Saturday, January 26, 2013

ANTICIPATION…


How will I “fit in”? Will I like my roommate? Should I plan to bring gifts for children we will see in the villages? Will we have plenty of time to shop? What kinds of things can one find to purchase in India?

All very good questions and all are a part of what novice travelers, as well as seasoned ones begin to question when only two or three weeks remain before we say “Good-bye” to family and friends, co-workers, fellow Rotary Club members, and then begin the journey, most likely with little or no sleep the night before. 

Taking each question separately…

Will I “fit in”?

India is a huge melting pot of cultures, religions, politics and even as Americans or Westerners and therefore, minorities in India, once the shock of seeing taller, heavier and lighter-skinned people, the natives pay little or no attention, unless initiated by the visitors.  The more we return, however, to the same villages, towns and neighborhoods where we have administered polio vaccine in the past, the more familiar we become to the natives and the more welcoming they become.  A good example happened a year ago.  I was working with three other Rotarians – one from Florida, one from Las Vegas and one from California, in a booth located up a narrow alley in Bisru.  Once I had a chance to stretch my legs, I went for a walk in the neighborhood. About half a block away from where we were distributing vaccine, a boy of about sixteen years stood in his doorway.  In perfect English, he said, “Good day, sir!”  I returned the greeting and then asked his name.  He told me his name and then asked me for mine.  When I told him my name is Elias, he said, “My father is Elias.”  “But,” wearing a big smile on my face, I said, “I am not your father!” I asked if his father was at home and he said he would send his younger brother into the village to find his father and bring him to their home.  A few minutes later, a gentleman, wearing a turban, arrived, with a smile on his face.  We greeted one another and had a “photo-op”, where each of us had an arm around the other’s shoulder.  Then, with not even a beat skipped, he turned and asked, “Where is Sarah?”  After a few questions back and forth between us, I was able to ascertain that he was looking for Sarah Miller, a teenager who had traveled with us a couple of years prior.  Evidently, she had given out the drops of vaccine at that time, and he remembered her, and by name! I explained Sarah was not with us at that time, but that I would extend his greetings to her.

 

Will I like my roommate?

Did you ever go to summer camp? Or to boarding school? Or to college or university?  At the time, did you wonder who your roommate might be, where from and whether or not you would get along well with them? Generally speaking, while keeping flexibility as one of the “rules”, one can tolerate and most likely come to enjoy the company of a total stranger.  When leading a Group Study Exchange to India in 2003, one of the young men on the team, Tim, a gifted photographer, happened to be riding with me to get some lately delivered luggage – about a week late!  While we were riding along, Tim asked if he could ask a couple of questions.  I told him that would be fine.  The questions turned out to be more statements than questions.  He said, “You know, Elias, we have been here for about a week. We are total strangers to these people. We are  living in their homes and they have vacated their own bedrooms for us. We have totally different ways of driving, cooking, speaking and we have absolutely nothing in common.  But,” he paused, “you know what?  We are all just the same!”  I congratulated Tim and said, “Congratulations, Tim. You get it!” In other words, although sometimes we slept two or three in a bed (something none of us had ever done other than with our spouses) and we were eating food which had never before passed our palates, nonetheless, we were the same as out hosts, just dressed differently and spoke differently.  That is one of the “magical” qualities of Rotary that I have found over many years. When you see someone wearing a Rotary tee-shirt or a Rotary pin, you kind of already know something about the other person. There is a commonality of understanding and purpose – that of serving others.  So getting back to the question, if you know it is only for a period of two weeks AND you are both Rotarians or in some way affiliated with a Rotary Club, then you can rest assured that you and your roommate will become fast friends and also lifelong friends. 

Should I plan to bring gifts for children we will see in the villages?

