My Mumbai experience as a whole has been surreal. I have lost the number of times I have thought ‘what is my life right now.’ The activities and new experiences exposed to me have been occurring faster than I can process them.
Over the weeks, the top 3 skills I have strengthened would be assertiveness, independence, and adaptability. Being confident in what I would say has enabled me to go a long way – quite literally too, as I was able to talk my way through with an auto rickshaw driver, allowing four of us to get on a ride. Being assertive has helped with avoiding hawkers, customising orders, and haggling down prices. I quickly realised that to get by in this crowd, you have to push and talk your way through, because no one’s waiting around for you when there are 22 million other people to tend to.
Independence goes without saying – but I feel this skill was prominent for me as someone who has never travelled overseas without family. I can feel the improvement in comfort level of navigating new places by myself, and I have definitely been pushed out of my comfort zone, such as literally jumping out of a raft boat and being submerged under the Ganga River. My whole extended family was worried about me travelling within the city, and here I am with a monthly pass for the local train. Catching the local Mumbai train was just something that neither my family nor I ever imagined doing – originally I’d planned to catch daily Ubers.
Adaptability is another key skill, and this again was developed throughout the 6 weeks. From traffic, to accommodation rooms, to public spaces, to general communication and mannerisms of people – there was a degree of adjusting and getting used to. It allowed me to think of things through perspectives I haven’t thought of before, and gave me a new lens to look at this trip and life in general through. One of the biggest changes I’ve noticed within myself was becoming more comfortable with spontaneity. I personally like having things planned out and knowing how my days are going to look weeks in advance, and here I am, not even knowing what I’ll be doing in the next few hours. I can’t even count the number of times I have made spontaneous plans, to visit an attraction, to go out to get food, to do an activity, or all of the above. As the indecisive friend, I’m honestly surprised at the time frames I’ve made decisions within, and I can’t lie – it’s been way too fun doing things on the whim, so I’ll definitely try to transfer this behaviour back in New Zealand.
My India experience has been transformative and surreal. I’ve had the opportunity to explore several key landmarks and areas, experience new activities, interact with locals and make international connections. I haven’t yet processed that we are nearing the end. I am grateful to have experienced these 6 weeks with such a talented and inspiring group of students – it has been so exciting and chaotically fun. I’m truly going to miss the laughs and all the yap and snack sessions. I’ll catch you at the next post 🚏