Posted August 22, 2008
On our first day in India, journalist Jerry Pinto spoke of the many ironies that coexist in all aspects of Indian life. While the striking connections between opposing traditions, ideas and personas were apparent from the beginning, the paradoxical journey of twists and turns that has taken place within myself has been far more surprising in the end.
In the past 72 hours, I have experienced an intense swirl of countless emotions. I have felt joy and pain, excitement and exasperation, anxiety and tranquility, discomfort and contentment all at the same time. I wouldn't call it your traditional "rollercoaster of emotions" because that would be both cliché and inaccurate. Instead it has been more like a high-speed merry-go-round that is spinning so fast my emotions begin to blur and blend around me.
Our visit to the Taj Mahal was the perfect example of this phenomenon. As I absorbed the beauty of this magnificent monument constructed out of an emperor's love for his dying wife, I was filled with awe. At the same time my insides were wrought with contempt and disgust for the leering young men making lewd gestures in our direction. Who knew I would learn more about the struggles of life as a woman in India at the Taj Mahal than I did from a film about domestic violence in India.
I would not trade any of these mind-boggling experiences for the world. Those poignant moments have restored my faith in the good, enhanced my perspective of the bad and increased my understanding of the ugly. Now, as my Indian merry-go-round ride is coming to an end, I find myself staggering awkwardly back to reality as my world continues to spin. Eventually things will slow to a more familiar pace, but inside I will never be the same--none of us will.
About the Summer in India blog:
All of 19 Seattle University students are right now roaming the streets of Mumbai, India, watching and telling the story of globalisation and mass media in this country with multiple realities.
This is a Study Abroad program titled "Mass Media in Modern India," directed by Prof. Sonora Jha from The Department of Communication. Students are visiting sites that powerfully show a media and a country in transition. They are meeting top journalists from The Times of India and The Hindu, watching TV show shootings by MTV India and NDTV, Bollywood, documentary and independent filmmakers. They are attending classes with Indian students of mass media, through the Jesuit school, Xavier's Institute of Communication and through Sophia Polytechnic's program titled Social Communications Media. And, more than anything else, as one of them says, they are arriving into the world, growing up in every single moment. They welcome your comments on their blog posts.
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