Then there's southern India

When you think of India, what do you picture? Well, I found the India I imagined here in the south. Relief washed over me as soon as we touched down in Visakhapatnam. I saw the coastline, palm trees, and beautifully sculpted lush mountains that gate the city and thought, “This is India.”

Ramana, HOINA’s driver, took us along the coastline as we made our way to the home. We passed fish drying on stones. We passed thatched huts. And of course we passed roaming cows. Welcome to village India.

-- Fish drying along the coast in south eastern India, north of Visakhapatnum

After settling into the guest houses, we made our way to dinner. The crowd of boys who live in the HOINA boys’ home greeted us warmly at the gate. “Good evening, sister. What is your name?” It was precious and exactly the reception we needed after our journey in Delhi and Agra.

After dinner one of the boys, Rajif, tried to take our group’s dishes from me. “Sister, you are our guest. We will clean,” he said. But, I persisted and we raced to see who could finish more of the dishes pilled in front of me. I made my first friend.

The following day, we took a tour of the grounds. I noticed the splashes of creativity that sprinkle the campus. Mosaics of children, animals and religious sayings decorate the walls in the children’s play areas. Near the girls’ home, there is a pet monkey living in a large screened in gazebo. Along the roads within the campus are brightly painted tires. I can’t imagine a more beautiful or perfect place to raise children. I would be a very happy child here.

Note: “Aka”, meaning (older) sister or brother is a way many Indians in this area refer to each other. That is why the children greet us and each other this way.

Constant Contention

The trash, the dirt, the grime and the smell are not what is bothering me. It’s the constant, in your face poverty and desperation.

In contrast, I never felt so rich. Granted, I personally did not pay for the hotel we stayed in last night thanks to the hard work that got me into Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College. But, I still felt obnoxiously privileged and honestly for the first time in my life.

I felt lucky to have the opportunity to come to India and here I am feeling too lucky. Seeing the world comes with much responsibility and promised reflection. There are so many ways to live this life and I always felt that none was better than another. But when so many people are blatantly suffering, you have to think something is wrong. Wrong with their system, wrong with the rumored government corruption – just wrong. But why is it so wrong? Whose fault is it? Who needs to take responsibility? I now understand why Supriya shared the statistic that there is one NGO for every 400 people in India.

Clearly this issue is complicated.

Last night we stayed in the Clarks Shiraz hotel in close proximity to the Taj Mahal. I understand why the Taj Mahal is India’s crown jewel – what an amazing, beautiful, ostentatious place. But to get to it you pass countless desperate vendors, selling everything from Taj Mahal snow globes to key chains and T-shirts. Our tour guide, Joli, simply told us to ignore them because once you acknowledge them they think you are interested and will heckle you until you are out of reach.

It’s barbaric. It’s uncomfortable and it makes me feel so rude, rich and mean. All of these characteristics are so unfamiliar to me. I try to go through my life embracing everyone in a positive, supportive way. It sucks when you feel those characteristics just because you aren’t in their shoes. The vendors and beggars that stuck out the most include a man with deformed legs whose knees acted as feet that had to crawl to move; and an adorable little boy selling Taj Mahal snow globes.

What upsets me the most is that I am posting these thoughts. Before coming to India, I heard a variety of negative views. I thought, “I’ve done my share of traveling, I’m understanding and this won’t bother me. I will embrace this culture in the most positive way.” But, here I am reporting the negative and I don’t want you to judge them.

The cities I’ve visit are in constant contention. At first I thought they simply co-existed, but it seems too positive of a word and paints a picture that nothing is wrong here.

I leave you with this: Last night when we returned to the hotel we were bombarded by the hotel staff to go to “Monsoon Kasha”, a party celebrating Monsoon season. My roommate Robyn and I walked in to check it out, and there were 10 hotel staff members standing at buffet tables, along with a DJ. No guests were eating there. It was disgusting. Not the set-up but the obnoxious wastefulness of it all. I didn’t ask, but I’m guessing all of the left-over food was disposed of and did not go to those beggars on the street.

Creating possibilities

"Will you be job seekers or will you be job creators?" University of Delhi Sri Ram College of Commerce President P.C. Jain asked us today.

As leader of a college of economics in a bustling Indian city, he strives to push his hard-working students to become job creators. He even proposed in his introduction speech that when students enter the university they remain throughout their college career as those who will be job creators, not take direction from others but rather finding their own route. Possibly, he said, these students would not be allowed to graduate without creating their own business.

