Mussoorie Impressions

Mussoorie has carried with it more anticipation than any other stop on this trip for me. Although I enjoyed our racing around Rajasthan for two weeks, my mind and body were exhausted and looking forward to resting in one place for some time. As we boarded our third and final overnight train ride, I couldn’t help but picture vast expanses of the Himalayas, and nestled right in the middle of all the grandeur, Mussoorie.

The train itself brought with it some challenges. My nose was assaulted with the scent that only sitting directly next to a bathroom can provide. My bed was chronically slanted towards the wall, subtle enough that it was unnoticeable when I was sitting up or pressed against the wall, but extreme enough that I would slide back into the wall whenever I eventually forgot about my situation  and rolled over. However, even though it may have been grimy and uncomfortable, I knew in that moment having a bed and roof over my head with a guaranteed breakfast in the morning was more than mass amounts of people could say – a thought that has been ever present on my conscience since arriving back in January.

After a long night of restless sleep and a lot of skidding into the wall, I was greeted with the alarm of our tour guide, Tsering, running up and down the halls playing “Country Roads” by John Denver and singing along very loudly, only stopping to surrender into laughter and tell us to wake up. As is custom in India, the train was delayed 40 minutes, giving us time to relax and watch the country go by. Time passed quickly and we were soon shepherded across the road from the station into five vans, which carried us through manic traffic until we were soon on our way up the long, winding, steep roads into Mussoorie.

Upon arrival, we were greeted at Doma’s Inn – owned by our tour guides, the Nima’s – which did not disappoint. The inn was anything but bland. Outside was primarily bright red with streaks of blue and yellow, not much changed on the inside. We immediately began exploring and understanding the pristine landscape we would be able to call home for the next two and a half weeks. I was ecstatic because I, as well as many of our group, thrive when surrounded by mountains. Being drawn to its beauty, adventure, and challenge, I’ve

had a fascination and desire to visit this mountain range since early elementary school. Downtown Mussoorie was a stone’s throw away, but we learned quickly that going anywhere meant negotiating long, steep hills. Battling exhaustion but fueled by curiosity, we soon saw shops lined one after another ranging from shoemakers, hair stylists, fabric benders, restaurants, and many more! After climbing into bed, exhausted from a combination of walking and altitude, I quickly fell asleep. We then began a routine of breakfast at 8, Hindi lessons from 9-11, and our cross-cultural class from 11:30-12:30. With afternoons absent of classes, they ranged from total freedom to different excursions, such as guided hikes and tours from Tashi and Tsering.

-Seth Weaver

Rafting

Our rafting adventure was broken into two days. The first day we had a safety briefing and went over basic rescue techniques with our instructors. We had a rather lazy day only navigating one technical class 4 rapid called “the Wall.” We had a few opportunities to jump into the Ganges River and float around. It was very cold, coming down from the Himalayas. After a few minutes, when your body goes completely numb, it becomes much easier to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. For the most part, everyone was nervous to go swimming. At the end of our first day we played the paddle game – a game where everybody stands in a circle with a paddle. The leader calls out “left” or “right,” and you have to grab the paddle beside you before it hits the ground. As people get eliminated the increasing gap moves and it is harder to get to the next paddle. We had a fantastic day on the river and I am sure most of us were wiped.

The second day was packed with much more action. We went through a lot more rapids, some of which were named “Return to Sender,” “Roller Coaster,” and “Golf Course.” While navigating one of the class 3 rapids, our instructor told us to jump out and go swimming. I was a little shocked at first when Ben and Aaron first jumped and decided to jump out myself. The water was very turbulent and powerful. It was exciting and even a little scary being thrashed around so violently in the whitewater. Later, we got an opportunity to do a little cliff jumping. The rafting trip was a ton of fun and we got to do things that would not have gone over well in the States. Rafting will surely be one of the more memorable parts of the trip.

– Alex Navari and Cody Trumbo

A poem

Perched on the counter,

as there’s no chairs,

my sticky fingers slather

Prakesh’s bread with jam.

