Experiment #1: Baggage Claim

The scene at the Ahmedabad airport after myself and 300 other exhausted travelers arrived, was not especially welcoming. The 90 percent humidity was a not-so-pleasant change from the well air-conditioned store of recycled air in the airplane, and I was sweating profusely within five minutes of being shuttled into the customs area.

With that many tired Indians in one place, all vestiges of International culture and manners that may have been acquired overseas were dropped. And it became each man for himself.

To picture the scene at the baggage claim, imagine the parking lot at the mall on Black Friday: too many cars filled with anxious sale-seeking shoppers, and too few parking spots to accommodate them all. Eventually what happens is a halt in all traffic as cars just wait around for a satisfied shopper to return to their car and leave. But when that parking spot is cleared, the departing car has to maneuver its way out of the traffic jammed lot, and three cars swoop in from all directions to try and claim the empty space. This is not a time to be relaxed - only the aggressive stand a chance at making it..into the mall.

Around the baggage claim belt in the A'bad airport, there were far too few front row spots for all 300 travelers and their luggage carts. Soon, a sort of deadlock resulted and the same bags appeared and reappeared on the circulating belt for what seemed like hours. No one was able to make their way in to retrieve their bags, and no one was willing to budge and make room for someone else to get by.

I, trying to be logical, allowed several people to bypass me in the queue if they recognized their bag on the belt. Yet this sad attempt only seemed to heighten the madness, as the number of bodies clustered around the belt increased in number. And of course I somehow ended up at the back.

This is the way people think in India. With so many people, and limited resources, every man must fight for himself. You must push and not be afraid to honk your horn, or else, like me, you'll be left in the dust. Don't mistake this aggressive attitude as malicious. The culture is not to succeed at the expense of someone else, as it often seems to be where I come from (bell-curve grade distribution?). Rather, as the hoards of travelers were pushing and cursing their way through the crowds, their tone seemed to indicate a sentiment of unity, and understanding that everyone is in the same boat.

More than an hour later, I made it out of customs, frazzled, with my three suitcases in hand.
Welcome to India.