My Journey in India

Hello All! Hope all is well back in the states, I just wanted to give you all a recap of my time in India.
My journey in India started about 2 weeks ago when we arrived in Chennai early morning on October 14th. Usually when we get to the dock it is a scramble to jump off the boat by way of the gangway but for Chennai we had a SAS sponsored trip planned so I decided to stay on the boat since my meeting time was at noon. Therefore the city of Chennai was pretty much a mystery to me until I returned from my journey around India on the last day. We did have an hour drive to the airport from the boat where we got a little taste of Chennai. At first, India was pretty much what I expected...there were lots of women in saris and insane traffic. We saw a group of Indian students on the bus next to us and they waved to us, making us feel welcomed by their warm smiles. Before arriving to the port, SAS had stressed that we dress modestly while in India. While I had no problem with this, as I saw it as a sign of respect for the Indian culture, I was still surprised to see how modestly all the people dressed. Sometimes SAS tends to exaggerate the cultural norms that exist in these countries but for this norm, SAS prepared us well. Even on the hottest of days all the women were covered in beautiful saris and there were little traces of Western fashion trends such as jean shorts and tank tops flooding the streets. It was a nice change of pace and I liked the challenge to make my wardrobe modest yet still comfortable in the heat for a week.
Arriving to the airport in these various countries is always exciting to me. I feel like airports are the one thing that I can rely on in all these countries to be the essentially the same. I feel like it is a safe haven in a sense yet there are still subtle differences in the variety of airports, such as the bathrooms as Amber talked about in her India recap (no toilets, no toilet paper, just holes in the ground!). Before we knew it we boarded our plane to Mumbai, then deplaned and loaded onto a bus that drove us literally in a circle and then to the plane directly next to our first plane. It seemed pointless but was a fun little adventure. We boarded our plane to Delhi; at this point I could not sleep anymore so Allison and I played an intense card game of Spit. In between our intense games we read Shantaram (a book that takes place in India). In fact everyone in our row on the plane was reading the same book. The flight attendants were so nice and insisted on getting us beverages or food. After a long flight we got off the plane and walked to our buses. Along the walkway to the buses there were hundreds of Indian men who were waiting for people to get off the plane, they stood with signs with people’s names on it and had the biggest smiles. We felt like we were thrown into the India culture immediately and it woke us all up with excitement. When we got to our buses we were given beautiful yellow-flowered leis. We drove to our hotel and our tour guide Sanjay introduced himself to us. He was very nervous about his English but we kept assuring him that we could understand him. Once arriving to the hotel red ash was placed on our forehead to welcome us into the hotel. We stayed at the Intercontinental which was very luxurious, somewhat unnecessary since we were only there for 6 hours but we took time to enjoy the luxurious bed, flat screen tvs, showers, and delicious food buffet (probably the best meal I have ever had...besides Mom's Santa Fe Pasta and Nanna and Pop-Pops spaghetti, of course). After having dinner, a group of us went to the hotel bar to unwind for a little before hitting the hay at around 2:00 am. I fell asleep watching an old episode of Grey's Anatomy which put me in touch with American culture.
My night sleep turned into a nap as we woke up at 4:00 am. We got dressed, modestly of course, and headed to the train station. When we walked onto the bus in the morning it was still dark making us all more aware of how early it was so on the way to the train we all dozed off a bit. However we were abruptly awaken when in the middle of traffic (which included rickshaws, buses, motorcycles, cows, dogs, people, and more) Sanjay announced that we would be getting off the bus and walking to the train station. It was crazy and immediately woke us all up. I was walking and staring at the gorgeous moon when all of the sudden someone yelled my name and as I turned around there was a car right behind me that was not going to stop. I quickly jumped out of the way and made it out clear. There were people everywhere at the train station; there were people sleeping and people carrying big bags. It was my first real sight into the poverty that I would begin to get used to. At that point I remember being so tired but so shocked at the same time. I felt uncomfortable and just wanted to get on the train but at the same time I was extremely curious to how that amount of people could be living on the streets without any sort of patrol.
