I have been privileged to have traveled quite a bit in my life but it's always been a dream of mine to go to India. Thanks to the Teachers for Global Classrooms program, sponsored by the US Department of State and IREX, I visited (along with 13 teacher colleagues from across the nation) what was really only a small portion of this vast sub-continent this July. What a privilege and honor it was to have had this opportunity, particularly at a time of year that I could travel.
India is the world's largest democracy, in terms of population, the seventh largest country (in terms of land mass) in the world, and home to 1.3 billion--that's billion--people. It's the birthplace of four faiths--Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as Jainism and Sikhism--and today is home to a rich array of people of multiple faiths. I thought I could "learn" India through one trip.
I was mistaken. India is huge. India is diverse. One part of India is not like another (duh!).
I also thought we in the US had much to teach India. I learned the reverse by traveling to India. India has much, much, much to teach us.
Languages are not my strong suit, these days (I fear my brain is aging), so the fact that English was spoken as widely as Hindi comes as a great relief. I managed well with English, but oh, how much more I would have learned if I had spoken Hindi, or any of the many other languages spoken in parts of the country. (Fun fact: India's 2001 Census recorded 30 languages spoken by more than one million native speakers, with 122 spoken by more than 10,000 people. And even more incredible: that same census said that there are at least 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. Source: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/gen_note.html
My trip to India was a spectacular adventure but really it was just dipping my toes in what was for me India 1.0. My plan is to go back (and back and back). I hope I have enough years to do this country justice through travel and reading and exploring.
This is going to be a great adventure! I hope you will join me as I chronicle it. Please follow my blog and offer suggestions as I begin to map out a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I chronicled my time in India with a regular blog and posted links to it via social media. As a result, friends, colleagues, and former students commented on it and I am very grateful!
To read my blog and see the photographs of my experience in India, go to: journeyingtoindia.weebly.com/blog
India is the world's largest democracy, in terms of population, the seventh largest country (in terms of land mass) in the world, and home to 1.3 billion--that's billion--people. It's the birthplace of four faiths--Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as Jainism and Sikhism--and today is home to a rich array of people of multiple faiths. I thought I could "learn" India through one trip.
I was mistaken. India is huge. India is diverse. One part of India is not like another (duh!).
I also thought we in the US had much to teach India. I learned the reverse by traveling to India. India has much, much, much to teach us.
Languages are not my strong suit, these days (I fear my brain is aging), so the fact that English was spoken as widely as Hindi comes as a great relief. I managed well with English, but oh, how much more I would have learned if I had spoken Hindi, or any of the many other languages spoken in parts of the country. (Fun fact: India's 2001 Census recorded 30 languages spoken by more than one million native speakers, with 122 spoken by more than 10,000 people. And even more incredible: that same census said that there are at least 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. Source: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/gen_note.html
My trip to India was a spectacular adventure but really it was just dipping my toes in what was for me India 1.0. My plan is to go back (and back and back). I hope I have enough years to do this country justice through travel and reading and exploring.
This is going to be a great adventure! I hope you will join me as I chronicle it. Please follow my blog and offer suggestions as I begin to map out a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I chronicled my time in India with a regular blog and posted links to it via social media. As a result, friends, colleagues, and former students commented on it and I am very grateful!
To read my blog and see the photographs of my experience in India, go to: journeyingtoindia.weebly.com/blog