I’ve been in India for a little over a week and a half now and it’s been a remarkable learning experience for me. I’ve traveled halfway across the world over the last 10 months and visited numerous exotic lands, but never in my life have I seen a country and unique as India. People may bicker about whether or not they enjoyed their travels through the country, but there isn’t a traveler on this earth (or even a local Indian) who can say that India is a “dull” experience.
After my first few days in New Delhi, I knew very little about the city or the country for that matter, but I did know one thing… my family would hate India. Back in the US before I flew out to Portugal, I remember regaling my uncle of my plans to backpack through the Indian subcontinent on my way to Japan and I’ll never forget his reaction. “You want to go to India? Why?” I sat across from him in my mom’s living room as he told me his experiences with the country - and none of them were positive. For years he had to fly to India for work, but now that he is nearing retirement, said that he could die happily never returning to the country. Not the most glowing review of a country, but regardless of what my uncle said, I had to see India for myself - there was no way around it.
Now that I’m in New Delhi, I have to say that everything my uncle told me is right. India is overcrowded, dirty, smelly, noisy, etc. like I mentioned in my first post on India, but I love it simply because it is nothing like my home back in the US. I can honestly say that I don’t think neither my brother, mother, or father would like India. Maybe at some point in my life I can convince them to visit the country, but I’m sure they would not enjoy their time here for more than a couple days/weeks. There’s just too much of… well everything here in India.
Even though I wanted to live in NYC for the vast majority of my life, my family never quite understood why. NYC is crowded with people, dirty, loud, expensive, and dangerous, why would anybody in their right mind be willing to pay so much money in rent and taxes to live in such a city? My family humored me as a child, and even financed a trip up to Manhattan as a high school graduation present, but they did it all because I was enthralled by the city (I’m sure they would have preferred to spend the money on a beach vacation). Considering their lack of enthusiasm toward NYC, I sincerely doubt they would want to spend money on a trip to India. I lived in New York for nearly three years and without a shred of hesitation, I can honestly say that compared to New Delhi, NYC is a tranquil, organized, and clean metropolis. The “chaos” of New York doesn’t hold a candle to the spectacle that is India.
And mind you I’ve been here less than two weeks!
It was exhausting to walk around the streets of New Delhi the first few days. I spent the majority of the time confused by what was going on around me and, at first, the chaos surrounding me was quite unnerving. So far on my travels, I’ve understood the general societal etiquette, but here in India it appeared it was a no-holds bar environment where nothing was off the table. Cars coursed through the streets in an erratic fashion, yet people somehow never crashed; everyone was trying to rip me off at every turn; I had to bargain for everything; and it seems people were free to just urinate or sleep where every they damn well pleased.
It just seemed like everyone thought, “This is India, we don’t give any f%#ks here."
It took a few days for me to become acclimated to the environment and realize there is actually order behind all the chaos. It takes a little while to see it since the "system" here is very different from the West, but I promise you there is order in India. My favorite example is my first rickshaw ride through the city. I’ll never forget flying down the dusty New Delhi freeway at night as cars passed to the left and right side of my little tin can they claim is a “rickshaw.” I swear these vehicles feel like glorified go-karts. If I were ever in a high-speed rickshaw accident it would be lights out for everyone on board - there is no crumple zone, no airbags, no seatbelt, no padding, and no roof aside from the piece of cloth supported by some flimsy wires. Keep all this in mind as you fly down the freeway with hundreds of other cars and 18-wheelers pass honking and swerving through massive four-way intersections with no stoplights. It’s a free-for-all, but as mind-boggling as it sounds, the system works! There were no accidents!
There are many “terrifying” aspects of India, such as the rickshaw rides, that really aren’t anything to be afraid of, but for an American who likes organization and in control, India is a whole new ball game. If you want to cross a street, you just have to jump in the middle of traffic and people will stop. I learned really quick that to travel in India you have to just let go of your fears and trust that it will somehow work out in the end.
I guess this is a good general life lesson to learn as well.
Of all the wonders and terrors I experienced during my first few days in India, the biggest disappointment I have with the country is how poorly the local population treats the environment they live in. Since I was a child, recycling was always a big thing taught in schools and there were always public service announcements on TV telling everyone how they need to save the environment and recycle. Even my university put a huge emphasis on recycling so much that I never just saw a trashcan on campus, there were always 3+ bins next to each other: one for paper, plastic, and then trash (assuming there weren't bins for organic material, electronics, cardboard, etc.). Even with all that, I still thought of recycling as a “nice to have” rather than a necessity. The streets were clean, so what was all the hubbub about?
India made an environmentalist out of this Texan.
While I would later go on to experience clean regions of India, in New Delhi the locals treated their city like a giant dumpster. Much to my amazement, garbage is thrown wherever, people are permitted to urinate in the streets, and overall there is just a general mistreatment of the surrounding environment. I know this is partly culture shock on my part, but it is such a shame to see India’s capital city littered with trash and see such a tremendous level disrespect for the place these people call home. This aspect of India is a combination of cultural, economic, societal, and governmental issues, but it’s unbelievably disheartening. Even with all the cultural difference I thought one universal rule would still apply: I don’t want to live in a dumpster, so I shouldn’t throw garbage in the streets.
Is it that complicated to understand?
Like I said, India is many things, but “dull” is not one of them. It’s only been a few weeks, and this country is already forcing me to question my values and my culture back home. I’ve yet to encounter a country that can simultaneously trigger a sense of amazement and horror, but India does it repeatedly without even flinching. Any traveler visiting India has to keep an open mind because if not this country will eat you alive. There is just so much going on and everything is so different from the life you grew up with that you want to stand any chance of surviving you must accept things as they are and move on. India, like the US, is far from perfect, but that doesn’t mean that it has nothing to offer. I can’t wait to see what else this country has to show me!