In a country of 1.2 billion, with 35% of Indians surviving on extreme poverty (less than $1 a day), more job creation can be a solution to alleviate hardship. Both Supriya, of Free the Slaves, and the group of students we met with today take a more empowering long-term approach to aiding those in need.

Today we met the College of Commerce's SIFE team. SIFE, Students In Free Enterprise, is an international non-profit that prompts students to get creative in helping their own communities. The team just placed second at India's national SIFE competition for their project in helping local rickshaw drivers get loans to buy their own vehicle. Rickshaws act like taxis but the drivers peddle passengers around all day for a low cost. (And, yes! I mean peddle like a bike in extreme Delhi heat!)

Before the rickshaw drivers had to rent the vehicle from contractors who were often exploitative. Now, their day to day costs are minimized and they have a constant promise of income. A long-term improvement.

The right of possibilities

I began this blog based on the premise that I was continuously contending with possibilities. Today, the debate that plagued my mind last summer appears slightly selfish. Let me explain...

Tonight, I write to you from New Delhi, India - a place of depth, where luxuries and poverty co-exist. An international service trip with Penn State's Schreyer Honors College is what brings me here and I am delighted at what I found.

Today, Supriya Awasthi the South Asia Director of Free the Slaves spoke to our group of 10 Penn State students with the world at their fingertips. Free the Slaves is an international NGO that works to combat slavery in every form. The group defines slavery as "any person physically confined, unpaid or paid below minimum wage, or who lives under the threat of violence."

Supriya spoke directly about her organization's work in freeing child slaves here in India. We watched a video of events that Supriya witnessed. After slaves are freed, boys and girls are taken to separate Ashrams where they are well taken care of and taught that they to have rights. A right to education, bread and love.

What struck me the most was the psyche of a freed slave. They are often asked upon gaining freedom, "What do you dream? What do you wish?" And, Supriya said they simply have no concept of dreaming and ask, "What is a wish?"

In contrast to my first post, where I admitted my fear of losing grip on my dreams - to imagine a life without a promise of freedom and choice seems a dimly lit existence. So sing it loud and sing it proud, a message spread in the work of Free the Slaves, we all have a right to possibilities!

Scheduling for the Last Semester

So I made it...I am currently scheduling for the last semester of my college career. It feels weird. I've gotten all of the hardest classes out of the way and only need one professional journalism class to graduate. Should I feel accomplished? Maybe I will when i get to May.

Its so odd how forward thinking our society is! Its September 10th and I'm picking classes that don't start until January 10th! Needless to say, I'm also already getting asked the question: What are you going to do when you graduate?

Savor it, I say! And I need to accept that, because before I decided against graduating early so I could have one more savoring semester up in State College. So Yoga, photo journalism, advanced multimedia production, thesis completion work and hopefully international reporting, HERE I COME! See, now that I spell it out, it sounds sufficient enough to fill my full schedule.

I'll be busy no matter what ...its the story of my life.

Heat

Oh, how I love when its damn hot! I hear everyone around me complaining about how hot it is and how sweaty it makes them. But today I just strolled around campus, soaking up the rays and feeling like I was on top of the world.

Granted, I was wearing the great dress my momma bought me (only $19.99 at JcPenney). You'd have to see it to believe how awesome it is. :-) But anyway, does anyone share with me a love for HEAT?!

For example, it's 91 degrees right now at 5:29 p.m. and I suppose that's hot for Happy Valley! On days like today, I just think how great it would be if I lived somewhere tropical (of course, if I could transplant those I love). Africa, California, Greece, Egypt, South America...the list just goes on and on! This is why I want to be a traveling, story-telling journalist - so I can soak up the vibrant cultures and lifestyles that inhabit these hotttt places.

Penn State Students

There's something beautiful about Penn State students, granted I do have a bit of a bias as one myself, but there really is!

This semester I am taking COMM 410: International Communications, with Professor Elavsky. I had heard nothing but great things about this professor before I took him (including how good looking he was...), but from personal experience I can attest to his abilities as a professor and a critical thinking stimulator.

This is a class of 54 and normally there are a few "big talkers" with over-the-top opinions, but in just the three short classes we've had more than half the class has spoken up. And they have some great, informative things to say! Now, you can generalize about us Penn State students, as partiers (apparently that's not a word!), a cult, or a College Disney World (a great positive comment from some good friends of mine!), but we've got some very aware, knowledgeable and passionate communications students who will be graduating in the fall.

That makes me proud to be one of them.