The Streets of India

As I mentioned before, what first drew me to India were its streets. Seeing images of those streets doesn’t fully capture the feeling of being on them. Walking on a typical street in India is a total experience of all the senses: I see the crowds of people, the zillions of small shops, hear the sound of the traffic, smell food cooking, feel the heat, and dodge obstacles as I try to get to my destination. There’s an energy in the streets like nothing I’ve ever experienced before in my life.

When I first came, that energy terrified me. I literally did not go into town alone for the first five months I lived in India. Even in the small rural town where I first stayed (small being relative, as the size of the town was about 100,000 people), the streets were so crowded that I could barely walk down them. So much was happening all at once that it put my brain into overload. During a fifteen minute walk from the nursing school to the market, I might easily see a hundred people doing a hundred different things. The roads were full of any and every kind of vehicle, including cars, trucks, buses, cycle rickshaws, motorcycles, bicycles, bullock carts, and pedestrians. It was impossible to walk on the sides of the roads, as they were taken up by parked vehicles and street vendors. So I had to walk in the road and listen carefully for the sound of a horn, which meant that a large vehicle was coming so I’d better get out of the way.

The streets in Ranchi are a bit different than the ones in the town where I first lived, but they still have the typical energy and motion that I’ve seen over and over when I’ve traveled to various parts of the country. A few months ago, I was waiting in line to use the ATM on a busy Saturday morning. Since I had a long wait, I passed the time by observing what was happening around me. The road was crammed full of cars, autorickshaws (see photo above), cycle rickshaws, and motorbikes, leading to a roar of traffic and almost constant honking. A policeman was directing traffic through the large intersection. He would come over from time to time and whack the autos with a stick if they lingered too long while picking up passengers. The stores were open for business, including the general store where I often shop. Women in beautiful glittering salwaar suits stepped over the open gutter running in front of the stores so they could make their purchases. The sun was blazing, making everyone feel hot even though it was winter season. I thoroughly enjoyed the wait. Where else would I ever be able to see such things? Images from India’s streets will always be burned into my memory. I will miss those streets with their frenzy of activity that never leaves a dull moment.

So as I prepare to go home, I wonder how I will react to our quiet, clean, orderly streets of America. Streets where I can walk for miles and only see a handful of people. Where the activities of life happen inside buildings, not on the side of the road. I’m afraid I will find our streets a little boring after the continuous overstimulation I’ve experienced the last two years here. Although they have their own beauty, I suspect that looking at our empty streets will make me long for the commotion that is part of daily life in India.