Essence of India: The Ancient Buddhist Caves of Aganta & Ellora

As I’ve been traveling and becoming accustomed to Indian lifestyle the past two weeks, one important aspect of my time here completely skipped my mind- I have to go to school. I started my first week of classes last week and quickly learned this won’t be like my time studying abroad in Turkey. As an American exchange student in Turkey, school for me basically meant showing up for homeroom then spending the rest of the day meandering between playing piano, violin, and taking trips to the beach (while passing every course with flying colors).

Although disappointed that studying turns out to be a critical element of studying abroad, it’s been interesting relearning and discussing topics from an Indian aspect. For example, in an American Social Justice class race would be a driving theme of the majority of lectures. In an Indian Social Justice class, however, the caste system is the topic of discussion involving inequality among citizens that are supposedly granted equal rights. Just as in America there are underlying judgments placed among different races, this same judgment is used among the different castes of Indian society. I’m also becoming somewhat obsessed with my Public Health class- mainly because a lot of my previous studies in Public Health in America have almost no relevance to Public Health in India. Of course the basic framework of Public Health is the same everywhere: which populations are at risk of which diseases, how to educate and promote behavior change, incorporating community involvement, development of sustainable programs, etc, etc. Health and wellness is largely marketed toward the American population through the pharmacological industry and education is started from a young age with the main topics concerning nutrition and sex education. Health promotion and education in India, however, is fighting the same struggle as its continually evolving society: tradition vs. modernization. Traditionally, India has survived on traditional forms of medicine for thousands of years such as Ayurvedic medicine, yoga and homeopathic remedies. As more western styles of medicine have been taking a claim over the healthcare field over the past 50 years or so, more and more Indians are fighting for their traditional forms of healing to be recognized not only as alternative forms of medicine but real and effective forms which have sustained their society for thousands of years.

After a long first week of classes, the majority of our group left Friday night for a weekend trip to visit the ancient Buddhist caves of Ajanta and Ellora. These caves filled with sculptures and paintings dating back to 1 AD were absolutely breathtaking not to mention the tropical landscape and waterfalls covering the land. So among all this history and beauty you would find it hard to believe that us, 25 college kids from America, turned out to be the main attraction. It seemed almost every time we turned a corner, a group of 50 Indian school kids would start screaming and chasing after us to take a picture with us. I made the mistake of agreeing to take a picture with one man and before I knew it, I was swarmed by 20 other of his friends, everyone pushing and fighting to get into the picture. Parents were throwing their kids at us, people were fighting for chances to take pictures with us- it was without a doubt one of the most bizarre situations of my life. Talking with one of these men it turns out a lot of them are farmers from remote villages who have never seen foreigners before so it’s a big deal when they actually meet one.

Although humorous for the most part, it brings to light another large difference between American and Indian society- the acceptance of outsiders. A foreigner in America would have little difficulty assimilating into American culture and walking around relatively undetected as out of the ordinary. As a white girl with red hair in India, no matter how well I can walk the walk and talk the talk of Indians, my appearance screams ‘outsider, foreigner, different.’ I can accept the stares and curious looks while walking down the street- being mobbed by a group of 50 Indian school kids, however, will take some time getting used to.