Letters From Delhi: Meeting the People Where They Are

Aside from working full time everyday, one of the different aspects of my trip that I am very excited about is the everyday interaction with people - both inside and outside of the workplace. Last summer, I had the privilege of spending a little under a month in China. Knowing a little bit of the Chinese language, I was able to strike up some conversations here and there with the people that I ran into in different areas. Coming into the trip, I didn't have too many expectations when it came to random, side conversations that started spontaneously. Looking back, however, I came to realize these exchanges with people contributed greatly to the memories embedded in my mind during the my month long sojourn throughout China.

One of most impactful experiences of meeting with people and having random on-spot-exchanges came as I took a train from the Shanghai out into the western part of the country. The circumstances around our cross-country journey were unlike anything I'd ever experienced living in America. Imagine a three day long journey sitting in a plastic bucket seat, with no shower, no bed, and only enough food that you could bring on with two hands before the train departed from our origin city. What set the train ride apart even more from a ride in America was that people had the option of buying "standing room" seats in which any 3X3 space on the train was fair game for parking one's belongings and body for the duration of the trip. Putting all these factors together, the three day long journey ended up consisting of me waking up with people's faces by my feet, bathroom excursions jumping over dozens of people, and little kids poking their faces over my seat in curiosity of all the American people that looked so out of place.

A three day long journey also afforded a lot of time for conversation. I remember sitting across from two college students who were heading home after a long year of police academy. We exchanged hobbies, favorite music, favorite basketball team (their's was the Houston Rockets, of course), and other mutual interests that college students would be interested in. We met a couple families that were heading back to their home provinces and shared in the laughter and conversation with random kids and couples.

One of the greatest lessons taken away from the trip came in the shift of perspective that occurred throughout the three day journey. For myself and many of the people that I was with, it was so easy to focus on the lack of normal "amenities" that we often taken for granted in America, things like an everyday shower, food at moment's notice, or even a bed to sleep on every night. Even for us American students, traveling such a distance would usually be done on a five hour flight, not a 48 hour overnight train ride. It would be inconceivable to not even buy a seat on the train.

But the fact of the matter is, what we experienced on that 48 hour train ride was life for the majority of Chinese people. Flying within the country is simply not an option for much of the population. As I journaled somewhere in the middle of the second or third day, I remember writing that I should not judge the circumstances of our train ride and the reality of life for the majority of people on the train through the worldview of my American background.

And that's my hope for this upcoming trip to India: to be able to meet the people where they are and embrace the cultural and everyday realities that they have to deal with on an everyday basis. I'm hoping that my reactions will not be driven by an egotistical American attitude, but that I would learn to embody all of the stories, experiences, and worldviews of the people that I meet, whether it be in the workplace or randomly on the street.