Camels, Elephants, Cow Piss, and Crashing an Indian Wedding?

Our trip to India was definitely a very memorable experience and many of the reasons why were due to the fun and crazy things that we did. While visiting the Pratapgarh farms, we were able to ride on camels, something that I hadn’t done since elementary school. At this farm, we were also able to throw darts, shoot with bows and arrows, and even experienced a mud bath and tube-well shower. At another ethnic complex in Rajasthan, we got to ride an elephant and a human-run ferris wheel, which were both new experiences for me.

Another lasting impression might have been the different Indian foods that we tried out. To be honest, I was a bit tired of curry after a few days of eating it, but we were refreshed by the different dishes served to us. It actually started on the plane ride to India, in which we were given some minty seeds to freshen our breath. The water balls from a street vendor was very interesting and former students of the India trip had talked about it during orientation, which really made me want to try it. The parathas from a crowded store in what seemed to be an alley way of Chandni Chowk were very tasty. (Chandni Chowk was also an experience in itself with its crowded streets and shops.) Even the restaurant that we “had” to stop at for lunch on the way back to Delhi had some very delicious garlic butter naan. And yes, I even tried cow piss, which tasted horrible but was very good for your digestive system, with some fellow classmates and Professor Gupta!

Perhaps even crazier than drinking cow piss, we crashed an Indian wedding! While riding on our bus towards the hotel in Rajasthan, we noticed a nearby Indian wedding taking place and stopped to check out the festivities. While the group must’ve expected only to stop by for a while to check out how Indians dress and how they celebrated on this special day, we were shocked that our professor had actually gotten us into the wedding party. We ate their food, danced with the wedding guests, and even took pictures with the groom. (We learned that according to traditional weddings, the bride doesn’t come out until the end of the celebration. We weren’t able to stay for the whole party and unfortunately weren’t able to see the bride.) Professor Gupta had told us that the same thing happened last year and that the drunken father of the bride had invited the students of last year to the wedding party, but I’m sure this year’s experience beat last year’s =)

Hospitality and Tolerance in India

One of the great things that I had been taking away from this trip was the hospitality and tolerance that Indian people had for not only each other, but with foreigners as well. From the hotel doorman to the waiter to a random person in the street, when you say “Namastey” (which means hello in Hindi), they also greet you with a genuine smile on their faces. For my e-buddies that I interacted with before the trip to India, they had been great and I really appreciated their willingness to help me. Even before arriving in India, they were very willing to talk to me and help me understand the culture and history of India and we had long talks on Facebook about many different topics. As we officially met for the first time on the first day, they greeted me with a warm welcoming hug as if we had been friends already. They also explained to me that Indians treat their guests as if they were gods and would try their best to be good hosts to me. One of them directed me around the area and held my plate of food and taught me how to eat everything that was on my plate. Another was helping me translate when I couldn’t understand the Indian accent sometimes. A third one engaged in a deep and meaningful conversation with me. And of course, we had two parties together at Professor Gupta’s house, one of which was on the day of Lohri, one of the most celebrated holidays in India. I would’ve never thought that I’d be in India eating, drinking, and dancing with my friends, professors, and some new Indian buddies. The e-buddy part of this program was one of the biggest hits and made it really unique and special that we could develop long-distance relationships with these Indian students.

I found that Indian was also very tolerable and it must be since there is such diverse culture and religion. I learned so many new religions, some of which included Sikhism and the Bahai faith, while on this trip and they all exist to a big scale in India alone. From the Sikh temples to the Lotus Temple to the Shiv Murti Complex, there were just so many people that practiced so many different religions right next to each other. It was the first time I heard about the Bahai faith and the Lotus Temple is one of the many Bahai Houses in the world. It was not until this trip and seeing all the people and places that I started understanding the meaning of the “acceptance of the coexistence of opposites” in an article we read. As a result of witnessing the tolerance of all these different people, it wasn’t also until this trip that I learned the richness of Indian culture and religion.

Stray Dogs, Crazy Traffic, Construction

Those were some of the few things I first noticed while being here in India. As soon as we got out of the Indira Gandhi Airport of India, my classmates and I immediately noticed two stray dogs walking around and chasing after cars. As the trip progressed, stray dogs became as abundant as the squirrels in New York. It was also a bit sad that we were advised not to touch or pet the dogs since we didn’t know what kinds of diseases they may carry. What surprised me the most was that none of them were scary or in any way aggressive.

The crazy traffic was undeniable in India with multiple lanes on the highway and almost no traffic lights to follow. There was one time when our bus had crossed about 6 lanes…6 lanes – that’s unheard of in America. Sleeping on the bus was quite hard as well since there’s constant honking of cars. We learned though that honking wasn’t necessarily a rude thing here in India and people honked to let someone in front of them know that the people are behind them; it’s more of an action for safety. Crossing the roads were hard as well since the lack of traffic lights caused us to walk literally right into the middle of incoming traffic and dodging cars, buses, and a whole lot of motorcycles. Part of the reason for the lack of traffic policing was the lack of police available for such jobs, but hey, at least they still stop for you when you cross the road.

Another thing that fascinated me was the architecture and construction of India. It was evident from the first day in Delhi that there were so many different types of houses and buildings even only within the state. Aside from the tourist spots we visited, which included temples and complexes, there were also many grand buildings for different corporations. However, what captivated me the most was the great number of houses and buildings still under construction. You could literally walk down a street and find a temple next to a house under construction next to a building next to a building under construction next to a store next to another house under construction.