Welcome to India

Ammonia tingles my nose, then my eyes. I look up, and the ceiling panels above me are browned from water damage. The windows are painted over or boarded up. Air conditioners buzz and whir, almost chirping. It’s cooler than outside, but it’s not comfortable. It feels like I’m in a building stuck in the 70s, but reality dawns on me: I’m in Kolkata.

Welcome to India.

There’s a rush to the door and it’s not orderly or polite. People push and jostle, indiscriminate of age or gender. At the end of the line we’re being scanned for H1N1. It’s a quick temperature check, but such lines always make me feel that much closer to quarantine. After the scan, the line continues to customs and immigration. It’s no longer a clustered crowd but an orderly queue. I have personal space, but with it come the stares.

I’m wearing a blue windbreaker, plaid blue shorts, rubber slippers and a small camo backpack. I look around and remember something: men do not wear shorts in India. Whether it is that or my blatant foreign appearance, I don’t know, but I feel eyes upon me.

In an instant, the foreigner line is empty and somehow I bypass a line of Indians returning home. Some are not amused. One man points at me while speaking in Hindi and staring me down. After a short rant, the crowd gasps in shock, and a woman in line reprimands him. A police officer puts his hand over his mouth to conceal a laugh but fails. He approaches me and says, “No, no, do not worry. You are our guest.”

Welcome to India.

After customs, I grab my bag from baggage claim and waited in line for money exchange. The line did not move, and I didn’t feel like waiting (It was well past 1 a.m. local time, and more than 24 hours since I had left home). I saw Rick and Sushil waiting at the gates anyways, and with them were Brandon and Paige. Everyone looked happy to be leaving the airport.

Outside, the humidity slapped me like a warm, wet towel. “It’s just like Orlando,” Paige says. But very much unlike Hawaii, I thought. Nor is the air. Nor are the sights.

“Well guys,” Rick says, “Welcome to India.”

Walking to the car, we notice a few boys loitering in the parking lot, the youngest around four, the oldest about 14. They ask if we need help with our bags. We don’t, but they want donations. When we refuse, they stand between us and the car doors. If feels awkward and somewhat threatening, but maybe I just haven’t experienced it before.

No matter. Everyone is in and Sushil tries to back the car out, but Rick tells him to stop. The little boy jumps up and down, banging on the window, asking for money.

Unrelenting begging and we haven’t even left the airport. Welcome to India.

My trip to India: By the Numbers and Superlatives

Days out of country: 15

Total flight time: More than 32 hours (at least 15 hours from Honolulu to Taipei to Bangkok to Kolkata, and 2.5 hours from Kolkata to Delhi)

Total train time: 5 hours

Total car time: 24 hours (about 7 hour round trip from Kolkata to Dumka, an hour a day from Dumka to the village Dhoker Jhara)

Number of photos taken: 4,770

Hours spent on the Internet: 6

Number of those hours spent on Facebook: 4.5

Calls dialed to Hawaii and the Mainland: 3

Of those 3 calls, number that actually connected: 0

Number of snakes seen: 0

Number of monkeys seen: 5 (2 at Taj Mahal, 2 at a train station, 1 in a park in Kolkata)

Times I said I was going to see a doctor because of my deviated septum: 20

Times I've been to the doctor about my deviated septum since I've been back: 0

Number of times I bathed with a cup and bucket of cold water: 8

Most listened to album: "Octahedron" by The Mars Volta

Most fitting song: "Karma Police" by Radiohead

Book I listened to: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling (audiobooks are awesome on long trips)

Book I read: Lonely Planet - India

Song that went through my head the most:

Food item eaten the most: Eggs

Word uttered most when ordering food: masala

I'm most surprised that: I didn't get so sick I was puking.

Craziest thing I saw indoors: 2 babies in formaldehyde at the Indian Museum in Kolkata

Craziest thing I saw outdoors: A pair of motorcycles coming straight at our car. They were on the wrong side of the road for some reason.

Most surprising thing I saw: A cow eating trash

Most pleasantly surprising thing I saw: Everything is cheap. Really cheap.

Cheapest thing purchased: 1 cup of chai tea for 5 rupees (US$0.11)

Phrase uttered most often: "It's a steal!"

Things I don't miss: The humidity and heat, the pollution, the trash, the beggars, the unrelenting salespeople.

Things I do miss: The low price of everything, the great cuisine, the friendly and conversational people, the unrelenting motion of life.

A Fortnight 'til the Flight

I just looked at the calendar. I'm two weeks away from my trip to India. That was a fast five months. It hasn't quite dawned on me that I will be leaving before I know it and I will be arriving in a place that is foreign in every sense of the word.

The preparation, however, is pretty much complete. Passport, visa, immunizations and airplane ticket are accounted for, so there should be no problem getting to the subcontinent. Clothes, especially the microfiber pants and a hat that covers my neck, have been purchased. Malaria pills will be prescribed by the end of the week, and I'll be off to Longs to pick up the remaining over-the-counter medicine, especially Immodium.

