Sprinting in Slow Motion

Time has no real meaning to me anymore. The days fly by in minutes and the 3 weeks I’ve been here feel like months. Every little aspect of the day is its own adventure that turns into an unexpected remarkable experience. Even the smallest task of successfully getting an auto to the right place without being ripped off is enough to write an entire novel about. I was totally right when just a few weeks ago I thought “I can’t really prepare for what I am about to experience, I mean I’m going to India!” Oh what a whirlwind I was in store for…

Culture shock doesn’t even cover it. I don’t feel shocked. I feel as if I have just experienced a life altering free-fall in which after I crashed face first into the pavement I discovered I could actually fly all along. And I have never been so grateful for that face full of pavement. In the first five minutes out of the airport Leah and I were informed that we had nowhere to live. Ok. Oh and we would now be living alone, responsible for figuring out a way to get to anywhere we needed to go without GPS or a working phone, testing what to eat and what we definitely should not eat, and plainly just surviving with hand gestures in a place where very few actually understand what we are saying. All of these things would be no problem in the states but all of the sudden I found myself sitting in our small yellow kitchen that had been converted into a bedroom, with no idea of how to even cross the street without being run over, and Leah. The first week here was rough to say the least. It was amazing, but rough. There were so many new things and senses to take in, and a lot of learning to do as well. Being in a developing country as a Westerner is harder than I ever imagined. It is definitely a part of learning what it is to be a Global Fellow to see these stark differences in culture and not only respect it but to become a part of it as well. That first week was filled with a lot of discomfort and a lot of learning. Oh, and getting horribly painfully sick. That was bound to happen eventually but there was nothing that could have prepared me for that.

But then something remarkable happened. I started to recognize the streets. I felt safe walking at night back to our wonderfully strange PG with all its little quirks that I have fallen in love with. I somewhat confidently crossed the road as 13 different vehicles honked at me. I stopped focussing on the stares coming from all directions and saw the smiles instead. I had made friends despite language and cultural differences. I felt at home. So yes, that first week was rough. But it was the best free falling, face planting, wing discovering week of my life.

Working for Prafull Oorja has been incredible. For the first time in my working career I understand what it means to be passionate about your work and excited about doing it. The organization and the way everything is conducted would be a nightmare for any American business person but they just run on a different emotional level and dedication here. There are no secrets, everyone has access to everything. Literally everything. They bring meals to share and there are always, always chai breaks. All communication is done via group messages (email is despised) and they encourage taking a break from work because work isn’t everything. It is conducted much like the streets here, organized chaos. It seems chaotic and like it shouldn’t work, but it just does. It flows and seamlessly runs with the slightest of ease. From the outside it may seems chaotic but once you become a part of it, once you weave and honk your way through the unorganized structure of the confusion you understand that it does work, in its own unique and beautiful way. The few weeks that I’ve spent working here I have already become a part of the Prafull Oorja family and that’s what make it so different compared to the US. I am a part of the organization and I not only understand how it is run but I am integrated into every aspect of it. And more importantly I care about the work I am doing because it’s not for my own advancement but for the improvement of the organization as a whole and all of the people included.

I may not ever get to see the direct impact that my work has on the organization, or even on the communities we are serving, but that’s alright. While there are many little things I am working on, these things may not have a giant outcome that at the end of this internship I will get to say, “Hey look! I did that!” But what working with this organization has taught me is that there is so much more to the work we are doing than what we personally gain from it. I know that while the projects I do during my time here may be forgotten in five years, there are kids whose entire lives will have changed because of the classes they took with Prafull Oorja. Like one of the students, and mine and Leah’s biggest fan. She is non-verbal but she has started to say “up” and “down” in order to instruct Leah and I to participate in the stretching. This was one day, one little accomplishment, but it is something that will forever be a positive impact for this little girl. That’s what these classes are all about. To give these kids a chance to improve and show the world all that they are capable of, and to me just being a part of the larger organization that is making that possible is enough for me to leave knowing I was successful in my time here.

Every day has been a marathon of emotions and activities. I feel as though I am forever running around doing a thousand different things. Not only because there is so much to see and take in but also because it’s necessary to survive in this city that is forever buzzing. But then there are these moments of absolute peace. Whether its a bout of silence while meditating in the office, or when the kids run up to give us hugs and high-fives in class, or among the honks and hums of autos on our way home as I feel the rush of wind and admire the beautiful monsoon clouded dusk sky. It is in these moments, amid the absolute chaos, that the world seems to slow down. Time has a new meaning here. Because the structure of day to day life has been completely altered. In the beautiful chaos and peaceful calms of India, I am forever sprinting in slow motion.