Open Your Eyes and Clear Your Mind

I have been extremely comfortable in the suburbs, with my safe apartment, personal driver, and friendly accommodations at the office. I know the road we take to work, to the gym, and home five to six days a week. That route, the shops, and people I pass by everyday are what I think of when I think of India. But the other day, we drove through some new areas, and I saw a whole other side of India- the side people associate with India because of movies like Slumdog Millionaire. My co-worker described it as corruption- the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

People told me I could not understand what India is like unless I came here. They also said that no matter how much I tried to prepare myself with orientations, books, travel guides, and talking with friends, nothing could explain what I would see. This is what I have discovered. I cannot grasp India because it is impossible to wrap my mind around the overwhelming diversity of life I have witnessed. I'm used to diversity, but have never seen so many diverse lives overlapping each other all in the same place. I cannot think rationally and try to comprehend what I am seeing because so much is irrational. My heart aches and my mind wants to spin, but our car never stops long enough to understand. The truth is, all I can do is open my eyes, clear my mind, and absorb what I am seeing.

There seems to be a large divide between the impoverished people here: the people who work for 10-15 hours for 120 rupees a DAY (about $2.00) and the people who beg. When I asked my friend here about begging in India, he said not to give the children money. If I were to give anything to them, its best to give them food. Half of the beggars, especially children, are organized by an agent. It is all business for them. The children are forced to beg, and once they get money, their agent takes it away from them. It is extremely hard to comprehend why the children would go back to these awful businesses day after day, but they have no choice. They aren't educated and it is all that they have. This lack of education restricts them from seeing what they need, what they can have, and how to demand it. Then the people that work for minimum wage are trying to make a living off of so little. To pay rent for an apartment, feed a family, or even just take care of yourself must be so hard. I heard that many apartments will be rented out by 10 people all cramming into one room just to have shelter at night. The shacks and slums we see along the streets are typically filled with people just trying to survive by begging. We were told that only 90% of the people living in those conditions don't work.

I have also noticed there is such a difference in sizes. Women wearing saris and loose clothing make it difficult to see, but they look similar to people at home. At home though, being thin is usually a good thing, so most women look great to me. The men's sizes are where I have noticed differences. So many men are extremely thin and frail. I saw a full grown man on the street the other day who must have had a 22 inch waist! It is crazy to imagine how little he must eat. But then when I really started to think about it, I'm sure he is working extremely hard, with high amounts of stress on the body, and barely making enough money to eat. If he needs to support his family, he would probably eat even less in order to give his children just enough nourishment to get through the day. I'm sure this process continues throughout generations and generations, so the entire family is genetically thin, but also malnourished.

These workers would be considered to be extremely poor in the United States, but here they are average, and make up a huge percent of the population in India. The living conditions and lives they live are drastically different than anything we would suspect for a working class at home. However, since it is normal for them, they seem happy. I smile everyday because I catch these people smiling, laughing, and living their life like everyone should. They do not resent their work, they are thankful for it. Even children living in the slums who are running around naked along the street after just going to the bathroom in the middle of the road or dancing in the rain during the storm are running around laughing. Its beautiful to see, it just makes me want to give them so much more.