My taste of India

I will be back. India is an incredible country with beautiful people and I only saw a tiny fraction of it. But I loved everything I saw, everyone I met, and their completely different way of life. I’ve never seen such a vibrant and alive culture! All I can really say is I can’t wait to return.
So the morning I woke up to India I was feeling a little down, not sure why since I had been getting so anxious to get there. The first day I had a field trip for my digital storytelling class to one of the poorest neighborhoods of Chennai to see how the people live and their daily struggles. We took a bus through Chennai along the coast past these super wide beaches, which actually looked pretty nice in parts. There were some people riding horses and vendors set up all along the edges. It was funny to see goats and cows wandering around on the beach, and some areas were covered in trash and little shacks where people must be living. We reached the village, which I learned is a relocation village funded and built for families displaced by the 2004 tsunami. Despite the help and funds they were given, these people still live in extreme poverty. They are provided with a little shelter, schools, and places for women to learn new trades so they can hopefully make a living. We went into a cosmetology school for women, which consisted of one small room with very little supplies. The women loved to see us and we sang them a song and this kid James in our group break-danced for them! Then we went into the room next door which had a few sewing machines where women make and sell sanitary napkins. These families have to find all new ways to make a living because many of them were from fishing villages on the coast which were devastated by the tsunami. We then walked over to the primary school and visited several school rooms of kids, who were soo so happy to see us. These kids had almost nothing- no desks, tables, or chairs in the rooms- but were some of the happiest kids I’ve ever seen. I just wanted to cry the entire time, but I was trying so hard to keep my smile on for them. I felt like a celebrity, they just wanted to touch my hands and I gave them my journal which they all fought over to write their names down for me. They were learning English which was good, and a few of them could understand and speak to me. It was so hard to leave the school- this one little girl was blowing kisses to me and then watched for me out the window after I left. I just couldn’t believe how happy they were! I then felt even worse about myself because I was thinking… how can these kids who have almost nothing, have such big hearts and be genuinely excited to see me, a perfect stranger, when I who have more than they could ever imagine be selfish enough to feel so down on myself for no reason..?
We left the school and walked over to an area where the village separates and composts their biodegradable garbage and uses a process to turn it into fertilizer. It was nice to see these people benefiting from the projects and help they were given, but at the same time they were still given so little. I walked inside the home of 3 people that consisted of one room—smaller than my cabin on the ship—which served as their bedroom, living room, and kitchen. There were no beds, just 2 pillows and a blanket on the floor, the kitchen was just a counter with a hot plate, and there wasn’t even a window.
As we walked back to the bus, hot and dripping in sweat, all I could think about was that what we just saw for a few hours is what these people’s lives are like every single day. Yet everyone I saw had a smile on their face, all the kids were running about and playing in the streets…. they were just so happy. Why can’t Americans who have everything be this content?
So that was definitely an eye opener for my first day in India. And instead of being inspired by these positive people I just met, I felt even worse for letting myself feel sad when I am as lucky as I am.  I got back to the ship the same time Allyn and Courtney were getting back from shopping all day, and we decided to go see a Bollywood movie that night. We took a cab to this mall where the theater was, and it was such a nice mall- it was very modernized and had a KFC, subway, and some other western stores. We picked a random film which was called “Atithi”, and of course it was all in Hindi with no subtitles. It was a comedy though and really entertaining and the bollywood songs were awesome. Also we think that the main actor in it was the “movie star” that all the little kids were obsessed with in Slumdog Millionaire… so that was kinda funny.
We took an auto rickshaw back to the ship which was crazy…. drivers just swerve around into the oncoming traffic to pass people and the roads are all just madness, I don’t know how they do it. Courtney and Mychaela had to pack and leave for their trip to the Taj at 3am, and me and Allyn were leaving for our Art of Living retreat the next morning, so we all packed and got excited for our excursions in India.
Allyn and I met with our group in the morning and headed off to learn the art of living :) We first traveled South of Chennai along the coast to Mamallapurnam where we saw the Five Rathas- ancient temples and animal sculptures carved out of a huge stone, and which used to be completely covered in sand. While walking around them I saw a group of Indian girls around my age wearing their beautiful saris so I asked if I could take their picture. They got so excited and wanted their picture with me also. I talked to them for a little bit, although they spoke little English, but I found out they were in college as well and were on a field trip. It was so cute how they all just surrounded me, staring and smiling. So those were my new Indian friends… and I started to realize how easy it is to make friends in India :)
We took the bus a little further to Mahabalipuram and saw Krishna’s Butterball, a huuge boulder somehow resting on a hill without rolling down, and then some beautiful stone bas-relief carvings and temples. Next we made our way to the Shore Temple, a huge temple carved out of stone right on the shore line. I actually saw some Indian kids surfing—didn’t know they surfed there!