Monkeys terrorize as I

watch unconcerned, yet,

take up my new friend:

A large, thick stick.

– Caroline Gehman

Children oh children

How I adore your adventurous spirits

and your devotion.

How your innocence and energy radiate.

A three hour trek both to and fro, just to gain

knowledge and growth in not only

academic studies, but in character.

Children oh children

How I adore your enthusiasm

and your strife.

Children oh children

Never let that spark in your souls die.

– Sophie Hartman

inspired by a visit to Kaplani School and Kolti village in Mussoorie

Dawn in Mandawa

Location: Roof of a Haveli in Mandawa, Rajasthan, India. 6:15 am.

The sound of music drifts through the brisk March air towards me from some unknown source. The city seems still and sleepy. Occasionally, I catch the moo of a cow and the chirp of a bird. Audible all around me is the sound of street cleaners with their handheld straw brooms as they push large clouds of dust and piles of trash.
The sun rises slowly from behind a layer of thick haze in the distance. The haze causes the sun to cast a gradient of pinks, reds, and oranges onto the sky. Slowly, the city awakens. The sound of distant horns begins first, slowly increasing to shatter the stillness with their harshness. People are visible now in the streets, leaving their shops and homes to begin their day under the pale orange light.
All around me, I see a mass of temples, havelis, and buildings in various states of disrepair. The honk of horns increases still, now interposed by humorous jingles. A bus rumbles slowly down the narrow street, struggling to turn the sharp curve of the road as a stream of motorcycles and mopeds pass it on either side. The sun has arisen and in response, the city has awaken.

-Brandon Chupp

Squeals on Wheels

India is well known for its hectic traffic and rightfully so. My scariest experience on wheels, however, did not occur on the roads of India. It happened while being pushed around in a wheelchair at a simulation of a Punjabi village.
Train stations create an environment in which you need to stay alert; it seems anything can happen in the chaos. With 32 students, the shuffle from the train to our next mode of transportation adds to the discombobulation. As we rushed through the station after a long train ride, around 9pm, fatigue from a bug being passed around drained my energy to a critically low level. I struggled to put one foot in front of the other and could barely see over my backpack. We approached a curb and I sadly did not see the piece of gravel that my foot was about to land on. Little did I know that my next step would impact the rest of my trip.
My ankle bent at an unnatural angle as the extra weight on my front and back made me unable to recover as I normally would. I saw spots and did not know how I would make it to the bus. The next 20 minutes are a blur. I remember fighting off a desire to pass out and drift into a world of sleep where I could ignore the pain. I told myself, you’re just tired you’ll be better in a few days, but, a few days later, I found myself being pushed around in a wheelchair by a maniac, Yelisey Shapovalov. The name still sends the sensation of falling surging through my gut. As we explored the “authentic Punjabi experience,” the claim still causes skepticism, I was pushed up hills, where my caretaker would let go just long enough to cause panic. My wheelchair, with me still in it, was picked up and carried over curbs. By the end of the trip, I was convinced I would teeter off either the edge of the wheelchair or my sanity. Fortunately, Yelisey only wanted to incite trepidation and not true fear. We watched the acrobats, dancers, and warriors twirl in the grass, dazzling us with their heritage. I longed to have the physical health to move as they did. Despite my ankle and the frustration it brought, I made it through Sadda Pind as intact as I arrived and enjoyed the spectacles of the “authentic Punjabi experience.”

