INDIA!

INDIA

Before we docked in Madras Harbor in Chennai, India we were told countless things to expect about India. We were told that India was dirty, and then we found yards and yards of white plastic and cardboard laid all over the ship’s floor to protect against the dirt and mud that we would inevitably track in on our shoes. We were told India was crowded. With over a billion people overpopulation is a major concern, and there would be over 10 times as many people you would find in New York City. We were told that India was hot and humid. The monsoon season started early this year and rain is forecasted all throughout the week. We were told that India was poor, and there was no way to avoid staring poverty in the face. We would have to make choices. Do we give or not give to the beggers on the street that are clearly dying of starvation while holding their children in their laps, children who are frail and even more helpless. We were also told that India was amazing, filled with a culture that is diverse, intriguing, and different than anything we’ve ever seen before. We were told that the people were warm, generous, and welcoming. We were told that India was a beautiful country, and those who were returning to India looked forward to it. The most important thing we were told, however, was something that was implied in all of the above statements. India would be a turning point. Once we experienced India there was a good chance that we would be changed, changed in our outlook upon humanity and changed in our very souls.

I didn’t know what to make of all this. Last week I quickly became anxious for the very first time while on this voyage. How would I react to India? How would India react to me? Would I be one of the many that India has changed? How would I make sense of the next 5 days? Well, on Day 1 I started to find out…

DAY 1

We pulled into port around 8am. Our port in Chennai is a cargo port. Our ship does not belong. Nevertheless we are welcomed with a traditional Indian band and the stares of the Dalits (India’s Untouchables – lower than the lower class). We were welcomed with clouds that gave way to heat and humidity. I didn’t have a good sense of India until I went out into the streets of Chennai on my field trip to Prasad Group, a post-production film studio. I saw a crowd of yellow rickshaws (3-wheeled scooter taxis) and crowds of people about the equivalent of NYC, not quite 10 times. I saw countless mopeds and motorcycles carrying families to their morning’s destination. I saw beggers, although at this point I was able to distant myself from their reality as I sat in the air conditioned tour bus. The only way I can describe it in a way some of you might understand a little better is that Chennai reminds me of a less modern, dirtier Times Square. There were huge billboards everywhere you looked advertising in English, Tamil, and other languages.

Touring the Prasad Group was extremely interesting. A little about the Prasad Group: they are the second largest studio in India and have various departments all over the world. They own the second largest IMAX theatre in the world and had the highest box office gross for Spiderman 2 and was in the top 3 for the third Harry Potter. They work on about 950 films a year and 450 are feature films. We were able to tour the sound mixing studios, editing facilities, set design warehouses, special effects studio, graduate school, and other post-production departments. Visiting the Prasad Group only solidified the fact that one day I want to work within the film industry.

I came back to the ship for dinner before heading back out into Chennai with some friends to see a movie. We boarded a taxi, but found out that the movies all started at 10pm, and we didn’t want to wait around for 1 ½ hours, so we walked down the street to the shopping mall instead. During this walk and upon exiting the mall I got my first taste of India’s poverty. They were children, couldn’t have been more than 7 years old. They would gently touch your elbow, trying to get your attention. What do I do? Do I ignore this kid and pretend he doesn’t exist? No, I can’t do that because he does exist. Do I give in and give him a few rupees (currency) and in doing so encourage begging? No, because by encouraging begging I may be feeding poverty, and how do I give one kid some money and not all of the kids. How am I supposed to choose who that lucky kid is and forever have the faces of all the kids I turn away imprinted in my mind for the rest of my life. I try my best not to look into their eyes. It hurts too much. I didn’t want that power of money and privilege, at least not at that moment, but I have it nonetheless. I still don’t know what to do with it. I am hoping that this journey will provide me with some type of insight, some kind of clarity.

Today I found out that India is truth staring you cold in the face whether you like it or not. India is powerful, and India is changing my outlook on humanity. India is changing me.

DAY 2

I woke up pretty early this morning to board the bus for my field trip to Kancheepuram and Mamallapuram. Today would be spent visiting various Hindu temples. The two we visited in Kancheepuram were “living” temples where people still came to worship. We had to remove our shoes before entering the temple. I really wish it hadn’t been raining last night and early in the morning. Needless to say my feet got a little dirty. It wasn’t the dirt I was worried about, more like the amoebas that could potentially enter through my feet. Fortunately, I survived both temples amoeba free. The first temple I went to was called Ekambareswara. It was constructed in the 16^th Century. The second temple was called Kailansanatha Temple. It contained paintings from the 7^th and 8^th Centuries. These temples were pretty amazing to look at and walk through. I had been learning about them for the past week in my architecture class, so it was interesting to see one in person. I would go into all the deities that I know about, but I’ll spare you guys the Hinduism lesson.

After visiting these two temples we visited a silk weaving shop. Kancheepuram is famous for its traditional art of silk weaving. The city itself is not very industrialized because 40% of its people are silk weavers. Once a child turns 12 they can begin to take evening classes in silk weaving after school. The whole family takes turns weaving. When we were visiting two men were making sarees (the dresses the Indian women wear). They said it takes about 10 days to make one solid color saree. They were extremely beautiful.

We had lunch at the Heritage Inn Hotel. I don’t think I’m cut out for Indian food. I’m weak and can’t really take the spiciness. I know I’m disappointing some of you now. After lunch we drove a couple more hours to Mamallapuram to visit the Five Rathas, or Five Brothers from the Mahabharata (some of you may have heard of this before b/c different versions were made into American films). These were large stones that were carved into temple prototypes. Then we headed to the Shore Temple. This temple was built right on the beach 1200 years ago. The tsunami would have destroyed it if it weren’t for the stone wall located right behind it. Before heading back to the ship we made a quick stop to see the biggest bas-relief in the world called Arjuna’s Penance. It is a huge carving in a boulder that depicts the descent of the Ganges from Siva’s (Hindu deity) and other fables from the Panchatantra.