Still on the agenda: finishing the India history book I bought back in July (30 more pages to go, I think); eat at an Indian restaurant (sounds like a dinner plan); watch “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” India episode (currently downloading the 500MB file); pack my bag (eh, I'll get around to it, and it is singular).

I did, however, pick up a digital SLR camera from my friend. It's been awhile since I've rolled with an SLR, but I've been warming up for the trip. I've framed the landscape shots and shot the swap meet booths because I thought they'd best replicate what I'd see in India, but any suggestions? Anyways, here are some photos below.






Today, I got an e-mail from Rick regarding our trip. It looks like we'll be building a check dam at the village we'll be at, which will be diverted into a reservoir, and will ultimately give some farmers a second crop for the year. (I'm not sure how detailed I can be, so I'm being vague and general when it comes to locations.) This sounds like something that will make a substantial difference in someone's life, and I'm prepared to do some heavy lifting and digging. (I assume there's no mini-excavator or Caterpillars onsite.) In addition, we'll join the villagers in a sports competition and we'll help out at the computer and English language center. Sounds like a good deal to me!

Other than that, I'll be reading up a bit more and packing the last bits of odds and ends. If there's anything you think I should see or anyone you think I should talk to, please let me know. Leave a comment or e-mail jasonu@hawaiibusiness.com

Immunize This

“Have you ever been vaccinated for Hepatitis A or B?” Sounds familiar, but I have no idea. Since I'm nowhere near my parents' house, I have no idea what I have or haven't been shot up with. So I checked out the U.S. Center for Disease Control web site to see what I should be getting.

http://www.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/India.aspx

Apparently, a lot. In the end though, I took shots for hepatitis A and B, tetanus and polio. I'll be getting malaria pills a month before the trip. The shots themselves weren't bad except for the Tetanus, which felt like a lumpy bruise injected into my deltoid.

It would've been nice to get it all in one place, but unfortunately I'm enrolled in an HMO and it needs to be bureaucratic, for no apparent reason whatsoever. I first called the Straub travel clinic, which most likely had all the shots lined up for me. Of course, the insurance wouldn't cover me. So I called HMSA (a Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance) and told them to direct me to their travel clinic. Of course, there isn't one, and I need to call my primary care physician. I made an appointment with him and got the hepatitis and tetanus shot, but he was out of the polio vaccine. He gave me a prescription for the polio shot, which I get to take at Straub travel clinic, which was the first place I called. Of course, my insurance still won't cover it, and I got a nice $66 polio shot.

But wait, there's more! I got a bill in the mail from the travel clinic with the following charges:
$30: Travel consultation, although I don't recall any sort of consultation at the clinic (unless they're counting, “Take this piece of paper and take it to that window”).
$65: Polio virus vaccine. That is one expensive shot.
$45: Immunization admin. This, I assume, is for the privilege of getting a needle stuck in my arm.

Luckily, I already paid $66 and I got a $12 credit, so now I only owe $62! However, I think they mistook me for an uninsured American. So I called on Friday, and the lines were busy, but I got to leave a message and the message assured me someone would call me within 24 hours (of a business day). On Monday, I got the call, and Straub tells me my cost is actually only $18 now, but they don't have any indication that I have insurance. When I told them if Straub should just charge my insurance provider, they said I should call them first. So I called my insurance, who informed me that they would cover it, but I'd have to call Straub and tell them to bill my insurance provider. When I called Straub, I left a voicemail, and the message assured me someone would get back to me within 24 hours.

And that folks is the American health insurance industry! Why did I choose an HMO again?

Snakes!

At Borders, I picked up a book on Indian history (aptly titled “India” by UCLA history professor Stanley Wolpert). On page 4, I read this string of sentences:

“Households blessed with a cobra family in residence rarely complain, since those regal hooded snakes are considered good luck for childbearing women, and rarely attack humans unless startled or threatened. Every Indian child learns early in life never to reach under a tablecloth or into any dark closet, or as a rule anywhere in the house that might have insufficient light to reveal the coiled body of a sleeping cobra.”

Note to self: Don't reach under tablecloths or into closets.

Then, I randomly stumbled upon these pictures:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/5495695/Indian-children-from-the-age-of-two-learn-how-to-charm-snakes.html

Out of all of God's creatures, snakes freak me out the most. I don't enjoy the feel of snake skin, no matter how many times I hear how smooth it is. I've lived in Hawaii for eight years now, and I haven't seen a snake in a really long time. And I like it that way.

So what do I think about the snakes? I'm sure I'll see one now that I'm completely obsessed with it. But do they really bite? I think what freaks me out is the speed of snakes. They're just so quick. And this one is poisonous. And that hood! Isn't it creepy?

Anyways, if I need some protection, I know what to bring.

The Joy of Paperwork

To travel within India, one needs a visa. I had no idea, because I thought you could just show up with a passport and get a stamp, but I guess not. For this trip, I was going to need a tourist visa.

