Observations from India

I have a giant, subcontinent-sized crush on this place called India. When I told India this, India told me we should just be friends. A couple of weeks later, India hinted that one could never have too many acquaintances. A few days after that, I heard India wanted to humiliate me in an arm-wrestling competition.

Observation #1: Breathing in India is hard on the body

You see, the dust in India is a national reality and it turns out I am very, very allergic to that reality. Of course I took strong allergy pills every day, but the polluted, dusty air always did me in. A permanently stuffed nose, hacking cough, and sinus infection escorted me throughout my trip.

I don’t think this problem with the environment is mine alone. I heard coughs everywhere I went. The dust is the result of climate, pollution, unpaved roads, deforestation, overcrowding, corruption and the color brown.

Regardless of the cause, India makes it hard for me to breathe. I like breathing, so I don’t think I could live here.

Observation #2: It’s really hard to get anywhere

Traipsing through India is an adventure. You get from point A to point B by hoping your luck holds out and muttering a lot of “oh dears.” Lanes aren’t really a thing here and if you wait your turn, it will never be your turn.

Lanes? Don’t be ridiculous.

If your way is blocked, feel free to go into oncoming traffic. It’s less scary the twelfth or so time your driver does this.

So much uses the road and the flow doesn’t wait for indecision. Here is an incomplete list of things I have personally seen contribute to traffic.

Traffic-causing things

Observation #3: Safety is optional

I found usable seat belts in cars about a quarter of the time. Railings that protect you from falling off high spaces are optional. You cross the street holding your breath and weaving your way through the crowd. There are no crosswalks. You can come into the hospital room barefoot, but not in shoes. I saw someone warm bath water using a heater and a hangar.

Safety? Don’t be ridiculous.

Learn to swim by jumping into a deep well. Maybe that’s not unsafe, but it sounds terrifying.

Observation #4: Garbage collection is different

Per person, India creates much less garbage than the average Westerner, but disposal of that trash is much more interesting.

This is how it works in one medium-sized city. When you hear the garbage tractor coming down the street, you’re supposed to head to the door and hand the garbage man your bucket of non-food garbage. He takes it and dumps it into the garbage tractor.

The garbage tractor

If you’re not home, you can just dump the garbage on the road — not in bags, just on the road, in a pile — and the garbage man will come by with his shovel and bucket, shovel it up, and put it in the garbage tractor.

For any food scraps, a cow will come to your door and eat it. This part of the process is positively delightful and something I’d like to see come to the States.

Food waste removal specialist

Observation #5: It’s hard to prepare for India

Some countries make visitors go through an elaborate visa dance. Brazil and China were two in particular I remember being full of hassle. India joins their ranks. The e-visa asks intrusive questions — prodding about religion (Zoroastrian is an option, but Secular Humanism is not), requesting references and probing for secret Pakistani influences. India really doesn’t like Pakistan very much.

You also have to make sure your vaccines are up to date. Malaria. Typhoid. Diphtheria. There’s so much out in the world that wants to kill me for some reason.

Observation #6: Traveling in India makes you appreciate the things you take for granted.

I love traveling because I desperately need the reminder to enjoy the mundane, but astonishing positives I acclimate to and tend to take for granted. Traveling kicks you out of your comfort zone so you can appreciate your comfort when you dart back inside it.

Coming back to the U.S., breathing so easily feels like a gift. Toilet paper is abundant and there’s no question of squatting. Before India, I forgot to feel thankful for the cold, safe water I can drink straight from the tap or the lovely shower, hot so quickly. Taking a bath using a bucket and a cup in India is fun and novel the first few times you do it, but it’s really hard to wash your hair.

Observation #7: It’s all worth it

This was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I’ve been on more than a few trips, so that says a lot. I keep learning this lesson over and over. It’s the people you surround yourself with that matters more than anything. Happy relationships make people happy.

I spent every minute of this trip with family. I’m lucky that I have a large number of excellent people who share some of my parents’ names. I have 25 aunts and uncles and 31 first cousins and a bunch of second cousins and another bunch of first-cousins once removed. I got to see and hang out with a lot of these people on this trip and a lot of them live within shouting distance of each other, so it always felt like a party. That is a recipe for a wonderful time.

I already told you about the chai, but the food is equally delicious and eaten fresh several times a day.

I appreciate how the place is bursting with color. Happy, lovely color.

Color is India’s specialty. So many bangles.

For art (rangoli)

I can’t wait to go back.

Observation #8: Not really an observation, but a list. I like leaving you with a list.

Regrets list – India

1. I didn’t see a grocery store. That’s always a fun jaunt in a foreign country. I had the chance to visit one, but I didn’t.
2. Public transportation exists, but I never tried it. I had the chance to use it, but I didn’t.
3. There is so much still to see. Kerala, the Taj Mahal, a meditation ashram, Sri Lanka. I wish I had stayed longer.
4. I ate food that I knew my body didn’t appreciate to please someone else. It’s an affront to refuse food and you have to guard your plate with zeal to avoid unrequested extras. I wish I used more zeal.
5. My fitness goals fell off the wagon. Stupid wagon. I didn’t work out, didn’t wear my fitbit every day, didn’t keep up with the push-up challenge I was in the middle of before I left. Month five of the year of the body was a massive fail on my part.
6. I acquired some new earrings. I don’t need them because I have so many already. But, oh, they’re so adorable. They’re meant to be nose rings. Yes, I’m judging me too.

They’re tiny apples.