-Allie Sawyer

Arriving in Mussoorie

I had anticipated our time in Mussoorie since the start of our travels and the day had finally come. Mussoorie is situated in the Himalayan foothills at about 6,600 feet. The ride up to Mussoorie was wild! We climbed on winding roads for about an hour and as we got higher the roads got narrower and steeper. As we drove up, we could see the city of Mussoorie built into the mountainside. I was in constant awe of the view and atmosphere. 
We eventually got to Doma’s Inn which is owned by our guides family. The Inn is quite colorful and represents or guides well. It is small but unique in many ways, and includes a sweet view down to the slopes below Mussoorie. After getting situated here, a group of us took a walk. This was a cool loop that gave us views of the surrounding peaks and valleys. The walk gave us a better understanding of how steep the roads are in Mussoorie. We were able to see tall evergreen trees, monkeys and some small shops. Unfortunately, it was hazy and so we could not see the Himalayas. Even with this being the case, I continually said “unbelievable” on the walk. It is exciting to have finally arrived in Mussoorie. This is the place where our leaders lived and/or grew up in, and we are eager to have them share their home city with us. I look forward to understanding the culture here as well as going on hikes to try and see the Himalayas.

-Trevor Oyer

Tired

Cafe Coffee Day
Mudcup Cafe
Ivy Cafe

I do not mind walking for coffee
and finding shops within the clouds of trees
and sweating in the cold. All for coffee.

I say to myself, just Keep going.
Natives with impressive lungs pass me breathing
steadily, but I have to stop moving.

With struggling breath I look down and see
tiny specks that I know are bigger than me.

Do I really need coffee?
My energy level says yes,
but my unmoving feet know best.

-Jasmine Miller

El Classico, or A Day in Jaipur

An account of perhaps the most comically representative full-day experience of our entire trip. It all began with a man wearing a straw hat and a winning smile who stepped onto our bus that morning and invaded our lives forever. “Goodmorningmynameis[incomprehensible]butyoucancallmeJiJi––” he said breathlessly. “It’s a good thing you have me, because I’m the best tour guide in Jaipur! Here are the things Jiji will show you today.” [Winning smile] Emerson and I looked at each other – it was clear this day was going to be something special.

An endless stream of burbling chatter from Jiji kept us entertained (“I would be a perfect human being, except I’m a couple inches too short – look, there’s a lake!”) until we pulled up at the Amber Fort ante-parking lot, which is kind of like an antechamber except less like a waiting room and more like a holding tank for tourists. “Jiji.com!”* said Jiji cheerfully. “Also, we aren’t actually at the fort yet, so we need to use jeeps to get there. There’s plenty of room!” We proceeded to smush ourselves into as few jeeps as possible – all the while being hounded by a bagpipes man trying to sell us something, ostensibly bagpipes – and suffered a 15-minute ride, avoiding dogs, hawkers, and elephants alike, before arriving at the actual fort.

After the typical scuffling involving student I.D.’s and cost bartering, while continuing to avoid the trinket-sellers descending like birds of prey, we finally arrived inside the palace. Fast forward through a half-hour lecture, concubine passage adventuring, and several more references to Jiji.com, and we’re on our way back down the mountain for lunch. After the customary 45-minute traffic delay, we arrived at a relatively normal lunch buffet – to be one of our last average experiences of the day.

Just as our group began heading into the dangerous realm of pleasantly-full post-lunch doldrums – nap time, in other words – Jiji leaped up energetically and joyously announced two items: 1, We are about to watch a traditional authentic (two of his favorite words, coincidentally representative of tourism in India) Rajasthani puppet show, and 2, We have only seven more things to see today [ticking off on fingers, his smile now beaming comically ominous overtones]: A jeweler, a linen warehouse, a ceramics store, Jantar Mantar, and the city palace – “Then home, and then to bed!” he laughed.

And so we went, trudgingly and grudgingly – although not before our puppeteer tried to sell us some of his puppets (again, representative of Indian tourism). We piled into our deluxe air-conditioned coach, then piled out into the upstairs workshop of Jiji’s friend, the jeweler (“I never bring other tourist groups here!”) for an admittedly interesting glimpse of behind-the-scenes jewelry-making…but not too long of a glimpse, lest we forget about the chance to shop for jewelry in the store immediately downstairs.

