Insights from India

It’s kind of weird when you realize that traveling on a ship becomes the norm. When adjusting to new languages, trying different foods, viewing poverty and wealth disparities, breathing in pollution, and drinking only from bottled water becomes habitual. But it’s happened to me. My current home is in continuous motion, and I’m picking up sights, sounds, and experiences, and leaving footprints behind. It’s bizarre to no longer experience the expected, but rather, to experience new and un-thought of challenges, such as knowing what to say to a child laborer, or crossing a street filled with motorbikes, or expressing extreme gratitude without knowing more than “thank you.”

I feel like my experience in India was bizarrely atypical of other individual’s experiences. Everyone I’ve known who’s been to India has warned me about the food, and many classes I’ve taken, books I’ve read, and individuals I’ve spoken with have somewhat talked about India as the “scary monster” of traveling. I’ve heard stories of individuals being swarmed by beggars, or seeing filthy, filthy areas and a level of sanitation that makes them cringe, or even having a spiritual awakening that changes all beliefs. I guess I had my own reawakening, in that India is not the scary monster that I thought it to be, but rather, a place filled with amazingly kind individuals, delicious foods, gorgeous textiles, and an aura that made me feel like home. Perhaps this could be due to the fact that I stayed in South India, which is incredibly different from North India, where Delhi, Mumbai, and Agra are located. Instead of staying in Chennai, I attended an overnight village stay. Also, Cochin, where I stayed the past two days, is in the state of Kerala, which has prohibited begging, has the largest population of religions other than Hindu, and has one of the highest literacy rates in India. Nonetheless, my time in India has been spectacular and inspiring.

The first day I arrived in Chennai, which is in the south eastern state of Tamil Nadu. I had signed up for an overnight village stay that focuses on child labor in rural India. We left the ship around 1 pm, and headed for roughly 2.5 hrs to the village. On the way there, we passed through very poor areas of town which was near the beach and where many fishermen lived. We passed makeshift homes constructed with palm leaves and sticks. As we passed by and stared in our luxurious, air conditioned bus, they stared back in the heat and in their dirty clothing. I couldn’t help but catch a few tears running down my face, as I, a child of privilege, heard my peers discuss the India that they saw: filthy, smelly, disgusting. I couldn’t help but look into the eyes of the women and men looking up at us and think, “please don’t hate me.” I wondered what it would be like to live on the other side of the glass windows. We arrived in the village and were greeted by the co-founder of RIDE, the organization we went through. RIDE (Rural Institute for Development Education) is a non-governmental organization that aims to end child labor and empower women. We were taken to the four story guest house, which had dormitory style rooms, and given delicious hot chai tea and cookies upon arrival. After our snack, we headed to a village about 45 minutes away. We reached the village and were greeted with children handing flowers to us. The children were primary students at a RIDE school, and the classroom we entered had been donated by Semester at Sea. These children were some of the sweetest I had ever seen. They were inquisitive, enjoyed our cameras, and full of laughter. They all spoke a decent amount of English, which made it easy to get names and ages. We then went to another classroom, where we met with bridge school students. One group played with the bridge school students outside, while another group listened to presentations given by the primary students inside. The children ranged from ages 4 or 5 to 12. We played with all of the children for about an hour and a half, and I think all of us now have silly photos on our cameras that the children took! It was so hard to leave them at the end of the day.

RIDE’s primary mission, as mentioned before, is to end child labor. They rescue children from working in the stone quarry nearby, and have them attend a bridge school for a year or two years. The bridge school program incorporates night “school” into the children’s jobs. Basically, they create an inviting and enthusiastic environment which will encourage the children to return. After the bridge year or two, students become full primary students. It was hard to imagine that the energetic, beautiful, and loving children we met had been working in the stone quarry earlier that day. Many of the girls danced for us, and we taught them a few American songs, such as the Hokey Pokey! RIDE’s other mission is to help empower women through creating economic ingenuity and independence. Through multiple classes and micro-lending, mothers of the children will be able to depend on their work and business, instead of their children’s labor.

