi, Agra and Varanasi, were not a representation of all of India. India is indeed so huge, very diverse and each region represents a different culture, a different way of life. I have so much I have yet to see, so many places I want to visit including Kashmir, Kelera, Jaipur, Calcutta, New Delhi (more in depth). One day I hope to come back to these different places and great country.
My last day in Chennai was spent with our rickshaw driver: Johnny. Johnny had been driving 30 years now. He was very used to tourists and visitors, he even had a notebook full of people who had written him a note, it was sort of like a yearbook. He took us around town to different shops and temples and it was real nice to walk around. Johnny was very nice and sweet. It was a great way to end our stay in India, in the company of a great man. Until next time.
P.S. Please do not refer only to Slumdog Millionaire when you think or speak of India, because it’s definitely not a universal representation of India.
So our first stop was lunch. We were hesitant to eat everything and anything, because we were really not trying to get sick. We’ve all had horrible stomach situations while traveling: Sam in Guate. Gaby and I in Salvi. We were not trying to get sick in India especially because we knew the bathroom situation would not be that comfortable. So, we shared a meal that we didn’t even finish! And ordering was embarrassing, but what could we do, there was a language barrier. Oh man! It was funny though, to me at least. And the Naan, I LOVE Naaaan, so good! But yeah, so we headed to the airport, we were on our way to New Delhi with the tour company, Global Citizens. In New Delhi, we visited Ghandi’s ashes held at Rajghat. We walked around the great park. We paid homage to Ghandi’s wife’s ashes and memorial and then continued to Ghandi’s ashes. It was a surreal moment for me, I was in India and I was at Ghandi’s burial sight. The great Bapu; the father of India, the one who fought peacefully for its independence. At the memorial grave sight, there were two men working at the memorial, one that swept the surrounding area and another who took care of making it pleasant to the eyes, shiny and colorful. He laid the colorful orange flowers on his tomb. What devotion, I thought. The incense burned and the flame flickered. Ghandi, you are a prime example of audacious courage and for your love of humanity who you believed had the right to a dignified life.
 |
| "I would like to see India free and strong so that she may offer herself as a willing and pure sacrifice for the Betterment of the World."- Ghandi |
We hopped on a bus and traveled from New Delhi to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. I’m glad we rode a bus to Agra, instead of the train because of the different landscapes I learned about. They were not pretty, but I saw the transitions from city, to village to open spaces and then to city again. The poverty I saw, the street kids, the beggars (which were not as many as they had warned us about on the ship), the open wounds, the trash, the active littering, the dust, pollution, stray dogs and free cattle— this was all so real. But when I saw this, I was wrong to think that it defined their culture. This was their reality that they needed to navigate through. 1.2 billion people, it’s easy to conclude that this is all natural right? That this is their culture. I think not.
Every A Day, I meet with Dr. Phil, the physician on the ship. He’s from North Carolina and wants to improve his Spanish speaking skills, so he's asked me to practice Spanish with him. And so the A day following India, we met but, this day we did not speak in Spanish but decided to conversate in English in order to get our points across clearer about our experiences in India. Back when he was in college, he traveled in India for three months and so I asked him, how was India this time around compared to last time? He said, “You know, there was only one time I said, “that’s horrible” (speaking about a lady begging for money and her child in a large bowl near a construction area) this time was different. I didn’t see the poverty I see today that is widespread. I thought it will be difficult to ever again see the purity of culture without any western influence hovering over a country.” I told him that I saw many horrible sights. I thought: this is globalization.
We live in a globalized more technological savvy world, at the expense of the masses who live polarized away from the wealth of the elite and abandoned in the streets. And so he asked me, “Do you think the government should be responsible for giving them housing and other things?” I quickly said YES. The government takes, it has the duty to give. It is the responsibility of government to support its brethren, its citizens, that’s what he/she is there for, to provide for the people. Isn’t that what a democracy is: for the people and of the people? (I’m not using the US as a prime example of this, because we know that’s not true). How can we conclude that it is the culture of Indians to live among filth then? The government is to provide communities with proper infrastructure for example, such as the building of sewage systems and access to education and environmental sustainability, or how else does a society flourish? However, if it is not given, then it is up to the people, but even then, you can only do so much without access and viable tools to change the situation, especially if you want to do it with peaceful measures. Ghandi’s tactics would not work in today’s context. These were also the things I thought about as I rode the bus to Agra.
