India and Beyond

Middle East » Israel » Jerusalem District » Jerusalem
April 1st 2007

Published: April 1st 2007

Last I left you was in Udaipur, land of the glistening lakes. The day I left I spent shopping in the local marketplace and met some wonderful wholesalers who would have sold me their whole store, had I agreed. Wandering the streets, I couldn't help but be wistful and wish, only slightly, that my time in India was not coming to a close.

There are things I will miss...the shopkeepers, the ornate windowsills that decorate the random buildings along the back alleys, the temples that adorn quiet streets, the colorful saris that whisper femininity in the breeze. As I boarded the plane alongside some Australian foreigners, we could not help but compare notes on our most interesting moments in India. We shared pictures of the places we had not seen...and I, once again, mourned the fact that I chose not to visit Varanasi on this trip. Varanasi, India's holiest city, is the place that Hindus go to pray and die. It is in this city, along the Ghats River, that you will find a place truly unlike any other...where Indians go to wash in the river, and people's bodies are cremated alongside. It has been said to me by many Indians that they do not understand foreigners interest in going to see such a place. And was told to me by many foreigners that they highly suggest I not go alone, as a woman, as I was sure to be affected in some way. While I do not scare easily, the sheer number of times I heard this warning, and the vehemence by which it was said by both Indians and foreigners, convinced me that I will save that visit for another time.

Upon my arrival in Mumbai where I stayed with an Israeli friend, I was greeted with the overwhelming and stifling heat and humidity that I had forgotten about in my time up North. By the time I reached the hotel, the short unairconditioned cab ride had provided a more than ample reason to take a 2nd shower. Downstairs, while checking my email, a young Indian man struck up a conversation with me. As it turns out, he was from Jaipur, lived in Switzerland, and was in the diamond business. After about 30 minutes where he confirmed that all of my jewelry purchases had, in fact, been legit (and he was even impressed with the prices I had gotten), he invited me out to dinner with his friends. Off we went in a taxi to the Intercontinental Hotel, to one of the most beautiful bar/restaurants I have ever seen on the roof, overlooking the coast and the city. From high above you could forget that more than half of Mumbai's residents live in a state of poverty, while you listen to beautiful music over candlelight. For the next hour or so, I had the pleasure of really getting to know my first Indians outside of the Jewish community, and it was fascinating. Their lives, interest, ambitions and dreams are similar and so very different from my own. Their futures are inextricably linked to their religions, cultures and families. Their work will be that of their family's...the jewelry business. And their wives will be those that are either chosen for them, or readily accepted by/for their family. I was grateful to have finally been able to be exposed to this side of India, not as a tourist, but rather as a peer-who is simulatneously going through many of the same challenges they are at the same time in our lives.

As I drove back in a taxi alone, I could not help but think over the past month of my life...and the dream that was dreamt into reality. I traveled for four weeks to a place that has occupied my fantasies. I met people who challenged me and added so much to my life. I spent my nights either well rested, or in transit to other places off the beaten track. I ate foods that caused my gastronomic senses to salivate, and equally my nose to run from the spicyness as I professed everywhere that of COURSE i loved spicy food! I played with children whose natural inquisitiveness caused me to rethink why it is that my own curiousity has become so dull in the past several years. I looked into the eyes of old men whose faces have weathered hardships I will never know, or comprehend. I slept in beds of wooden boards and beds fit for queens. I meandered through Indian beauracracy, which might begin to rival Israeli beauracracy. I reawakened passions and interests in things I have not considered since childhood.

Later that night, we watched an Israeli film which began to bring me into the reality that I would soon be in Israel. And while my brain tried to translate the Hebrew against the exhaustion creeping into my body, there was something that bothered me. There is a prime difference between Israeli films and American films. While American films tend to fantasize life, painting even the most painful moments in "Hollywood" lights, Israeli films tend to portray life as it exists today, in yours or your neighbor's backyards. And in this film, which went on to tell the story of two sisters whose marriages were falling apart, and whose dreams were smashed to bits...and whose families were engaged in the struggle to find themselves...I found myself wondering at my own ability to reengage in America when I return.

Because while I may have chosen not to express to you all the images of poverty that I experienced, never was there a day when I was not confronted with the ugliness that is created when there is not enough to eat, or a steady place to put one's head. India, in its struggle to modernize, must also confront a reality where entire populations of cities live in slums, or do not even have the luxury of even a slum, and therefore stretch out in the gutter to sleep. While some children meander their way between cars begging for money, others are lying, stomachs distended waiting for tomorrow to come-knowing it will be no different from today. This is not a minority of its population. And this, in some way, is its own form of slavery.

As Passover comes around the corner to remind the Jewish people that at one time we were enslaved, and now we are free, I pause to consider today's new forms of slavery. In a society of abundance, where there is still poverty, this is a new type of slavery. In a world where we have the knowledge that we are depleting our natural resources, perhaps this is a new type of slavery to our planet. And there are others...the slavery to our bodies that we either do not take care of...or obsess about. The slavery of our matieralism in a society where we have so much, and much is left unappreciated or wasted.

And in a way, my decision to take this trip, and recognize that life does not begin and end by the amount of work I accomplish in a 24 hour period, this was an awakening from my own enslavement. Not nearly as profound as other forms, but one in which I am grateful for the opportunity.

So, as I end this final blog about my time in India...I offer the following thoughts:

1. Go to India. Even if you are not going to backpack. See it. Breathe it. Eat it. It is incredible.
2. Open your eyes and/or hearts to infinite possibilities. We are limited only by our capacity to dream it into being.
3. Change something sometimes. Being uncomfortable can be good for us.
4. Love what you think you can't.
5. Sleep well.
6. Remember loved ones...and treasure your new friends.
7. Make a difference. One of my favorite websites is www.idealist.org. Another is www.ajws.org. I promised myself that I would not give out money while I was in India...knowing that it would probably not end up in the hands of those who really needed it (either due to corruption or neccesity). I vowed I would make a contribution upon my return to an organization doing hands-on work with poverty in India.
8. Smile. I was never so affected in India as I was by those I smiled at, or smiled at me.
9. See life through a different lens. Sometimes the images will surprise you.
10. Treasure life.

Wishing you all a Chag Sameach, Happy Easter or Happy Holiday that will come up very soon.

Much love,
Marni

P.S. For those of you reading this in Israel, I probably do not have your phone numbers due to a technical glitch. My cell number is 052-600-0479. For those calling from the US, call 011-972-52-600-0479.

Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved