By: Petra March
The rhythm of New Delhi is “organized chaos.”
First, I’ll explain it through example:
Even though the road laws, the ones painted onto the concrete, the ones that are written in ink in an official document somewhere, can be seen, they are not being followed exactly. There are unspoken laws that the drivers all abide by instead. Cars may be in the bike lane, but this is perfectly understandable. The bike lane is not for bikes. This principle runs through New Delhi from the top to the bottom. The rules may be written, but New Delhi citizens have different rules by custom.
Second, I’ll express my reaction to it:
There’s this feeling of being tossed into a whirlwind, and I enjoy it as I accept it. Plans will not go smoothly. Make plans anyway. Accept the chance of change that pops up throughout the day. Re-plan accordingly.
There is less unwavering rigidness here than the United States because there are so many people, so many lives, and you will be an obstacle or aid for another person on any given day. It is understood that you may need to compromise or accommodate.
These same principles apply to everything I have learned so far.
Obstacle: a government order that is relevant to us is mentioned in an article.
Aid: the article lists the exact category, number, and date that the order was issued with.
Obstacle: the order does not exist on any government database.
Aid: a person has uploaded a picture of the order to the internet
Obstacle: it is written in one of India’s many minor languages.
Aid: artificial intelligence can read and translate text in photographs.
Obstacle: this image may or may not be real. It looks real, but the source is questionable.
Aid: the same order is overturned several days later.
No mind, now. Even so, the law may be overwritten by a necessary custom or the custom may be overwritten by a necessary law.
The tug, push, and pull of customs wrestling the written is the core anxiety that builds the foundation of discourse in this country.
There are so many customs, so many laws, and these will be an obstacle or aid for another custom or law on any given day. It is an uneasiness that either may force the other to compromise or accommodate.
Highlights of the week:
1.) One person began explaining how something worked in rural village life. It was a small group of us, all eating lunch. She started speaking from the head of the table, “the reason the village meets this way doesn’t make sense at first, but once you realize-” then she switched into Hindi for half a minute. She finished up with a conclusive statement in English: “Now you understand. Isn’t that fascinating?”
I couldn’t stop laughing. I did not understand.
2.) With one hundred percent certainty, one man in the office knows all the lyrics to every Mary Poppins song. With fifty percent certainty, everyone else around him has absorbed the lyrics through osmosis. He does not use headphones. Everyone around him does.
3.) Of the most humorous involved a misunderstanding of too many layers to explain. I have tried to place it into words many times, I have failed an equal number of times. It ended in a group effort to write an email.
This post was written by a student at Regent University School of Law. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.