The Tyranny of Distance

India: Part Deux

India: Day 1

Arriving in India this time was incredibly different than when I flied into Delhi in December. Lat time, I took a 20-hour flight (not including the layover in Italy), after which my group took a bus ride to our hotel in the middle of the night, only to step out inside a crowd of possibly rabid dogs. This time, I went to bed in my “home” for the semester, slept in, and was able to watch the MV Explorer pull into Chennai while I ate my breakfast over a cup of tea (although it was Lipton, so it wasn’t real tea). In December, I was a part of a crowd of 20 who were just as scared as me, who had no clue what they were getting themselves into. Now in the end of March, I was apart of a group of around 700 students, and I was one of the very few who weren’t freaking out from all the stories they had heard. I had already gone through the culture shock of entering India, so I was simply excited whereas everyone I knew was scared out of his or her minds! I was incredibly excited to go back to India, even though I had been there less than two months before. My few weeks prior had been all around the north, and Chennai is in the south, which is supposedly very different.
The first day I was originally going to walk around Chennai with my friends and go shopping. They all wanted to go to Fabindia, a store I had gone to while in Mumbai, so I wasn’t too thrilled about that. That day, there was a service visit planned to a Dalit village (an untouchables village) that I didn’t sign up for but really wanted to go to. Instead of shopping with friends, I decided to try to get on the service visit. Thankfully a few people didn’t show so there was room for me to go on. The trip wasn’t actually to a village I were to find out; rather, it was to a school for untouchables children in the north of Chennai. There, we were going to help the school’s staff paint the walls of the building, both inside and out. We arrived by bus to a tiny marching band, kids and parents waving and cheering, and a big banner saying “Welcome Semester at Sea Students!” It was truly an odd and unexpected experience. It was somewhat uncomfortable and very uncalled for, but as our tour guide explained, most Indians refuse to come into the Dalit parts of town, let alone visit them, play with the children, and help them out. For thousands of years the Dalits have been victims of discrimination to an unheard of amount. While untouchability has been outlawed over the years, society has been slow to change. That is why when we as foreigners came in, they were so excited and appreciative. These are people who are normally ignored by everyone around then, and they rarely if ever receive outside help.
The children sang some songs and danced for us when we first arrived at the school. After that, we broke up into smaller groups and were handed buckets of paint and paintbrushes. I was assigned to paint some of the outside walls of the school. Little did I know how much I was going to “learn” about painting in those few short hours! Every few minutes a different guy would come by and try to explain to me in Tamil/broken English how I was doing it wrong and showed me the “right” way to paint. I would use my newfound technique for a few minutes before a different guy would come by, express how wrong I was in my painting techniques, and show me a different way! This would continue to happen until the first guy would come back, and the cycle began again! It was extremely hilarious, to say the least. The guys helping kept laughing at me, and it was all in good fun. By the end of the afternoon I ended up COVERED in paint! In my hair, on my face, on my shirt, on my pants, on my shoes, on the outside of my sunglasses, and even the inside of my sunglasses! This was my first real service visit of the trip and it was a great experience. I know that twenty kids painting a school won’t make a big difference in the end, but I know that the kids and the school’s staff were extremely appreciative of us showing up and helping out. As they explained, it showed solidarity with the poor of India, something many Indians fail to do themselves.
After returning to the ship and scrubbing off all the paint from my body in the shower, I got ready to go to the Welcome Reception they were holding for the SAS kids. It was in this field somewhere in the middle of the city outside a nice hotel. They had delicious food and an amazing performance with music and “traditional” southern Indian dance. Unfortunately, I did not meet any Indian college students like I was planning, like happened at the Puerto Rican Welcome Reception, but I still had a great time!


