India - Little Crises and Little Victories

I have been in India for over two weeks now. I arrived in Chennai International Airport, which was a disappointment, on May 24th then I flew to the Andaman Islands to complete my Advanced PADI Open Water certification. There was a great deal of anticipation and anxiety; I was in India by myself for three days. I was navigating through the Chennai airport and immediately had my personal space invaded while waiting in line to check in for my flight to Port Blair. It was India. After I completed my dive course, I returned to Chennai Airport to meet up with Zlatan and Candice, fellow Global Impact-ers. We were going to traveling South India to see the major sights before starting the program in Hubli. The picture above is one of us in the crowded unreserved section of the train from Pondicherry to Trichy. It was one of the rawest experience. People were piled up everywhere from the people lying and sitting on the ground to people up in the luggage racks.

Despite our crazy train ride, there was a silver lining. We were met with kindness on the train. A family helped put my giant backpacker backpack underneath their seats. Traveling through Tamil Nadu, I was treated with far more

kindness than any other countries I have ever been to. When we wandered around Madurai's bus stand looking for our bus to Kumily, a stranger came to helped us. He went out of his way to show us the correct bus and before we could thank him, he disappeared into the crowd of people and exhaust. We relied on the kindness of strangers everyday especially with the language barrier. Every small act of kindness whether it is a kind smile from a stranger on a bus or a wave from children draws me closer to India and the people here.

From Tamil Nadu, we entered Kerala, nicknamed God's Own Country for its beauty. In Kerala, we were brought closer to the locals when we did a village tour of the backwater. The humble home of Anthony reminded me of my grandmother's home in Hong Kong. It was a tattered little place before it was renovated. The progress of our children is built upon the hard work of our parents and grandparents. Anthony told us about his two daughters who were studying to be nurses and his son who is in university. In Kochi, I was speaking to a fisherman. He told me about his work and his family. The Chinese fishing nets were usually worked by six men. 30% of the profit goes to the owner of the fishing net and the remaining profit was shared among the six men. The average profit per day (of low season and high season) was 500 rupees; it is 25 rupees per person a day. It ended up being about $17 USD a month. It amazed me that a family can live on so little. I have been eating meals at the range of 40 rupees which is less than $1 USD. One meal for me was the daily income for a family. But I was torn when one of the workers asked for donation. I do not believe in donation in most circumstances because it is not a sustainable solution for the problem. I am interested in sustainable solution, not temporary solution to a perpetual challenge.

Being in India has been an incredibly humbling experience. It is so true about India -- it is a love/hate relationship. There have been some extreme lows and extreme highs during those two weeks. The most important thing to bring to India is a good sense of humor. Things will not go according plan. The only thing you can do is the Indian head wobble and say "This is India" and take a deep breath.