Skeptical about visiting India?

Backdate to December 20th, 2016:

We arrived back in Kolkata today after two and a half weeks of backpacking. We had an awesome time experiencing different parts of this incredibly diverse country. We were lucky to get to visit Delhi, Agra, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, and Mumbai. Upon landing back in Kolkata, I came to realize how small it looks compared to when we first landed. It's funny how differently you see a place once you've conquered it and the fear has washed away. In the same way that when you graduate from high school and look back at the building and it seems much smaller than the day that you first walked in.

When we first arrived in India (in the middle of the night not knowing what we were doing), I was filled with anxiety. Fear of the unknown, confusion over all the stereotypes I'd heard of, and honestly scared of getting robbed or worse...and this fear had only been made worse by the surprising amount of friends that have told me they have absolutely no desire to ever travel to India whatsoever (reasons including rape culture, uncleanliness, difficulty traveling, pickpocketing...the list goes on).

India may be known to some for stark income inequalities, male dominated attitudes, and for it's dirtiness. And those perceptions may be true in some communities and areas. But there is so, so, so much more to India. Having been here for four months now, I can confidently say that India is a beautiful country worth visiting to understand that it is so much more than what is portrayed in the media.

I feel the people I've encountered that won't give India a chance are too quick to judge. How can you base your attitude about an entire country and it's inhabitants on what the Western media portrays? For me, it was really important to see what India was like with my own two eyes - to be able to decide for myself.

I think a lot of us Westerners don't realize that people in India recognize the importance of education, awareness, and change. They have come a long way since Independence. But don't forget - it still was not that long ago since the British physical presence ended in 1947. And the repercussions of their rule are still extremely noticeable. Nonetheless, awareness of many issues is on the rise - from human rights, environmentalism, and gender equality, to corruption and fraud. India is striving to advance itself and be the best it can be. Attitudes are changing, difficult conversations are happening, and people are certainly passionate about continuing to work towards a country they are proud of. And the younger generations, including the many friends I made, are fiery with that passion. 

I'm happy to say that it's been a once in a lifetime experience. And India is a country I recommend to anyone seeking a new perspective on what it is like being a human and living on this Earth. The adversity, rich culture, amazing food and incredible people you meet will alter you in ways you can't imagine.

I hope those of you out there who are skeptical give it a chance. With an open mind and heart you might be surprised at the treasures you find. It's not a perfect country, but I have yet to visit one of those. So, take a chance. Be safe as always. And let your perspective on life be changed. 

More on Hospitality

The hospitality that we have received over the last 4 months has truly blown us away. We just cannot get over it! 

One morning we went for a walking tour and briefly met a lovely lady who currently lives in Kolkata with her elderly parents. The next thing we knew we were sipping wine at their apartment, enjoying the Diwali fireworks display at their complex, and driving across the city to eat delicious food. 

In our eagerness to be able to communicate better with the women at work, we sought out a way to learn some Bengali. We ended up taking lessons with our co-worker's ma. Twice a week we would arrive at her home after work and be welcomed with tea and some kind of Bengali snack (different each day) and a new story about Bengali culture. After our last lesson, we had a small cooking lesson and a homemade feast!

Here are some more pictures that capture our favourite moments (and people!):

We've learned to really appreciate the value of connections and how important it is to pursue new relationships. You never know who you'll meet or how much they'll impact you.  
Thank you to all of these people who made our experiences in Kolkata absolutely priceless.

Speaking of Identity

Over the past few months, I've thought about my identity more than ever before. My experiences here have reshaped my sense of self as an individual as well as a global citizen, not only on a personal level but as a professional individual - a student that is about to graduate and pursue a career in global health. For me, growing up with the influence of several different cultures and a family that emphasizes travel, my personal identity has always been intertwined with my identity as a global, multicultural citizen. Specifically, through my time in India, I have realized that my identity is a little complicated and can be really difficult to explain to people. Using this example, I have been able to better understand people’s outlooks and thought processes in understanding multiculturalism.

What has stood out the most when explaining my identity is that people have an incessant urge to categorize each other. And it is really hard for people (often those who haven’t had the opportunity to travel much and who come from very homogeneous societies) to understand that the world is changing and people are often no longer solely identifiable by one ethnicity or race but by a mosaic of backgrounds.

