Stranger in a Strange Land

By Erik Quezada ‘09

“It’s OK, you look Indian!” My mother keeps repeating that phrase to make me feel more at home in a country that feels so foreign. I will be in India for a little more than four months on what will be the longest time I have ever been outside of the United States. My friends and family will miss me, and I will miss them. But as I am getting to know my adopted country for the next four months, I anticipate quite an adventure.

This experience is something incredibly new to me. I have visited and lived in Mexico, which is similar to India in terms of infrastructure and appearance. But in my personal experience, I have never been to a country that is so different. India is a country of extremes. I have seen extreme poverty and extreme wealth. It’s both beautiful and ugly. Cruel and kind. Brilliant and, at times, illogical.

My introduction to India took place on the roads. I quickly learned might has right and the common pedestrian is at the bottom of this hierarchical food chain. Walkers jump out of the way of the bicycle rickshaws, which give way to auto rickshaws, which yield to cars, which then submit to vans and trucks that then defer to buses and huge tractor-trailers. There is only one thing that can stop a huge tractor-trailer dead in its tracks: the cow. This inconspicuous bovine is all-powerful on the highways of India, so much so that if commuters were to accidentally hit it, offenders are automatically sentenced to seven years in prison.   

But the one thing that is always constant here in India is my home-stay, my new adopted family. Auntie-ji and Uncle-ji. Their hospitality knows no bounds. Upon meeting them, my roommate and I were greeted with hugs and a spectacular meal. In India, a guest is to be treated like a god. A guest is a member of the family. It is a very comforting atmosphere and I always feel at home, like one of their grandchildren or even their own child.

I have learned that India is somewhat romanticized as Edward Said writes in Orientalism. It has been represented as being full of mystical and unique religions to discover, almost as if that’s all it has to offer to the rest of the world. But India is so much more. It’s not snake charmers and swamis and street performers. Rather, India is a rapidly developing country. And with such monumental steps such as the nuclear deal between India and the US, India is now a world power to be reckoned with.

One of the issues I have noticed with India is its inability to efficiently distribute aid to the people who really need it, a crippling fact in a country that has a growth rate between 6-8% per annum. And with over a billion people living in India, it is slated to overtake China in population by the year 2032. There is no question about it: India is rising in the world. Anything it does to alleviate its impoverished citizens has to be done carefully, and in a widespread manner. India moves slowly, but what is wrong with that? While other countries are eager to open up its markets for foreign investment, India stands strong and firm by taking a more cautious approach.

The fact that I look remotely Indian is a blessing, although Indians constantly come to me speaking in Hindi. All I can do is shrug and walk away. I am learning the language, however, and it is not as foreign to me as I once thought it was. I can now read the Nagari script, even though I may not understand the meaning.

 

Erik Quezada is a senior Diplomacy and World Affairs major. He can be reached at equezada@oxy.edu.