The cycle continued. We piled into our deluxe air-conditioned coach, newly laden with shopping bags and jewelry, before piling out into a linen-printer’s workshop for a short but interesting demonstration. And again, we were led into the adjacent linen store, returning after a short while to our bus with a few more additional pounds. Deluxe air-conditioned coach…ceramics demonstration…shopping…coach…and then, suddenly, we are standing outside the most famous astronomical observatory in India, Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar. Due to our afternoon excursions, we barely make it to Jantar Mantar before closing time, and we are in the midst of the typical entry-fee scuffle when four military jeeps screech to a halt outside the park entrance. A dozen serious-looking men with rifles jump onto the street, lock down the area, and shuttle all 38 of us into the park before you could even say “Namaste.”

“Important political visit,” grunts the entrance guard when Jiji asked him. Well, that seemed safe enough, so we begin walking towards the world’s largest sundial, when all of a sudden, Hillary Clinton glides through the park entrance, less than 50 feet away from us. Madness and hilarity ensue, as the absurdities of the day begin to catch up with us, and the anciently grand astronomical instruments lay forgotten.

Though our day was far from over, I will end my narrative here, at the pinnacle of our confusion. These types of overwhelming days, where the strange and familiar swirl together in intensely chaotic ways, are the norm, not the exception, on cross-cultural. Responses to days like this vary. Sometimes we laugh; sometimes we cry. Sometimes we ruefully admit to each other, “India wins…again.” Sometimes we lash out in defensive anger. Sometimes we simply shake our head in bewildered wonder. And sometimes, when we don’t know what else to do, we give each other knowing smiles and say, “Jiji.com.”

*We don’t actually know why he was such an advocate for Jiji.com, considering the domain belonged to a Chinese app store, but we are guessing he thought it made him look cool.

-Harrison Horst

Observation of Space –  A Compilation of Sporadic and Mismatched Thoughts

Bustling city. Dusty streets full of rickshaws and cyclists, tour buses and zippy little cars. Snack shops spotting the edges with the typical strips of chips and peanuts and assortments of odd Indian Chex-mix of sorts, butter cookies and other couple-of-rupee treats. Stray dogs picking through bits of trash, the occasional cow confidently making its way down the street. A cricket game down a side road drawing in a  crowd of young boys and spectators. The chorus of honking.

Arriving in Agra just an hour before, the novelty of a new city drew me out of my hotel room and into the color and chaos of the streets. Because what’s better than a walk after sitting on a bus all morning?

“If we walk down this road for about a mile, we’ll reach the Taj,” my trusty navigator, Abigail, told me. So we turn off the main road down a side street, shifting our gaze from the bustle of the busy street to the sight in front of us, an entirely new type of bustle. The road narrowed, only fitting cycles or small cars, carts or cows among the people walking through. A small school to the right in a block cement building, kids in uniform leaving in little chatty groups, hand-in-hand with a parent or on the front seat of a motorcycle between the arms of a brother or father. Women in bright saris sitting in doorframe, men standing in small clusters on the side of the road.

Meandering down for some time, my eyes never knew quite where to focus. Do I stare back at the wide eyes of the small girl playing in the street, at the young man who turns on the back of the motorcycle until we’re no longer in sight? Do I look at my feet to avoid stepping in piles of manure or look up to avoid the 1,000 kilo cow lumbering towards us with no presumed plan to change its path? Ahh, but how can I not focus on the small pig that suddenly scurries a foot below me in the concrete slab-covered drainage system of the road? Laundry hanging across rooftops, vegetable cart rolling through, steam rising from an open wok.

As the road narrowed and drove us deeper into the heart of life in Agra untouched by tourists and outsiders, our presence became more and more of an anomaly. Retracing our steps, we returned through the commotion of evening activity back towards the chorus of honking, left the ‘village life’ tucked between the blocks of cement buildings and hopped on a rickshaw with the understood one word request, “Taj!”

