Heat Exhaustion :-(

As promised, I will give you an update on my first day at work. I am writing at 11:35pm, after taking a four-hour nap. As I write, there are several miniscule bugs annoying me on my computer screen as it is the only light in the room now, and being bugs, they are drawn to it. Anyway, back to my day. I feel very well and hydrated now, but that wasn’t always the case today. I starred adversity straight in the eye today, and I am not sure of the effects of it yet. To help you understand, I should start at the beginning.

I was picked up at 8:30 to get to work. I had many bags of stuff, and I soon realized that I would be riding on the back of a motorcycle! I had to hold all my stuff, pray they wouldn’t fall while we rode and, most importantly, pray that I wouldn’t fall off while we rode! It is very bumpy on the roads, and not to mention very crowded. Following the Rules of the Road in India means you follow a pecking order; the bigger you are, the more authority you have. It begins with trucks and buses, then to Sumos (or jeep-like vehicles), then cars (which are all compact), then rickshaws, then motorcycles, bicyclists, pedestrians, and lastly dogs. Oh, but there is one exception to the rule and that is the cow- the cows are not phased by the hectic roads and never move to get out of the way. They know that everyone will move to get out of theirs. Must be nice. Anyway, so I am on this bike and driving through town. I don’t know my way around and I do not go out on my own. I realize that I must be the only white person in Dahod. I do not see any others, and I get plenty of stares. Being a minority has an interesting affect on your psyche. I do not feel special- I feel out of place and intrusive. Luckily, this has only been a worry that I’ve created in my mind and has not been verified by my India hosts at all. I sincerely believe they are happy to have me, and without a doubt I am happy to have them!

When I arrived at Sahaj, there were pleasant greetings, and I was embraced as a guest. My bosses Jabeen and Ranvir were out for the day, and I wondered what affect it would have on everyone’s first impressions. I was asked to sit and wait, and after five minutes or so Umil, the head of marketing, came to introduce himself. He told me that they start the day with a prayer, and I asked if I was able to join. He welcomed me next to him as he led it. The prayer time was familiar in that it was the same seated pose that I had done many times in yoga class, and there were three “om” chants, all of which I participated in. Other than that, I quietly listened with my eyes closed. After prayer, a team member is assigned to give a presentation to the group. Today’s presentation was about the state of Gujarat, and was spoken in Hindi or Gujarati, I am not sure of the difference yet. Either way, I like the idea of it, and I like the overall culture at Sahaj. There are very inspiring quotes up on the walls, and fans everywhere making the rooms comfortable (or so I though). My day was going great. I was given a tour of the place by Umil, I was allowed to use internet to get in touch with the rest of the world, and I was shown the catalogue of product lines and told to look through to see which one I wanted to work on. Besides being told to do that for my meeting with Ranvir tomorrow, I had nothing to do. I decided I would best be suited for the international home fashions lines and began looking into the fair trade market share of the U.S. I wanted to have some figures prepared and to show that I utilized the day.

Unfortunately, at four pm with two hours to go in the day, I began experiencing symptoms of heat exhaustion. I blame it on the fact that last night I did not have sanitary water, so I could not drink until I got to the office this morning. At that point I downed two liters, then sweated it all out. The once comfortable rooms became unbearable. I was worried that if I did not say something and ask to lay down, that I would experience a worse condition- faint, vomit, or low blood pressure. In hindsight, I do not regret my decision, as health needs to be my first priority. I am disappointed however because it was not an ideal way to start a relationship with my co-workers at Sahaj. I heard laughs and chatter, and no doubt was becoming the butt of a joke because I was sitting in the showroom, not particularly out of anyone’s way, and trying to breathe and relax. I would rate the experience a seven out of ten on the Lauren Humiliation Scale. Communication was difficult because Umil was the only one speaking English, and I could not apologize to the team for the disturbance I was causing. I can only hope that tomorrow, when Jabeen and Ranvir come back to the office, this will all be settled and it will be nothing more than water under the bridge.

When they finally came to tell me I would be going home, I was very excited. I was to take a van because my luggage had been delivered from the airport. I was very nauseous in the car ride. Once I arrived home, I quickly went to Dharmistah for consoling, and couldn’t help but cry out of frustration. She told me not to cry and that it is ok. She had a difficult time understanding me at first like everybody else, but with persistence we worked it out. The concept that my body needs to adjust to a place like India is a very weird one for a native Indian because this is what they are used to. For me it is difficult, but I think this experience has taught everyone I am more fragile and proved to them that I need mineral water. Ok, well these bugs are annoying me, so I think I am going to try to sleep again. I have yet to sleep more than four hours in a row, and I hope that will also change soon. Peace out. Love you all!

-Your CV
Lauren