In their shoes ...

I'll never forget the day that we stepped foot in India. We were on our way to a 6-week voluntary teaching job at an NGO and were excited, awaiting all the experiences we will go through. The look on my sister's face, though, was unforgettable! I had been to Nepal before, so it wasn't weird for me to see cows and bulls rowing the streets of India. We were in a car, being escorted to the school. Looking out the window, my sister and I saw people sleeping in the streets, children walking naked and woman in worn out clothes alongside women in high heels, wearing the latest handbags. Was it really possible for two very different classes to be living among each other like one big happy family? All of a sudden, the car came to a stop. We had to stop to allow a cow to pass. Those 10 seconds, maybe more, happened in such slow motion that I can even remember the sound of my sister breathing. Her eyes, big with bewilderment, were full of questions. Funny to think that she is my older sister, one who has completed university and was about to embark in her teaching career.

Looking at her face, then to the driver, then to the cow, I realized where I have come. I was in another world. There were no cows in my country. Well, none in the streets!

The first day I woke up in dorms, I heard a very weird sound. I walked out of my room, and there it was. A peacock. A large, colourful peacock! My room looked over a small forest, with all kinds of animals you could think of. All I could do was stare with my mouth wide open. A peacock? I come from a desert island. I see camels and horses, but no peacocks.

The day I walked in the streets, I didn't even lift my camera up. I wanted to store everything I see in my head, not my camera. I saw street barbers, shaving man after man with the very same razor. I wanted coconut water, so I walked over to a man selling it, and he cut it open with a knife. He put a straw in it, and as I drank, I continued staring at this different world of theirs. Where I come from, Indians come to my country to work. The way people of my country see them was very different from the way they really are. They were humble, sweet, hardworking, funny, generous, helpful, courageous people.

Beautiful trees, beautiful cows and beautiful people. That's how I would describe India.