Instructive India

India, more than any other country I have traveled to thus far, was didactic. The twelve hour train rides, the poverty, the extremely different ways of living, all of this and more added to an experience vastly more educational and reflective than previous ports of call. This is not to say the others were not, but India took the entire shipboard community by storm; people are still readjusting to life back on the ship; a new country tomorrow seems almost too soon since not many people are fully back from their own Indian experiences yet.

India, we were told, would be a turning point in the voyage. I feel a difference already. I feel an excitement, a NEED to continue traveling following the end of the voyage. I guess in that regard it won’t be an end, but merely a beginning, but I’ll touch on that in two months or so.

Kerala was interesting.

Growing up in America, I’ve been taught to believe in American ideals, especially in terms of economics. It’s the American dream, isn’t it? Earn your wealth, right? Capitalism and a free market economy have been been imparted into me for a myriad of reasons, and while I may not be studying economics, business, political theory, or anything within that family of study, I like to think I have a pretty decent understanding of American government and economic institutions. I grew up outside of D.C., so it was always difficult to escape it, though I suppose an overexposure to it made me somewhat jaded.

I may not have been alive during the 1950’s, so I don’t have a basis for comparison, but the Red Scare and witch hunt style politics have certainly made a comeback in recent years. Accusations of President Obama not being an American, claiming Islam as his religion, supporting socialism and communism, and a whole laundry list of other claims have sprung up in the media from worrisome Americans foolishly launching attacks against him and other politicians because of an intense fear of a different style of politics. I’m not saying Obama and his administration are socialist, communist, or any other “-ist,” but I definitely do believe they have a different idea of politics as we enter a more globalized world marketplace.

Kerala, where I spent my time in India, is primarily communist. Hammer and sickle flags were everywhere and I saw propaganda posters. We had a cab driver who I identified himself as a communist. At first, I was uncomfortable. America has instilled in me an inherent fear of communism; the idea of it may sound reasonable enough on paper, but the actual practice of it, according to what I have been taught by American society, is evil. As I am entering Vietnam in a week and China in two weeks, I’m wondering how I will feel in countries that completely identify as communist, rather than just a small portion of them.

Does it work? Kerala was a happy enough place. Sure, there were high unemployment and suicide rates, but literacy and education rates are astonishingly high. It’s considered first world, despite communist tendencies. Being exposed to different cultures means being exposed to different ways of doing things, both commonplace and vitally important to the structure of the country.

Actually having been exposed to communism first hand has made me realize just how typically American some of my views are, so hats off to Semester at Sea for getting one of their jobs done.

And frankly, if you think President Obama is socialist, communist, or anything within those families of political beliefs, you are very, very wrong.

Malaysia=TOMORROW!