Sunday, May 20, 2007: When in India, Do as The Indians Do

I haven't laughed this much in a long time. When in India, its imperative to assume an Indian mindset and have a sense of humor. Real India is a land of inefficiency. Its surprising that a place known for outsourcing business processing is so slow. Every process is long and laborious. Rather than having computers to sign people into a building, sprinkler systems to water the grass or cash registers to expedite checkouts - everything is done by hand. Even buying water at the convenience store at ISB takes an eternity. The vendor haphazardly stuffs all his change in an unorganized drawer. Even the Indian students complain as he shuffles through wadded up rupees and receipts to more often than not realize he doesn't have exact change. As you all know I can be a fairly impatient person, typically this kind of inefficiency would just piss me off. But the funny thing is that I don't find myself getting frustrated. We've been in some pretty miserable situations. Imagine being herded into a crowded line for half an hour in 110 degree sweltering heat caked with sweat, dust and god knows what else to simply board a bus or visit a historic sight all the while trying to make sense of instructions dictated in Telugu or one of India's other 21 languages. In the United States, I just wouldn't stand for it. But here, its commonplace and just part of the Indian experience. No matter how miserable a situation may be, I find myself about to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all rather than get upset. Nathaniel and I often turn to each other and say, "Hey, only in India would something like this happen." India also provides a lot of perspective. Standing in a line doesn't seem so bad when right across the street is a group of barefoot, malnourished children sleeping in rags on the roadside but somehow still find a way to smile for my camera. In total, India is not an easy place to visit. Sure living at the palace of ISB is relaxing, but as soon as you step outside the gates - things become infinitely less comfortable and fun. But as I said, its all part of the experience and I have over three more weeks to go!