Almost Goodbye

It's early morning Saturday here in Bangalore.  Sudhir and I have one interview left for our research project, and plans for dinner tonight with some of his friends as a goodbye. I can't believe there are only two days left of the trip!

I'm so excited to come home and see everyone, and Maxwell [my nephew from Georgia] will be flying to Minnesota in the next couple of days, so I am BEYOND ecstatic to see him.  Nonetheless, I'm trying to take in the last few memories of my time in Bangalore.

This trip has been different from a normal vacation.  There are obvious reasons:  I'm traveling solo, I'm staying (more or less) with a local family, and I'm doing research for a project (therefore I'm working while I'm here).  The result of these non-vacation variables is an experience that is somewhere between tourist and exchange student.  Walking that line is interesting.  The relationships I've made here are the type a study abroad student would make, and they should have had months to develop. When I return and tell people I've recently spent 3 weeks in India, they'll wonder what I've seen: the Taj Mahal? No. Goa? No. Monkeys? Well, yes, actually.

My trip to Bangalore has been more than a visit to see the tourist attractions (what my travels usually are).  It was a slice of life, a glimpse into the every day Indian in Bangalore.  There was minimal candy coating.  I had a daily whiff of the garbage the crows and cows were scrounging through.  I've seen battered women hiding their swollen lips.  I've had to turn away from beggars, looking me in the eye, asking for something, anything.


Yes, I've seen sadness, but I've also seen life, a joie de vivre that is sometimes lacking at home.  India is a social community, the structure is dependent on the services of others.  Clothes are tailored locally, fruits bought from the market, appliances purchased from family-owned shops.  Big industry has it's place here, sure, but so does a local economy and a sense of being a piece of the puzzle in the community--providing a service and accepting the hard work of others.  When you pass someone you know on the street, they do not ask with a rehearsed tone, "How's it going?" and only half anticipate an answer.  They put on hold wherever they were going and chat: "How is your mother? Is your bother doing well in school? Did you get my new cell phone number?  Well here it is.  Come to my mom's house next week and she'll cook you dinner, OK?"

In my first week here, Maya, an intern at Visthar, finished her time here and said her goodbyes before returning to Finland.  Everyone asked her what she would miss about India.  "The people," she said.  At the time, I wondered if my answer would be the same.

It is.