Serene is hardly the word I would use to describe this country. The minute you step outside of baggage claim, you are surrounded by dozens of taxi drivers competing for your attention, and the busy-ness only increases on the road to your destination.
India is something you have to experience with all of your senses. Every day, I hear honking horns, loud conversations in English, Kannada and Hindi, and birds chirping the moment I leave my dorm. The streets are full of “Yes, madam? Where you from?” and “Come come come come come!” I smell curry along with pollution from auto-rickshaws (autos) and fragrant flowers. I feel the fresh air in the morning and the humidity hits me like a wall every afternoon—it is, after all, monsoon season here in Bangalore. I taste and feel some of the best food of my life, eating with my right hand as a proper Indian does. I see brightly colored clothing and bobbing heads and trash everywhere.
The hardest thing to get used to so far has been walking. No, really. Many places you have to walk on the street because there is no sidewalk or there’s too much trash. The problem with this is that no one stays in their lane on the road. The vehicles seem to fit together like puzzle pieces, with 2 motorcycles and an auto squeezing in behind a bus, and more motorcycles on the side. Everyone’s honking at everyone else for doing the exact same thing they are, and sometimes vehicles don’t even stay on the correct side of the road (which is the left, in case you’re wondering). Crossing the road is the biggest adventure of all, since there are very rarely breaks in the traffic, and rarer still are traffic lights. You have to take your chances, throw out your hand to try to slow down vehicles and dash out into the traffic. If you’re lucky, you’ll be halfway across, and then have to do the same thing for the vehicles going the other way. I read somewhere that Bangalore is known for having the worst traffic in India, which is not entirely surprising since (if my taxi driver is to be believed) the population has grown from 4.5 million to 18 million in 20 years. WHOA.
Another remarkable thing about Bangalore is the friendliness of everyone. These people could beat out even Midwesterners in a competition. I have never met a group of people so willing to help, to go out of their way even. Maybe some of the reason it stands out so much to me is that I just came here from Paris, but every time I meet someone here I am astounded at how nice they are.
It’s hard to determine what to put in this entry because everything is just so different, but here are a few of the things I’ve done.
Shopped on the street and bartered some prices down.
Identified some foods I particularly like. For example, that red sauce at lunch today. The runny one with the tofu in it. Does it have a name? Probably…
Ridden in auto-rickshaws. I was nervous to begin with, but it’s a great way to get around, especially since streets are so hard to get around. The autos are open on the sides, so you get a great breeze throughout the ride. It’s not fun when traffic is stopped though, and small children come up and tug on your pants, asking for money or water or whatever you have.
Seen cows chilling on the side of the road, confident that nothing will happen to them…for good reason!
Covered my head, removed my shoes and washed my feet and hands before entering a Sikh gurudwara. I ate some sort of wheat-sugar-something before sitting down. I’ve also been to a Hindu Krishna temple and seen the outside of a mosque and a few churches.
Used a squat toilet.
Attended a meeting with Indian students—complete with standing up when the professor entered the room and a lot of “yessuh”s.
Taken a shower with buckets.
Had my first massage ever.
Eaten on a banana leaf.
Managed to stay healthy despite the lack of soap most places and huge diet change. Knock on wood.
I’m excited to start classes on Monday (side note: I wrote this over the weekend!). I’ll probably actually have started already by the time I have internet and can upload this entry! Speaking of internet, I won’t be on facebook much since it’s blocked at the university and I won’t be going to the internet café in the mall as often once my computer is configured for the internet on campus. So contact me here or through email!
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