A Quintessential India Experience

A Quintessential India Experience

Today I had what I consider to be a quintessential India experience. We were scheduled to tour the National Museum with its former Director (this Cross Cultural Solutions Program is amazing), but it was canceled. (I hope it's rescheduled for next week - I would hate to miss it.) With the museum tour canceled we did what any self-respecting Westerners would do with a free afternoon: we went shopping.

I was excited for my first ride on the Delhi Metro. They sell single tokens for each ride. They rub the token on a pad that tells the chip in the token where it was purchased and its value (like the pads they rub books on when you purchase them to turn off the inventory control chip).

After we all purchased our tokens we went through the Ladies' metal detector, put our bags through the X-ray machine & then rubbed the tokens on a pad that opened the gates to allow you to enter the Metro. There was just one problem: my token didn't work. After several tries - and several big red X's on the entry screen - the gate wouldn't open. Ugh.

I returned to the window where I purchased my token. At this point there was a long line and several men were cutting the line.  So I did what any self-respecting Jersey Girl would do: I cut in front of all the men, and shoved my token through the window.  The response: "you have to go over there - to the Customer Care line."

Dejected, I joined that line. While waiting one man came up on my right to cut me off on line. Just before the person being helped was finished another man came up on my left to cut me off. Again, Jersey Girl in Delhi: as soon as the person in front of me was done I put my (bandaged) left arm up to block the more aggressive cutter on the left, then, as soon as he backed off, I switched to my right to cut off the first cutter. Just like that I was at the window, my token was fixed, I sailed back through security and the gates to join the rest of the group.

The subway is by far the nicest & cleanest I've ever seen. We only went two stops to the Dilli Haat Market. (We were advised to shop there because you have to pay to get in.) It was surprisingly quiet. Although the prices weren't as low as I anticipated, I think that's just because I'm much better at negotiating deals for my clients than I am for scarves, purses, etc.

Volunteering

The night after my placement orientation my lymphedema flared up again. I had to bandage myself for the first time since January. As a result, I haven't gone to my volunteer placement and I've been working with Jaagi to find a placement that doesn't involve using that arm and working in dirty places.

Tomorrow I'm meeting with the founder of a startup nonprofit. If she approves of me I will spend my time helping her build her program and devise a fundraising strategy. I'm hopeful this will work out as I've always wanted to do international nonprofit work. This nonprofit prepares children who have never gone to school to enter a school program (the government doesn't provide free schooling to all children). She also works with their laborer parents to teach them why it's important to educate their children. Wish me luck!

India History Lesson

Yesterday the Chair of the Jawahar Lal Nehru University Political Science Department came to give us a lesson on India and its political history. (Did I mention this program is amazing?) He talked for 2-1/2 hours but hey, we're in India.

Here are some choice items from this once-in-a-lifetime experience:

-In this part of the world, more people survive on accident than on purpose.

-Don't dismiss India's surprises as irrationalities. Whatever you generalize about India, the contrary will also be true.

-Any civilization that thinks it has nothing to learn from other nations is a dying civilization.

-Be careful when you generalize about the Indian population because there are so many people. 1% of the population is very rich, but 1% of the population of India is 13 million people, which is close to the populations of many European nations.

- If Cleopatra's nose has been 1/2" longer or shorter, the history of the world have been different because the Romans would have continued east to conquer India and Afghanistan. (Love this one!)

- Indian culture considers it very rude to refuse a request for asylum.

- After the 1857 rebellion the British Parliament took over managing India from the British East India Company. The British government established universities that educated Indians about Western liberal thought, which then led to the ultimate demise of British rule in India. (Perhaps that's why this government doesn't provide universal education to its youth?)

- India's greatest achievement is that it has survived as a secular democracy. (It is pretty amazing.)

- India is home to the world's largest number of "absolute poor" - more than Sub-Saharan Africa.

- The Indian state was created through nonviolence, but the country is now one of the most criminalizes states. (The woman managing the school I may assist wont apply for government grants due to the bribery & corruption. The newspapers are filled with horrible stories about rape and murder. From what I've gathered so far, most crimes are perpetrated against children.)

- The Indian court system has 30 million pending cases. 

Good luck with that.