Tuesday, October 12, 2010: Busy, Busy, Busy!

By the end of the second day I was beginning to become more agitated and on edge; a clear departure from my usually cheery self. After spending the evening thinking about it, I realized that these feelings were rooted in a profound sense of discomfort with the city of Ahmedabad itself. These feelings were not inspired by a sense of threat or lack of safety, but rather by the sheer level of activity that kept Ahmedabad buzzing from the early morning through to the late hours of the night.

Honking horns, jostling pedestrians, and traffic congestion were constant. The continuous cacophony was not only overwhelming, but impossible to escape from once I left the confines of the Lemon Tree Hotel. Having grown up on the West Coast, my sense of identity is heavily anchored in nature. I love to swim, to ski, to jog...to visit the beaches, mountains and forests that I have long taken for granted as an integral part of my daily life. Suddenly being removed from the comfortable natural surroundings upon which I had premised so much of my life left me with a distinct sense of disquiet. While I’ve lived close to cities, I’ve never enjoyed living in them. The noise, the traffic, and the massive volume of people are all factors which combine to keep me from urban centres. And now, for better or for worse, an integral part of my self-identity (me as someone who needs quiet moments and lots of beautiful scenery to stay relaxed, composed, and centred) felt as though it was under attack by the sharply contrasting surroundings of Ahmedabad.

In this regard, I found that travelling as part of a group of students definitely helped. Being part of this group gave the opportunity to find common ground with others who were feeling similarly overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of this overwhelming city in which we now found ourselves. By sharing our discomfort with being away from the relative quiet of home (along with our experiences in surviving the overwhelming congestion and noise that characterized Ahmedabad!) with each other I found that I was able to reach an uneasy compromise between my dire need for inner peace and emotional stability and my desire to immerse myself in all that Ahmedabad had to offer. I just hope that it lasts the trip.