Saturday, December 1, 2012

Dharamsala Week 1

Long time no post. A lot has been going on, and the result of all of it is that I am in Dharamsala India, tired but happy, doing work, climbing hills, and drinking a lot of tea.

I and 12 other students are here for a service learning program involving lectures, volunteer work, and some research.The first few days were dedicated to just getting here. The trip was about 18 hours by plane, 9 by train, and a final three by taxi. Most of us had packed in backpacks in an attempt to remain more mobile, so we looked like a gaggle of pack mules as we made our way up. It felt like half of our luggage was made up of gifts from people in the US to their contacts here, which hopefully means that on the way back the load will be lighter, as long as we are careful with our holiday shopping.

Even though we've been here for over a week now, it is still difficult to make any definitive conclusions, either about our work, McCloud Ganj, where we are staying, or India as a whole. The country is immense, if not geographically then culturally, as the thousands of dialects and dozens of distinct local languages can attest to.  What observations I've been able to make are so narrow in the context of my experience that I'm not entirely sure of what use they are as generalizations, but this is what I've been able to gather so far, in broad terms.

India is almost surprising in how unsurprising it is. Comparing it to my other experiences abroad, initially there was much less opportunity to discover in an organic manner. Our time in Delhi was restricted to two days of bus touring, with stops in major landmarks. The landmarks themselves were impressive, but the city and we were separated by glass the majority of the time. Even so, the poverty, congestion, and extreme population density was still evident. We were warned against giving anything to beggars or hawkers, particularly the children, who are guaranteed an education and lunch in India up till a certain age and are typically forced to beg by parents with habits, according to our guide. Before we came we were regaled with stories of pick pockets and Delhi belly, but the worst I ever felt was after taking my malaria pills, and the most ripped off I ever got was when we had to pay a guy some money for "guarding our shoes."  The pollution and congestion was insane, but we were expecting it to be insane.

I knew that English was almost a primary language in India, but I wasn't prepared for it to be quite as ubiquitous as it is. Almost every sign is in English, and almost everyone speaks it, whether they might be expected to be in contact with foreigners or not. In a sense the ability to get along completely fine with English makes India feel much less far away. In countries where English is rare, there is a sense of isolation and separation you get just by walking down the street. So far that sense has been impossible to generate while in India.

The only other thing I noticed that seemed to clash with expectation was the amount of religious places, for lack of a better world, in the area. Religion is everywhere in India, and then it's not. In Japan and Taiwan, temples are everywhere, and the roads are dotted with Jizo and shrines to spirits. Even though Dharamsala can be considered the capitol of an entire religion at the moment, the formal structures dedicated to that religion are limited. Everyone has a portrait of the Dalai Lama, and prayer flags hang from wherever people can place them, but we have not seen the Dalai Lama's palace, or I have not recognized it, even though we have circumambulated it a number of times. There is a structure in the middle of town that is lined with prayer wheels, but inside it appears to be a storage area. Besides personal icons, the only major example of a more "casual" religious structure is a shrine to what is likely Brahma in front of the taxi stand. While I have been able to spot some small shrines tucked into city streets, they do not feel as common.

I think the uniqueness of Dharamsala and our limited exposure to the real Delhi has made it difficult for me to properly take stock of the role of public religious structures in the country. If I have time I may need to poke around about to see of my initial impressions hold true, but whether I have that time is a real question.

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