Upon leaving the platform in Varanasi and heading to Jaipur, we witnessed many of the uniquely Indian happenings from our barred window. The tracks were lined by tarpaulin and bamboo and corrugated metal houses. Whole shanty communities of the landless poor were squatted up to the gutter of the railroad. What struck me most was the lack of sanitation facilities. The gutter was the main source of water for these communities, whether it be for laundry, bathing, or even defecating.
One of the things that caused me to collapse mentally was the sight of a man blatantly defecating or urinating by the rail tracks as we passed. That was difficult to see but however it was soon to become a common sight for me. The norms of privacy and nudity, especially pertaining to excretory issues, are extremely different in India. In India, hundreds of men seen urinating by the roadside or defecating by the train tracks in broad daylight is totally acceptable. In this culture, that is considered uncivilized, and impedes on basic notions of privacy. At first we thought that only men did this and not the women but eventually we saw women doing the very same. It pained to me think that a woman had to be subject to this, with no privacy to relieve themselves. Note that we are talking about these people being mere feet away from the train, not some far distance. Also many times the train was passing slowly, so you literally could smile at them and they back at you if that were the case. They would be defecating among mounds of trash and wearing no shoes. It was just one of the hardest things I have had to watch.

But the other side you see of India is the rolling hills and beautiful desert expanses. There are fields and fields of wheat and now and again you would see women in the colorful saris walking through them. The contrast between the wheat color and the sari colors are just so beautiful. And we saw camels and old temples everywhere. Oh, it was exquisite particularly at sunset or sunrise. It was at those moments that all was right in the world and all was definitely right with India.

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