Five minutes later, our rickshaw driver dropped us along the outskirts of the Taj, a paved, well maintained area blocked off to vehicles. We were no longer an anomaly as we walked along the identical, over meant constructed shops filled with all of the Taj trinkets you could ask for – t-shirts, magnets, small replicas, pieces of the marable used for the Taj Mahal itself, caps with its outline stitched on front. The streets full of sunglass-donning, visor-wearing tourists glowing in their sight-seeing-best attire from their recent visit and, no doubt, photoshoot in front of the Taj.

Drifting from the clean, well-swept streets, we found ourselves in a bazaar outside of the Southern gate of the Taj. Congested and chaotic, each step was met with a new smell, a “shopping?,” called in our direction, children rushing to our legs, hands to their lips asking “chocolate?,” rickshaws pulling into our path and a swirl of people and color. After wandering through random streets for some time, a navigational nightmare for poor Abigail but a whirlwind of energy and excitement for us both, the setting sun cued our meandering return to the quiet of the Taj and throngs of hopeful rickshaw drivers. Fifty rupees and a short few minutes later, we made it back to the quiet of our hotel.

The next morning we woke at sunrise, waited in the long line of tourists, got our passes, water bottles and shoe-socks and walked through the main gate of the Taj. As it entered our view, first thoughts included “wow, that’s big,” “wow, that’s small,” “wow, that’s white” and “dang”* coupled with feelings of awe at its magnificence. Inlaid stones and Arabic script embellished with intricacy, striking symmetry, and mosques on either side paying homage to the radiance of its white marble against the blue sky.

Taking the trademark India tourist ‘I’ve been to the Taj’ photos, we spent the rest of the morning admiring this symbol of love, the love of the emperor Shah Jahan for his wife, before returning to the hotel for breakfast.

The beauty of the Taj was spectacular. Mesmerizing. Yet in that space, I was reminded that the magnificence of India does not lie solely in its iconic wonders, but in its energy and noise, bustling streets, the swirl of people, the smells and contrast and color.

After a day of sights, we loaded up and headed to our next destination, Amritsar, redefining what India looks like once again.

-Sylvia Mast

*Thoughts from randomly surveyed group members

After our stay at the Sarang Center in southern India, followed by our spring break week, we traveled back to Delhi before heading into northwest India – into the state of Rajasthan. Rajasthan, in Hindi, means “land of kings” and is the ancient home of a collection of forts, palaces, fancy tombs, and Silk Road oases. Our activities during this period included zip lining over the blue city of Jodhpur, riding camels in the Thar desert, staying in a centuries-old merchant hostel (called a haveli), and embarking on an unsuccessful tiger safari. In Rajasthan, history is visceral; it pops out of the cities at you, while at the same time reconciling its colorful past with the complexities of a modernizing future.

“Connection to…”

Artist Statement: This drawing/visual processing journal entry was created during our return to Delhi after having traveled through various cities and villages in southern and eastern India. I was processing the connections that I felt in each of these spaces, specifically the connection to the Earth and all that is in it and surrounding it. -Kate Kauffman

Ode to a Displeased Camel

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for… the camel ride.
Sheer terror. Upon greeting camels, one cannot help but marvel at their size, poorly masked ferocity, and similarity to dinosaurs. Evan and I agreed to share a camel, and chose a pretty (looking) one to ride. I decided to sit in the front, and, with the go-ahead from the camel’s trainer, began to mount. The camel immediately roared to life and began staggering to its feet with a burbling shriek and spraying of effervescent foam. I was quickly thrown off, landing with a thud in the sand. Great start! Evan and I agreed it would be wise to choose another camel, and did so – Alex and Emerson claimed our original camel, and six people (allegedly) were necessary to hold the camel down in order for them to mount. The camel Evan and I ended up on was named Bintu, and seemed much more docile than our former beast.

