Tag: Virali Dave

By viralid

About a month ago, a few friends and I spent the night in the Thar Desert in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. After riding camels into the desert, we ate a dinner that our guides had cooked by campfire — roti, daal, and vegetables. And as it got progressively darker, we got to see more stars in a sky virtually free of light and air pollution. We spent some time talking and walking around the desert before watching the moonrise at the top of a dune. And when the light from the moon made it difficult to see the stars with the same clarity, we returned to where we’d set up our mattresses. The next morning, we woke up with the sun and after eating a light breakfast, we hopped back onto the camels to leave the desert.
...continue reading "Stargazing in the Thar"

By viralid

In December, I published a piece on my personal blog in which I reflected on what coming to India for five and a half months would mean to me. I wrote of my goals and hopes, focusing on how I wanted to explore my identity and better understand the parts that made me who I was. When friends and family had asked me why I chose to study abroad in India of all places, I had spoken of the importance of looking inwards before looking outwards. I needed to better understand who I was, to better explore my identity, I had said. I focused on a quote I had come across on the internet: “Travel not to find yourself, but to remember who you have been all along.” ...continue reading "Shifting identities"

By viralid

I’ve been joking with my friends lately about how I’ve been in the middle of an identity crisis. Coming to India has helped me not only to find a new balance between Indian and American, but also to better conceptualize what it means to be so, what it means to be me.
...continue reading "Shifts in understanding identity"

By viralid

In many ways, communities define your experience in a new place. They help you orient yourself to your surroundings and make sense of the new world and your place in it. My host community is one that I love. When you know something is temporary, you’re sort of forced to value it or at least consider it differently. Lucky for me, my study abroad experience thus far has been mostly positive, and I feel extremely grateful for the people and places that have made it so. Here are the five aspects of my community here in Hyderabad, India. ...continue reading "Defining Community"

By viralid

I was born in Mumbai, India and lived in Lagos, Nigeria and Houston, Texas before my family and I settled in a small town in New Jersey—all before my fourth birthday. For as long as I can remember, I have been balancing myself between Indian and American, as if the parts that make me up are as distinct and separate as the countries on both sides of the world.

For years, growing up in a fairly homogeneous small town caused me to consider my background as a source of discomfort. When topics such as Indian weddings or outfits came up, my identity served as a source of pride; but for the most part, being an Indian-American was something I was ashamed about, something I wished away. And it wasn't until I got to GW that I stopped feeling like the weird little Indian girl and starting first accepting and then valuing the many parts of my identity.  ...continue reading "Defining self"