Spice Spice Baby

Taj Mahal!

The difference between Indiana and India is “na” - and that doesn’t stand for “not applicable.” It’s hard to imagine two more different places than suburban midwest and bustling Mumbai, a concept I became quite familiar with over the past six days.

Dear Reader, we have docked, disembarked, explored, and re-embarked in India. The MV World Odyssey arrived at the Port of Mumbai on the morning of January 12th - I couldn’t say what day of the week that is because days are trivial things on Semester at Sea - and we’re scheduled to disembark in a few hours. While Dubai is technically considered Port 1, this was our first true port, with the entire program in attendance.

India being a rising global power that Dean Dan expects to see as a superpower within his lifetime (and he is in the last quarter of his life, so this could be soon), there is a myriad of “things you have to see” that cannot physically be accomplished in as little as six days. Still, I tried my best. Below, I’ve broken down my port experience in a day-by-day basis, attempting to organize a series of increasingly chaotic days for your reading convenience ;)

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Day 1: Field Class in Mumbai

One of the shining stars in the SAS academic structure is the Field Class implement. Each class has one field class that spans an entire day in port, encouraging students to gain deeper understandings and new perspectives on the subject while interacting with locals. For my first day in port, my English class Reading Without Borders took to Mumbai. We made our way to the Indian Business School of Mumbai to mingle with other students and engage in some cultural conversations. The Indian Business School of Mumbai has around 2,000 students on the roster, each in some sort of business or management graduate program. They were such incredibly gracious hosts, so friendly and excited to share their school with us. Several faculty members gave presentations about the state of the Indian economy or case studies on how American companies have succeeded or fallen short in Indian business forays. For example, I learned that Kellogg’s initial venture into business in India was unsuccessful because their marketing plan and product missed the mark on Indian culture.

After several hours of chatting and lectures, our hosts held a cultural show for the SASers to enjoy, complete with dancing and singing. Performing Arts is one of the universal fields where appreciation is the Rosetta Stone, you know? I may not have understood the significance behind certain costumes or music choices, but there is the understood language of expression in dance, in singing, in being on stage with your people. And what a sensory experience! The cultural show was in a small auditorium, more of an LGI really, and yet, you could lose yourself in the music, the tambourines, the clapping, not to mention the bright costumes and exquisite jewelry. When the final host performance had concluded, the Indian students pulled a couple of us onstage to sing karaoke for them. Much to my chagrin, I was one of the people goaded into singing, so two other girls and I sang a terrible rendition of “Wagon Wheel” because it was literally the only song jumping into any of our heads. I’ll take this moment to mention that I am not a particularly big fan of country music. But when else in your life do you get to say you sang karaoke in front of a group of Indian Business students in Mumbai???

Day 2: Mumbai to Jaipur

The largest portion of my time in India was spent in an SAS-sponsored field program, India’s Golden Triangle. We left the ship at a crisp 4:30 a.m. to make our way to the airport and fly to Jaipur.

Seasonal Gate at City Palace

Our first stop in Jaipur was the City Palace, now a museum with several hidden gems, such as the incredibly huge clothes of a former resident. He was apparently 7ft tall and 4ft wide, so quite large pajamas. Aside from that particular attraction, the City Palace is naturally a beautiful site with gorgeous architecture.

Just across the street from the City Palace is Jantar Mantar, our next stop. Originally an observatory from the 18th century, it’s now a popular tourist stop for people to explore the fourteen major geometric devices for measuring time. The Maharajah was a scientist and astronomer, so these giant sundials/devices/whatnots can also predict eclipses and track stars/planets with surprising accuracy.

City Palace

City Palace

giant sundial

Our first day in Jaipur, we ate lunch at Narain Niwas Palace, this hidden gem just off an incredibly busy street. It felt like eating in a secret garden - though we were maybe 200 yards from the street, you couldn’t the cacophony of Jaipur traffic or anything. It doesn’t hurt that the food was delectable, with Gulab Jamun and the creamiest ice cream ever for dessert.

