Incredible India!

I thought long and hard about how I should start this blog because it seems as though every time I sit down to write about a country I just want to say… “Well this has been the best country so far”…. But honestly… India has BY FAR been the best country that I have visited on this voyage. There just are not really words that can describe the way that India feels, smells, looks, sounds, and tastes. It is truly a different experience than anything I have ever come into contact with. South Africa and Brazil were just as amazing, but India was just such a different kind of amazing. Being in India and seeing the poverty and tasting the food and hearing the busy traffic noises for myself was so much different than anything that I have ever read about the country and anything I was even prepared for. INDIA IS INTENSE. There is no other way to describe it. Intense in a good way, but intense. I am going to attempt to do the country some justice in the following paragraphs and I have no idea if I am going to be successful or not, but here we go.

The Explorer (my ship, of course) arrived in Chennai (formerly Madras) on March 9th. The ship had been preparing for our arrival in India by prepping us emotionally and physically. The crew was busy before our arrival laying and taping down plastic and cardboard all over the carpets on the ship to prevent them from the dirt that we would be tracking in from the city. We were being prepped on the illnesses that we needed to be aware of and also being prepped on cultural issues as well. We were told not to wear sandals when we left the ship, we were told how to dress to show respect for Indian culture, and it was strongly suggested we covered shoulders and wear skirts down to our knees. (Which by the way in the 100 degree heat is of course so fun and functional…) Even with all of the slightly scary things that the ship had to prepare us for, I still could not wait to just dive right into India and that’s exactly what I did.

We arrived at the dock at about 9 AM and were told that we would be in for quite a long wait as our ship cleared customs. I had no idea how long “long” was supposed to be, but I think all of the passengers on board were in for quite a surprise. The ship finally cleared by about 2 PM, which is an eternity when you are anxious to get off the ship. I had a SAS day trip that I was signed up to attend, so I was actually let off the ship before it cleared so we could keep out scheduled itinerary. My trip was for my Sociology of the Family class and I went to a seminar on poverty and gender issues.

This program looked at issues facing Indian women and Indian families. Although the seminar part of the practicum was interesting, the most valuable part of this program was actually going into some of the areas where the poorest of the poor of India lived and having the opportunity to interact with the families.

During the seminar, the two women that spoke said for a family of five to be considered as living below the poverty line they must earn less than $300 per month. The women went on to further say that there are 251.9 million people in India that fall into this category. This statistic simply blew my mind. It is so difficult get my mind around that number and even be able to visualize what five people can do with $300 a month, and then take that idea and multiply that number by 251.9 million. With these statistics still fresh in my mind I started walking into the “neighborhoods” where these families lived I really did not know what I expect. I walked over filthy garbage heaps and watched women pump water from a pump on the side of the road. Only a few feet away from the woman I watched a child defecate on the side of the road, and simply watched as nothing was done to clean up the waste. I watched and listened to TVs as I walked through the narrow paths that led deeper into the neighborhood.

As we walked deeper and deeper into the neighborhood, more and more people came out of their homes to try to learn about whom these people were that have come to visit the place in which they were living. I really was not able to communicate much with the families due to the language barrier, however, it was easy for me to observe what was happening in front of me.

After the day trip I got back to the ship and decided to go out to dinner with some of my friends. We hired a rickshaw and went whizzing off the hotel that we told the driver to go to. I had never driven in a rickshaw before and wow was in for a treat! Driving in India is quite interesting. There are lines painted on the roads, but most of the time they are only “suggestions”, there are traffic lights, but most people don’t follow them, and there are horns on every type of moving vehicle (mostly motorcycles, mopeds, and very small cars) that is on the road and the drivers use them constantly. Yes, it sounds like chaos, but I loved it. Its like driving on the DC Capital Beltway times 100. We finally arrived at dinner after a few close calls with cows (yes, they stand in the middle of the road in India) and a few other close calls with cars, and started exploring the hotel where we would be eating. We happened to stumble upon an Indian wedding reception that was taking place and somehow managed to get ourselves (a group of 9) invited to the reception. We talked to the brother of the groom and asked him all kinds of questions about arranged marriages in India. It was fascinating to learn about how they work.

We ended up not staying at the reception very long since we were wearing jeans and t-shirts and just had dinner by ourselves. We ate at this outside restaurant with local music and dancing. It was so awesome. I came back to the ship that night and then packed for my trip to the Taj. My roommate had to get up at 4:30 to leave for her Taj trip so we both were trying to get everything together as fast as we could because we were both delirious from the long day and what was lying ahead of us.

