Sensory Overload

11/31
The Taj Mahal (In Dharamsala now)

I write this now three days after experiencing the Taj, but I have good reasons for that. Agra was very similar to Delhi, lots of people, pollution and poverty. The first stop of the day was the Taj itself. My first observation was how spacious the grounds were. There were courtyards everywhere and the guide described the symmetry that existed within all the surroundings of the Taj Mahal and building itself. To begin I must admit a major point of foolery on my part. I have always thought that people lived within the walls of the Taj Mahal, never did I know that it was a monument with a tomb inside. I thought the name "Crown Palace" meant someone was living there as a palace. Oh well, now I know better. I learned about a wonderful feat of engineering within the building as well, the four towers on the corners are not perfectly straight. They lean 3 degrees away from the Taj so that no matter what, these towers will never fall upon the "Crown Palace". Architecturally, all of this is impressive; to have a building made completely of marble, built flawlessly (to the untrained eye), and creating grounds around the building perfectly straight and symmetrical. Next stop of the day was the Agra fort, then a road trip out of town to the previous capital that was built before the capital was moved to Agra. The Agra fort impressed me the most because it still houses part of the Indian army. The architecture was incredible and again every element was made of stone. The pictures attached will do more justice to these places than my words, so I will digress a bit and talk about the courtyard. The open courtyard is something I enjoy and think would be a wonderful addition to American culture; however, as I think about it, we have them already. Rather than only the richest people owning them and opening them to the public, many people in America have one: a yard. The problem I see is that there is a fence around each one isolating it from the next, and there is not the sense of community. I guess that's what I like about the courtyard, the community associated with it, but that's an American park. Yet that too is still missing something, but I can't quite put a finger on it. Maybe a later entry.

More Pictures!

11/28
On the train to Agra (Day 3 begins)

Some things I left out yesterday. The rickshaw ride! A two-four person cart connected to a man on a bike. Amelia Davis and I got to experience that together. Bumping along the same space we moved through in a taxi, our driver moved with flawless efficiency. And the pictures. Everywhere we turn there are young boys and even older families trying to take pictures with us, or the younger teenage boys will pose in front of our group as all the backs are turned and this way they get their pictures with Americans, sneakily that is. We did have one group actually ask take pictures with us in a respectable way, this was at the Balhi temple (the Lotus Temple) and they were most appreciative when we obliged them. Now onto the fun stories of the day! We visited the largest Hindu temple in the world: the Swaminaryan temple. It was built in 2005, and it was immaculate. Moving through the temple, there was beauty in the walls, the ceiling and the floor. These people care so deeply about their faith. Our guide, Rajj, did a wonderful job explaining the stories and some of the practices of the faith. Somewhere between the accent and the names, I got lost quite often, but this won't be the last time I hear or see these names. The Hindu religion is something I still know very little about, but to my eye, it and Buddhism are two religions that seem vibrantly alive. Swaminarayan was their most recent "prophet" for lack of a better term, and he lived a mere 200 years ago. To a culture with such pride in faith, I do believe there are families out there who tell stories of a not-too-distant relative who met and whose life was changed by this man. (This next part sounds a bit harsh but it is the impression I get from all doomsday ideas that are floating around America) Compared to Catholicism, this religion is just waiting for its next great leader, whereas Catholicism is just waiting for the end to come. From this perspective it's not surprising why young people's faith wanes. Promise of a wondrous afterlife means very little to a generation taught to live in the moment. Moving on before I lose my productivity of writing in this short time, the last stop in this Hindu temple was a lotus garden. The garden was full of quotes (mostly western we realized in later discussions), yes it was touristy, but interesting none-the-less. There were quotes of a few eastern philosophers, western thinkers, western inventors, the BIBLE and the QU'RAN. Acceptance? At least an outward facade of it, if they don't actually have it. Raised Catholic, I've never seen a copy of the Qu'ran, let alone read it. Jumping around a bit in thought, how can I begin to truly understand a culture if I know not of where its beliefs stem? In honor of the sense of faith, I bought a small carving of Ganesh, the Hindu God of good luck and prosperity. I bought for no other reason than it just felt right. Perhaps this will show up somewhere down the road. Language is my final topic for now. I understand how people could truly feel culture shock from just the language change. To be alone in a place where no one even seems human because the sounds they make are so foreign, they seem alien for no other reason than they express themselves with different auditory patterns. I need to learn another language in its entirety. I feel no culture shock because this group brought its culture with it. We have a net to fall back on. I'm excited for Dharamsala to come so that I can actually be part of another culture because a tourist simply doesn't cut it for learning to understand.


11/27
The Morning of Day 2

Military "Parade' outside of the President's House (Taken by Hannah Koschnitzke)

Well the arrival wasn't much too talk about, customs weren't strenuous and luckily I don't feel sick in the slightest. The drive to hotel was an experience unto itself. The lanes here are just a suggestion, and if cars had personal space, well the here they wouldn't. Period. The people on motorcylces and mopeds speed along and weave just as much as the drivers with the small cars. The people. First, there are so many in such close quarters! People flood every street. On a different note, as a male, most people seem friendly in a truely personal way. Many of the Sikhs with long beards smile and give me big nods. Perhaps they are laughing at me, but it doesn't seem that way. Yesterday was quite an experience moving through two dramatically different parts of the city. With a trip to New Delhi starting the morning at the Presidents house, and all the spacious lawns and clean streets of a government area, the atmosphere was very bland. There wasn't much going on and even with a "parade" of military procedure. Strangely or not, military impressions were the same here as at home: lots of yelling and synchronized motions. Our next stop was following the straight road down to the India Gate, I should note that will less than, oh maybe 2 kilometers from the house to the gate, with the smog/fog you couldn't actually see one from the other. This was the my first experience in beggers and street peddlers. Before reaching the sidewalk from the taxi, I had a man trying to sell me a toy. Next was the fulfillment of one Indian stereotype. A boy with a woven basket sat down and a live cobra came out as he began to play a flute like instrument. We were tourists and soon we were back in the taxis headed to Old Dehli. The drivers weaved their way through spaces hardly wide enough for two men shoulder to shoulder. There were people here who I could see who had never truely owned a pair of shoes. I made eye contact with one; 5 minutes later he finally gave up. My heart goes out to all the people I see living like that.