India: Day 2

I woke up at 6:00am because I wanted to try to get on a trip to Kancheepuram and Mamallapuram, two cities a few hours outside of Chennai that are famous for their Hindu temples and shrines. I showed up half an hour early in an attempt to get on the waiting list, since I didn’t have a ticket. Thankfully a few people didn’t show up so I was able to get on. We first went to Kancheepuram, which was about two-hours away. We went to three different temples (whose names I failed to write down), which were all beautiful, and each was very different from the others. At the first temple, they had a mango tree that was supposedly 3,500 years old! We then went to a place where they wove silk saris by hand on a loom, which was really cool to see. We then went to the shop where they sold said saris for a few minutes, although I surprisingly walked away empty-handed. After the sari shop, we went to a restaurant in a near-by hotel, which was included with the price of the ticket. The food was AMAZING! Food in the south really is different from the Punjabi food I had in the north (and that I have in the States). After stuffing myself in the buffet line with delicious south Indian food, we took 1 ½ hour bus ride to Mamallapuram where we visit a few other Hindu temples and shrines. One was a large open area that had amazing carvings in the side of giant rocks. There was also a massive boulder! More importantly though, there were a TON of monkeys who were awesome and cute. Our last stop for the day was at Shore Temple, which, as the name suggests, was a temple on the shore. After that, we had another two-hour bus ride back to the ship! We arrived back at the MV Explorer twelve hours after we originally left. The day was awesome but was also extremely tiring!
As expected, my time in India has been very different from my first trip. I am glad that I am able to get outside of the city and see some of rural India first-hand. While traveling from Delhi, to Agra, to Lucknow, to Kolkatta, to Mumbai, it is easy to forget that a majority of the population actually lives outside of the cities! The south is different from the north, but not as dissimilar as I was expecting. The major difference I can see so far is that in the North there is a much larger Muslim influence and population, but since the Mughals never made it as far as Tamil (the state Chennai is in) there is little to no Muslim influence in the traditions, architecture, ect. I cannot wait for the Dalit village overnight in a few days! It is bound to be an extremely challenging but rewarding experience!

India: Day 3

The plan for Tuesday was to relax and walk around Chennai. Half of my friends were going on a service trip to Missionaries of Charity, an orphanage established by Mother Theresa. While I wanted to go on this trip, it sold out and I was not able to get on originally through SAS. Instead, the few of us who weren’t going on the trip decided to find a market to walk around and shop in for the morning. On the way out of the ship, we started talking to the woman in charge of organizing all the field programs and we explained how we were upset that we weren’t able to go to visit the Missionaries of Charity today. She said how we could go that morning and show up to volunteer, which was excellent news! After an over-priced auto-rickshaw ride, we arrived at the orphanage. Upon entering the gate we were greeted by a few nuns. Initially they were confused and thought we were the SAS group who was coming later that the afternoon. After explaining how that trip filled up and that we wanted to volunteer on our own, they were more than happy to take us inside.
I cannot even begin to explain everything that I saw and felt that morning. There were about 80 orphans there, almost all of who were physical and mental challenged. The nuns explained how most either had polio or cerebral palsy. We were led to a room with seven children who were physically paralyzed and had little to no mental function. We sat there for over an hour literally rubbing them and giving them massages. As one of the volunteers explained, these children are rarely touched by anyone since it is difficult to provide undivided attention to one child in a house of 80. Knowing that I was helping these children by simply touching them, children who rarely experience human contact, was so heartbreaking yet very powerful at the same time. I realized that my just sitting there with them, swatting the flies away from their bodies and out of their mouths meant more than I could ever imagine. After sitting there for over an hour, the nuns brought us dishes of what resembled oatmeal for us to feed the children. This was a time consuming and difficult process seeing as they could not move for themselves, let alone swallow food on their own. After we fed the kids, I walked around and found a baby boy who I held and played with the rest of the time. What I saw and what I felt cannot be transcribed onto paper (or the computer screen for that matter). I broke into tears numerous times throughout the morning from seeing the terrible conditions, the pain, that these children have to live through. We left the Missionaries of Charity after two hours and returned back to the ship in silence.
After lunch, my friend Dorothy (who I call Dot) and I decided to take an auto-rickshaw to Spencer Plaza, which is a large market/bazaar/mall about 20 minutes away from the ship. We got onto the rickshaw planning to bargain hard. Originally the rickshaw-wallah said he would take us for 20 rupees (less than ½ a dollar) to Spencers Plaza (normally it costd about 60-100 rupees!) but after driving a few blocks he pulled to the side of the road and said that he would drop the price to 10 rupees if we would let him take us to two stores and walk around for a few minutes. He explained how he got a commission just for taking us, even if we did not buy anything. Since we weren’t in a rush, Dorothy and I decided to go for it. Oh how I’ve missed driving in rickshaws through the crowded Indian streets! The craziest experience ever, yet I have never felt safer. So we went to the two stores, walked around, and didn’t buy anything, and got to Spencer Plaza for only 10 rupees. It was awesome. We walked around the plaza for a few hours, which was fun. I bought a watch for 200 rupees to replace the one that was stolen during Carnival in Brazil. I also bought Lagaan (an amazing Bollywood film about imperialism and cricket. How awesome?!) for only 120 rupees! I wasn’t sure if it would work in my laptop since it is an Indian DVD but it does and its amazing. After our amazing deal on an auto-rickshaw to Spencer Plaza, Dot and I were determined to get a good price for the ride back to the ship. Unfortunately, every rickshaw-wallah laughed at our offers for 20 and 30 rupees for a direct ride back, and said that it would cost 100 rupees. Finally we found someone who would take us back for 10, but again we had to visit two stores for a few minutes each. When we got into the rickshaw, the driver asked if we liked music. After responding in the affirmative, he flipped a switch that turned on the MASSIVE speaker on the ceiling of the rickshaw that we failed to originally notice! Dot and I spent the rest of the ride home dancing to bad American 90’s pop and it ruled. Best 10 rupee auto-rickshaw ride ever by far.

India: Day 4

The trip I had been looking forward to for months finally came, the Dalit village overnight trip. During my last trip to India, I stayed in cities the entire time. The only opportunity I had to see rural villages was while passing by them quickly through a train window. After a two-hour bus ride we finally arrived at the Delta School of Nursing, a school established to help empower and educate Dalit women. We were given a warm welcome, including the performance of a number of songs, dances, and a skit. Afterwards, we were given an opportunity to talk directly with the young women, whose ages ranged between 18 and 23. We asked them questions, but was even more interesting were they questions they asked us. The women wondered why we weren’t married by the age of 20 and if our parents were mad that we “disobeyed” them by going to study abroad. These questions showed me just how different our cultures truly were.
After talking for about an hour we were served lunch, which was amazing and delicious. They gave us both Southern Indian food and some other things, such as pasta and flan. At the end of the meal, the leader of the school gave a speech about the history of the Untouchables in India and the current state of Dalits, which was extremely interesting and informative. We were then given a few hours off to just hang out around the school and to talk to the nursing students. Before we left the school, at around 5pm, we were given some chai (it took me four days to finally have a cup of tea!), which was delicious. Following teatime we took a five-minute bus ride to the Dalit village. There we were given a tour of the village and were greeted by the people. The village was truly the most impoverished place I have ever seen. The houses were made of straw and mud, and lacked running water. Surprisingly, though, a number of the houses had electricity. After being shown around the village, being led by a “marching band” of drummers, we got back on the busses and went to the village’s school where we would be spending the night.
At the school, we saw countless performances including dancing, singing, people in horse costumes & stilts, fire-breathing, etc. While it was entertaining, it lasted a good 2 ½ hours. I would have much rather preferred talking with the community members instead, but it was still nice. After the performance that I thought might never end, we got together for a meditation session that lasted about half-an-hour. This time was actually very beneficial, since I hadn’t had time to fully process everything I had seen that day. Taking in everything was really challenging. These Dalits are ignored by society, ignored by the government, and denied the opportunity to better themselves and the lives of their families, ignore these people. Even so, they opened up their community and their homes to us with extreme generosity and kindness.
After the meditation we ate our boxed lunches that were provided by the ship, since the community did not have enough food to feed themselves, let alone 30+ guests. The boxed lunch was everything my parent’s wouldn’t let me eat for dinner as a kid: cookies, cake, oreos, and Capri sun. It was awesome. Following dinner, I attempted to fall asleep in the burning hot classroom on the rock hard floor of the school. Overall, I probably got 3-4 good hours of sleep throughout the entire night. I woke up numerous times to the sound of dogs barking and fighting literally right outside the school, which was crazy/hilarious.

India: Day 5

I woke up at around 6:30am, had some cereal I brought for breakfast and hung out for about an hour. At 7:30am we returned to the Dalit village and walked around for another hour or so. People let us into their houses and showed us around, which was incredibly kind. Although they have next to nothing compared to our standards, they seemed very proud of what they did have. Before we left, a few villagers made chai for us, which was extremely kind and delicious. We then got back on the busses and drove back to Chennai.
The rest of the day I spent walking around Chennai with some friends and shopping. We retuned to Spencer’s Plaza and I bought some tea so than I can drink something besides Lipton on the ship! For dinner, we went to Pizza Hut, which was absolutely delicious. While I originally planned on getting an “Indian” pizza that they have, such as Panneer Tikka pizza, I settled on a plain double-cheese pizza. I felt somewhat guilty, but I had been craving pizza for WEEKS! I haven’t gone this long without pizza, probably in my entire life, so it was a wonderful dinner.
I wish I could better describe everything I saw and felt during the Dalit village overnight, but it would be truly impossible to express my feelings through typing. The village was both similar to what I was expecting and extremely different. Although we did not sleep in the actual village since they did not have the infrastructure or ability to support our large group, it was still an amazing experience that provided an insight into the lives of the Dalits in India.
We set sail for Malaysia, and get these after three days at sea. From this point on, my schedule is going to get crazy. I only have four days of classes between India and Japan (since we are in port most of the time, and I only have classes every other day to begin with). After Malaysia comes Vietnam and then Hong Kong, each within a few days of one another.

posted by eric @ 9:19 PM