The motto of “
Incredible India” is
'Atiti Devo Bhava', a Sanskrit phrase meaning “Guests are like God”. Throughout my entire stay in Ahmedabad, this sentiment was been demonstrated time and time again. There’s a mentality that when a person is a guest, they are treated so incredibly well – even in circumstances when there is very little to go around. The hospitality, warmth, and generous welcomes we’ve been receiving as a group of students and visitors has been overwhelming.
A perfect example of this sentiment was embodied by the spirit of the individuals we were privileged to meet at Gujarati University. At the beginning of our ten days in Ahmedabad, we visited the university’s School of Communication and Journalism. Upon entering the campus, we were immediately greeted by an amazing and aesthetically overwhelming display of welcome. As we entered, the students marked us each with a red dot on our foreheads (a symbolic gesture of welcome), provided us each with a beautiful flower, and then we were shuffled into an open foyer where we were presented with an incredible display of dance and music from the host students. Afterwards proved just as significant for swapping cultural stories back and forth about the two different worlds we each come from provided such an interesting way to obtain a little grounding in this new, traditional city we were in.
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| Just arrived at the university - couldn't be more pleased :) |
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| Welcome dance with fantastic music! |
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| Dancing together, both Royal Roads and Gujarati students - intercultural communication at its best |
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| Beautiful dance |
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| Our lovely and gorgeous MC whose also a Master's student at Gujarati Uni. |
Gujarat is quite the traditional state and is also the only “dry” state in India. Being in Ahmedabad was a completely different experience to the other places I have visited so far in India. Even though I knew before arriving in this city that there would be no alcohol and that there is an overall expectation of being more conservative, at times this atmosphere could be quite disarming. Being modestly dressed and respectful was one of the simplest ways to respect the culture of the location we were in and even though I knew this there were times when being “appropriately” dressed was not so easily achieved, despite best efforts.
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| Dinner at House of MG on our last night in Ahmedabad - with Lindz, Meryl and Nuo in the fantastic lift! |
Aside from the conservatism of the state, there seems to be this fundamental value that guests are treated with the utmost hospitality and as a guest, you are presented with many different gestures of this hospitality. Whether it be a glass of water in an arid region where drinking water is scarce and you know that there is barely enough to go around for those who live there or a cup of chai that starts off relations in such positive ways – both common events when I was with the NGO Utthan and during various outings with the class.
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| Chai at Utthan Office |
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| Little kitchenette in the office for making chai |
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| A truly decadent and delicious mochachinno at a little coffee shop near our hotel in Ahmedabad |
Goa, however, is a completely different atmosphere with quite different approaches to treating their guests well. So far, I have been in Goa for three days. While in many ways being here has sort of been like love at first sight, I can’t also help but notice it is completely different from my other exposures to India so far. Goa is beautiful and full of richness, vibrancy, and unmatched scenes of beauty. However, because of these qualities, Goa has become a very popular tourist vacation spot and as a result, a location exposed to the ramifications of globalization on a developing country like India.
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| Beautiful views of Goa |
Despite this though, the emphasis on treating guests with the utmost hospitality remains. Whether I’m in the small town centres, beautiful outdoors, in taxis, the hotel or restaurants, it still feels like guests are treated like gods. Perhaps it’s because when someone comes to Goa it is known that they are here for pleasure, not business. Regardless though, no matter where I have been in India so far, I have always been treated with the highest of hospitality – it just seems to be shown in different ways.
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| Views from our table at the best restaurant I've been to in India so far - incredible. |
In Delhi and Agra, my experiences showed it was about trying to demonstrate the culture and convey the history of this country through its many magnificent monuments and structures. In Ahmedabad, it was about trying to establish relations and convey a message of deeper meaning and impact to those whom we had the pleasure of becoming acquainted. In Goa so far, my experiences are proving to me that it is about service and ensuring that guests are enjoying themselves and the precious time being spent here.
**PS: Now that we’ve arrived in Goa I should have a lot more time for blogging, reflecting and connecting! Hopefully I’ll also be able to start uploading some more pictures with me actually in them too (as has been requested!). This next while should prove to be very enthralling – I’m particularly looking forward to getting some henna art done and getting in some wonderful and much needed beach time!
Hi Kelly
ReplyDeleteYou have experienced quite a variety of places. Are the towns fairly generic in their religion or are they mixed. (ie. Are their Hindus and Muslims in the same small towns?). What are the three most significant differences between the two religions? The scenery looks a lot like what we saw when in Egypt touring the farming communities. Do they have much in the form of electronics in the smaller communities?
What forms of transportation are you using to get around? How is the traffic and would you feel comfortable driving there? What is the typical form of transportation used by the locals?
How prevalent is the caste system today? Is the Brtitish influence still obvious?
Do you believe that women have the freedom to communicate their issues and are they being heard, and are their issues dealt with?
Apparently when some American (Canadian) companies do business in India, they have issues with the system being corrupt. How is that being handled?today? Is it acknowledged as an issue?
Just some thoughts to ponder.
Hope you are well and we are looking forward to seeing you.
Jan
Glad to see you in the photos. ;)
ReplyDeleteJan
Well P it looks like your fully immersing yourself in the culture, thats fantastic! also i like your dot, suits you. That dance looks like a pretty good time, good opportunity to use all of your intercultural and international skills you have picked up these last years. So proud of you!
ReplyDeleteJason
Thanks so much for your critical questions Jan!! I really appreciate your interest in this and you have actually gotten me thinking about things I hadn't given much thought too being here yet!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to sit with some classmates and chat over some of these questions (and the great ones from your other previous comment) and get back to you!!
