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Post India

The date is 12/29/17, officially 12 days since our flight landed back in Chicago. And holy heck, they’ve been cold. The difference of about 90 degrees in Mumbai v. 2 degrees plus windchill in Chicago, not exactly a pleasant transition. The weather is far from being the only part of India that I miss. The colors, the people, the traffic, the FOOD, and hell, even the smells. 

Over the course of 21 days, my classmates have become my friends, my expectations were shattered by the reality of my experiences, and India has become a kind of home. I kept a journal that helped me to document and capture my emotions and details of our trip that I fear I might forget (as my memory is not the greatest). 

Our journey starts in Mumbai. Over the course of 14 days here, we were tourists, filmmakers, explorers, and heavy drinkers. 

The intention of our journey to India was to learn about Bollywood and how to make documentaries. My group worked closely with VIDYA, an NGO in Powaii, to document their work with computer learning in a slum. We met people like Ankit, a famous LGBTQ activist, and Hakim, a student turned teacher of the CLRC program through our film experience. We danced to traditional Indian dance party music with a room of elementary students and ate home cooked food from a kitchen created to provide women of the slums with a purpose. It was a truly intimidating and intimate look into real people and real struggles. As a Data Scientist, a realm far away from filmmaking, I was exposed to a new way of expressing emotion and life as we know it. Challenges were evident, but not so much an obstacle that it took away from the experience. Bollywood films are an incredible mixture of genre and color and emotion, and I have a whole different level of respect for their production now. 

Through Whistling Woods International, the school that we worked through, we practiced yoga, experienced Bollywood dance, listened to lectures from renowned filmmakers and ate the best veg/non-veg thali every damn day for 95 rupees. On the weekends we became Mumbai tourists, a truly great mixture of work & play. We explored mosques, temples, markets, caves, downtown Mumbai and middle-class neighborhoods. We ate, danced, bargained for better prices, drank, created stupid inside jokes, and shielded ourselves from unwanted pictures. 

The pictures below represent just a small portion of the overall Mumbai experience. It’s hard to capture emotions in pictures (for a mere computer geek, but others had success). 

After two weeks of hot, humid, smoggy Mumbai, we hopped on a train to head to Jaipur - the part two of our greatest tourist adventure. Then a long train ride, destination Agra. Between these two places, we explored architectural masterpieces, Albert Hall, Taj Mahal, Amber Fort, Palace of Winds and so on. We ate at an incredible amount of buffets, which lost their luster quickly as they were very westernized and repetitive. 

An experience that is still so clear in my head is getting my tattoo (total impulse move). Across from the Palace of Winds in downtown Jaipur, there is a small tattoo cafe on the roof of a four story building. It is family-owned, run by a very good looking couple, Juhi & Karan, and their children, Levana (8) & Miku (2), who live below the shop. Over the course of 10 hours, we learned an incredible amount about their family from Juhi, the main artist and wife. They were both born and raised in Jaipur and have faced a lot of adversary about their careers to become who they are today. Nothing that I say could ever encapsulate our time spent with the family, but the experience has left an impression on me that I don’t think I could forget. 

Below are more pictures of my attempt to capture our experience in Jaipur & Agra.

Then finally, we were on a plane back to Jaipur. A mere 36 hours later, we were on a flight back to Chicago. I remember that last night, we were driving through Mumbai and I stuck my head out the window and soaked in the polluted air, the sounds of honking and people talking, and the sight of traffic and little shops down the streets. It was the perfect ending to a very emotional and eye-opening trip. A teary goodbye for sure but the thought of my return settled the churning sadness to a tolerable amount. 

Sure, I am sad and a bit awestruck that the trip came and went so quickly, but I have learned so much about myself that it’s hard to stay gloomy for long. Everyday life in Chicago and the suburbs is a lull compared to India so it has been an adjustment for sure. My first night back, my family went out to dinner and I burst out crying because I was not prepared to the comparatively quiet, organized city life and the return to bland American food. 

And the one thing I feared the most has come true. Not fear as in nightmares and Freddy Krueger-esque horror, but the sudden urge to quit university and my internship and modern life itself to travel the world with only my backpack and my bike. Not even 24 hours after we landed in Chicago, I had itinerated a trip to France. As you can tell, I move quickly. My dreams at night consist of slow, detailed plans of how to pack light and getting on buses towards unknown places at a whim. The strong urge to disconnect from reality and become more connected with the world itself is one of the only feelings that has been consistent my whole life. 

This is just the beginning of a new era of self-exploration. India was the start, France is the next greatest adventure.