Delhi, an uncommon journey

I would love to say that New Delhi is all good, but I fear that would be giving false hope. We have seen many things in and outside of Delhi. We have stood in the center of city ruins from the 13th century to the present. We have hovered under the shadows of The Taj Mahal and century old Mosques. The smells of Delhi have filtered into our noses and took residence inside of our clothes. The sounds of packed street and hungry cries have curled up into my memory and found the record and replay button.

While i cannot say I would live in Delhi, it was a truly eye opening experience to live in and explore that city. One of the ways in which I was able to explore the city was through getting to know the people itself. We often forget that it really is the citizens that give cities their character. One of our assignments was to get to know the city through one of its citizens and then to write a paper on that experience. While meeting new people is something I love to do, I came to the realization that "making a friend" is hard in that city. The difficulty stems from many factors, but the central is safety. Normally, I am not that concerned with my own safety, but when it comes to other people, that easy going mentality changes. One of the first things we were told when we arrived in Delhi was that girls were never to walk alone. We actually had to divide into groups, with each group containing a male for some of our assignments and field trips throughout the city. While I eagerly did this task, I found myself walking around with clinched fists a lot of the time. This was particularly difficult for me as I am a person that very much believes in non violence, but when your friends start getting groped in public places by people who's only image of American Women is what they see in movies and music videos, what can you do? Who can you really blame for that one? While human beings must take some responsibility for their actions, it really makes one think of how much we don't address and how much privilege I have living in the states alone. While it was difficult to make a friend while I was the chaperon for a lot of the time, I ended up meeting a very nice Coffee shop worker.

What is interesting is looking at all these issues while keeping in mind that my culture and background contribute a great deal to how I perceive and react to the different things in Delhi. I have to wonder if my life, while not luxurious in the least bit, has shielded me from seeing the world with an unfiltered eye. It is also interesting to see how we, as a group, react to these things. It reminds me of how we are in a constant state of privilege just by being able to walk around and not be dismissed because of color, or women being able to speak their mind and be forceful in their opinions. While I do not condone the way they treat women and children here, it really reminds me of how far we as a human race still have to go. It reminds me how the whole world doesn't work the way we work in the US. Some things o which we have become accustomed, just don't fly over here. Looking back, I am so grateful that I went through what I did in Delhi. Even after the racism, sexism, and insanity it really is an interesting town. The "Delhi friend" that I met said it best, "I love Delhi. The people are so friendly, but I want to visit some place where the people are not so rude."

That being noted, all of India, fortunately, is not as harsh and overwhelming as Delhi. I had to opportunity to take a trip with a few students to a hill town to visit a school up there in hopes of meeting with some interested students. Before we answered their questions about Lewis & Clark college, we had the opportunity to walk about. While it was misty outside, the scenery was absolutely stunning. The drop in temperature fell upon our shoulder the minute we stepped out the car. We were in paradise! When they said "hill town", I assumed it was like hills back at home, but it was far from it. We really were in the foot hills of the mountains.