Friday night: You know those times when you keep waiting for reality to hit you so you can begin to understand and experience the situation? Well that hasn’t happened to me yet (still), as we step on Indian land. We’ve landed fairly late at night so as we head to the YMCA, we try to absorb as much as we can of the nighttime cityscape. There is so much honking! At moments, cars and motorcycles drive so close to one another because there are no road surface markings. Yet within this chaos is this omnipresent social order and calm that I find very impressive. I notice after 10 minutes that there are no women outside.
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Saturday: I wake up to a basketball camp practice outside and almost forget that I’m in India. I’m excited to start the day with India food! I learn that in India men can hold each other’s hands just like women—I find that I like that (bye-bye heteronormativity!). I’m glad I prepared myself to be overstimulated because I’m definitely getting my fair share with all the noise, smell and feelings. I can’t stop comparing the city to Moscow and the other South Asian cities I’ve visited.
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Sunday: The non-Indian fellows are left to explore the city with our awesome driver of the day. We get help with bargain shopping and then pay a visit to his cousin and sister where we get hennas done. She says to us, “You are the first of all tourists to have actually come inside and talk to us; they usually just take pictures and leave.”
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Monday: We spent the night in the “party bus” and arrive at a hotel in Sangli, a village near Pune, around 4am to take a nap until breakfast. The breakfast is AMAZING!
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Tuesday: The theme of the day—differences in Indian society. Slums, villages, and self-less communities as opposed to a 5-star business hotel and gold-embroidered saris we see overwhelm us.
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Wednesday: Workday at the Trident! We go visit the school where we’ll be running our workshops for tomorrow. As we are about to leave the Colaba Coseway market, I run into my friend’s parents, truly a small world.
Thursday: The day we’ve been working towards since November has finally arrived. I’m in disbelief and perhaps even denial as all the introductory remarks are happening. I lead my workshop absentmindedly because I’m having trouble processing what’s happening. The young women who are talking in front of me are more eloquent and thoughtful than I was 4 years ago, and I’m truly blown away. If I’ve learned one thing from this opportunity, it’s that high school/adolescents’ intelligence should never be underestimated.
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Friday: I’m tweeting, then running to escort panelists, stuffing in food, running around like a mad woman! The whole day goes by in a flurry and the most I remember is the vibrant energy all the intelligent women created in the room.
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Saturday: I used to credit myself for being good at dealing with emotions, but I find leaving India to be very, very difficult.
The aftermath: On a personal level, I left this for this trip feeling so relieved to be able to leave my lifestyle and reality as a college student in the U.S., and expected to come back feeling refreshed from a vacation. The combination of the people and places I experienced has made this trip even harder to step away from. Even after a week, I’m holding onto what I left behind.