The poverty of India is striking, but not always consistently. There are places of complete isolation from poverty - foreign hotels, partial isolation - non-touristy streets, and near immersion - at a stop light in certain slum neighborhoods. When Eric and I were in India over Thanksgiving week, we saw many entrepreneurs at work in the later areas, taking advantage of the idle customers to try to sell a little something from a flower to a magazine. The International Herald Tribune had a really interesting story and photographic piece on Mumbai's street entrepreneurs that brought this to mind:
http://www.iht.com/slideshows/2006/02/19/asia/web.0219city.php
More often in the areas we were driven through, there was just begging, with young children knocking on the windows and staring in at us boldly. A couple used rocks or coins to slightly scratch the windows of the car and to peck away at the clear barrier between us, glass and cultural that it was. It was hard not to open the windows, but it was harder to open them. I had a real sense that the windows held out a tidal wave of people and that once opened, our car would be flooded.
Was this a real threat? It is hard to know. Our drivers warned us against opening the windows and reinforced a fear that I already had. I don't know that I've ever felt more privledged (and disgusted with that privledge) than I did as we traveled through India. Am I pleased with how I responded? Yes and no. I am glad that we went. I am glad that we saw. I am glad that we've learned. I realize and must continue to remind myself that self-preservation is usually a good instinct and that I am not directly responsible for the things that I saw on the street's of Mumbai. Do I continue to battle with the memories? Yes.
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