I look Indian, I talk like a Canadian, I’ve spent years growing up in Africa…what does that mean? How could I possibly be expected to sum up who I am by using only one of those options? In my eyes, I’m like a puzzle and all the pieces come from different places. Growing up in Canada has perhaps made me take it for granted that people will accept this complexity without a question. In India, this concept is certainly harder to relay. When asked if I’m Indian, contentment fills the persons’ face when I say that I am but disappointment soon follows when I can’t speak much Hindi or Bengali and have little more Indian about me to offer. In a way, I feel like I’m disconnected from my true heritage (a sentiment I’ve never felt so strongly before). 

At one point during our trip in Kerala, we were on a tour of a rural village located in the backwaters of Alleppey. We were being led by a local Indian villager and spent the tour mingling with a group of non-coloured tourists from England, Germany, Spain, and Israel. It was an odd experience because I truly felt divided between two worlds. I felt as though I understood the customs, habits, hospitality, and food we were exposed to by the locals and wasn’t weirded out by any of it. But I also understood the confused looks the other foreigners were giving each other at times and why the experience was slightly odd to them. It was strange being the only one straddling both cultures in that moment and having to overcome the surprise I felt at being the only one that felt so torn. 

All in all, the lessons that came out of these sorts of experiences in India have made me realize that although in so many ways people around the world are mixing cultures, being influenced by different ways of life, and identifying as more than one thing – in other ways many are still very untouched by this concept and compartmentalization/categorization is still very common and necessary in forming understandings of each other. I never realized how much we take multiculturalism for granted in Canadian culture. I am grateful to say that this experience jolted a new understanding, on a global level, that we have a long way to go when it comes to learning how to openly define each other in order to peacefully work together for a brighter, globally unified future.

End of Internship Reflections

When I first arrived in Kolkata to begin my internship at Destiny Reflection, I told myself that I didn’t have any expectations. I was open to whatever was going to come my way, both in terms of living in a new city and working for a new organization. However, I soon came to realize that I did have expectations, even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself.

As such, this term has been a long exercise in learning to let go (admittedly not a skill I particularly good at). At work, I learned that projects were not always going to be completed efficiently or with a sense of urgency. The first few weeks at work were exciting but also incredibly frustrating and demotivating at times. The days felt long and slow, I was always eager to find tasks to fill my time. I was incredibly happy to be at Destiny Reflection though. I loved sitting and chatting with my co-workers and picking their brains about their lives in Kolkata and their knowledge of human trafficking; I learned a lot from those tea-time chats. And every day when I sat down with the women in the production unit to eat lunch with them, I knew we were becoming more and more comfortable communicating with each other.

All of this aside, I didn’t feel productive, and this lack of productivity made me feel useless. I think that growing up in Canadian society has taught me to value my worth based on what I can produce and achieve. Writing resumes filled with “action statements,” attending interviews to showcase how I can apply my “soft skills,"… I am constantly trying to sum up my value, my worth, based on what I can produce. To a certain extent this tactic works, however, there is a whole other part of learning and experience that is harder to quantify and that comes with being observant, patient, and open-minded.

Working at Destiny Reflection hasn’t just been work experience, it has been life experience. I have soaked up the work atmosphere from the caring relationships among employees, to the daily chai break, to the way that the women in the production laugh as though they don’t have a care in the world. Yes, I have written some reports and updated some marketing materials but those will not be the things that I remember most about working at Destiny Reflection, and I hope that those are not what my new friends will remember most about me. Instead, I hope they remember the art projects we collaborated on to help brighten up the office, or the time Zahra and I made pancakes with maple syrup for everyone. I hope they remember trying each other’s lunches and all the times when I tried to speak Bengali and it sort-of, kind-of made sense.

At the end of this internship, it’s challenging to summarize everything that being at Destiny Reflection and meeting these women has taught me. I don’t think anyone at the organization understands how much it has meant to be taken in as part of the family and experience their workplace, their culture, and their lives as much as I have. Similarly, I can only wonder what my fleeting three month presence at Destiny Reflection has meant to them.