Moving from an abandoned and shrinking city of about one million to an overcrowed city of over 13 million is bound to present a bit of culture shock. India is truly like no other place on earth. I have always said that one most redefine poverty when traveling beyond the borders of the western world. India redefines not only poverty but transportation, class, caste, race, sexuality, gender, urbanization, water usage, usage of space, and spicy tastebuds!
It truly is a vibrant place.
Traffic is comparable to an intense game of Tetris - weaving ones way through spaces (on or off roads)...absolutely insane. Walking in the Old City consists of sweaty pits, dirty feet, cows meandering about, dogs and people laying in the street median, men groping, shop keepers yelling and using any and every persuasive tactic to lure buyers, spitting, traffic, basically a clusterf$%^ of craziness!
Peace and quiet is a state which is hard to come by here...there are just so many people.
What is an interesting thought I've had is that I am not fully emersed here...my focus (my job) is caring for the wellbeing of 33 college students. Daily doctor visits, coffee dates, and attending lectures have been more the norm than breathing in the complexity and depth of Delhi. Though poverty prevails all around me I feel disconnected from it. What scares me about this is that this is precisely what stratification of caste intends to do...it lures the higher class to discredit and function independently from the lower class. Of course this is impossible. It is impossible everywhere in the world. The lure is an absolute lie. We have situated societies in that from top to bottom and bottom to top there's a reliance and a strategic balance to keep top top and bottom bottom - it's complex.
Wrestling with this complexity is merely a backdrop to my presence in India. If I were here on my own accord I believe conversations and interactions with people would be different...at least I think it could be different.
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