We finally arrived at Dakshina Chitra, the “heritage village” where we stayed for our program, around 5:30, and started off with a grandmother’s storytelling session about myths and legends of the Hindu gods, and then right away began our first Art of Living class. There’s no way I can write about everything we did and learned each day, but it was for sure the most relaxing three days of my whole trip. It was almost too relaxing… I felt like all we did was rest and eat, lay down and rest, and eat, and rest some more… I kind of got antsy! We had 3 classes a day for about 3 hours each, and we focused more on the breathing and meditation aspect of yoga rather than the physical part. The first thing our teacher had us do was get up and introduce ourselves to each person in the class saying “I belong to you”. She talked a lot about living in the present moment, focusing on our breathing, and becoming aware and accepting of all the thoughts that pass through our mind. We learned pranayama breathing, ujjai breathing, nadi shodhan (breathing in and our through each nostil), bastrika, om chanting, and Sudarshan Kriya- the deepest relaxation I’ve ever been in. After our first class we had our first of many traditional vegetarian Indian meals, which are served on banana leaves and eaten with your hands. The food was all of course delicious- it all consisted of some kind of flatbread to dip in sauces or chutney, dosas, curry and rice, fried donut-looking lentils or fried cauliflower, and some kind of sweet dish. Most of it was quiteee spicy, but I loved it. I don’t understand how Indians eat such spicy food and drink hot drinks every day when it is SO hot out. I think I was sweating after every meal. Each morning of the retreat we awoke at 6:30 to have cocoa and then start our early morning session of basic asanas (physical yoga poses) and then a 20 minute meditation. I walked out of each session feeling so at peace and awake, hearing only the birds chirping and feeling the warm sun. Out of all of these countries, I never expected to have the most relaxing experience in India! The only part I was kind of upset about was that this “heritage village” wasn’t a real Indian village, it is more of a tourist village where they recreated homes from each of the South Indian states and had some craftsmen selling their work. So at times when I was feeling bored of resting I kind of wanted to get out of this place and into the real India! But it’s really hard to complain about such a relaxing experience. We took a tour of the village and saw a silk weaver and glass blower at work—who was incredible! He formed the most complex tiny sculptures out of a stick of glass in minutes. And he would make whatever you requested- ganesh, shiva, elephants, whatever! There was an extremely talented man painting tapestries which I bought a few of… some of the super intricate ones of all the Hindu gods he spent 30 days on! I also got a henna tattoo on my foot which was a beautiful peacock and flower design that a lady created in like 2 minutes!... they are all such incredible artists.
So on our second day we did our usual pranayama and ujjai breathing and then learned Sudarshan Kriya, a deeeep deep 1 hour meditation. We sat upright and listened to this recording of “so…hum…” over and over at different speeds, and all you do is focus all your attention on breathing in during “so” and out during “hum”. It was so much deep breathing that I began to feel lightheaded and my face and limbs went tingly, like I was on an oxygen high. After 30 minutes the recording tells you to lay down and relax. That lasted for 30 more minutes and when I got up I had no idea where I had been!  I realized that I had never fallen asleep but I was not really awake or aware of myself either.. I was in some other state. This was for sure the deepest relaxation I’ve ever felt.. I had no idea I could get to that point!
During our sessions our teacher also had us ponder and discuss many hard questions about ourselves and statements about life, and we did exercises like gazing into each others eyes for a long time. Overall she stressed the satisfaction of giving and doing one act of kindness every day. It was actually a truly enlightening and refreshing 3 days, despite my anxiousness to see the real India.
The third night we had a quick Indian dinner and left to take our overnight train to Cochin! What an experience… For some it was hot and cramped and dirty, but for me it was the kind of experience I was dying to have. The beds were bunks of skinny benches with a little curtain, and they supplied us with some wonderful stained sheets and a wool blanket. We bought some Indian magazines and cookies in the train station to occupy us for a while… and all night these men walked through the aisles saying “coffee” “chai” or “breakfast”. I really wanted some good Indian chai but I heard that “chai” just means tea, and masala chai is our version of chai. So I bought some Indian coffee, which tasted like chai. Haha.. Indian coffee is nothing like ours… it’s made out of this coffee powder which is super sweet and yummy. So it was my first cup of many, despite how hot it was outside every time I drank it.
I actually slept very well on the train, but we all seemed to wake up around 7 or earlier because people were worried about missing our stop at 9 since they don’t announce the stops. Buttt we all got off on the right stop, and found our bus to take us back to our lovely home now docked in Cochin. It’s funny how we all consider the ship our home and it’s so nice to come back to after traveling.
