Like most others will end up seeing, the journey to India is quite long. After a little over 24 hours of travel I finally reached Delhi in the late evening. Delhi was not the best introduction to India but I will leave that story for next week. Irrespective of this, The next day I boarded my final flight to Jaipur and landed smoothly. I was a bit nervous at this point because although emails and Whatsapp messages were exchanged, I had never actually met anyone I was to be working with over video, much less over the phone.

After retrieving my luggage I waited outside for my organization to come pick me up. The guy who I had been messaging back and forth with, Sachin, had come to pick me up with the organization’s driver. I was off to a great start. I arrived on a Saturday so there were very few people at the organization. When we arrived, I was shown my room and given some time to settle in before meeting the others in the “Mess” which I now know is the cafeteria of sorts, a word I’m sure was adopted during British rule.

It was a bit awkward at first, as it was just me, Sachin, and two of the kitchen workers Narendra and Govind. The meal consisted of Dal and Roti and perhaps some vegetables. They are all super nice and despite not speaking English, we get along very well. I am always referred to as “Mera Dost” (my friend) by the cooks and I’ve met their families on Whatsapp video as well as the bi-weekly feature on their Instagram.

Side note:To be frank the food is quite good and the spice level doesn’t faze me at all. Unfortunately, Breakfast, lunch, and dinner consist of a rotation of the same 4 or so dishes, roti and Dahi so it can be a bit repetitive. Often I’ll go to the Hare Krishna temple with my coworkers after work to eat the prasadam (offering) to get a rotation of flavors.

Once the work week came along, I was introduced to many of the team members and was given quite the introduction to the Organization, its work, and its values. On Wednesday of my first week I went on a field visit to meet some of the farmers Cecoedecon has been working with. It was super interesting to see all the changes they have helped implement, but even more than that the hard work these villages have to do to survive in Rajasthan, as it is considered the hottest, most arid state in all of India. Despite the organization’s different targets that were shown to me out in the field, I would say the thing that has intrigued me the most while in India is the caste system. You always hear about it in the US and even study it for a bit in middle school, but experiencing it first hand is something else completely, and everyone you talk to has their own take on it. Anyone who says that the legal expulsion of the caste system during the Indian independence actually eradicated it is most likely one of those who is still benefiting from it today.

One example that was pointed out to me was the differences in “hospitality” at each farmer that we visited. The second one we went to offered us all chai whereas the first one did not, and even hesitated to offer water (despite it being 43 degrees and a UV of 10). This is because the second farmer belonged to the Brahmin caste ( the highest of the general castes) and the first was from the Scheduled Caste group, the lowest depending on your opinion on Dalits. If you have no idea what any of this means, Quora and Reddit are your best friends and I suggest you do ample amounts of researching and questioning especially if you’re planning on living and working in India through SISA.

Building on this, my first week I wrote down things that were big culture shocks for me and I felt I had to share the biggest ones. Among these as stated before is the caste system. It seems that essentially every social, political, and economic decision taken in India is somehow affected by the caste system. For Instance, vegetarianism. From what I gathered from observation and conversation, being a vegetarian is linked and perpetuated by the hierarchy of the caste system, and vice versa. The Brahmin caste is supposed to be vegetarian as they are the “closest to god” (another query I have with this system) and other lower castes are able to eat meat. Even the Rajas (kings) of Rajasthan ate meat. Despite being the leaders of the country, they still only belonged to the second class, second closest to god. Even more than that, being veg or non-veg can be seen as a form of discrimination here in India. Further conversation and research online has more or less confirmed this for me. Here is an interesting opinion piece describing this: https://scroll.in/article/833178/vegetarianism-in-india-has-more-to-do-with-caste-hierarchy-than-love-for-animals

Keep in mind, although people may not actively seek to think this way, the society and system they live in has in one way or another influenced opinion on this matter.

Another thing I noticed was that there are many more muslims than I expected, especially in Delhi. They live together along with Hindus, even attending the same places, but you will almost never see them interacting. Hindus stay with Hindus, and Muslims with Muslims. A coworker shared an anecdote from her childhood where she often played with her neighbors who were Muslim, but that this was outside of the norm and often forbidden by families on both sides.

Much less serious culture shocks include:

-Learning how to Cross a Street: I have rarely seen a green or red light which means that a yellow light ensures that everyone is going in all directions at all times. Trying to cross a large intersection with cows, dogs, buses, rickshaws, cars, motorcycles, and lots and lots of incessant honking is truly a science in itself.

-Using the Toilet: Squatting is not one of my fortes but when you have no other option, you have no other option. Also I have yet to understand the complexity that is the bidet. Yes, you are clean after use, but are you just expected to put your clothes back while still wet?

-Eating with your Hands: I have no problem at all eating with my hands and I have gotten it down pretty well. My only issue is that I see so many eating without washing their hands first! There is so much dust and bacteria everywhere that I feel the least you could do is wash your hands before eating, especially after the death count here in India during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Drinking Water: When you drink water from a fountain, there are two metal cups that everyone fills up and drinks from, as if we were attending a national church service. Perhaps I am being a bit critical as it seems that no one gets sick from sharing with strangers but it is still something that may take more time for me to accept.