Sunday, July 10, 2011

Different Perspectives, Different Approaches

We’ve been here for four weeks now and I’ve started to notice that each of us is developing different perspectives of India. Of course, each of us come from different backgrounds and were bound to see India differently from the get go. But what I’m referring to is how we’ve each developed ideas about what India is based on where we work, who we talk to, and personal encounters in Delhi. It’s hard to tell the extent to which we are each influenced by internal factors – our personalities, experiences from previous travels, etc. – versus external factors – like conversations with those we work with. The line is blurred, but nevertheless, we are influenced by those around us. It’s been interesting hearing where those variances in understanding lie.

To a large extent, the differences manifest when we discuss travel plans and relay pieces of advice picked up from supervisors and co-workers in our respective firms and NGOs. For example, one firm will often emphasize caution at all times, counsel against buses or trains in favor of planes or hired drivers, and recommend high-end hotels. That’s one extreme, while the other is hearing virtually no travel advice beyond using caution. The rest of us get something in between. From this middle perspective, the difference between buses and trains is like quibbling over apples and oranges…with the exception that one reaches the destination faster than the other. The key is just getting a bus or train car that offers air conditioning. The concept of hiring a driver hasn’t been advised in the particular and the hotel we stay in doesn’t really matter as long as it’s in a safe area. Most of the advice I’ve heard falls into this range. No doubt, our respective offices are aware that we generally have no idea what to expect when we venture out of Delhi and prefer that we error on the side of caution, but it also results in varying comfort levels and travel intentions among the group.

Our ideas of Indian culture are also varied. There are two examples I heard mentioned this week. First, one of us remarked, “India is the country of ‘No,’” referring to the frequency that the word “No” is heard compared to the word “Yes.” When I reflected a little more on this observation, it actually occurred to me that I have picked up on the Hindi word for “No” weeks ago but still haven’t caught on to the word for “Yes.” When negotiating with rick drivers and souvenir shop owners, this is absolutely the case. The same answers in the negative are often heard when we inquire about travel advice. Some of us are frequently warned not to visit certain places, like Old Delhi, because of the chaos and crowds; never to be out after a certain hour; and that we shouldn’t travel to certain destinations. To do otherwise would be crazy! We’re still trying to understand the norms in India but considering these encounters it’s not hard to get the impression that the first answer to everything is no. On the other hand, there have also been situations in which I’ve made an inquiry about one thing or another and the immediate answer given is in the affirmative, but in the follow up nothing happens. Such encounters lead me to believe that India, at least in some instances, can also be the country of “Yes.”

The second example pertains to English as an official language and our estimation of how fluent most Indians are in speaking it. One of us commented that just about everyone in Delhi speaks English very well. I agreed that well-educated circles speak English brilliantly, but my experiences in Delhi paint a slightly different picture. I’ve observed a spectrum of English fluency, and outside the work environment communication is often a struggle. For example, when at a shop or in a restaurant the conversation might flow reasonably well as long as the topic is strictly confined to the context of the menu or the speaker’s shop. Any extra inquiries, and things usually get tricky. Language barriers are especially frequent with rick or taxi drivers whose command of English is generally the most limited. I’ve developed the impression that most Indians actually do not speak English very well and that it’s those whose career or education demands constant English practice who can speak it flawlessly. If this impression is true, then I find it somewhat perplexing to be in a country in which one of the primary official languages is truly spoken by only certain segments of the entire population. I have never encountered that phenomenon before.

One more observation is the difference between the men and women in our group have begun to perceive India. It’s obvious where I’m going with this - safety, particularly harassment, is constantly a more significant concern for women than it is for men. I’m at a point where I feel confident just about anywhere during the day, but when the sun has set, it’s a different story. Last weekend Krista, Danny, Nick and I went to Nainital to escape the heat. We had a fantastic time but when Krista and I split off to find dinner Saturday night, I felt considerably less secure. Nainital is a small vacation town and the streets were packed with pedestrians, most likely looking for a place to eat just like us. Despite the crowds, I was on edge. It’s the fact that we stand out in any crowd, the stares we get, the constant requests to pose for a picture, and the thought that if something actually did happen, no one would know where to look for me. I sometimes criticize myself because I really don’t know what I’m so afraid of. After all, stares really are that bad (as long as it’s just stares). I’m mildly paranoid that my camera or wallet will be stolen but that’s not the end of the world and I hear theft is rather uncommon. Had Nick or Danny been with us, I would have felt better. This shortage of self-confidence and dependence on others frustrates my usual sense of independence. Each of the women in our group has felt the same to some degree or another. For us, going anywhere alone calls for at least some additional precautions. As result, my perceptions of India and my place within it are influenced by stronger sense of trepidation than some of the men in our group.

Through travel recommendations, language barriers, simple inquiries, and safety tips we are each coming up with a different concept of what Indian culture is through the clouded vision of an outsider. The information gathered and filtered internally impacts our ideas on how to travel, what to eat, and what time to come home, whether or not to commute solo, how much to spend for the sake of comfort and safety, the list is unending. In the end, we each take India as it is presented to us and then strive to understand where and how we fit within it. The truth is all of our perceptions are correct to some degree. But I’m getting the impression that it’s impossible to understand the complexity of India without giving consideration to every piece and without admitting that there is so much more we don’t yet understand.

I recently read an old Jain fable that describes the foreigner in India well:

Five blind men wanted to discover what an elephant is like. After being led to the animal, each one approached form a different angle and felt with his hands that part which was within his reach. The man who felt the trunk said the elephant is like a snake. The one who felt the body disagreed and said the elephant is like a great wall. The man who felt the tusks further disagreed, asserting that the elephant is like a spear. The fourth man felt the tail and insisted that the creature is like a rope, and the last man having touched the leg argued that the elephant is like a pillar. They continued to argue, each certain that his own experience was the reality. Finally, a wise man intervened. He told that each man was right but had expressed only part of the truth. A true understanding of the elephant comes after discovering the whole beast as a unity of disparate elements.[1]

All nine of us are like the blind men, and the elephant is India. We sort of fumble about while trying to understand what Indian culture is and how to receive it. Initially, we latch on to one concept and proclaim, “That’s it! I’ve got it now!” That one aspect is enough, for the moment, to inform us how to carry on and how to fit in. Eventually, we realize that it’s not one but innumerable qualities that define a culture, and the cycle of discovery starts all over again. Like an elephant to a blind man, India is complex and baffling. It would take much longer than two months to figure it all out, but the process is a journey and India makes for an incredibly unique experience.



[1] Gitanjali Kolanad, Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette: India 2 (2008).

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