Comprehending India *

The thought of trying to describe India in this blog is absolutely daunting. The things I experience are more then difficult to put into words. We docked in Chennai, on the east coast of India; upon arrival, a stench so intense, and so thick filled out lungs and went straight to my stomach. I’m now nervous for this adventure.

My first day I have no plans, so we venture into Chennai, a city that doesn’t even meet the air quality standards for India, which has the lowest in the world. We walk off the gangway and are immediately hit with a feeling of confusion. We’re swarmed by men offering us rides around the city in their rickshaws and taxis. Overwhelmed. We settle on a driver and head out to do some shopping. The mall is more like an indoor street shop. There are a bunch of small cramped shops packed to the brink with pashminas, saris, and hundreds of other tourist type goods as well as your daily needs.. pots and pans, luggage, and birthday cards. Some halls led to another section of shopping, others led you to a dead end. At no point did we have a clear idea of where we were within the mall. But we found our way out and once again began the wrangle for a rickshaw.

Now, let me tell you about these rickshaws. Think of a motorcycle, with three wheels, with a top over it. We saw our lives flash before our eyes on a momentary basis while clinging for safety. Your also lucky if your driver actually brings you to where you want to go. Its likely he wont, which we began to accept. We take shelter in the safe confines of our ship until we feel prepared enough to venture out again. Our next little adventure throws us through the ringer. We are taken to about 3 places we don’t want to go and never end up in the place we intended on reaching. Frustrated and on edge.. we realize this is India, take a deep breathe a move on.

Always an adventure with semester at sea. We found relaxation and ease in the confines of our floating home and spent the rest of the night reflecting and taking everything in. A few hours later at about 330 in the morning I made my way to the airport on a trip to Delhi/Agra/ Taj Mahal. The airport security separated men from women, which we would find to be a common aspect of Indian life. On arrival to Delhi we are greeted by our tour guides and start our city tour. Exhausted from our first day out in Chennai and an early wake up call, we struggled to stay awake while our guide spit out facts about the city and the culture. We would have a long day of traveling ahead of us, including a 5 hour drive to Agra; but we would see a lot of city life in Delhi although through the window of our tour bus. Our first stop was at Qutab Mahal, a religious site with amazing architecture and detail.

Next stop was at a Cashmere shop.. we were given tea and biscuits and were shown these amazing hand crafted wool and silk rugs that were just absolutely gorgeous.. they started at about 600 dollars and ran up to 20, 000 plus, sorry mom, out of my price range. Lunch was at a catering hall with a buffet style Indian meal and it was back on the bus.. We get to our hotel after a solid 5 hour bus ride.. Our hotel was beautiful. After seeing poverty all day its hard to just walk into a five star hotel without thinking about what we had been seeing and experiencing all day. We had delicious food, more then any of us could ever eat..
and hung around the hotel until our wake up call at about 4 30am. We would see the Taj for the first time at sunrise. Our bus took us as close as it could to the Taj where we would be escorted by ‘battery buses’. Because the area around the Taj is a eco friendly zone, there is no diesel buses etc. allowed near it.

Nearing the front gate we receive shoe coverings that we would need to put on to step up on the Taj to preserve the marble. The Taj Mahal is incredible. I know a lot of my describing seems so general but its so hard to articulate a lot that I’ve experienced here. It is unlike any place I’ve ever been. When we reach the actual Taj Mahal building, we throw on our shoe covers, a lot of people take their shoes off as well, stacks of shoes line the walkway to the stairwell. We climb the stairs and we are on the Taj. An experience unlike any other.. In the morning the majority of the people there were semester at sea students.. but we would return later that day to catch the sunset and the vibe would be totally different from the morning visit. After the Taj we headed back to the bus and its back to the hotel for another amazing meal.. After we head out to Fatepor Sikri, this is an abandon city built buy the same creator of the Taj Mahal. It was an interesting little collection of buildings, corridors, and towers.. we explored and found abandoned buildings, pitch black halls and some monkeys too.

