Chris' World Journal: October 2008

We arrived in an economically booming Indian city formerly called Madras and now known as Chennai. This city greatly benefited from the Information Technology boom in America, and now exports IT services worldwide. You know when you call your cell phone service provider and it sounds like a foreigner answers, your call was most likely transfered here or a city like it in India. The first thing you notice about India when you get there by boat is the smell. It smells very unique. Its like a mixture between pollution and raw sewage. Most of the SASer's complained bit it just takes a little getting used to. The day we arrived was quite warm, and for cultural and health reasons most of us were advised to wear clothes that covered most of our skin. See India has a very religious population so a bunch of skimpily-clad blonde Americans would attract quite a lot of attention, and also malaria is a concern in this area for tourists. The night before we arrived, our ship's crew duct taped cardboard strips to the floor of the ship's hallways in anticipation of the nastiness that we would bring back from India on our shoes. Most of the students had trips planned that would lead them all the way to the North of India where they would visit the Taj Mahal and the holy city Varanasi, where Buddha supposedly sat under his tree. I, personally, had an SAS trip planned called The Art of Living, where we would stay in an ashram for the next three days and learn mediation and yoga techniques. I had no idea what to expect. You can check out a sweet slideshow SAS made featuring me at http://www.ise.virginia.edu/video/F08_5.html

We hopped on a bus for a city called Mahabalipuram where we would visit some Indian temples. My first glimpses of the city were indeed interesting. Pulling out of the dock we saw hundreds of rickshaw (three-wheeled taxi) drivers hustling other students. Women with missing limbs would tug on their shirts and beg for spare rupees (the Indian currency). Cows and other farm animals were literally chilling on the streets. Everything and everyone in sight was extravagant, with brightly colored saris and turbans on the people and painted gods and sanskrit writing on the vehicles and buildings. India was indeed the greatest culture shock so far.

We drove past an Indian beach and bazzar and fish market. Women were washing naked babies and handwashing clothes on the sidewalk. Our tour guide said we would stop and have a look but if we opened the doors of our air-conditioned bus the bugs would fill the inside and never leave us. Once we were away from the hustle and bustle of the city we started to see what rural India is like. We drove past beautiful white sand beaches, sparse forests, and small villages. Our first stop was the main temple in Mahabalipuram which dates back to the 6th century. The beggars we saw there were like no other I've seen in any of the ports. Old women with no legs would wobble up to you on their knees and stare up at you with eyes rolled back in their heads and put their deformed hands to their lips hoping for money. Later when you leave, their helpers would come pick them up to carry them off. Our guide told us that local thugs and businessmen would mutilate children at birth in order to use them as slaves to beg for money from tourists.

Next we visited the Shore Temple, which is right by the beach and was helped built by the British. We visited a temple named Arjuna's Penance which is a giant stone balancing in place on a bed of rock. Here we saw a family of monkeys, which was pretty cool. In and around the temples are bustling street markets, where young kids try to sell you trinkets and such. We bought some necklaces and drums.

Finally we reached our destination at a heritage site called Dakshina Chitra. Dakshina Chitra is a small village attached to a cultural center which emulates what a traditional south Indian village would have been like in the old days. Here we stayed in basic accomodations without screens on our windows, no AC, and one-inch-thick mattresses. It was awesome.

That night we sat down for a traditional Indian sit-down dinner, where you literally sit-down on the floor. Traditionally Indians eat with their hands, so naturally their is a special technique where you use your first three fingers like a spoon to scoop up the food and use your thumb like a shovel to plop it into your mouth. I did not do this technique well. It was a spicy mess, but delish. After exploring the area a bit with friends, it reminded us of a ninja movie with low-hanging Japanese looking buildings and shrines with golden sculptures, we went to bed.

They woke us up at sunrise and I had face full of bug bites. Not only that but the power goes out in the middle of the night because they run it off of generators, so the fans would go out for hours at a time and the room would be boiling. After a simple snack of hot cocoa with fresh milk, we headed to the yoga room for the day's classes. Classes were pretty interesting. We learned some meditation techniques and some yoga positions to increase the life energies and calm our minds. Since I was running on little sleep, I was thankful afterwards to go take a nap. The rest of our stay at Dakshina Chitra was spent eating delicious Indian food, I ate every meal with my hands, hanging out with the locals from the village close by, and mediating and doing yoga. I left feeling refreshed and energized as we headed back to the ship for our last few days in India.

The next day I visited an orphanage for mentally disabled children, although they had people up to 60 years old. I wanted to do some service visits because I figured if I'm blessed enough to be able to go on this trip I should be able to give a little back to the communities we're visiting. All in all it was a wonderful experience hanging out and playing games with the people, and helping out around the organization. Most of the orphans are just dropped at the door by parents who can't afford to have children who need to be watched after constantly. The organization was non-profit and SAS donated significantly.

The rest of the day I hung out around the Indian street bazzars and shopping places checking out some stuff and eating food. I also rode around in some rickshaws which is probably one of the most dangerous things you can do in India. All in all India was a great place to see and experience, so much to take in in the country. I would recommend it to anyone on a spiritual journey, or anyone looking to eat some great food!