When we arrived to Agra, the sun was setting and we hurried to get to the Taj Mahal. I think that the anticipation walking there was the best. I remember being on the phone with Sam before the trip, and him telling me “We’re going to the Taj” and me not getting it because at that point he and Gaby did not think they would be doing the program after all. So when he told me we would be going together on this voyage, oh man! Was I happy! And so I remember that moment, and now the time had come, we were seeing the Taj Mahal, one of the 7th wonders of the world. The white marble building described as “the jewel of Muslim art.” Built in the name of love by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan who lost his third wife Mumtuz Mahal while she was giving birth. And yes, it was beautiful. But boy oh boy was it crowded. As we all took pictures, we had to hurry to the entrance of the Taj because there was a long line and in order to see the inside of the building well, it needed to be daylight. And so we reached the entrance as the sun was setting and the inside was dark, there was no light within and the officers inside whistled at us to do our round and exit the building as quickly as possible. It was quite unfortunate actually, because it was so quick and dark inside even though the sun had not fully set that I was not able to really appreciate its beauty. Perhaps if we had stayed there for an hour or so, it would have been better. At the end of the day it is a building. But like I said, it was great to be there because it was an experience we had been looking forward to since the beginning. A sight that we would share together and proof that we indeed made it here, to the other side of the world. We were in India.
 |
| Their smiles, their hearts- shined ever so brightly like the garments they wore so beautifully. |
That evening we attended an evening ceremony at the Ganges River, a sacred sight for the Hindu Religion. There are cremation ceremonies held at the Ganges, at the Great Cremation Ground, where the body and spirit is granted instant salvation when cremated there or when their ashes are dispersed in the river, he/she then ascends from earth to heaven. Every Hindu who dies wishes to be cremated there, and/or wishes to visit the Ganges at least once in their lifetime. We hopped on a boat to see the ceremony better; I didn’t quite understand everything that was going on. I knew that it was a Brahman ceremony performed for the Gods, and I was grateful to be there but I felt like such a tourist in such a scared place, witnessing a holy ceremony while trying to understand it. I thought about all the Hindu devotees who have yet to arrive and visit the Ganges. And here I was, clueless. I was glad to be part of this, but still (I’m currently reading more about all this, so I can better comprehend what I saw). The following morning, we saw the sunrise at the Ganges River. We rode a boat and it was quite a sight, one that will remain in my mind. It was not only the sunrise, but it was the devotion I witnessed as devotees approached the river to bathe, wash their clothes and drink this water which to them was holy. They were purified.
First, be compassionate with self. And compassion for others will effortlessly flow out.
That night we flew back to Chennai. Two days left in India, what would it be like I thought? I had been travelling for four days, so I had not really immersed myself in one place or culture so my experience thus far was different, I was hoping for more interaction with the locals to learn more. At this point I was getting used to the weather, the smells and the air. As we drove into the city the next day, into the center of Chennai, I really enjoyed it. We spoke to locals; we got to know their stories. On one evening we entered a silk shop at Spenser’s mall and spoke to the owner for about 2 hours. We spoke about the Muslim and Hindu culture; the political situation in India, the relationship between India and China; nursing homes (how can anyone put their parents in a nursing home? He asked.); spoke about the British influence on the partition of India and Pakistan; the poverty in India and who will be the next Ghandi? We also spoke about the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, which is under Indian rule right now. Throughout our different conversations, we also discussed the US influence in Indian politics and economy. Ohh U.S. when will you cease to meddle in other’s affairs? When we demand it to stop I suppose.
We also ran into a group of law school young ladies from Kerala, the first state to have a democratically elected communist party in rule for years after independence. They were in Chennai to present a paper at a seminar on property rights, which is growing in India today. They were so cool!! Definitely need to visit Kerala one day. That night, I realized that the few places I had been to— New Delhi, Agra and Varanasi, were not a representation of all of India. India is indeed so huge, very diverse and each region represents a different culture, a different way of life. I have so much I have yet to see, so many places I want to visit including Kashmir, Kelera, Jaipur, Calcutta, New Delhi (more in depth). One day I hope to come back to these different places and great country.
My last day in Chennai was spent with our rickshaw driver: Johnny. Johnny had been driving 30 years now. He was very used to tourists and visitors, he even had a notebook full of people who had written him a note, it was sort of like a yearbook. He took us around town to different shops and temples and it was real nice to walk around. Johnny was very nice and sweet. It was a great way to end our stay in India, in the company of a great man. Until next time.
P.S. Please do not refer only to Slumdog Millionaire when you think or speak of India, because it’s definitely not a universal representation of India.
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