The train ride was a pleasant surprised, I took advantage of my sleep mask for part of it but woke up just in time to see the sun rising over giant wheat fields, making me feel like I was in Kansas for a brief second. As we arrived to the train station we saw goats just grazing the fields and cows walking all around. When we got off the train we were immediately bombarded by children asking for money. One man bent down and started washing Allison’s shoes with his hands without her asking, she tried to walk away (because he would want money), but he just kept following her, it was a bit amusing and she gave him some money after. As we got on our bus, children would come up to the door just pointing to their mouths and asking for money. The emotions that this brings are unexplainable. I felt a strange reaction of both sympathy and uncomfort of which I would grow accustomed too. We stopped by a hotel for a quick lunch complete with the delicious nan which is toasted unleavened bread that you eat with curry sauce and it is delicious.
Then it was time for the....TAJ MAHAL. This was the site that I most looked forward to on Semester at Sea so I was itching with excitement. When you enter the Taj area there are huge red stone buildings with gorgeous tile work and then all of a sudden you enter one and you can see the giant white Taj through the archway. Once arriving to the Taj I stood there in awe, it was more beautiful then I could imagine. Sanjay organized a photographer to take a group and individual pictures in front of the Taj, and then we got to roam the gardens that lead up to the Taj. You have to put shoe covers on to enter the Taj, when you walk in it is dark, dimly lit, cold, and there are tombs that sit in the middle. We only spent a few minutes inside because the glory of the Taj is the outside architecture. After exploring it was time to let go of my red feather, which I did right in front of the Taj. It fell in a pool of water so my bright red feather tainted the perfectly kept grounds and crystal clear water that surrounded the Taj. I was a little nervous about getting in trouble but I think my little red feather added some color to the area. When leaving the Taj we were approached by some Indian woman whose husbands asked if we would take a picture with them, this was a common event during our week in India. When leaving the Taj we were bombarded by people selling everything from Taj Mahal t-shirts, key chains, Kama Sutra books, postcards, and bracelets. It is one of the most frustrating things because they come up to you and literally walk with you for a mile telling you to buy their things, after a while you can either get annoyed or just roll with it. When the kids came up to me I would always tell them to go ask my friends behind me or I would just talk to them for a little and joke around. Walking back to the bus, we say woman with their naked babies or children begging for money, It was moments like these that made India "India." As poor as these people were they had such richness to them that was beautiful. Once getting on the bus the sellers all poke their way through the door like sardines until the bus driver decides to close the door (once someone got stuck into he door!) and drive off.
By this point it was not even 12:00 and we had seen the Taj, I felt satisfied but knew my day was not complete. Then we headed to the Red Fort which was a beautiful fort made of red sandstone and featured large columns. It was very nice to walk around and mediate. One of my most prominent memories of India happened here. On my way in I had bought this fan made of peacock feathers, I’m not really sure what compelled me to buy it right there but I do love peacocks and thought it would be a good decoration and possibly keep me cool so I went for it. While walking around the fort (a bit tired) a little girl came out of the blue and asked us to take a picture with her. At first I thought the group of parents next to her was her family, but I later found out she was all alone. I was with my friend Kelly and we each took a picture with her and I showed her my peacock fan. She held it in the picture and then I took it out of its plastic covering and let her play with it. She became so happy and just kept giggling and smiling. I noticed as she was holding the fan that she was in clothes that were too small and dirty, her pants were not even zipped. But she just loved the peacock feathers, she kept tickling her face with the feathers and then she would come to Kelly and me and tickle our faces with the peacock feathers. She was so generous and sincere. After a while Kelly and I had to go, and I decided to give the girl the feather. We got up to start walking away and she immediately gave it back to me but I told her she could have it. Her eyes lit up even greater than before, she gently placed the fan back in the bag, and hugged it close to her body. She said thank you and gave us a hug, as she we walked away I realized she was by herself. She walked away down the long pathway towards the red building alone clutching the feather. As we walked away she looked back at me still smiling and skipping. I got a little teary-eyed after and when I look at the girl’s picture, I still get tears in my eyes. As poor as this child was, she had this wonderful joy and glorious happiness that radiated from her, she reminded me of a little peacock in her own right. I still can’t stop thinking about her. There are these powerful encounters that I have with children or people in these countries and then we leave and I can’t help but think what happens to them in 3 years or when they are my age. It is my deepest hope that they find happiness and comfort at some point but I am not naive to believe that this can always happen.