Well, with only 2 days left in India and way too many things we wanted to do, Allyn and I dropped our stuff off on the ship and headed back out, without showering, to keep on going. We wanted to explore the backwaters of Kerala so we asked the tourist guys outside the ship and they made arrangements for us to meet this guy in Ernakulam. I really didn’t want to do something with a tour guide, but we had such little time and no idea how to get to the backwaters! So this is the story of our new friend Allan….
Me, Allyn, and our friends Chloe and Lucy had to take the ferry over to Ernakulam to meet this guy who would take us to the backwaters. Walking to the ferry we were surrounded and followed by at least 6 different auto rickshaw drivers insisting on us taking their rickshaws, and they followed us all the way to the ferry and then waited there with us for about 20 minutes before realizing we weren’t interested. The four of us took the ferry across and found the Indian Coffeeshop where we got a quick breakfast of masala dosas and more Indian coffee and then met our new friend Allan outside. Allan lived in India growing up and then Dubai for a few years, then the UK with his brother for a few months, and just recently came back to India to work for his brother’s tourism business. He is actually really intelligent and speaks perfect English (and like 4 other languages) and most of the time he just drives around to explore different parts of the country and teaches himself about them. He took us to the backwaters of Kerala where a little villager rowed us with a stick in a tiny canoe. We rowed through a small canal past rural villages where kids would stare and wave at us. We saw a bunch of Chinese fishing nets which are these huuge contraptions made out of palm trunks. Allan pulled us over at one point to stop in a Toddy shop, which is an alcoholic drink made out of the coconut palm. There were a few men in there enjoying their drinks and we got to taste it—it actually tasted just like sparkling cider—and we saw them preparing fresh tilapia and tapioca dishes. The whole time we were with Allan he would go up to random people and it would seem like he knew them for years- everyone is just so friendly and open. We continued through the canals a little longer until we reached a bunch of fish farms where we got out and walked around for a while. It’s just crazy that these village people live way out here in the middle of nowhere, tending their fish farms every day and probably never see the cities. On our way back along the narrow canals this little girl on the shore ran along side us holding her finger up and Allan said she was asking us for a pen. Chloe ended up having one so we threw it on the shore and made her the happiest little girl in the world :) it was so cute. We got out back where we started, where the little village market was, and walked around looking at the produce markets and a few men selling fish. I’ve never seen so many different types of bananas before! And then Allan bought us some banana fry which was delicious.
On the way back to our surprise Allan invited us to come to his nephew’s 2nd birthday party that night! He actually turned out to be way more of a friend than a tour guide, and we talked about a lot that day and all about his travels. We decided to hang out with him the next day as well and he wanted to take us to bathe the baby elephants! He even gave me and allyn some of his Hindi and Tamil cds to copy on our computers… which by the way is our new favorite music :)  So anyway, he took us to his home where we waited while he showered, and we met his lovely mother who came out with coffee, bread, and the biggest watermelon I’ve ever seen. She was so sweet. It was awesome to be in their home! It was actually pretty nice relative to others- they had a little courtyard in front with plants and an aquarium, and inside it was pretty small but they had a nice tv and computer. So when Allan was ready we left, and Chloe kept asking us if we were nervous about the whole thing, but to me Allan was a completely genuine person and we just went in his house and met his mother! They make everyone so paranoid on the ship and from my experiences so far, every single person I’ve met in other countries is MUCH friendlier to strangers than any American I know. I even mentioned to Allan how fascinated we’ve been with how friendly and kind people are in other countries to strangers, and he just went off about how he doesn’t believe in strangers, because everyone you meet in your life is at some point a “stranger”. It just really made sense, and now it makes me sad that we have such a concept at home of being insensitive and closed to people we don’t know. When we were quiet at times or didn’t want to take all the food he offered, I could tell Allan felt worried that we didn’t trust him and I felt bad. So Chloe was a little nervous about going to the birthday party and she said she had to meet her friend on the ship at 7, but that she would bring her friend along. We waited for her to go in the ship and then she came back out saying she had to go out for her friend’s birthday. I felt really bad and I could tell Allan was so hurt. He thought it was him and he really had the sense that we didn’t trust him or weren’t being genuinely open to him.
So Allan drove us over to his cousin’s house in fort Cochin where the party was, and we walked in to this huge extended family and an adorable little birthday boy playing around on the floor. The family was huge and they all spoke perfect English (Allan said they are Anglo-Indians, or Portuguese descent) and they were all so pleased to have us, complete American strangers, at their family gathering. It’s awesome how close extended family is in India, and they all live so close to each other. So they offered us chairs and some raisin bread and mini cups of super sweet wine, and we chatted and watched the little boy playing with his new presents. Later Allan took us outside and up stairs to the roof terrace, which looked like a space shared by all the houses in that row. It was such a nice open space up there compared to the crowded streets below. All the food was set up there and it was so spicy that I was sweating like craaazy. I don’t get how they eat like this every day! So we hung out a little longer and then it was pretty late so Allan drove us around Fort Cochin, which was actually a really nice and cute little town- it was definitely a Christian area and there were some beautiful churches- and then he took us back home to the ship.
