INDIA: Hot as Heck & Cornucopia of Conflicting Odors

VIZAKHAPATNUM, INDIA: DAY 1

March 21, 2000

Just got back to India. It's my second trip here.

When I stepped off the plane -- the moment I passed through the door -- it was like I walked into a wall of heat. It's so hot and humid here that it feels like I'm swimming in sunshine soup. Immediately, before taking a step further, my mind automatically began counting down the days left on the trip.

Somehow, I had forgotten how brutally oppressive the weather in India is.

After I collected my bags and stepped out of the airport, another series of blasts rattled my system: The Indian Carousel of Strong Scents. Every few seconds, rapidly rotating shots of conflicting odors fill my nostrils. One second, I smell delicious curry being cooked, the next second the smell of an open sewer, and still the next the hint of flowers and herbs. My nose is constantly doing double- or triple-takes: vexed, pleased, repulsed, appeased. In India, my beak is in constant overdrive.

India is indeed a land of stark contrasts.

Within a minute of driving toward our "motel", we pass a garbage dump, a fenced mansion with lush vegetation, and a strip of one-room stores lined by dry, barren earth. Men walk down the dusty street in suits, or in robes, or in loin cloths. Animals roam about freely: fat (holy) cows adorned with ornate jewelry; a skinny water buffalo bowed low, a horn tied to a leg. All this complicates the chaotic traffic pattern.

And everywhere I look, one of these creatures (man & beast alike) are going to the bathroom very publicly. Images and smells burned into my brain forever.

The conflicting sights of rich & poor, order and disorder, combined with the cornucopia of aromas wafting past my nose, always help focus my attention to what really matters: Scouting opportunities to serve those most in need, and encouraging & equipping local ministry workers.

I'm at my lodging for the next few days: An old mattress on a flat rooftop, surrounded by 15 other friends prepping their makeshift beds as well. Looking forward to sunset and more bearable temperatures.

This trip better be worth it. With what is scheduled for tomorrow, I trust it will be!

Now, to find a bath, shower, or at least a bucket! More to post tomorrow...