After this excursion we started our 6 hour drive to Jaipur. On our way there we stopped at another temple area. We were given free time so we just explored but then some local students, one of whom loved Michael Jackson, came up to us and told us to go with them to this mosque where we could make a wish. A big group of us followed the students who insisted on each being a tour guide to a specific individual. We had to take our shoes off and cover our hair in the mosque. They kept taking us all around this mosque area, it was crazy! They would lead us to one area and then lead us to another and we would say we wanted to go where our friends where and they would lead us in the complete other direction. We finally got to the wish wall and then wanted to head back to the bus but at that point they would not leave us alone and they wanted money but we did not bring any off the bus. We literally had to run with all our might to get away front hem and get back to the boat. It was on of the most intense but interesting experiences of the trip.
Afterwards we got on the bus and started our drive to Jaipur. After a while we stopped at a gas station and afterwards we started karaoke in the bus. We had iPod speakers and Sanjay gave us his microphone. After a while, we finally arrived to our hotel and enjoyed dinner. After a nice shower, we went to the lobby and got henna on our arms. Henna is a temporary tattoo (it only lasts for 20 days) that is brown and it usually wraps around your arms and is on your fingers. It was just one of the parts of the Indian culture we began to adopt during our adventure.
The next day we woke up early but it was well worth it because we got to ride elephants! Amber and I rode the same elephant named Mundi. Our elephant guide was really kind and he let me wear his turban and we all sang songs on our way up making our ride even more memorable. We took the elephants up to Amber Fort. The Fort was gorgeous; the outside was decorated in the most gorgeous floral design made from pastels. There was a giant Ganesha (one of the gods commonly found all around India that we all became obsessed with) and a whole wall full of mirrors. The Fort was so fun to play around in and explore, I felt like a little kid at Leaps and Bounds. Later that day we were taken to local markets so that we could shop. It was a neat experience because we got to see how all of our purchases were made. First we went to a jewelry store and we got to see how the gems were carved from the stones, then we got to walk around and look and try on all the fancy jewelry. Next we went to a rug store, right when we walked in one of the workers making the rug signaled for me to come sit by him and he taught me how to knit an Indian rug. It was so cool, but the man's hands worked fast so I had to make sure to pay attention so I could learn how to keep up! After a man showed us how they get images printed on fabric by using a series of these huge wooden stamps. Then we got to see all the steps it took to make a rug. After we were taken to a huge room where they laid out all the beautiful rugs so that we could see them and potentially make a purchase. Next they took us to this huge room with tons of fabrics, saris, scarves, pashminas, and sheets all made from the most beautiful Indian fabrics. Needless to say, I loved this experience of seeing clothing and fabric from a completely different country. By the end of the excursion we were all decked out in scarves and bindis...we almost blended right in to the Indian culture. Next on our list of activities was a trip back to the hotel for lunch, and then we went to two more sights. One was a sight where there were giant sun dials to tell the time and then we went to a king's palace that had the most beautiful painted doorways and there were monkeys climbing all around the palace. We got to venture into a quick exhibit that featured a variety of traditional Indian outfits; it was like a fashion museum for the history of India. Then we went to a smaller market that featured jewelry, paintings, shoes and much more. This art work was done by the handicap or the proceeds we spent went to the handicap people of India. Afterwards, our tour guide Sanjay informed us that we had the option to go to a traditional Indian street market, we all wanted to have a taste of the traditional market that people in India experience daily, so we decided to go, not knowing what we were about to experience. We basically got dropped off on our bus in the middle of the street and were told to cross the street. I would compare it to crossing the street in Times Square, if all the traffic lights and signs were not working, there were cows roaming the streets aimlessly, and bikes and rickshaws and motorcycles everywhere. Crossing the streets of this roundabout to the market was so intense, one wrong move and we could have been hit by a cow or worst, however local men helped us cross the street and we spent an hour or so at the market picking up pashminas, bindis, and a box of henna. After this we headed back to the hotel to get ready for a traditional Indian dinner. I decided to put my purchases to use and wore scarves, bindis, henna and lots of bangles.