It was incredible how many animals I saw while in India.. the amount might even rival my African safari.. elephants, camels, bulls, buffalo, dogs and cows. And the cows. Wow. Cows just wandering the city like it was a grassy field. Because cows are holy here, they are not used for their meat and their use for work is beginning to be unnecessary though we did see some pulling wagons around the city. Nothing I’ve realized in this write up will do any justice to my visit.. my pictures aren’t much better in terms of portraying an experience. There is only one way to understand India and that is to be there. Although I’m not sure whether understand is the right word.. because I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. So we visit Fatepor Sikri, grab lunch and head off to Agra Fort. We don’t spend too much time here, it’s a lot of ground to cover and we don’t have to much time.. So we’re back on the bus and we’re wrapping up our Taj tour on a sunset visit. The experience of the Taj now, with hundreds of more people, is a totally different experience. The light has changed, the mood is new.. it’s just not the same as before. The walk back to the bus this time proves to be an experience all of its own. Men and children swarm us, selling us souvenirs .. tshirts, post cards, jewelry, etc. Insistent doesn’t even begin to describe the persistence of these sellers. We get to the bus and head to the bus station with our boxed dinners.

The train station would be without a doubt one of the more intense interactions I would have with India. We collect food to give to kids.. I have a box in my hand as I walk off the bus, and my stomach is in my throat, nervous for whats to come. I hand out oranges and juices and sandwiches the light in their faces illuminates and my knots untie, I feel like I want to do more but im out of food. I start breaking up breakfast bars and handing them out. The kids will take the food and run and hide so the other kids don’t steal it from them. A train comes through the station, packed like I’ve never seen a train packed before. Hands and arms hang from windows and doorways. All you can do is watch, purely astounded. Our two hour train ride is a necessary time for me to take in what I’ve just gone through, I write to help get out whatever it is that is choking me up. There’s only so much you can put into words sometimes.

On arrival back to Delhi we reach our hotel late, yet another amazing hotel and with all we’ve seen today, shaking the guilt of staying in a lavish hotel is a task and a half. This hotel takes us out of the India we just saw.. am I in vegas.. a mall? I don’t know, we find a club down a hall of the lobby and spent the night dancing to Indian techno. The next morning we met up for an afternoon wrap up tour of Delhi. We saw some sacred sites.. but the lack of sleep on the trip was starting to catch up with everyone so staying awake was one of the toughest parts. We stopped at the Gandhi memorial and eventually headed to the airport for our flight back to Chennai. After a few delays, we made our way to our plane and had a two hour flight to Chennai, and an hour bus ride later we arrived, exhausted to the MV Explorer.

The next day I woke up early to get in one more full day in Chennai. We ventured out, did some serious shopping, bargaining, and felt much more confident in our Indian explorations. Our rickshaw driver stayed with us the whole day and showed us some of the city we’ve yet to see.
We stopped at a temple that was really cool to see, we took our shoes off and our tour guide gave us markings on our foreheads.. he did a really great job of letting us in on the culture and explaining everything to us. We got back on the ship in time to get some much anticipated ship food and at 11 we were departing from port.

I’m still processing everything I experience in India. Its hard to express a lot of what I saw and felt, we had a post-port open mic the next day after India where people came and shared stories and encounters and interactions. It was a really great thing to do because people were able to put into words things that I had been unable to do, and I felt a definite lift off my chest after the session which just shows how important it is to talk about these events that we go through and share them with people who may have been feeling the same way. India was such a growing experience and its hard not to describe any other way but culture shock. In two days I’ll be in Malaysia where I’ll be doing a three day homestay, which I’m beyond excited for because I was unable to do as much service work as I felt I should’ve in India. Stay tuned for more stories and adventures.. and I’ll leave you with this poem I wrote..

India Untitled

Boxes stacked high on the backs of beaten bikes, Children at my feet, starving.
Hand to mouth, tear filled eyes.
Millions of motorcycles moving,
Dodging pedestrians donned in Saris.
Fields festering with garbage,
An Indian safari, Squatters,
Our taxi driver points, “poor mans house”, Holy Cows, The MV Explorer discount.
Taj Mahal, wondering what it means to me.
Sidewalk barbershops,
Garbage lines the streets we walk;
Animals eat,
People rummage.
Feet caked in dirt,
Body cased in an unfamiliar odor.
Trains packed to the brink,
Arms, legs hanging from windows and doors.
The uneasy feeling that fills my stomach When I see the kids who have nothing in theirs.
India spells culture shock.