India… how do I even begin to put my thoughts into words? It was fantastic, incredible, amazing, marvelous, remarkable, astonishing. I am so glad that Microsoft word creates synonyms for you. I am still processing the past six days and don’t know if I will ever be able to fully comprehend and handle the emotions that I felt while traveling all over this country that is guaranteed to have a profound impact on even the most cold-hearted of tourists. Throughout everything that I experienced, there was not a moment that was not making an impression on my mind and on my soul, whether it be positive or negative (possibly the corniest thing that I have ever said). I met some of the most inspiring people that have forever changed me, and I was fortunate enough to be on a trip with a small and amazing group of fellow students that were respectful and understanding of India’s culture and people. I mention the group that I was with because throughout the past 24 hours I have been hearing non-stop stories about some of the most despicable people that sadly are on Semester at Sea that were rude to their tour guides, the locals, and thought that not only should they be treated as first class citizens but that they shouldn’t treat others as humans. The past six days, I traveled in the south to Chennai and Cochin and in the north to Delhi and Agra. I saw poverty like I never could have imagined, and yet, we were told that these were the “nice” cities in India. I saw beggars (although not nearly as much as expected) that were children holding sedated babies known as “professional beggars,” children wearing no shoes and little clothing that were skinny as can be making the smallest gesture for food, adults missing limbs, and more. We were told to just walk past them and not pay any attention to them; I have never experienced any greater use of will power. My time in India involved a lot of ups and downs, a lot of anger but also a lot of joy and hope and a newfound appreciation for what I have that goes past material items and includes an incredible family and incredible friends.
Before I get started with the generic itinerary and explanation of what I did and who I met and why I feel the way that I do about India, I just want to share one story that probably impacted me the most out of anything on this trip so far. I spent the first few days in the cities of Chennai and Delhi, where we witnessed poverty but not nearly as many beggars as I had mentally and emotionally prepared myself for before arriving in India. So, when we took a train to Agra where the Taj Mahal is located, leaving at 7 in the morning to arrive at 10 am, I wasn’t thinking that it was a new city, new people, new lifestyles. Of course, India changes from village to village, house to house in terms of culture and language and religion and lifestyle. It is the most amazingly diverse place. So when we got off the train I was tired, had just woken up and was not focusing on the fact that there would potentially be more beggars at THIS train station since the other one in Delhi had none. We had all received box breakfasts before the train ride and I ate what I could before the train left and was preparing to throw it away when I could find a garbage. We had very specifically been told by our tour guide that we should NOT give ANYTHING to the beggars, not only because many of them are professional beggars but because it will make it difficult for the rest of the group and future tourists. I realize now that I should have ignored him and gone with my gut feeling, which is what I am getting to- mostly as I speak to others who had tour guides tell them that as long as it is not money there is nothing wrong with giving beggars things. I actually later this day asked my tour guide why he is against us giving them food or clothing or school supplies or really anything but money, since we had professors and fellow students tell us that anything but money was fine, and he told me that it is better going to the foundations and charities that help the poor in India but also once again that it creates complications for the group. Excuse my language, and I loved my group, but I wish that I said "f" the group. This is because when we were walking through the train station with our box breakfasts in hand, a boy came up to me and stared me straight in the eye while trying to take my box of food that I would inevitably throw in the garbage. I basically had a minute long tug of war with this little boy over something that was so unnecessary for me to keep, and was surrounded by a few more kids throughout that time wanting food as well. He did not take his eyes off mine the entire time and I cannot explain enough how I keep seeing his eyes and it makes me want to cry. Eventually, with the help of our trip leader, I was able to walk away from this crowd of children with a mangled box of food. I cried for about twenty minutes after this and have cried a few times since. What does the food mean to me? Nothing. If I want, I can have endless amount of delicious meals until I am sick. What gives me the privilege and the right to be able to eat what I want of this huge breakfast and throw the rest away, while a little boy sits starving in a train station, who would have the utmost appreciation for just a fraction of what I did not eat? I was and still am so angry at my tour guide and angry at myself and angry at the way the world works deciding who gets what and how. It just upsets me that I could be the worst person in the world and have more than a child who has done nothing but be born into poverty. Anyway, it definitely gives you something to think about.
Enough of that for now- just a quick summary of what I did each day so that you have some idea of whether or not you want to read the rest of my posts:
Day 1: arrived in Chennai, walked around the city for a few hours taking in everything we could, shopped a little, and had dinner with one of the inter-port students from India. (Inter-port students are students from the upcoming ports that spend the time in between telling us about their home and such)
Day 2: flew to Delhi, toured around seeing the sites including the Gandhi Museum and a Sikh Temple
Day 3: took a train from Delhi to Agra, visited the Agra Fort and Taj Mahal
Day 4: visited the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri, went to Mother Theresa’s Ashram (orphanage), spent time with some locals that were playing cricket, and took a train from Agra back to Delhi
Day 5: flew from Delhi to Cochin, went to see a Bollywood movie
Day 6: traveled around in the morning, went to an SOS Children’s Village for a “service visit” in the afternoon (will explain why service visit is in quotes), and said goodbye to India/Asia that night, which was an extremely bittersweet time
I am actually extremely exhausted at the current moment so this is all I will leave you with for now, sorry that it is fairly depressing. I will at least leave you with the knowledge that I started off this blog post saying that I had an incredible time so don’t think that I hated India in any way due to my story. Good night!
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