Two words so far seem to sum up my experience in India: sensory overload. I had been pre-warned by friends who had been here that this would be the case. I definitely agree with this summation base on my so far limited experience.
Sight: Colors of saris are arresting, like eye candy to me (going into a sari shop makes me as giddy from the sensory perspective as going into a good yarn shop). My eyes are still overwhelmed every time I step onto a street here - the order to the chaos in the streets, the poverty, the trash...
Smell: diesel fumes, body odor, jasmine, strong spices... India seems to have my nose constantly twitching (although one starts to adapt after a couple of days)
Hearing: Chennai and Mumbai both hum at a volume that is much greater than any western country I've been to, but which strikes on the familiar for having lived in Latin America. There's a constant buzz from the streets below that includes dogs barking, people honking (will try to give a more detailed description later), particularly where Nikhil's parents live (being in the heart of Chennai). What strikes me most is the volume at which people speak. They must compete with ceiling fans and air conditioners, which are constantly on. My experience thus far has been that any time you get a number of Indians into a room, their volume escalates. I will write more on this aspect of social interaction later.
Taste: Indian food, as all who have tried it will know, is incredibly spiced. Lots of salt (it would be interesting to study the incidence of heart disease in India in relation to its cuisine), a riot of other flavors. All sweets are far too sweet for my palette. Most vegetables are thoroughly if not overly cooked (probably arising from sanitary concerns initially) from the Californian perspective (which, mind you, thrives on fresh produce). Many dishes are deeply and heavily fried.
Feel I will have to contemplate.
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4 comments:
for me the sensory overload aspect of "feel" is not so much brought out in actual physical touch between individuals, but the throng of humans one is always immersed in. This is particularly true when one is traveling in trains/buses or just walking on the roads...
Interesting perspective. I like this way of thinking about feel.
I've been thinking that maybe part of it is the "feel" of emotions, feeling deepened compassion, for example, at certain images one is struck by here.
I agree with the loud volumes, though. I think as a people we do tend to talk a little loudly...never thought of it in context to the ambient noise back home...
The loudness of speech, the frequency of interruption, always strikes me quite strongly with groups of Indians. But I'm also prone to interrupting (though I try to be mindful about how much I do this) and prone to what I call problems with volume control where I have no sense of how loud I'm saying laughing...
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