POST 1

‘Genesis of an Experience’

‘In the beginning’…

(May 16, 2010) - I’ve been reminded constantly, of the potential for this trip to be a ‘life changing experience’. These words carry quite a bit of weight, and thus far prove difficult to internalize. Yet if this experience does prove to be the beginning of something new, it is my intention to frame where, and more importantly how it begins. The obvious answer to ‘where’ comes easily, as I depart from Toronto, a city which I have come to know well. However it is in addressing the ‘how’, that this plot opens.

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‘The commute’…

(May 20, 2010) – As we lift off from Brussels international airport, the plane engines roar with a focused determination. We set out to catch dusk, somewhere across South Asia. The sun has departed well ahead of us, but we will chase it down and ultimately overtake it by arrival into Delhi. This is the first time the night has not brought itself to me, but I to it.

(May 21, 2010) - The sunrise on Delhi’s airport brings with it a hue of brown behind which somewhere there is blue sky… and I thought Toronto smog was bad.

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“In the beginning (cont’d)”…

(May 22, 2010) – From Toronto to Bangalore – I return to this writing, having landed in Bangalore yesterday morning, May 21, 2010. The trip was long. For the purpose of ‘a beginning’, I have displaced from one corner of the world to another, and after my first day, this new city has reared its head in a truly magnificent fashion.. The heart of this place, I imagine, lies much deeper. I do not yet know whether three months will be enough to explore to such a depth.

The imprint left on me from yesterday’s arrival was one of absolute chaos. In sorting through some of this chaos the next morning, I’ve distilled a number of characteristics to which my initial ‘shock and awe’ is attributed. First of these is the traffic: the speed and quantity at which this city moves is staggering and a direct representation of the dynamism of the people here. In a city of 6.5 million people, it comes as no surprise that many seem to have shut themselves off to those around them, proceeding in a very isolated fashion. Driving through Bangalore streets during rush hour presents this in full form in an abandonment of rules of lane, right-of-way, etc. that are conventional to my understanding…. Second, has been the dogs - the city of Bangalore has over 300 000 stray dogs. At night, this population is out in full swing, organized into little gangs (on average I would say of 5 or 6) based on what seems to be territory. The municipal laws that are in place for the protection and management of these 300 000 are what is most interesting. First in foremost, no dog is allowed to be killed or harmed unless in the process of it attacking a person. Dogs may be removed from the street for treatment of sickness or injury, but must be returned to the same area from which they were taken. Annual surveys on a neighborhood-to-neighborhood basis calculate the populations of dogs in each area and disperse this population evenly over the wards of the city… Third has been the number of people. This was something that I was told to expect – having thousands of people around me at a time. Walking in the streets is busy, but it has not surprised me so much as the many jobs that exist in attempt to fulfill the needs of the over 6 million Bangaloreans that live here. The supply far exceeds the demand for service, which creates a situation that is not unique to Bangalore, but is far exaggerated in the number of vendors, maids, doormen, street sweepers, etc. that line the streets. I would venture that this strongly factors into the problems of waste management, hygiene and of-course poverty in both the city and the country at large.