It was such a fun day and nothing like the “tour” I was worried about, and we got to go to a little boy’s birthday party! We decided to meet Allan again at 6:30 in the morning so we could drive to this village an hour away and catch the elephants getting their morning bath. The area we drove to was beautiful, it was a more rural hilly region with farms and little villages. We stopped at a stand to buy bananas to feed the elephants and Allan bought us each this red banana- the sweetest banana I’ve ever tasted, it was SO good. We got out and walked down to the river, where of course a bunch of SAS kids were washing the elephants. They would just lay down in the water and the trainers would scrub them with pieces of coconut shell. I didn’t realize how cool elephant skin feels! Later they brought the adorable babies down and we washed them too. We fed them the bananas which they went crazy for, feeling all over us for more with their trunks. And I got to feel an elephant tongue! Haha it was such a weird feeling. So we played with them for a long time, and then as we walked back through the village to Allan’s car he would just point out all these different trees and plants around us like cinnamon trees, cashew trees, nutmeg trees, papaya trees, just growing all over the place. It’s so neat how these villagers can just grow their produce and spices right in their yard- how convenient. Allan saw a woman sitting outside her house and he asked if we could go in her yard, where he showed us jasmine flowers and then shook a papaya tree to get a ripe papaya for us. The woman went inside and came out with 2 more papayas and a knife for us to slice them—once again people are so friendly! We just went into a strangers yard and took some fruit and she was more than happy to see us. So then Allan took us into a little country store where we had breakfast on banana leaves of rice pancake-like things with chutney and coffee. We drove back to Cochin- it was a crazy ride with Allan- he doesn’t wait to sit behind anyone, he just swerves into oncoming traffic and swerves back just in the right time…. there were definitely a few scary moments! But everyone drives like that there, there’s just no concept of lanes. Allan says you just have to rely on your confidence…. I know I could never drive there. We had Allan drop us off in Fort Cochin so we could walk around and do a little shopping before sadly heading back to the ship. Fort Cochin was such a cute little town and I bought SO much :D There were actually a lot of Europeans there and I met this girl my age at the ATM who was by herself traveling around India for 2 and a half more months, after she had just been working in an orphanage for a couple months. That sounded so neat to me and I really want to come back to volunteer or teach English somewhere, and then travel all around. The more I saw of India, the more I was falling in love with it and I actually became really really upset that we had to leave.
So me, Allyn, and Lucy decided to have lunch before we went back, and we went to the Mango Tree Lounge which was almost like a tree house with a huge mango tree growing through it! I finally got some real chai, and some amazing Kashmiri naan. It sucks going back to ship food after a week of such amaazing cuisine. We found a rickshaw driver who was soo thankful to take us, and along with the rupees we gave him an American dollar which he was so excited for. I was truly upset to get back on the ship, but Allyn and I were talking and decided this is only the beginning of India for us, not the end.
India has definitely been the country I’ve been fascinated by most. The people are so beautiful- and it’s different than what our usual sense of beauty is.. but I don’t even know how to describe it. Everything is so colorful and rich and vibrant… the faces are so kind and hopeful. Their way of life and views on life are at times so completely opposite than any other people I’ve seen, but a lot of times it makes more sense to me than my own ways. I know I only saw such a little fraction of what really exists so my first impressions may not really be true, but that just means I have to come back and see it all! I could definitely see myself living in India. As soon as Allyn and I got back we Indiafied our room with tapestrys and elephant mobiles and ganeshes and buddhas, and we’ve been playing Allan’s music non-stop. I miss it so much already. But there’s no time to be sad, because after all it’s only the beginning of India, AND we’re on our way to Africa!!

Yesterday morning we passed the equator, so today we’re celebrating with Neptune Day! We don’t have classes and this morning at like 7:30 the crew marched through the halls banging their drums to wake everyone up. We went out to the pool for the ceremony, where the deans were dressed up like the sea gods and poured fish guts on people and made them kiss the fish. Then the tradition of head shaving began…. a lot of the guys did it and some of the girls too! I wish I could just do it for a day and then have my hair back… that would be ideal. It feels like I’m at summer camp right now…. upstairs is just a huge pool party and we have a barbeque and the talent show later. The only bummer is I have two midterms tomorrow! Ugh. How can I take all this seriously when my teachers dress up like mermaids and sea gods with tridents..
Well I can tell we’re getting close to some beautiful islands- yesterday the ocean was like a flat sheet of blue glass and the sunset was probably the most incredible I’ve seen. I can’t believe we’re already halfway done with this trip…. I just keep telling myself it’s only the beginning… I’m just getting my first taste of the world so I know what I want more of. :)
-Michele