The next morning, we had an early morning wake up call to start our drive back to Delhi, where our plane would leave from. Along the way to the airport we stopped at a few sights. One of which was the monument that the Taj Mahal was molded after, we called it the fake Taj Mahal or the "Faj Mahal." Even though really the Taj Mahal copied this monument. We also got to see the oldest monument in India which was a large minaret. Then we headed to the airport where we met up with some other SAS groups that had traveled to the Taj and Delhi, our plane was basically full of SAS students and faculty. On our way back to the boat we asked our bus drivers to listen to music and they ended up playing music videos for us which I found very interesting because I got to learn a bit about Indian pop culture through these videos. Finally, we arrived back to the boat and I could not have been more excited to take a shower and sleep in my bed. A lovely package from home was waiting for me on my bed which made my return to the boat even better.
The next day was our last day in India; I decided to sleep in a little. Then around 10:30, I went to an FDP in the Union on the boat that discussed Human Rights in India, it was lead by a female lawyer from India. After I decided to leave the boat so that I could venture into the streets of Chennai as I had not had the chance to do so since we left for out Taj trip the first day. We decided to go to this mall/market, it was supposed to be an easy and relaxing afternoon but it turned out there was this huge political rally going on in the streets, so it took almost an hour to get to the mall. However, it was the most stressful time in the cab, I was sitting in the front so I had to witness all the quick turns we made and all the people we almost hit, it was intense to say the least. Once getting to the mall, I was thrilled to find a shop with Ganesha statues. All along, I had wanted to find a giant Ganesha statue; needless to say I found one that is about a foot tall. After leaving the mall, we had an even more intense ride back because we decided to take a rickshaw and I again sat in the front with the driver. It took us an hour to get back and we were worried about not making it for on ship time, but we made it with a few minutes to spare which was a great relief.
Once returning to my room, Amber and I transformed our room. We put Ganesha under our window, sitting proud and tall. I draped my new sheets on my bed and Amber hung scarves from the ceilings. Now we like to call our room the Ganesha Palace and encourage people to say Namaste when they enter and then we hand out bindis or henna our visitors. It is our little Indian palace!
My journey in India is hard to put into words, I saw a lot, experienced a lot, and got a lot out of it. One of my teachers told us before going to India that while we are there to just take everything in and not try to figure it all out. That’s what I focused on; I wanted to just take time to notice all the people, the art, and the culture that surrounded India. The days on the boat between India and Malaysia were my time to digest everything I saw. Those days following my time in India proved to be a bit emotionally challenging as I rediscovered and reanalyzed everything I saw. I came to realize that India is a wonderful place of tremendous contrast; it is like nothing else I have seen in my life. I saw the most poor I could imagine seeing, yet I saw such richness through the people of India's smiles. I saw some of the most beautiful sights, and then saw some of the poorest areas. I smelled the most wonderful smells of incense and curry then would walk on the streets smelling like cows and more. It is indescribable yet one of the most fantastic places I have ever seen.
Well thanks for reading my short story about my time in India. Have a wonderful day all!
Love from Across the Sea,
Maggie