Will I Also Get Used to It?
New Delhi, India. We were all tired but decided to go out to a bar since the program was already coming to an end. Little did we know that later that night we would see a guy riding an elephant in the middle of the street. This was real and I was shocked. They were standing still waiting for the red traffic light to change, so they could then continue their way without Delhi’s characteristic traffic jam. We were not the only ones in the street watching this spectacle, but it seemed that we were the only people amazed by what we were seeing. It seems as if elephants walking on the streets of India’s capital city are not something remarkable for locals.
But what struck me the most that night had nothing to do with the use of wild animals for commuting. It had to do with my lungs.
A week or so before that night, India’s government as well as some international agencies registered the highest concentration of pollution in the air, in Delhi’s history. The standard measure of air quality was as much as fourteen times the safe limit; thousands of schools were closed because of this. It was chaotic.
But at the bar no one seemed to care.
Young, conscious, energetic adults were all drinking, eating, and even smoking in the rooftop! There was no show of protest, of disagreement, of disgust to the situation. They were living their lives as if nothing was happening. And I was on a side using my inhaler at a higher rate than ever before (I am not kidding). Such levels of pollution apparently were not shocking for them, they got used to it… Just like they did with the elephants on the streets.
What worries me the most is that I am seeing this again and again. Not just in New Delhi, but everywhere.
San Francisco, United States. I just began Babson’s semester program in San Francisco, California. Here there are no elephants walking on the streets, but there are a large number of people who live in the streets. I was aware of this; more than seven thousand people are homeless in San Francisco. But I guess I never knew what this meant.
Along the same streets that you see many people sleeping on, you will see walking others whose companies are worth billions of dollars, or who claim to be solving “the world’s toughest problems,” or who are making the world “a better place”. It is basically impossible to walk on the streets of San Francisco and not see a homeless person. I have interacted with homeless people before, but it is different here.
In just one week, I have witnessed 5 homeless people shooting heroin in the middle of the day.
In two of those instances, I was walking with locals, friends of mine. As I saw this happening, I was really shocked (naturally). I just could not believe my eyes! I had seen homeless people before, but never anything like this, or close to this. Anyways, I asked my friends if they were seeing what I was seeing. They did not seem surprised. Their response? “Yeah, it sucks, but you will get used to this.”
Get used to it? Really?
Well, I guess I understand. At the end of the day, we need to be able to sleep at night. If we embody all the problems that we see every day, we will not be able to rest tightly. After all, what can we do to solve for pollution, homelessness, poverty, and more?
Have a good night. Sleep tight.
I hope you dream with elephants.
New Delhi, India. We were all tired but decided to go out to a bar since the program was already coming to an end. Little did we know that later that night we would see a guy riding an elephant in the middle of the street. This was real and I was shocked. They were standing still waiting for the red traffic light to change, so they could then continue their way without Delhi’s characteristic traffic jam. We were not the only ones in the street watching this spectacle, but it seemed that we were the only people amazed by what we were seeing. It seems as if elephants walking on the streets of India’s capital city are not something remarkable for locals.
But what struck me the most that night had nothing to do with the use of wild animals for commuting. It had to do with my lungs.
A week or so before that night, India’s government as well as some international agencies registered the highest concentration of pollution in the air, in Delhi’s history. The standard measure of air quality was as much as fourteen times the safe limit; thousands of schools were closed because of this. It was chaotic.
But at the bar no one seemed to care.
Young, conscious, energetic adults were all drinking, eating, and even smoking in the rooftop! There was no show of protest, of disagreement, of disgust to the situation. They were living their lives as if nothing was happening. And I was on a side using my inhaler at a higher rate than ever before (I am not kidding). Such levels of pollution apparently were not shocking for them, they got used to it… Just like they did with the elephants on the streets.
What worries me the most is that I am seeing this again and again. Not just in New Delhi, but everywhere.
San Francisco, United States. I just began Babson’s semester program in San Francisco, California. Here there are no elephants walking on the streets, but there are a large number of people who live in the streets. I was aware of this; more than seven thousand people are homeless in San Francisco. But I guess I never knew what this meant.
Along the same streets that you see many people sleeping on, you will see walking others whose companies are worth billions of dollars, or who claim to be solving “the world’s toughest problems,” or who are making the world “a better place”. It is basically impossible to walk on the streets of San Francisco and not see a homeless person. I have interacted with homeless people before, but it is different here.
In just one week, I have witnessed 5 homeless people shooting heroin in the middle of the day.
In two of those instances, I was walking with locals, friends of mine. As I saw this happening, I was really shocked (naturally). I just could not believe my eyes! I had seen homeless people before, but never anything like this, or close to this. Anyways, I asked my friends if they were seeing what I was seeing. They did not seem surprised. Their response? “Yeah, it sucks, but you will get used to this.”
Get used to it? Really?
Well, I guess I understand. At the end of the day, we need to be able to sleep at night. If we embody all the problems that we see every day, we will not be able to rest tightly. After all, what can we do to solve for pollution, homelessness, poverty, and more?
Have a good night. Sleep tight.
I hope you dream with elephants.
I am not pretending to solve the world’s biggest problems from one day to another. I am just suggesting to not be blinded by our routine. We should always feel shocked to be experiencing things, or seeing things that we know should not be happening. Pollution, homelessness, and similar problems, are not meant to be there.
I am sure that I, too, have gotten accustomed to many of these problems because they are now part of my routine. I want to change that.
Let’s start with that.
I hope you have a good day.