What can I say about the paperwork? It's a lot. As recommended by GHNI, I went to www.zvs.com. As reported in an earlier blog entry, I didn't think that you had to send in your actual passport, but you do. Who should I put my trust in: the postal service or UPS? (Answer: UPS.)

Anyways, among the other things they need:

• A copy of your driver's license or state issued ID. If address on ID is different from current address, you need to send in a utility bill from your current address.
• 2 identical 2-inch by 2-inch passport-type photographs.
• Filled out online application form.
• Filled out ZVS order form.
• And a photocopy of everything.
  

Of course, the application feels like it needs to be very precise. We also need to fill out the name and address of whoever it is we're visiting in India.

The process really doesn't take too long, but you have to be exact. I haven't gotten it back yet, but I hope my passport is all right.

Some Talking Points

I've talked to a few people, mostly on what to expect. Here's a sampling and a little bit of what I learned from each of them.

• Shortly after being selected, Melanie Palmer (the other aio Discovery volunteer), Ken Miyasato (aio's HR director) and myself had a conference call with Jeff Power of Global Hope Network International. Melanie had more pressing questions because her trip was closer to happening to mine. (Five weeks compared to my 15. In fact, she's on her trip now.) We mostly talked about GHNI's mission of going to rural villages and helping them help themselves reach self-sufficiency. Basically, GHNI will provide aid for a few years (less than five), help them develop systems to become sustainable (building houses, starting stores, creating access to clean water, etc.) and then move on. Melanie's trip to Africa is in the middle of that process; my India trip is still in the early stages. I also learned the village I'll be at is Hindu and its people are in the “untouchable” caste system. It's six hours away from the nearest big city, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta).
• A week or two later, I had breakfast with Melanie and her husband Jason, Lora Lamm and Bobby Senaha (the latter two traveled to Africa with GHNI in 2008). Both Lora and Bobby explained their life changing experience, realizing that the people they helped lived simple yet satisfying lives. For us it would be hard to give up technology and material things, but for them, there is no want from consumerism. However, progress for them would stem from better health and better education, which can be traced to access to clean water.
• I also contacted Rick Watson of GHNI and sent him a few inane questions. Well, some were and some weren't. My first e-mail asked if I should get some training for specific skills (like farming skills). He says the best thing to do would be to learn as much about India as possible. A second e-mail had some pragmatic questions like: Do I really need to send in my actual passport to get my visa? (Yes); Do I need to wear microfiber clothing? (Yes, because it's hot and humid. Cotton is fine if you don't sweat too much. Looks like I'll be reppin' Under Armour apparel); Are there a bunch of snakes there? (Jeff said he only saw one big snake, and I shouldn't go poking around holes around rocks and piles of brush. By the way, I haven't seen a snake in years, and I've liked it that way.)
• I spoke to Duane Kurisu, CEO of aio, who traveled to India a few years ago for a conference. The Taj Mahal impressed him and he intends on taking his family to India to experience it. But the scene of abject poverty adjacent to middle class and wealthy people provided the most striking image of the country for him.
• David Croxford, Pacific Basin Communications' photographer who traveled to India less than two years ago, says be careful of the water. That includes anything that might be rinsed with the water, like fruits and vegetables.
• Dennis Hollier, senior writer at Hawaii Business magazine who has traveled to India and throughout Asia, says don't listen to anyone that says there aren't any snakes in that part of the world. “The area from Pakistan all the way through Southeast Asia is rife with snakes,” he says. Great.

A Journey Unto Itself

Welcome to the aio Discovers India blog! Although the trip is still three months away, there's plenty of things to do in the meantime. What that exactly is, I'm not too sure, so this blog will chronicle my thoughts, feelings and actions as I prepare for this life-changing humanitarian trip.

While filling out the volunteer application for the aio Discovery program, India and China piqued my interest because both stand as the most populous countries in the world and are emerging as top economies. The most intriguing part, however, was that these ancient civilizations still have many many people below the poverty line that require aid as we begin the 21st century. And although we hear so much about both countries in the news, what do the common people think? Since we'll be going with Global Hope Network International (a humanitarian aid organization), we'll get to meet people in rural areas, too.

When it came down to a decision, I chose India because I wanted to learn more and the aio Discovery program had yet to send anyone to India.

A month ago, the first things that came to my mind when someone said millionaire were outsourced call centers, Slumdog Millionaire and curry. Oh, and this:



I emailed Rick Watson of GHNI, who will be the project leader on this compassion trip, and he says the best thing for me to do is to learn as much about India as possible. So that's what I've set out to do. As I learn more I'll post them up as I go along, and I'll detail the steps I take to get to India, like applying for a visa, getting immunization shots and packing the right clothes.

Also, I'd like to hear some feedback (suggestions, advice, travel tips). Email me at jasonu@hawaiibusiness.com or leave a comment at the end of the post.