The most terrifying part of camel riding is the camel getting up and down in order for its riders to get on and off; to get up, it first violently extends its back legs, plunging forward forcefully enough to make most riders doubt their ability to stay aboard, quickly followed by the aftershock of the front legs following suit.
Once the camel has gained its footing, the ride becomes somewhat less scary. We set off into the scrubby desert, clutching our camel fairly tightly. I would give a delightful description of our arid surroundings, but was admittedly, at this point, too focused on maintaining my adhesion to my newfound vehicle to marvel at the nearby plant life.
The destination of our ride was the peak of a large hill, from which we were to watch the sunset. This sounded idyllic; however, Evan and I discovered with slight dismay that this meant we would have to thread our way up a thin, sandy path that hugged the side of the hill. On my own feet, this would not have been a daunting task. The magnitude of the task increases quite significantly, however, when one finds themselves about eight feet from the ground on the back of a wheezing beast with an affinity for walking at an angle, it’s front and back legs seeming to lack communication with each other.

Despite our concerns, we reached the summit relatively uneventfully (if such a thing can be said about any camel riding experience). We dismounted in the expected roller-coaster-esque fashion and sat down to saturate ourselves with the waning rays of the evening sun (and perhaps to regain mental composure). I spent the break observing the camels with a mix of amazement and revulsion (they are truly disgusting creatures – the foaming mouths, the prehistoric wailing, the spongy feet… I could go on). They were framed neatly by the sun’s final light, the stately dunes and irrigated fields dotting the landscape. I am undecided as to whether these glorious surroundings spotlighted the horrors of the camels or lent them an odd air of royalty; either way, I certainly have gained a respect for them.

-Joseph Harder

Goa Reflection

The state of Goa is located in western India with its coastline stretching along the Arabian Sea. Its history, like much of India’s history, involves European colonization. The Portuguese set their eyes on Goa when realizing its valuable placement geographically as a port for spice trading along the Arabian Sea. In the late 1500’s the Portuguese took over the state of Goa and controlled it until 1961 when Goa became independent from Portugal and became officially a part of India again. What remained was a unique convergence of two cultures that has continued to develop into what Goa is today.

Finding Portuguese culture in Goa, and India in general, was a surprise for me. During our two weeks in Goa, I continually found myself astounded by the interconnectedness of culture through art, music, religion and architecture. Colonization, however, has deeply influenced the culture and I started becoming critical of what we were seeing, hearing and being exposed to. I was at times uncomfortable hearing how beautiful and unique Goa is because of Portuguese influences and not hearing much of the negative impacts of that influence. I struggled with knowing that colonization in the world has been forceful dominance of one group/culture over another, but also loving the Portuguese influenced art, music and architecture I was seeing. It seems that Goans have adopted and claimed this mixture of culture as their own, nonetheless I felt as if our exposure was unbalanced and catered to us as westerners only wanting to see/learn the “positive”, “easy” things. I expected to learn more about the harm and abuse of power that the Portuguese brought upon the region. It was incredible seeing Portuguese and Indian culture existing in the same space because I have never been exposed to that dynamic before.

However, I found myself being critical of my biases towards what is beautiful and how my perspectives as a westerner influence my experience here. Did I find Goa so beautiful and interesting because it was a more culturally familiar, comfortable space, or because of observing the differences unique to Goan culture that I had never been exposed to before? I believe it is important to be critical of our western lens while we are here, and how it affects our experience here in India. Our two weeks in Goa encouraged me to think about how I am interacting and existing in these spaces and reminded me to keep questioning why I feel emotions such as discomfort or guilt. It reminded me to always be aware of the multiple parts to every story, even if you are only being exposed to one side. There is beauty within the remains of colonization – but that does not mean we should ever be content with that, and forget to ask more critical questions that explain the other parts of the story.

– Emma Petersheim

What does it mean to have enough to live?

To answer this question, it is necessary to define what having “enough to live” means. There is an obvious scientific definition of having “enough to live,” which focuses on the resources a human being needs to survive: food, water, and shelter from the elements. This scientific definition, however, is not sufficient to answer the question in context; in context, the question addresses the inherent differences between cultures as to how having “enough to live” is defined.