Needless to say, after all that, I am now back on the ship and completely exhausted. All those temples can take a lot out of a person. Especially the crowds of sellers and beggers right outside these temples. Many were relentless in trying to get you to buy whatever it was they were selling. They’d follow you until you got onto the bus and they couldn’t follow you anymore, and even then they would tap on your window and try again to get you buy something. They had everything from carved elephants to postcards to karma sutra statues. I don’t think they knew the meaning of the phrase, “No, thank you.”

Okay, well, I’ll be back for Day 3. Hopefully I’ll have something exciting to write about. We’ll see…

DAY 3

Today was a “free day,” so basically a day for shopping, and let me just say it’s a good thing that India’s cheap. Well, technically it’s not a good thing because it indicates the country’s low economic status, but for my wallet’s sake it was a good thing that 43 rupees is the equivalent to $1. A couple of friends and I boarded a rickshaw and began our shopping adventure. Initially we just want to go to the shopping mall because we knew that: 1) there were pretty good prices there and 2) it was out of the heat and humidity (I think the humidity here is worse than New Orleans and that’s saying something). We quickly found out that we were not going to be able to go straight to the mall. You see, the rickshaw drivers get money for bringing Semester at Sea students to various stores. Just to get a good price for the ride to the mall we had to make at least 3 stops beforehand. We are only required to look in the stores. We don’t have to buy anything.

The first store was a combination jewelry/saree/rug/carvings store. I picked up a couple of things there. I know I’m weak. Now, here’s the funny part: So the guy who was helping me in the jewelry section was making small talk: do you have a boyfriend? What are your hobbies? Do you like Indian movies? Yatta yatta yatta. Until….he started asking me questions about why it was American women seem to naturally have large breast. You see, he explained to me that his girlfriend was lacking in that area and was curious if I knew anything he could do to improve the situation. I really couldn’t believe I was in this conversation. I just told him that not all American women have large breasts and those that do is sometimes because of surgery. This conversation really went on longer than it should have.

The next couple of stores were quick stops. We grew stronger realizing we had more time and more money to be weak with in the mall. These stores were more expensive comparatively. The mall proved to be successful. I got some VCDs (they will play on my computer). I picked up Batman Begins, The Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, and Chocolat. Each costed about $4. Pretty good deal, I thought. I got some other things. I looked for postcards, but there were none to be found. I know, weird. If I don’t find any, I’ll just have to skip postcards this country. I know, sad.

A couple of hours in the mall and we were exhausted, so we headed back to the ship to eat and just chill out for a while. Tonight we watched a Bollywood movie a friend of mine bought. We didn’t finish it because Indian movies in general are pretty long. This one was 174 minutes, and with the subtitles it was too much for us to concentrate our tired minds on. We saw about 45 minutes of it which let us see two music videos (a Bollywood thing—they love random music videos in the middle of their movies) and get pretty confused. We’ll finish it later.

Now, I’m le tired, so I will say goodnight and get ready for Day 4.

DAY 4

I went on a service visit today to a disabled children’s home. It was a pretty intense visit, but definitely worth it in the end. Once we arrived we were taken on a brief tour of the facilities. The home has different services that it provides. It takes care of about 100 children from 5-15 that have various disabilities. Many of the younger kids have mental disabilities while some of the older ones are living with polio. There are also vocational programs for women to learn sewing with the hopes of starting a tailoring business or working for one. In addition to these programs the center also has a workshop class devoted to adult males with mental disabilities. The work that this center does is pretty amazing. They get a little govt. funding, but most of their money comes from private donations. They have orthopedic surgeons that perform operations of the kids at the center, and they have an out patient orthopedic facility for the community. During our tour we had to opportunity to meet many incredible people. However, there was this one guy who was living with cerebral palsy. I had actually seen a documentary on this guy at one of my college visits my senior year in high school. I think it also aired on HBO. Anyways, this guy could paint amazing pictures using only his feet. He has even been trained in graphic design, so he showed us his different projects on his computer. Later, before we left the center I bought some of his greeting cards and a print of one of his paintings. Seriously, this guy is RIDICULOUS in the very best sense of the word!

After the tour we quickly got put to work. Half of the group was assigned to landscaping duty while the other half go to bask in the cool (comparatively, there was no AC at all) painting blackboards. I ended up doing the landscaping which was incredibly draining because even though this is considered India’s winter it sure as heck doesn’t feel like it. I think I sweated off like 10 pounds today. It was worth it though. I think I did pretty good work considering I really don’t know the first thing about gardening or whatever.

Two hours later we had lunch and then got to have play time with all the kids. They were really good kids, and they were so happy. I came in thinking that it might be a sad experience seeing these kids, but their faces lit up so much I couldn’t even think those thoughts. You can tell the center is doing really great work. At the end of the day I felt so good. There was a quote posted in the center that describes it pretty well: “It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the giver.” I truly believe that helping others is the best selfish act that a human being can perform.

Once I got back to the ship, I was ready for a shower. The rest of the night was basically spent in recovery. Tomorrow we have a much earlier on ship time, and with work that I need to get done before Myanmar and the money I don’t have to spend, I might not even make it off the ship for that small amount of time. So, until Myanmar…