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Recursion

(56,582 posts)
Mon Jun 27, 2016, 09:26 AM Jun 2016

I have two days left in India. I guess I'm supposed to find myself or something.



But fuck that.

It's been an amazing and awful three years. My blood pressure went from a reliable 130/80 to 180/120. I lost 25 pounds. I had an ANA come back not just positive but strongly so. But.

I met an amazing mass of people who I have every faith will make the world a better place over the course of their lives, from the 24-year-old woman starting her own microbrewery to the 15-year-old girls in Dharavi I tutored in writing Android apps to my 50-something drinking buddy Abishek who is convinced that his next perpetual motion machine idea will actually work this time.

I think Americans get a weird view of India because we mostly hear about it from immigrants, for whom the country is "frozen in amber" exactly as they left, even if that was 40 years ago (which for the bulk of them it was). India is a moving target. Your Indian friend's conservative uncle gets laughed at when he comes back every two years.

Before I came here I spent a lot of time in NYC. New York was, at the time, a Megalopolis to me: surely the crowning achievement of human endeavor. 8.5 million people living in 300 square miles. Mumbai is 20 million people living in 235 square miles. New York is a quaint, tiny village which perhaps has pretensions someday to urban status.

We hired a college student to walk our dog before and after classes. He's I guess lower middle class by Mumbai standards. His kid brother (who's probably 11 or so) comes and hangs out with the dogs in the evenings (he walks for a lot of people in the building). The kid, Jatin, really likes my dog and said he's going to miss him. He used his phone to make a collage of a picture of my dog and sent it to me:



Anyways. That's an 11-year-old kid on a cheap phone living about one level above a slum in Mumbai. I'm honestly thrilled to imagine the things this generation is going to do.

So, what are my take-aways from India?

1. I'm going to punch in the mouth the next American who says to me "it's so spiritual there". Fuck you.

2. America is not the only home of violent and irrational prejudice and racism.

3. India will probably in the 2nd half of the 20th century play the hegemonic role that the US been recently.

4. Regional megacity-oriented economies are the determining structures of the near future and we need to recognize that.

5. Ghee makes great biscuits.

6. There are still about 2 billion people in the world who need toilets (about a third of them are in India) and this need trumps most other issues, at least to me.

7. Climate change is real and it's already affecting places like Mumbai, Colombo, Chennai, and Dhaka.

Those are my thoughts right now, at least. I'm kind of frazzled from packing so I may add some more. Thanks for listening.
18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Phentex

(16,330 posts)
1. I am surprised you wouldn't sneak a monkey back in your luggage...
Mon Jun 27, 2016, 09:46 AM
Jun 2016

It's been a real pleasure reading about your time there, the good and the bad. You've given us a lot to think about. I look forward to reading about your transition back here.

Safe travels!

malthaussen

(17,065 posts)
2. Do you know what your next posting will be?
Mon Jun 27, 2016, 09:55 AM
Jun 2016

At least you won't have to immediately adjust to winter. Still pretty cold around here by Mumbai standards.

-- Mal

Kali

(54,990 posts)
7. has it been 3 years? OMG
Mon Jun 27, 2016, 05:38 PM
Jun 2016

I have enjoyed your posts and photos so much. THANK YOU for sharing your adventures.

please get your bp under control so you can be with us a long time, don't know if ANA relates to possible thyroid issues as well, but get it checked if you haven't already.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
9. Could be thyroid; could be autoimmune; could be toxic
Mon Jun 27, 2016, 09:34 PM
Jun 2016

I'll talk to a rheumatologist when I get back (the doc here suspects cadmium poisoning, in which case it should all just clear up on its own when I head back).

surrealAmerican

(11,339 posts)
8. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Mon Jun 27, 2016, 07:50 PM
Jun 2016

I will miss your dispatches from India.

... as to #5: of course it does, because butter makes everything good.

2theleft

(1,136 posts)
11. Your monkey in the cabana thread
Mon Jun 27, 2016, 10:42 PM
Jun 2016

is possibly my most favorite thread I've read here. I can literally laugh out loud just thinking about it.

Good luck with the packing and safe travels. Get your health checked when you get back!!

Rhiannon12866

(202,970 posts)
12. Thanks so much for sharing what you've learned.
Wed Jun 29, 2016, 04:48 AM
Jun 2016

Most of us don't know much about India except for the impressions we get in movies or on TV which is obviously not real life. My grandmother spent time in India with friends who also lived and worked there for awhile, but that was years ago. I hope you add to your post. Wishing you the best of luck with your move and safe travels. And that is one adorable dog!

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
14. Meh. I'll take whatever they have at the airport gift shop
Wed Jun 29, 2016, 08:08 AM
Jun 2016

I am looking forward to coming HOME though. That's a word that means so much more to me now.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
15. Everyone on DU needs to see your seven take-aways.
Wed Jun 29, 2016, 11:28 AM
Jun 2016

Toilets and proper sewage treatment are a big deal.

Climate change is scary, and violent and irrational prejudice and racism will make the problems worse.

Kicked and highly recommended.

Sweet dog, too!

Prisoner_Number_Six

(15,676 posts)
16. You probably left yourself in the airport luggage locker when you got there.
Wed Jun 29, 2016, 06:07 PM
Jun 2016

Hope you kept your locker key-- you won't be able to take yourself home if you can't open the locker you put yourself in.

Hope you find yourself where you left yourself.

PersonNumber503602

(1,134 posts)
18. So I heard it's really spiritual there...
Wed Jun 29, 2016, 10:55 PM
Jun 2016

teeeheee...

So are you looking forward to returning, or would you rather stay longer?

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