The Confusion of India

India is confusing: strikingly gorgeous landscape, architecture, and people intermingled with sometimes curious smells, poverty, and beggars. This is indeed a land of extremes in every sense of the word. One moment, it inspires you and delightfully heightens your senses; the next moment, it drives you to madness and exhaustion.

This extends to my perception of living and working here in Hubli. At one end of the spectrum are auto-rickshaw drivers. I know they are planning to rip me off. They know that I know that they are ripping me off. Nonetheless, the same dance is done with every auto driver. And every instance, I know I'm paying a foreigner tax. My negotiating skills have vastly improved but sometimes the fact that I am arguing over 5 - 10 rupees is ludicrous. Wouldn't auto drivers rather just take my first offer, which is still more than they would receive from a local?

At the other end of the spectrum are the multitudes of people I have interacted with who have been gracious, giving, kind, and welcoming. I am continually amazed at how any one of us can contact a stranger who will go out of his/her way to help us with our requests. They will become champions of our projects, escort us around various Taluks, and feed us delectable food and drink until we burst. When contacting people I have never met in the States, it is rare to find this type of openness and honesty from strangers: here in India, it's commonplace.

Interestingly enough, working in Hubli is oddly similar to my prior experience of working in the U.S. public sector: moments of brilliance and passion followed by flashes of frustration forcing me to the brink of gouging out my eyes with whatever sharp object lies close by. Similar to working at FEMA, I have been inspired by my fellow colleagues, worked rigorously to aid the individuals our project is focused on assisting, and been amazed at the resilience, tenacity, and empathy of our Indian colleagues. And similar to FEMA, I have been astounded at the time-lags to try to accomplish seemingly straight-forward tasks, confounded by the bureaucracy, and suspicious of intentions of some government officials. Patience continues to be the key while working in this environment. Nonetheless, the people we are working with are passionate and want our project to succeed as much as we do.

The sum of all these experiences is undoubtedly contributing to a thought-provoking, often head-scratching, and invaluable month so far in India. I am excited to see what the next month has in store.

Best,
Ken