The next day I headed off to the airport with my group to catch our flight to Delhi (the capital of India and a city with a population of 18 million!!!) The airport in Chennai was quite interesting and actually pretty western looking. In the security check point lines males and females are divided into separate lines because is it quite improper for a man to have to do a security pat down on a woman. We actually had to go behind a special curtain and get more or less frisked by Indian women in uniforms while our bags were going through the x-ray machines about 10 feet away from us. One girl on my trip actually had her bag stolen because we were not able to stay with our bags. The flight was quite turbulent and I got the feeling that we might have had a young crew because there were just some small things that a more experienced crew might have been able to correct, but hey, we arrived safely in Delhi about 2.5 hours later and that’s all that matters. We had a quick lunch in Delhi and then boarded an express train for Agra (the city where the Taj is located). The train ride was truly an experience. Indian trains have 5 classes in which you can travel and we traveled on the 2nd to the lowest class because they wanted to allow us to see how many Indians travel. We were in open non air conditioned cars with loads of Indians packed in with us. There were children that were barefoot that were dancing and playing drums in the isles hoping for a few rupees from us. The armed guards that often passed through the cabins would hit and scream at them and tell them to move along if they had bothered us for to long. We could not communicate with many of the people on the train however it was really interesting to watch them watch us. We literally just started at each other for 3 hours. We finally arrived in Delhi and got to our hotel and I crashed because I was so tired.

I received a wake up call at 5 AM so we could get ready for our viewing of the Taj at sunrise (!!!!) Even though I was more tired that I ever thought possible I dragged myself out of bed with a smile on my face because I knew what the day had in store for me. The Taj is located in a park that you cannot drive into so we walked along the long path that leads to the gates that allow you into the magnificent monument. (Actually, it is a magnificent tomb.) Many people do not realize that the Taj was built by an emperor who lost his wife while she was giving birth to their 14th child. He promised to build her something as beautiful as she was and lived up to his promise. One of the couple’s jealous sons who wanted to be emperor put his father in prison across the river from the Taj before the tomb was completed. The emperor had to watch as his beloved monument was being built from his jail cell. He actually wanted to build a tomb identical to the one that he had build for his wife across the river in matching black marble, however he died and his dream never happened. Today the bodies of the emperor and his wife are inside the main building at the Taj.

Anyway… back to the morning sunrise viewing. We were the first group to arrive at the monument and were the first inside the gates. We again had to be separated into male and female lines to be allowed inside. Once we got in and were the only group inside I started to realize where I actually was. I have always dreamed about going to the Taj and there it was actually in front of me!! I shot almost an entire roll of film and took about 20 digital pictures with no one in front of the building. It was simply beautiful. The sun began to rise and more and more people came into the park and it got more and more crowded. We walked around for about an hour and then headed back to the hotel for breakfast and the starting of our day’s agenda.

The rest of the day was filled with sight-seeing (or “sight-thinking” as our academic dean calls it) and we visited various different sites in and around Agra. Later that night we went back to the Taj to view it again at sunset. This time there were many, many people there and I actually watched a couple get engaged in front of the Taj. Their entire family was there to celebrate with them and everyone was cheering. It was such a beautiful setting as the sun started hitting the white marble and began to reflect on the reflecting pool. I had a moment where I just closed my eyes and reopened them several times to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.

After the sunset Taj trip we headed back to the train station for our trip back to Delhi. This time we rode on the 2nd to the highest class. I have to admit that even though we had air conditioning and our own seats, the ride to Agra in the lower class train was much more fun to be with the local people.

The next morning we woke up around 7:30 (which is sadly starting to feel like sleeping in for me) and took a city tour. We drove by many of the government parliament buildings and many of the ministry buildings that help to serve the country. We also drove by the building where President Bush held his meeting with the Prime Minister of India just two days before. We also stopped at a Gandhi museum to visit the place that he was assassinated. There were lots of children that were performing for us outside of the museum and we also saw a snake charmer with cobras. I was beginning to think that it was only rumors that snake charmers were in India, however he was right in front of me and told me to put the one of the snakes around my neck. I declined. After a busy morning we went back to the airport for our flight back to Chennai.

Since you have read this far and are probably tired of reading I will wrap it up by saying that India was simply a place that was truly incredible. I was amazed at the kindness and hospitality of the Indian people and I would love to come back someday to be able to travel more within the country. Five days and three cities simply was not enough India for me.

As always, thank you to all for your love and support as I have been on this voyage. Things have been going remarkably well and I cannot believe how fast time has been going. My next port of call will be Myanmar (formally Burma) and then Vietnam. Believe it or not, my mom is flying to Vietnam to meet my ship!! Yes, my mom and I will be taking on Ho Chi Mihn City. I will continue to post these blogs throughout the next few ports and hope that you continue to read and enjoy them. I hope all is well at home. Keep your wonderful e-mails coming as I love hearing from you.

Thanks for your love and support.