To answer this question in context, it is necessary to recognize and analyze the various living standard expectations individuals in different cultures have. In an American context, having “enough to live” is generally equated with some version of the “American Dream” – life in a comfortable suburb with two cars, a few kids, and more than enough money and resources to get by. Though this certainly is not considered the minimum standard of living for all Americans, it is a quality of life the majority of Americans expect.

Americans must realize this lifestyle is one of excess, and that it disadvantages marginalized communities across the world. This lifestyle allocates a disproportionate amount of resources to Americans, meaning people in the US get way more than their fair share of global resources, ranging from food to clothing to oil. Access to more resources inevitably leads to more waste production, which explains why the average American produces more than ten times the daily waste of the average Indian. This is all to say that though Americans tend to view their lifestyles as justified, or even “natural,” from an environmental perspective, these lifestyles are unsustainable.

Now, I do not want to make it seem like I think I do not engage in a lifestyle of excess; I certainly do, as this lifestyle is difficult to avoid while being raised in a society that encourages, and even expects people to have significantly more than they need. This brings me to the main issue I have been struggling with this trip: trying to justify my lifestyle of excess while being surrounded by the people who are negatively affected by my lifestyle choices. The way I see it, there are only a certain amount of resources to go around in the world. Though I am not directly choosing to take those resources away from the people of India, the fact that I do have significantly more than I need to live means I am indirectly taking resources away from people who need them more than I do.

What I am struggling with even more is the fact that despite knowing how harmful my lifestyle is to other people, I don’t see myself changing it significantly when I get back to the US. I am going to justify this by making claims of the difficulty that comes from being counter-cultural, especially when it comes to the American ideals of consumerism and materialism, but realistically, that is nothing more than a poor excuse.

So what does this all have to do with what it means to have enough to live? I think it shows just how privileged we are as Americans to be able to include so many excess items and luxuries in the category of what is “necessary” for survival.

In India, it is obvious that most cannot expect to have the same living standards that many Americans have. The first couple of weeks on this trip, we spent almost all of our time in big cities. In these cities, it became abundantly clear how little many people had. By American standards, these people did not have “enough to live,” as they often did not have more than the clothes on their back and a few other personal items.

However, I do not think it is fair to say the majority of people in these Indian cities do not have “enough to live;” sure, by American standards these people have essentially nothing, but American standards are not universal and should not be used universally. I do not know enough about India to claim I understand how a typical Indian would define what qualifies as “enough to live,” but I do know enough about India to say confidently, an Indian’s definition differs from an American’s.

This is all to say that what constitutes “enough to live” varies from region to region, country to county, and continent to continent. It is important to recognize this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we must realize our standards of living in the US are not normal as compared to the rest of the world. We should appreciate the fact that we have the ability to live the way we do, while also attempting to alter our unsustainable lifestyles in an effort to promote environmental sustainability and global equality. Secondly, it is important to recognize the differences in living standard expectations across the world because it can become easy for Americans traveling abroad to pity people who do not have as much as they do in an almost imperialistic way. Working to help people who are less fortunate than we are is extremely important, but ideally, this desire to help should come from the right mindset. If we want to help less fortunate people because we recognize their humanity and want the world to be a more equal place, I have no issue with that. If we want to help less fortunate people because we view ourselves as inherently superior, and project our ability to aid them as a sign of racial, social, or political dominance, we are no better than those who used a similar sense of dominance to justify colonizing and abusing people all over the globe for centuries.

In short, what it means to have “enough to live” varies drastically from culture to culture. My time in India so far has made me realize I want to do something about the inequality that derives from those different standards, as I think it is unfair for someone to have too much, or too little, based purely on geographic location of birth. Global economic inequality is one of the modern world’s biggest political, social, and cultural issues, and I believe one of its best solutions is to convince Americans, myself included, that our way of life is inherently unsustainable and marginalizes a huge portion of the world’s population.

-Evan Davis