During dinner, we were able to discuss RIDE with the founder. Apparently, in 1994, RIDE began to rescue Dalit (the untouchables) children and women from the stone quarry. When the company found out, they stoned the founder, and he suffered from severe injuries. Both he and his wife have put their lives at risk to help women and children. The following day, we were taken to another village. Upon arrival, we were greeted with men drumming, and adorned with paint and flowers. Most of the morning was spent walking around the village and being shown around by the locals. At one point during the morning, an elderly woman found me and took me by the hand from the rest of the group. She took me to her home, which consisted of two rooms. The first room had a TV on a stand, a fan, and two lawn chairs piled high with laundry. There were no lights. She turned on the fan, took the laundry from the chairs, and sat me in front of the TV to get me out of the heat. From an American point of view, it looked as though this woman had no possessions. But to her, she had the world, and she had her pride in her home. She also showed me the back of her home and her cows. Afterwards, I took a picture with her and showed it to her, and she beamed. She took me by the hand again and brought me to my group. The individuals I met during those two days had the hospitality and generosity of the Japanese, but a warmth and physical affection that made me feel like part of their families. After volunteering to attempt to make mud bricks (it was difficult!), we headed back to RIDE headquarters and stopped at a Hindu temple that was built in the 7th century!

After my stay at RIDE, and talking with women, children, and founders, I have made a decision that I would like to start a fundraiser at Kenyon next fall. One of my fears was going on this voyage, and not responding to the privilege we have; the very fact that we leave these countries is a sign of power and privilege, and I know that in order to feel good about this experience, I will need to give back. RIDE is a fantastic and well-run organization, and many of you will hear about the fundraiser in the fall.

I arrived in Cochin (or Kochi) in on March 15th. The first day I went to Allepey Backwaters, which is an area of freshwater lakes and canals. We enjoyed a boat ride along the backwaters and viewed the gorgeous surroundings, as well as the numerous house boats that tourists rent! The second day I had in Cochin was free. My friend Caitlin and I found an auto rickshaw around 10:15, and went for an interesting adventure! A few times I thought I was going to die….traffic was pretty chaotic! We swerved through a sea of other rickshaws, trucks, cars, and bicycles. Our rickshaw driver took us to Jewtown, the area of town where a synagogue is and is where the large proportion of Jewish in Kerala have been recorded. Currently, there are 13 self-identified Jewish individuals in Cochin. In the midst of perusing the street shops, we ran into our friend Tom, who joined us for the rest of the day. We found a quaint restaurant on the edge of the water and enjoyed some lunch and fresh fruit sodas that we made ourselves! On the way back to the ship, we learned about a custom in India where individuals have duties to one another to help business, called baksheesh. Our rickshaw driver took us to four different shops, where we were told to spend five minutes looking around. If we spent five minutes in the shops, our driver would receive a white slip; once he had 10 slips, he could receive t-shirts for his children or free gas for his rickshaw. It felt a bit odd at first, but then at every shop we saw Semester at Sea students; clearly, this was something that was typical in Indian society! Baksheesh is necessary to the economy in India. Our day was spent with many smiles, laughs, and enjoyable sights and sounds. Overall, Cochin is a wonderful, vibrant city, and one that I would like to go back to another time in the future.

India is a country that will stick with me for years to come. The individuals that I met, the kids who I played with, and the sights that I saw were interesting, inspiring, and beautiful. I know that I would like to not just leave the country and go back to my comfortable life, but rather, I would like to find a way to help RIDE complete their goal, two of which I am very passionate about: educating children and empowering women. We are currently in transit from India to Mauritius, and today in Global Studies, our professor announced we are officially on our way home. Home for this semester has been incredibly fluid, so returning to a home that is constant and stable will bring on new challenges. Fusing my experiences, my evolving world-view, and my battles with how to respond will be challenging, but hopefully I will know to do the right thing.