As

to be expected it is always dif2icult to put into words the variety of sensations, experiences, and outright wonders that a 2irst trip to India can conjure, especially for a Westerner, and all the more so for an American of Southern extraction. I was not completely unfamiliar with some aspects of India and its culture and history. Since childhood Ive been fascinated with the images of India which were regularly evoked by a whole host of 2ilm and television portrayals, all of which I might easily say were as slight and super2icial as one might expect given the source. But as with most cultural clichs even in these earliest encounters through the media, there was much truth harbored within. In early adolescence I became fascinated with Indian music, through its inroads into Western music via the many pop stars who experimented with sitars and the associated raga forms. Artists like George Harrison of The Beatles , Donovan and even John Coltrane became enamored with the creative possibilities that this aspect of Indian culture opened up to Western musicians. As a young adult I discovered the 2ilms of Satyajit Ray and fell in love with his utilization of Indian story telling traditions to structure his 2ilms and by this means to tell very modern stories re2lecting the great changes that were taking place in Post-Independence India. In short, I was not completely unfamiliar with a number of aspects of Indian culture, but even this could not prepare me for the experiences which I encountered. Even the long ordeal of the 2light component of our travel was eye-opening. In total we spent nearly 24 hours, and went through four airports to reach the 2irst point of our entry into India. We departed through our local Nashville International Airport and 2lew on to Charlotte, then to Chicago and on to Frankfurt and then 2inally into Delhi. Ive 2lown a fair amount in the U.S. but never out of the country. The layover of 2ive hours we had in the Frankfurt airport, one of the most modern in Germany, gave us all plenty of time to explore what a full on international scale air hub has to offer. I was not too surprised that there would be a great variety of restaurants; Japanese, Turkish, , Italian, Chinese, a French bistro, an Australian style beer and burger place, as well as iterations of most of the American fast food

franchisesand of course Star Bucks. What surprised me most were the casinos, which were both very small , ran by rather shady looking Croatians and well designed to part their customer with their money very quickly, only one of our party felt super inclined to gamble, and to point of form was able to loose about 40 euros in less than 20 minutes. The other thing I found fascinating, given the current European pull back on smoking in public spaces, were the little smoking lounges about the size of a bus stop which were scattered around the terminal which offered the severely nicotine addicted travelers a place to dose up with other fellow smokers. These were apparently sponsored by, and I assume built by, the Camel cigarette folks, though small they featured an excellent exhaust system that prevented any possibility of smoke escaping into the terminal area. Several of these smoking kiosks had nearly life sized camels in them which left no doubt as to who was behind the enterprise to assure that avid smokes could easily escape withdrawal symptoms at least while they were in the airport awaiting the next leg of their trip. Our 2light to Delhi provided us with a fantastic opportunity to travel on Lufthansas latest 2lagship jet, the A380, though we sat in the economy class section we still all felt that we were getting pretty royal treatment, given the pretty ample leg room, the individual viewing monitors, and the excellent food as well as premium wine and spirits offerings. Of course, along with that was the encounter with how many others were traveling with us on this nearly eight hour journey to Delhi from Frankfurt, there were over 400 on board, this alone helped put into perspective for me how much smaller our world is becoming by the technologies of modern air travel. Looking out the windows, though, during our long 2light, underscored just how big the globe is, and how diverse the terrain can be when 2lying over the 3.800 miles between Frankfurt and Delhi. One of the subjects of the environmental class I was to be talking during this trip was health impact of pollution., I knew that Delhi was one of the most populous and most polluted cities in the world, but I was not prepared for just how impressive the depth of this problem is. As soon as we

began to approach the outer areas of Delhi, some twenty or thirty miles out, I began to notice through the window of our plane how the absence of any lights on the ground began to change into a smattering of lights scattered about in a seemingly random way. The colors of the lights suggested that they were both of electrical origin as well as from 2ires. Initially the patterns of light followed sporadically the edges of village paths and streets that were mostly not straight, but rather roughly aligned to the contours of the hills. Soon I could see the traditional grid of lights positioned along city municipal streets, and even then I could still see clear sign of night 2ires at the edges of these areas. As we approached Dehli the intense level of night time light pollution became apparent, and immediately gave the sense of what a populous city it is. The amount of light pollution quickly made me wonder how much energy the city required at any given time, even at night, and by what means that it was generated. Even as we exited the plane I could smell some evidence of the pollution, but by the time we exited the terminal into the hot and fetid late night air the full brunt of the problem hit our eyes and nostrils. I could immediately feel my chest constrict, as my lungs respondedto both the heat of the air, the heavy particulates and foul smells in the air. I asked our host if there was trash being burned nearby, and he told us that most of the smell was from the coal and gas burning fuel plants. With much of that I assumed coming from the Badarpur Thermal Plant which was over 20 kilometers away. Mixed all together within the coal burning smell was that of industrial waste incineration, burning trash, cooking oil, and no doubt that of cremations, and other religious activites as the of burning ghee , candles and incense. I have never smelled such a rich and contrary combination of pleasant , unpleasant and outright noxious odors. Once we exited the airport and entered our van which would take us to our hotel it became clear that a huge source of the pollution was the massive amount of traf2ic and the great variety of vehicles burning a full range of fuels, with clearly little or no government oversight in place to reduce either the kinds of pollution generated or the number of sources. Every possible kind of vehicle was on the roads with us, as well as a whole host of animals, also leaving their own kind

