May 13 – 15, 2016
Thoughts on India
The India trip was a work trip. At the time, I was working for Landesa, a non-profit focusing on land rights in poor and emerging countries. Made up mostly of Attorneys and land rights specialists, the staff travel regularly to developing nations, working with the poorest of the poor, enabling the people to get an actual title to their land, and working with the government to enact a land rights policy. As an accountant, I generally didn’t travel, but on this occasion, I was sent to Bhubaneswar, the capital of the Odisha Province in Eastern India to visit one of our offices.
So, I am now in India. I don’t know how our Landesa people do it. This was a marathon of a trip. Two flights of 9 and 11 hours respectively, and a final leg of 3 hours.
The flight from Vancouver to Frankfurt was long, but the flight from Frankfurt to Delhi was even longer. However, I sat next to a lovely couple in their 70s on the middle leg. They spend 6 months of the year with their son and his American wife in Sarasota, Florida, then they return to India to spend the next season with their daughter and grandchildren. I spent quite a bit of time speaking with the gentleman who was well learned, kind and well-travelled. Spending part of each year in one of the richest countries, and the other part in one of the poorest, he was very interesting to speak with. It made the flight go fast!
We landed in Delhi at about 12:30 in the morning. The first thing I noticed was the lack of lights. From the sky, the city looked, well, dim. And orange. It became obvious that the outside lighting is much less dense than US or European cities. It’s also the yellow/orange lights instead of the bright white we’ve become used to seeing. From the air, the brightest lights were the roads – both the car headlights and the streetlights. Everything else was very dark.
While I was thinking about the lights, we touched down, then the pilot slammed on the brakes so hard that everybody went forward, bracing themselves on the seat in front. Clearly, they had short runways! In addition, the flight path took us directly over Afghanistan and Pakistan. My understanding was that the flight had to stay high over those countries, then come down steep into Delhi. That may have had something to do with it.
As we taxied towards the terminal (brilliantly lit in comparison to everything else), the streetlights lining the cement fences flicked off for a few seconds, then back on. I thought I must have blinked, but it happened a couple of more times. Barb (a co-worker who was in country at the time) had mentioned that there had been several blackouts and brownouts the past week, so I guess this was normal.
The India airport has won several awards for its design, and the maps online are very clear. However, the airport I saw nowhere matched the maps in any way. Granted, my direction sense isn’t the best (okay, it’s horrible!), but still. This shouldn’t have been that hard! Land in International Arrivals, go through customers, check in through the Domestic Departures. Done. I can hear my then co-worker, Steven, laughing now. He travelled to India regularly.
So, a few things really varied the equation. 1) India has a lot of people. And even though it was 1:30 in the morning, I think that they were all at the airport. 2) Nobody in India has ever heard of Rick Steves’ ‘Packing Light and Right’. I have never seen so many huge suitcases per capita in one place, ever. And I’m not kidding. That includes the European Tour Groups that Sharon, Lesley and I saw on our trip last year. Those people were amateurs in comparison. Everybody was pushing carts loaded high with giant luggage. And I mean piled until they were precariously rocking and barely staying on the carts!
So with those two facts in mind, picking up my checked luggage was an experience. So as people are hauling out 2-4 giant suitcases per person, it was all I could do to spot my tiny 22” bag. I felt somewhat conspicuous taking away my two stacked bags – one 22” and the other 12”.
So back to the airport. I spent until 2:30am trying to figure out what I was doing. There is no such thing as a short line in India. And all of those who were in the lines were moving a small army of baggage. So apparently, I’m in the International Departures. (Really? Delhi to Bhubaneswar?? They are both in India!). And my Air India web check-in printed boarding pass (that actually said ‘Boarding Pass’ in big letters) was something that the Air India staff and never heard of, and to them, was not a Boarding Pass unless it was an orange card. After multiple special lines, questions, and a lot of tolerant looks from the staff, I am now in the lounge, with a correct boarding pass (actual printed card), checked bag (“Is that all you’re checking?” was the surprised question from the young man at the counter) because you can only carry on one bag. And my bag looked really small compared to everybody else. I should have brought my giant blue suitcase!
While the staff at the airport were nice, they weren’t really going out of their way to be helpful. However, the surprise was how many of the fellow travelers were incredibly helpful. We’ve all heard the tales of sexism and dismissive behavior toward women, but I found that many of the men went out of their way to help me with a kindness that matched the couple I met on the plane. Of course, there were exceptions, but they were not the rule, at least in the Delhi Airport.
But back to the airport. I can’t describe the maze of this airport. They move so many people, most of the time well – with large concourses and walkways, but at the same time it was a complete surprise to be herded to an elevator, a normal sized elevator, and squeeze in two overfilled luggage carts, me (with my now one bag) and 4 other people.
And now, off to go wander around until the next flight. If I Sit down much longer, I’ll go to sleep.
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The final leg of the trip – Delhi to Bhubaneswar – was only about 3 hours. What I noticed most as we descended towards the airport was the symetry of the city. Everything was neatly segregated. Every property had a fence around it. This became clearer later as I went through the city. Interestingly enough, although every property had walls and gates, most of the gates were left open. But the population respected the walls. If a property was wall off, you didn’t go in and try to live on the land. It belonged to somebody. Outside the walls was another story, but more on that later.
I am now in the Crown Hotel at Bhubaneshwar. Barb had told me that I would have a real culture shock at the poverty in the country. She wasn’t kidding. It’s hard to describe. It’s literally everywhere. The shanty towns, the buildings half falling down or having fallen down, yet people are living in them. All of the well-kept hotels and buildings are behind locked gates, and lush vegetation (although somewhat dry in this season), hides a multitude of ills. As we drove along, I could see an open air meat market, with fish laid out, live goats tied to a fence, and butchered animals hanging up.
I now understand what the gentleman on the plane to Delhi meant when he said he was so shocked at the begging and poverty on the streets of Sarasota, Florida. Like Seattle, it’s obvious, although by no means the scope of India. But his comment was that in the richest country in the world, we shouldn’t have any of that. He is right. He did also ask me what I thought of Trump, lol.
Anyway, all of this was right alongside women in the most beautiful fabrics and sarees, and old, but still beautiful stonework and sculptures. Everywhere there are exquisite patterns, hidden by the rampant poverty. An example is below. This is a wall in the state run mango orchard and horticulture center across from the Landesa office.
The hotel I am in is lovely, and is behind locked and guarded gates. The room finishings aren’t up to western standards (it could use a coat of paint and updating), but by India standards, it’s luxurious, and the colonial influence is strong. The people are lovely, and very helpful.
I also have seen much more of the issues that women have in this country. Out of Delhi, and more out into the country, it truly is a man’s world. I wouldn’t want to go out exploring alone out here. I felt conspicuous enough in the airport at Bhubaneshwar. I’ll just stay behind my locked gates.
I guess today could have been titled ‘Innocents Abroad’ for me. It’s a real eye-opener.
Now, I just want a shower, a nap, and to get some work done this afternoon. It’s been a lot to take in. And it also just serves to remind me of the good work Landesa is doing here, how much it’s needed, and how proud I am to be even a small part of it.
Not a whole lot of pictures – this is a business trip, so I don’t have much time. But here are a few of the hotel gates and grounds.