We really got to see where our program fees went at the hotel, though. While the 5 Star ranking systems are different in the US & India, a 5-star hotel in Jaipur is still *quite* nice. We stayed at the Indana Palace - no small amount of laughs over the similarity between Indana and Indiana - having a much needed buffet for dinner. A common thread amongst all the food I ate during this trip: lots of paneer, lots of fruit, lots of dessert. I couldn’t name it all except to say it was delicious.

Day 3: Jaipur to Agra

sun & smiles inside the Amber Fort

After a quick breakfast at Indana Palace, we made our way to Amber Fort via Jeeps - talk about a crazy ride, but one that had me smiling from ear to ear for the entirety of the less-than-safe drive. Constructed before City Palace, this was the original seat of power in Jaipur. There’s the “Great Wall of India” that surrounds the fort and parallels the Moat Lake. Inside the fort is a veritable treasure trove of beauty. In our abridged walking tour, I was so struck by the staying power of the decor and fort itself. There was a hall of mirrors, walls of paintings, countless intricate carvings everywhere you looked. During our free time in exploring the fort, I was really hit by the sheer volume of people that have also walked those halls. One section we walked through housed 134+ concubines back in the day, so those individuals aside, how many locals or tourists or visitors have made their way through the fort to marvel at Emperor Akbar’s old home.

monkeys!!

view from the fort

water + sky + sun

another beautiful view

birds at the fort!

one with the birds

inside the fort

inside the fort

Another quick Jeep drive back to the bus, and then we were off to the Kite Flying festival. Makar Sankranti is one of a dozen or so festivals that occurs throughout the year, this one celebrating the changing of the sun. In an interesting comparison to the United States’ understanding of a festival, this was much less of a community venture. There was a designated area for tourists to come learn to fly kites and listen to some local music, but for the most part, locals fly kites at their own homes: on roofs, in the streets, etc. The locals that were at the tourist area tried to teach us to fly kites (they were different kinds of kites than we were used to) and several, several people took pictures of our group.

That’s a brief point I should touch on. Almost everywhere we went in India, people stopped us and tried to take pictures with us or of us, I guess intrigued by the sheer Americanness of us. A lot of times parents would shove their kids towards us and try to document meeting the various Americans (pale, curly-haired, etc.) and the kid would just be having no part of it. It could get a little uncomfortable, but for the most part, harmless interactions.

Anywho, after the Kite Festival, we went to lunch, full of more yummy dal, paneer, chai, ice cream, etc. and then got back on the bus and headed towards Agra. It was a *5.5 hour drive* in a bus and the stir crazies got me a little bit by the end. But the Clarks Shiraz, our hotel, was particularly cool. On a clear day, you can see the Taj Mahal and the Fort, though we didn’t see much since it was already dark. Another dinner full of Indian food and an introduction to Moong Dal Halwa, which was my dessert of the day.

Day 4: Agra to Dehli

My next location needs no introduction, but I’ll provide one for her regardless. Ladies & gentlemen, the finest architectural achievement of the Mughals, the largest declaration of love ever seen, a Modern Wonder of the World…

The Taj Mahal

Need I go into more detail about the beauty, the spectacle, the marvel that is the Taj Mahal? Countless people have described the intricate, ornate detail of the white marble, crafted by 20,000 workers over a period of 22 years. Some say that when Emperor Shah Jahan saw the completed Taj Mahal, he was so taken by the incredible sight, he cut the hands off the workers that had constructed it, so that they may never create another work of art so beautiful.

Katy & I at the Taj :)

Our tour guid Shubi assured us this was a misunderstanding taken from a saying, as in, Shah Jahan paid each of the workers so much they never needed to work again, so he “cut their hands.”

If you aren’t familiar with the story behind the Taj Mahal, Emperor Shah Jahan’s wife (I believe his third, but don’t quote me on that) died after giving birth to their 14th child, and on her deathbed, she gave her husband three requests:

1. Take care of the children

2. Never remarry

3. Show the world how much we loved each other

The Taj Mahal was his answer. Imagine loving someone enough to do that. In a way, though, it makes perfect sense. Only a labor of love could be a wonder of the world.

A short ride away from the Taj Mahal lies the Agra Fort, where our lovebird Shah Jahan ended up dying as a prisoner. His own son put him on house arrest when Shah tried to build a mirror the Taj made of black marble. Only 30% of the Agra Fort is open for tourists to explore; the other 70% houses part of the Indian Armed Forces. Even in our abridged tour, the design and construction of the fort was apparent. It was the kind of place where you could turn a corner and get lost in history, or imagine yourself in a life so far removed from what you deem normal.

Wall of the Agra Fort

Taj Mahal, seen from Agra Fort

hanging lantern, Agra Fort

More Indian food buffets for lunch & dinner; it was around this time when I started to realize that eating the same spicy food twice a day for several days in a row was perhaps not the best idea. My lips were so chapped from spices.

Day 5: Delhi to Mumbai

The final point of the Golden Triangle is Delhi, a capital city steeped in history. There is a split in Delhi, with Old Delhi claiming Mughal design and New Delhi an English one. Consequently, the city blends history and modernity throughout. We first went to visit the Jain Temple - and my small rant here? Modesty coverings. I respect and understand the cultural significance of dressing modestly for women in India; I took heed to do so for the entirety of my trip. And at the Jain Temple, they take modesty very seriously, requiring each woman to wear a robe, no matter what they are wearing underneath. What I took issue with was that they made us pay for these mandatory modesty robes. If you are going to require that visitors wear one specific type of robe that only you may provide, it feels a bit opportunist to also require us to buy them.

I rocked the modesty robe to the best of my ability, and I will vacate my soap box now.

One of my favorite moments in the Golden Triangle program was next: the Rickshaw Ride! We went through the Chandni Chowk market, and it was so, so fun to be zooming through the busy alleys and backstreets of Delhi. Just, everyday people doing everyday things, and here we were, a part of it all. Those moments feel so special to me, where someone else’s mundane morning becomes my spectacular adventure.

Delhi was preparing for a celebration in the days right after our visit, so we didn’t get to get super close to the India Gate, but I saw it from afar on our way to Humayun’s Tomb. This was the last stop of the field program, and we made it a good one. Humayun’s Tomb is this sprawling estate and a UNESCO world heritage site. Though the time we spent there was short, I appreciated the calm, relaxing atmosphere of the garden-like environment.

Day 6: Mumbai

After arriving back at the ship just before midnight, I had a day full of housekeeping duties. Laundry, correspondence, homework - I was basically embodying my inner 18th century girl, minus the whole travel-the-world-independently vibe.

Indian immigration thankfully took less time leaving than it did arriving, though I suppose that makes sense. We leave Mumbai for Mombassa in a few hours, and I’ll be at sea for the next eight days. I’ll also go through another time change, gaining 90 minutes back and thankfully getting off the half hour.

For former SASers, our Neptune Day will be sometime on this leg of the trip! I’m excited to graduate from pollywog to shellback.

Final Thoughts

first sunrise in Mumbai

I arrived in Dubai two weeks ago, and the first fourteen days have been full of the highs and lows of adjusting. Adventure is already running rampant, and even in my pronounced state of exhaustion and fatigue, I am full of anticipation for the remaining ports and days. This first chunk of the voyage, India/Kenya/Jordan compromise ~40% of the whole journey, so I know the pace is about to pick up. Thank you to everyone who’s following along, sending emails and texts - I may not respond right away, but there’s a childlike glee at waking up to see a message from the other side of the world.

India has been stuffed to the brim with adventure, and I'm walking away with a lot more than souvenirs. As a notoriously picky eater, I was continuously wowed by different flavors, spices, textures. While I'll miss the authenticity of fresh Indian food, I look forward to my next culinary adventure! I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit such incredible sights, as well as get to know locals on a deeper level. The hosts from my field class and our field program tour guide were all so incredibly welcoming - the sense of belonging they fostered helped us feel like we were walking around with friends, not necessarily in one of the most populous countries. My English professor told us something in class, before port, and it's stuck with me throughout my six days here:

"It is only when we accept we are different that we realize we are the same."

For now, I’m signing off and saying goodbye to India. Until next time :)