Journal from India

Photos from the trip

History professor Dr. Paul Hanson and communication professor Dr. Druann Pagliassotti led 14 students on a three-week journey through India during winter break. The following are excerpts from an essay written by senior Clair Tenney:

Clair Tenney ’08

I frequently cried over the sights I was shocked by, sights that I wanted to run away from at the time, sights that I now miss.

India is the most dirty and smelly place I have ever visited. … Roads are complete chaos. I have never been somewhere with so much noise. … Animals roam the streets. … Beggars are everywhere. ... Mothers bring their starving and crying babies who are barely clothed right up to you. It took all my willpower not to cry in front of them and give them all my money.

Despite all of the craziness, India holds so much beauty and spirituality.

I went to Mother Teresa’s orphanage and played with children for hours, falling in love with one little boy so much that I cried when I left him and made the decision to one day adopt a child from this wonderful country.

I took a boat ride down the holy Ganges River… I went on a camel ride through the desert and small villages where the children followed us around like we were celebrities. I smoked Indian tobacco with the village men and learned Indian dances. I rode an elephant to the top of a castle and received an elephant blessing in a temple.

I will never be the same after this country. I will never forget seeing people with leprosy beg on the sides of the road. I will never be the same after seeing at least 100 people with decapitated limbs drag their bodies along the dirty ground. I will never forget the sounds of the call of prayer to Muslims ringing out across the cities. I will never be the same after seeing people get down on their hands and knees thanking and worshipping God for the little things they have.

It is hard for me to be back in the United States where people have everything but see none of it, only striving for more. … Even with the little that Indians have, it is hard to feel sorry for them because in reality they have everything. I even feel jealous of them. They have simplicity and they have true happiness.