Hello folks! This blog is an alternative to the group emails I used to send. I'm using it to narrate some of our travel experiences and to respond to your questions.
You will note that sometimes I do not mention specific names or places. That is to avoid drawing unwanted attention. In a very small place in a very big country, a clumsy comment can mistakenly set off chatter and complications.
All the photos are by Lee Schlesinger unless noted otherwise.
Please enjoy, and send me your responses over email.
This time around it's tourism. Previous visits were for scholarly purposes. I'm not sure I can always distinguish, since we'll be visiting many of the same people and places as previous research trips, but the visa is stamped for tourism, so that is that. As I prepare to leave, I am constantly reminded of previous trips. Back in 2011, preparing for a trip, I wrote:
Really, India? People say that a lot where I'm from here in the US: "really, India?" and then "wow." Then come the comments, usually well-meaning, sometimes difficult to answer. Because of movies (I guess) for a lot of people the word "India" evokes choked cities, starving children, and abuse of women. For others it's Taj Mahal, spiritual quests, or jungles with wild animals. All of these are sometimes true of India, but none of them characterize this huge, complex subcontinent.
Here are some basics: If you take a map of the subcontinent and spread it over Europe, it reaches from Denmark to Spain, and from France to Poland. India has far more climates than Europe, from the highest snowy peaks to deserts, mangrove swamps, brilliant ocean coasts and high, dry plains. India has 21 officially listed languages, languages that can be as different from one another as Czech to English or Dutch to Turkish. Most of these languages use their own distinct scripts, making it impossible for an outsider even to sound out the words.
So, if nothing else, we can conclude with certainty that India is a huge, diverse place. About those cities full of slums and beggars: yes, they exist. But so do ultra-modern sectors with spotless subways. And always remember: 70% of Indians live in rural areas, not in cities. 70%! Compare that to the US, where 21% (according to the US census) live in rural areas. Americans/Europeans might know of Indian rural life from movies like Lagaan or Bandit Queen, which isn't terrible, but remember how huge India is; a village in one region may be nothing like a village in another.
India is so big and so diverse that it is hard to say anything in general. I myself have not traveled widely in India. All I will be able to write about is one narrow path in one small sector. Even I cannot dare to tell what is India, really.
Maybe some of the details need slight updates (the rural/urban ratio is changing rapidly; and these days people often mention call centers and IT, which were not much in conversation in 2011), but otherwise I might write the same paragraphs today.
I dunno. What do I do anywhere? Listen, experience, connect. When I was younger I felt constrained to offer a justification, such as professional research. The harder question might be, "what are you going to be there?" Roles can be confusing when I travel. I often wrestle with choices about how much to accede to local preferences and expectations. That struggle can open new understanding about my own unexamined assumptions as well as those of other people. So, I do plan to observe and reflect on such tensions.
Another activity will likely touch on cycles. I first traveled to India in 1994. My spouse went, courtesy of the US Peace Corps, in the early 1970s. Many spins around the sun have turned out changes, losses, new life. No doubt I will be marking them.
Mostly, though, I feel the impulse to relate, to connect: the survival impulse that prompts a baby to try out smiles on all and sundry; the push to see and understand, to connect inward and outward, to connect words with sense, or I with thou.
Many people want to know where we will be in India. There's that pleasure that comes from poring over a map, sounding out names, tracing rivers and routes. These days, satellite images and shared photographs make this exploration even richer. Here are some terms and starting places for you to explore online, if you wish: