3 airports, 2 flights, and a variety of uncomfortable sleeping positions later:
My feet are firmly planted on Indian soil.
It wasn’t quite what I expected…
I guess that just means you shouldn’t base your first impressions on novels.
As I step off the plane, a couple of Dutch tourists cut in front of me in the alleyway.
The nicest flight attendant I have ever met tells them not to forget their passports and wallets.
“We left those at home,” the man replies, seemingly very pleased with himself.
On the walk over to customs, I glance in their direction. It is a sight straight out of the 70’s.
Dutch Hippies.
I wonder how many people come to India in search of some sort of mystical experience?
Will they return home covered in Henna and prayer beads,
having spent a week purifying their souls in an Ashram?
Will they proselytize against the modern world, thinking they’ve somehow joined the select group of the enlightened expatriates?
Mystical tourism, that’s a thing, right?
Forgive my cynicism; I blame the jet lag, an easy scapegoat, no doubt.
--
For the past month I have been gathering tips from friends who are either from India, or have travelled here extensively. Most often it is the same advice:
“It will change you, the way you look at life.”
“Mind what you eat.”
“Be safe,” is another subject that comes up regularly.
My friends and family seem convinced that trouble follows me around like a stray dog.
In any case, I’ve promised to be mindful and to check in regularly.
Welcome to my digital I’m ok zone.
I hope you enjoy the ride.
Fighting the jet lag with fancy selfies.
Why I’m here:
Over the next few months, I will be collaborating with a Mumbai-based NGO named The Humsafar Trust. They focus on research, advocacy and policy development to help LBGT, transgender, and HIV-positive marginalized groups.
I will be reviewing their progress and outreach efforts over the last decade: doing interviews, visiting safe houses and ghettos, taking photos, and giving a CIIAN-sponsored harm-reduction seminar, to help NGO workers deal with asymmetric power relationships and managing difficult situations.
As far as doing needs analysis for social conflicts goes, this adventure is a dream come true.
It was made possible by the amazing folks over at LOJIQ, who sponsor professional development initiatives for young Quebecers, and the Quebec Consulate in India.
Humsafar Trust is, by any social development standard, breaking down barriers. The name means “companions on a journey”. It was founded in 1994 by three gay Indian men, who contemplated the grim prospects of aging in a society where your offspring are the main caregivers for the elderly, and set out to create an organization that would provide a support system outside of the traditional family structure, irrelevant of the pressure to conform and enter into a loveless marriage for the sake of fitting in.
I will delve into the specifics in the upcoming days.
Challenges:
Not only will the application of getting comfortable with ambiguity (a logistical mental pillar of my MACAM program at RRU) be constantly on my mind. I’ll be up against a variety of cultural challenges:
- How to suspend my typical French Canadian pseudo-atheist views to embrace a worldview that is anchored in mysticism and religious lore?
- Learning to listen; learning to see ‘the other’ as they wish to be seen, as opposed to apposing labels from a society that operates on a completely different framework of social and gender norms.
And many more, of that I am certain, and slightly anxious.
Conscious of these flaws, I’ll be using this space to check-in with my assumptions and general ambitions on the regular. Better than racking up a hefty bar tab, I’ve concluded.
Namaste for now,
ESC
My neighbour lit a welcome pyre. I feel much obliged.