PG’s, Prithvi, and the Perfect Partner
What is a PG you might ask? And perhaps, also, “what is a Prithvi?” Those might require more explaining later on, but “the perfect partner” is much simpler to describe. I am so thankful to be going through this experience with such a great friend, colleague, and adventure buddy. My time spent in Bangalore thus far has been made all the more wonderful by being able to reflect on it with and have support from my partner Molly (thank you Tanya for making a perfect choice).
Three weeks seems like such a mundane length of time in my life at SCU — a blur of essays, tests, work, dance, and trying to make time for friends. Since arriving in Bangalore, every minute (every second, really) has been so jam-packed with life lessons, new information, different stimuli, and growth opportunities that a day here contains as many formative experiences as a few weeks (even months) back home. When every single part of life is completely flipped upside down, the three weeks that have now passed feel like a lifetime. I don’t feel halfway around the world, rather I feel like that other part of the world doesn’t even exist anymore! This has become my new “normal” — where every day is filled with so much adventure, and I constantly shed off layers of insecurity, discomfort, unfamiliarity, fear, and stress.
I have learned to laugh at situations that might have pushed me to tears normally, have become resourceful in ways I did not know possible (using bandaids as tape, washing clothes in the sink, reusing stolen plastic spoons as our utensils at the PG, etc.) and have cast away the countless fears I initially had about living on my own in such a foreign place. There is no dreadful or uncomfortable situation that we can’t laugh our way through, and we are just accumulating a lifetime of preposterous, embarrassing, exciting, heartwarming tales of adventure. The day Molly and I got quite sick (entitled “crashing, burning, being ground up into a pulp, crying, whimpering” in my journal…) was so miserably pitiful that it was downright hilarious. I have never laughed so much when I have felt so awful.
Sensory overload to all five senses is the best way to describe my experience every time I step out into the bustling streets of Bangalore. Never have I been somewhere so teeming with life. Every square foot has thousands of things to see, hear, and take in. On just one street corner I can see every color of the rainbow, in the beautiful sarees, the flowers on the trees, in the cows that roam freely, in the brightly painted beautiful homes tucked behind trees, and even in the popular umbrellas that are actually rainbow patterned! The cacophony of constant horn honking (horns are used like turn signals here. Or just like the gas pedal… point is there is absolutely zero restraint in their use), stray dogs barking, birds chirping, and people calling out to each other in the street has now become my daily soundtrack.
In the first few days I was constantly gripped by fear, convinced that all the stares directed our way were malicious. I feel at home, now, and barely notice when people do a double take at the two white girls on the street. My usual worries about what other people might think of me have gone out the window, and I am not afraid to ask for help in even the seemingly simplest of situations (or sometimes just sneakily tag along a stranger crossing the street when we don’t feel like exerting the energy to do so ourselves).
From the second we stepped off the plane, I realized that any amount of planning I had done was futile. The address we gave at passport control was deemed unsatisfactory, and I was convinced that we weren’t even going to make it through the very first obstacle of our journey, as the customs people asked questions I could neither understand nor had the answer to. Ultimately succeeding, we reached the next surprise — the living situation we had been anticipating would no longer work out, so house hunting was on the agenda for the first day.
I shall now explain a PG! It stands for “paying guest” (super creative…), and is essentially a dorm-style living setup for women or men. This is where Prithvi enters the scene as well. He is the owner of the PG we ended up choosing (who knew you could find housing for two months in one day…) and has taken on a dad/uncle/bodyguard role, sending a WhatsApp message a couple times a week inquiring how we are doing.
Moving into our funky little PG room (basically every aspect of the space is nonsensical and a little off, but I wouldn’t change a single thing about it) transported me back to the first day at SCU moving into Dunne, and much like then, we ventured out into the hall to make friends with our floormates! The women on our floor are incredible — I could not wish for a better way to get to know some of the culture. They are all happy and eager to help us in whatever way we need, and we’ve had many fun nights hanging out, talking, and exchanging card games!
We might have been thrown into this new world without a safety cushion, but I could not be more grateful for that. With an amazing friend by my side, every day I feel braver and a more exposed to new ideas. As the wall beside our street likes to remind us every day, “This is your city, your home”.