of pollution in their wake. Later I discovered that contrary to my initial expectations, most of the particulate air pollution is not from vehicles but rather from Industrial activity and road dust, along with a number of coal burning power plants. One of the most moving experiences I had on my trip was our visit to one of the NGO schools which provide a home, life skills training and basic education to homeless children that have been rescued form the train station. It has long been the case that the train station is where many poor parents leave their children when they decide that they can no longer care for them. Our trip to to the school proved to be a full spectrum experience. Over the course of the day I felt many emotions, from sadness and anger over the treatment these children have suffered as homeless runaways to heart warming delight over their joy in our visit. Our approach through the dilapidated local neighborhood reinforced for us the kind of basic life struggles that are so common in India. The air was heavy with dust and smoke and the streets were piled with the trash and debris. A mangy dog followed along behind us snif2ing around for any stray scraps of food, setting again the tone for the day of how life here is a struggle for all creatures great and small.The school building seemed solid though spare but was clearly in need of a variety of repairs. The second 2loor walk way to the main class rooms looked out over a graveyard of broken and abandoned motor cycles, bicycles and the hulls of old tuck-tucks, the image of which reminded me that all of the children here at the school had also been abandoned in one way or another by their parents. A small garden area in the court yard below the walkway softened the feeling of ruin around the school building, as it buzzed with the activity of parrots, chipmunks, doves and myna birds. As we approached the door going into the classroom, I felt a wave of sadness sweep over me coupled with not a little anger as I thought about the stories I had read concerning these children and the abuses they have suffered from both family and strangers. But upon entering the room, these feelings receded quickly under the bright smiles and happy faces that were quietly waiting for us with obvious excitement. I was impressed immediately with how well

behaved the children were especially given the high state of anticipation and curiosity they all exhibited. They seemed generally clean, healthy and well fed, though some of them had the old soul look in their eyes of clearly gone through some very terrible and frightening experiences. But even in those, their faces were now bright and full of happy delight with our visit. After initial introductions by all the children giving their names and ours to them as well we divided into small mixed groups and began to play with them, mostly in making various folded paper toys such as animals, airplanes, boats, 2lowers and hats. I think we could have done nearly anything with them and they would've been happy, but they did seem to especially enjoy the folded hats and 2lowers, and having them colored on afterwards. They were all quick to pick up on how to make the folds but they also seemed to really just enjoy the close quarters attention, and would often immediately after successfully folding a paper plane or hat, bring another piece of paper and ask for me to show them again how to do it. They very much reminded me of some of the children I worked with at the Vanderbilt children's clinic in the way that they were delighted to have an adult giving them complete and undivided attention. I also noticed how easily they gave themselves totally over to the experience of our interactions, their eyes all wide with that completely in the moment look of attention which only children at play seem capable of. Each child exhibited an authentic and immediate gratitude in their faces for the least thing we would do with them. Given the early deprivations, I feel this re2lected their natural hunger for positive regard and simple adult affection. In watching them play, their faces beaming with joy, it was as if we had given them pearls and jewels instead of crayons, paper hats and planes. The teachers were impressive in their ability with a quick look and pointing of a 2inger to interrupt any sudden eruption of rough housing or overly loud behavior. Again our experiences at he school made it abundantly clear to us, that children everywhere, especially underprivileged children, have the same needs, desires and hopes from their social environment, whether from family, or care givers. There are certain fundamental things in life, and especially so in the early years of childhood

that can make such a profound difference in how we come to know who we are and what we may aspire to become. In settings like these of course we are forced to appreciate our own great fortune in having the lives that we do back home, but more importantly we see how even small efforts made in earnest can completely and permanentlty transform a life for the better. I count this as one of the great gifts and realizations of this fantastic journey. In closing I can only say that any mere description, even in great detail, can hardly encompass the full nature of the complex level of social and spiritual insight that is catalyzed by an encounter with such an alien and still yet familiar culture as India. Though we only visited one of the many provinces of this vast country, there were native Indians from every state, as well as many obvious foreigners like ourselves. I never felt less than welcome, and it often seemed clear that the local residents wherever we were had nearly as much delight and curiosity about us as we did them. One of the most amusing incidents I had during our trip was when myself and two other students were climbing the narrow tower of a Mosque complex and we were asked by some locals who were coming down as we went up, where we were from, we all chimed..America, and not missing a beat..he responded with a thumbs up sign, and said: ohAmerica..very good..Monica Lewinsky...! which of course totally cracked us up..not Bill Clinton, or George Bush..or even Barack Obama, but Monica Lewinsky. This just completely brought into tight focus what a connected world we live in, and how all humans are united across time and distance in their fascination with the foibles of the mighty and powerful. More notable though is a similar sense of the unity of human spirit in our encounters with everyday people and especially children, that we all aspire for and 2ind happiness and comfort in the very same things. To experience this and know it as true far outside our own personal realm of social and ethnic context is one of the richest and most profound revelations that we can ever have a citizens of this amazing world. I feel very honored and thankful to have been given this

opportunity to have this experience through theTnCIS program. I will soon have an edited version of some of the video I shot during our travels, and I look forward to sharing this with our TnCIS representatives here at Vol State and with the of2ice in Knoxville. I hope as well, in the future to be able to take another journey with the program to further my studies and to continue entering into the wonders of human diversity that are provided by this program.