January 19, 2024

Staring at Strangers

This morning, I started my day with a run. While I can say I like to run for the exercise, the main reason I am semi-consistently going for morning runs in India is because it’s the only time I have to myself. Running through streets surrounded by people, I allow myself to feel alone. I can focus on me, my breathing, and my thoughts. I also get to observe the infrastructure and people. Today, like most mornings, I saw street cleaners sweeping footpaths, men opening shops, and people commuting to work. Unlike most mornings, I noticed all the kids walking to school. I saw parents standing at the gates as they waved their last goodbyes to their little ones for the day. I saw herds of little girls in uniforms with their hair all braided the same way. Occasionally when I make eye contact with someone, I manage a smile or a small wave as I go on my way and receive a smile back as the other person also goes about their day. It’s such a small gesture, but it always makes me happy to share such a simple human moment with a stranger.

After today’s run, I got home, got ready, and hopped on the bus where we went to a ‘farm’. I use farm in loose terms because it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I think it would more accurately be described as a plant nursery slash rich person’s playground. Upon entering, we were immediately greeted by a big, beautiful banyan tree that grows its roots hanging in the air. Obviously, we had to climb it but quickly found our way down when we were informed there could be snakes in it. We got to walk through rows and rows of vegetation, occasionally passing by some workers. We saw a small indoor fish aquarium and mini-sized zoo where we convinced a bird to dance with us. We got to hop on the back of some tractors and be driven around the expansive property. After drinking coconut water, petting cows, and admiring horses, we returned to the main area for lunch. The temperature was perfect, the trees were beautiful, and the food was the best I’ve had so far. Not too shabby.

After the farm, it was back to UTC for a lecture from Abhayraj Naik. He is an obviously extremely intelligent man who is very passionate about social justice, climate change, and educating. Listening to him lecture was like looking for the baby in a Mardi Gras cake. I tried my best to sift past the extravagant, rich coating in his phrasing to really get to the heart of the matter. In his many good points, there was one quote that stuck with me. He described a thinker who, when chatting with people, does the typical, “Hi, how are you?” And subsequently asks what is the most important thing we could talk about right now? What a way to start a conversation. I don’t think I’ve every been asked that and frankly, if I was, I’d be dumbfounded. The most pressing thing in my personal life or in the world? Where does one even start. But wow, what a way to get to know a person just by asking one immediate question.

I thought back to all the people I had seen that day. The schoolgirls I waved at as they walked by. The people who stared at me from their motorcycles and rickshaws as we passed each other on the street. The farm workers ranging all the way from small children to teenage boys, to older women. From my perch in the back of the tractor, I looked at these people and they looked back at me, and I got the same thought I always get: what are they thinking when they see me? There have been many times when a stranger and I blankly stare at each other here. We lock eyes and neither necessarily makes a gesture. We are just mutually observing. But what are they thinking? What are they seeing? What has their entire life been like up to this point and what will they do in the future? Who are their friends and what do they like to do and what do they think about a blonde, white girl staring back at them? When I smile and wave at them, they tend to smile and wave back. But what if I asked them what the most important thing we could talk about is? Would their passions be about things I’ve never heard of? Would their troubles really be that different from mine? Or would I learn that at the end of the day we’re all too similar? I may never get to ask my many questions to the strangers I see each day, but when we smile and wave at each other before continuing, I like to think its our way as humans of acknowledging each other’s humanity, no matter how different we might look, before going about our days.

By Elena