Blogs from Maharashtra, India, Asia - page 23

We made it to India! After a four hour flight, we touched down in Mumbai at around 5:00 p.m. on January 24th. Getting through customs was hassle free, although we found out that India requires you to provide a significantly greater amount of detail about your stay than the other countries we’ve visited. Baggage claim was a rather chaotic introduction to the “every man for himself” attitude that many Indians possess when it comes to waiting in lines. Even before there were any bags on the conveyor belt, everyone was pushing and shoving to get a good spot. When our bags finally came around, we had to fight our way to the inside just to grab them! When we had our things and were ready to go, we hired a prepaid taxi, which we’d been recommended ... read more

Couples desperate for a few unsupervised moments alone line up like linked sausages to neck on the beach. All India STD refers not to a rampant venereal disease, but rather a place to make phone calls. Fights are fought with pointed fingers, not closed fists. The unmistakable whistle that signals a dance party… Tweeeeeeeet! Tweettweettweettweet! Tweeeeeeet! That all parties are dance parties. This is there also, hnnnh? Salwar kameez worn with tennis shoes for an evening walk. Shiny polyester pants, ironed with a sharp crease down the center, worn as casual daywear. Handkerchiefs wrapped around shirt collars to protect them from sweat stains. Fabric billowing around bodies that have jumped fully-clothed into the sea. Mullets have not yet passed out of style. A cow, a dog, and a rat sharing dinner out of the same garbage ... read more

People often ask me, “What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in all your travels?” My answer has always been, “To let go.” With each delayed bus, traffic jam, and unexpected detour; with each new language, new cuisine, new religious custom, I’ve learned to let go a little more. Be it a stolen truck, a broken heart, or a cozy comfort zone, I’ve let them all go (some with more tears than others). But, until I started dancing salsa, I didn’t realize that I’ve never fully let go of my control. Although I’ve never technically learned even the basic salsa step, following the beat has never been a problem for me. It’s following the lead that gives me issue. If I haven’t said it enough already, I like to do things my own way. And dancing ... read more

After two 9.5 hour flights and an 6 hour layover that turned into 8 hours we finally arrived in Mumbai. We were greeted by crowds of travelers and a sea of traffic upon exiting the airport. In 2007, I stayed with the Sohoni family and when they found out I was coming back to India they were kind enough to welcome us in their home once again. With the time change we only had 3 days in Mumbai to get in the interviews needed before leaving to work with the younger girls in Banaglore. India has always been a bit of a magical place for me and a place of contrast contradiction. It's overwhelming yet peaceful, it's beautiful yet dirty, modern and yet ancient; so I was excited to come back again. This time with a ... read more

From my seat on the windowsill, I look out the open window. A man, either fearless or so desperate to earn the day’s bread that fear isn’t a factor, scurries up a palm tree with bare feet, a rope and a sickle. Precariously balanced at the top – eye level from my position in a fourth story flat – he cuts down bunches of coconuts, ties them up and lowers them to the ground 30 meters below. He pulls the rope back up, loops it around the trunk and shimmies back down to (relative) safety. Just beyond the palm trees, an inlet of the Arabian Sea lies still as glass, reflecting a blue so calm it could quiet even the most restless of minds. Its shores are wrapped in verdant green, the vegetation untouched by the ... read more