India Speaks

Driving home from the airport, 10:30 pm Delhi time, weaving through cyclists, scooters, buses busting with bodies in my professor's parents' little ford compact, amid all of the smells and sounds and lights I saw a construction sign, many signs actually, and they all read 'Work In Progress.' Now maybe because I had just spent 22 hours flying around the globe and potentially because I had only slept a minute handful of those hours, but for whatever reason, those words resonated with me, and I repeated them over and over in my head. Work in progress, work in Progress, work in progress. I have come to do work in progress in progressing an idea. India, the country, the people, are a work in progress; working towards development, towards equality. As I travel throughout this country I am going to keep these three words in mind. When I see slums, and filth, children begging, women accepting a life subordinate to men - work in progress. When I see anger and confusion - work in progress. When I see education, cleanliness, success, empowerment, development - work in progress.