Really appreciate it soo much! :)
There seems to be a limit with the size of a comment so I'm going to respond to your questions in a couple continuous comments Jan!
ReplyDeleteHere goes:
From what I’ve seen the towns can be very different in terms of the demographics. Delhi, being such a large city, seem to be comprised of all different religions but in some of the smaller towns, the mixture or separation can be quite apparent. In Ahmedabad for instance, the city is divided into two with Muslim’s and Hindu’s each on different sides (Old Ahmedabad and New Ahmedabad). In many of the small villages and communities we went to I got the impression that the families who lived there could either be Muslim or Hindu but whether or not they were the majority or minority could also vary. Goa is also extremely different from the other two for there is still a large Portuguese influence here so a lot of Catholicism as well.
I’ve been trying to better learn about the differences in the two religions since I have been here so what I’ve been able to tell is that they are extremely different from one another – one thing that stands out to me is in relation to the women, it seems that there’s a higher level of modesty and conservatism for women and how they come across in public. Then of course there’s some more surface level differences such as Hindu’s regard for cows so they don’t eat beef and Muslim’s believe the pig to be dirty and won’t eat pork.
ReplyDeleteIn the smaller communities we visited, such as the tribal homes in our trip with Utthan, there was very little electronics – although cell phones and radios seem to be quite popular. I think if there was a light in the house that was quite good in these smaller regions. However, depending on where you are this can be very different too, even in a place like Ahmedabad and Goa.
ReplyDeleteAs far as getting around here, the traffic is absolutely insane. When I first arrived I couldn't believe it. In Delhi I was using auto rickshaws to get around which I actually thoroughly enjoyed! It feels completely unsafe and yet hilarious and fun all at the same time. The best way I can describe riding around in an auto rickshaw through the chaotic traffic, particularly in Delhi or Ahmedabad, would be kind of like how Jerry Seinfeld describes being in the back of a cab in Manhattan – terrifying yet all just feels hilarious when you're sitting in the back (Jason has this Seinfeld skit, you should ask him to play it for you and when you listen to it just substitute New York taxis with New Delhi rickshaws and multiple the intensity x 1000!!). I definitely would never drive here and would certainly avoid it at all costs. I'm yet to see a car that doesn’t have some sort of bump, dent or scrape. Motorcycles and scooters are actually very popular here – the majority seem to use this form of transportation which I imagine would be very good in weaving through traffic, probably quite handy since there traffic flow is pure chaos.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I’ve seen and heard, the caste system is still very influential and you can definitely sense the lingering British influence (in Goa there is a lingering Portuguese influence because unlike the rest of India, this small region in India was occupied by Portugal until the 1960’s which I was shocked to learn). A good example of how the caste system is still very much in existence happened last night actually. We had our end of residency banquet on Baga Beach yesterday evening at this wonderful restaurant which helped organize the whole event. After the banquet was over, a lot of us thought it would be fun to go dancing and we invited the restaurant staff to join us because they were all so wonderful. Shortly after we arrived to this dance club, we were informed that these new friends were turned away at the door for not “reflecting the type of person they wanted in the club”. Because they worked in a “shack on the beach” they were not allowed in and the reason given was that people like that would grope the women inside because they aren’t used to such an environment. Appalled by the blatant discrimination we all walked out and told them we would not return.
ReplyDeleteWomen’s issues seem to be a hard subject here although there are many activists and feminists who are working to change and empower women’s livelihood. When we were with the NGO Utthan this was a major initiative of theirs and even within the three days we spent with them, it was quite inspiring to hear women speak of the changing empowerment and share their stories with us directly. One thing about being here that I didn’t quite expect was how I was going to react to things I’ve seen and heard as a woman and how such experiences have made me think about the realities of my gender in such different ways. It’s been extremely eye-opening being in a country where a woman is not always considered equal and realizing all of the extra threats/dangers that go along with that reality. We have heard some incredibly inspirational stories from some truly remarkable women though that shows that this is changing and not being tolerated anymore which I found personally uplifting! :)
ReplyDeleteAs far as corruption in business goes, from what I’ve heard this is extremely common and one reality of business and politics within in India. I’m honestly not too sure how it’s being handled but by the sounds of it, corruption runs deep through many organizational levels so tackling it head on would probably be incredibly difficult (if not impossible). We have heard of some organizations (NGO sector) that are refusing to participate in the corruption. Apparently this makes it extremely difficult to move forward with projects in any sort of reasonable time limits (e.g., not getting the permits you need because you won’t pay the corrupted rates).
ReplyDeleteI hope I was able to adequately answer these thought-provoking questions!!!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing you all next week!
Very interesting perspectives Kelly. I know how difficult it is for women, how they are viewed and treated. There are many activists in India working hard to make a change. I had the opportunity in the past to converse with the woman from India who won the Noble Peace prize for her efforts in attempting to initiate change. The time has gone so quickly, your mind must be in overload. I am looking forward to hearing from you when you get back, so very proud of you, your blogs have been so inspirational and truly written well!!
ReplyDeleteWell done Kelly! Your responses have been quite thorough and educational. I was not aware of the Portugese influence. That is very interesting. Change is not going to happen overnight, but it is uplifting that you were able to witness people trying to make a difference. Your stance (and that of your group) against the inequity of treatment was a small step, but if everyone were to do it, can you imagine the difference it would make.
ReplyDeleteJ