A Matter of Extremes Sweet or Spicy
We've arrived in India. Feet fresh on the ground, and already we know that this is a place like no other, anywhere, ever! We were told recently by a well-travelled friend that most places can be compared, or at very least likened to another: Guam is kinda like Hawaii, Korea is kinda like Japan,.... India has no such counterpart. It is, therefore, impossible to offer you any frame of reference. This place defies descriptors. It is an experience that truly has to be seen, heard, smelled, felt, and tasted first hand. What I can tell you--based on my very rookie look--is that
India is EXTREME.
Today, we are in Delhi. We rose at dawn to cycle the streets of New Dheli before the extreme heat (45c) and crush of traffic could deter us. Led by a 22 year old man named Jitu, we rode through the capital in awe. Watching the city awaken was a rare privilege. It was also a lesson. Millions of people either live in slums, aka slum-dwellers, or on the streets and sidewalks, aka pavement-dwellers. As we rode along the streets we essentially peddled through the dwellings of families; men, women and babies sprawled on the hot, dusty unprotected ground. Some still asleep, some bathing with buckets, some washing their clothes, some having breakfast.
We passed them enroute to the largest presidential residence IN THE WORLD. The dwelling of India's president. As Jitu so rightly said,
"India is a place of extremes, extreme wealth, extreme poverty. If it is sweet, it's really sweet, if it's spicy, it's really spicy. THE WEATHER is extremely hot, or extremely not."
Yesterday we were in Mumbai. While there we found an organization called Reality Tours. A good name, because that's what they showed us. The five of us were given a taste of reality as we started at the monumental Gateway of India, then proceeded down Kamathiputa, Aisa's largest red light district.
I was not prepared for the extreme gut wrenching, heart searing pain I would feel looking (but not wanting to look) at the young beautiful, hardened faces of stolen girls trafficked for sex. I have nothing to show you. I can not be party to capturing even their images. They are not merchandise.
As I recall and write, my heart is pounding with rage, righteous rage, a rage I want to enrage you with. This inhumane treatment of girls in every corner of the world (yes, everywhere) is one which requires everyone's attention, extreme measures, extreme punishments.
And the reality trip didn't end there. Next we visited Dahravi, the largest slum in Asia. We learned that an estimated 62% of Mumbai's approximately 22 million residents are either pavement-dwellers or slum-dwellers. Mumbai currently has about 2000 slums in the city.
Dahravi is home to over 1,000,000 people. The most densely populated area on the planet. We spent hours winding our way through the tiny passages that create the maze of this fascinating city-within-a-city. Again, I took no photos to respect the privacy of the people, but because it was such a unique experience I did find some stock photos to show you here.
And then came the grande finale...
Within minutes, we went from the slum of Dahravi to the most expensive ($2 billion US) private home
IN THE WORLD.
a matter of EXTREME extremes.
Right now we are still trying to process what we've seen and make sense of what to do with it. Not to mention "processing" some of the extremely sweet and spicy street food we have been sampling ☠ (seemed like a good idea at the time.)
We've barely scratched the surface of all the wild extremes India has to offer. Luckily, we get to continue to explore and observe and question and absorb for a few more weeks. As we do, we will continue to hede the advice of our sister-in-law, Maureen: when visiting India, she said,
"bring your sense of humour, leave your sense of smell AT HOME."
Yup. Extremely good advice.