Absolutely!  Gifts, no matter how insignificant you may feel they are, become cherished, especially by the children.  We have taken Frisbees, Nerf balls, pencils, balloons, tiny bottles of bubbles, pads of paper and of course, the old stand-by – the WalMart SMILEY stickers. This year, I am planning to take a couple hundred bead necklaces – like the ones they use at Mardi Gras.  I am sure they may well have been made in India or China, but the fact that they are gifts makes all of the difference!  The gifts each of us receives in return are priceless – the sparkling smiles and the flashing eyes and perhaps, even a hug!  How can anyone go wrong? 

Will we have plenty of time to shop?

This is a common question and one which is the easiest to answer. “YES!”

 What kinds of things can one find to purchase in India?

Whether it is walking through the dusty streets of Bisru and Punhana, and watching as the young boy takes a cleaver and deftly chops off the heads of chickens and then “bleeding’ them and tossing them into a pile to be picked up to go to market; or it might be blocks of sugar cane sugar – sort of like maple sugar – but about a foot square, that are stacked on carts and infested with flies; whether it is the finest of gold jewelry (or as it is spelled in India – jewellery) or jewel encrusted brooches or bracelets; whether it is the finest of silk scarves or the sought-after Pashmina shawls; or perhaps a “scrimshaw” type of painting on camel bone; maybe you prefer a handcrafted white marble table which is reminiscent of the Taj Mahal; or finally a handmade oriental carpet sold in one of the high-class emporium shops. All these, as well as padlocks or automobile tires or fresh vegetables, can be purchased throughout India.  Just bring your rupees or your credit cards (for those larger items).

HOW DOES ONE PREPARE???

Over the past ten years, while gathering together Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors and friends of Rotary to travel to India for participating in National Immunization Days (NIDs) against polio, I have received countless Emails and telephone calls, texts, etc., inquiring as to "what to pack?" or "will it be hot?" or "do I need to bring my own sleeping bag?" and the list goes on and on.  Basically, what I feel people are asking is "How do I prepare for a journey which will be life-changing?"

There are many "pearls" of wisdom one could offer to the traveler who is inexperienced with the sub-Continent of India, its people, its smells, its colors, its culture, but one of the very first pieces of advice which I offer is, "Whatever you do, before you leave on this first journey, do NOT read books such as Culture Shock - India." I remember the first time I traveled to India, in January 2001, friends were offering bits of wisdom, even though most of them had never traveled to India!  "Make sure you take plenty of protein bars and whatever you do, don't eat the food!" Several offered to purchase and give me Culture Shock - India, but I told them I wanted to experience everything I could, without being tainted by others' prejudices and idiosyncrasies. This is not to say that I had no apprehensions and experienced no trepidation about being away from my family for two weeks, with the possibility of not being able to call home or check on my business. Having said this, however, I also remembered the fact that at the age of four, one of my friends in kindergarten, Charlie Dimaggio, was afflicted with polio and our family child sitter, Mrs. Henry, contracted polio when I was about five. I still remember when my sisters and I were allowed to visit Mrs. Henry in the hospital, and there she lay, inside that torpedo-shaped "iron lung" and I was scared.  It made horrible hissing sounds as it pulsed to assist her to breathe out and breathe in. Mrs. Henry was confined to that apparatus for the remainder of her life - probably twenty years.

The very best advice I could offer to any of the newcomers to this adventure is be open to anything and everything, drink in the smells and the vivid colors, taste everything, hear everything, see everything, be flexible, be ready for the unexpected. Know that what you are doing is noble - you are literally saving lives by administering drops of polio vaccine and you are changing lives for the better. 

How appropriate that our incoming president of Rotary International, Ron Burton, has chosen his theme for the coming year - EMBRACE ROTARY - CHANGE LIVES!
 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

23 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!

WOW!  It is hard to beleive that another year has passed and the polio eradication effort by Rotary International and the World Health Organization hasa advanced so far.  Right now, there has not been any new case of Polio in India for TWO YEARS!



Members of the ROTARY DREAM TEAM - INDIA 2013 will be gathering late on the evening of February 15 in India, coming from Australia, France, Germany and the USA, as well as members of the local Rotary Club of Delhi-Megapolis.  More to come as we get closer to the day of departure!