A Passage Through India - Update from Ryan Mayock
Noted on April 16, 2009 by Natanya in
I have been many places in my life, from the scantly inhabited east coast of Zanzibar with its white sand beaches to the seemingly endless mountains of Peru where panpipes roll across the landscape with indescribable beauty. I have the suffering of a child dying of tetanus at the side of the road in Kenya and the luxury of the National Geographic cruiseliner in the Galapagos. None of this prepared me for what I was about to experience in India. 
India is officiously omnipresent, one can not hide from the things they see. Be it two children who can barely walk squatting down to defecate across the street from a mall with Gucci and Prada stores or 100-year-old women begging you for any small amount of change, one's first exposure to India cannot help but leave the question in your mind: What the hell is going on here? It was this that I wondered for a few weeks after my arrival. With time I learned to suspend the cognitive dissonance, although it never truly passed. I just moved into a passive acceptance that I might see anything at any time.
Maybe it would be cows asleep on an overpass build for pedestrians, or a dog fast asleep on the ground in the middle of Churchgate station, with hundreds of people a minute almost magically stepping over him. Maybe it would be monkeys that had snuck inside an office in Delhi, or one of the crowded trains being more "crowded" than usual. India has a relentless way of suprising people, leaving you ready for anything by the end of your trip.
India has some incredible challenges that go along with it's unpredictability. The cultural barrier is huge, and if you choose to engage the culture, a much greater obstacle to understanding than most anticipate. Many people in my program simply transplanted their western value sets and failed to acquire any real understanding of the culture. Although the style of Mumbai might seem western, the people are certainly Indian. This bears repeating: Do not assume you understand the dynamics of a society if you hope to properly understand the society. 
Although the IE3 handbook may seem long, it is worth giving the iceberg some thought... especially in a country where saving face has so much value. People here would rather give you wrong directions then tell you they don't know where a place is. Even if a person is extremely annoyed with you, they may show no signs of it and continue to smile and nod. Learning Hindi script proved to be a valuable resource. It was not extremely difficult, and can be done in a week with some effort. You will not understand the languages, but you will be more assured you're doing the right thing when hopping onto trains or seeking out landmarks. Although I knew the script upon arrival, learning the language proved difficult. Especially in Mumbai, you will encounter a plethora of other languages which use the same sounds. In other words, you will never know what language someone is speaking, so attempting to form a significant understanding of Hindi in 10 weeks is an insurmountable goal. If you want to learn Hindi, do it before you leave, and have a good grasp of common words so you'll know when it is being spoken. Also, make sure they speak Hindi where you are going! They do in the north and in Mumbai.
One person I spoke to in the US said someone once told her India showed you who you really are. This is absolutely true. You will be confronted with imagery and, well, everything. All of this will hit you at once and you cannot hide from it. Going to a movie is not an escape, you will see Indian culture there. Sitting inside all day will ruin your trip, but will also provide you with the constant background noise of Indian traffic. There really is no way to escape India, and you need to be willing to delve into the culture. This will entail giving up some control! You will ride in dangerous rickshaws. You will get coughed on. You will get bumped into or have your feet stepped on. You will be stared at. You need to be ready to accept such things if you hope to be happy in India. 
All traveling requires flexibility and adaptability, but India especially so. Looking back, I think I prepared rather well for the internship (to the extent I could). All in all, India is a wild and crazy place that you cannot really prepare yourself for. No matter where you've been before, be ready to experience things you never dreamed of.