This was not your typical trip to India.

Typical might mean a month backpacking through the country.

But we didn't rough it.

We went on Rotary's dime.

“To be on a Group Study Exchange through Rotary,” began Henry MacDonald, this year's GSE chairman and team trainer, with a wiggle ... “You have to be,” then he continued to squirm back and forth as he made eye contact with each team member during a training in January, “flexible.”

And every day of our visit required flexibility - that's how you get through a GSE trip, especially one to India.

A few hours after landing our GSE team - myself, librarian and teacher Beth Carroll, county planner Brenda White, Wal-Mart assistant manager Bob Bird and our team leader, Rotarian Penny Poling - was given a schedule. Though this was merely a rough draft. We came to quickly understand India Standard Time really stands for Indian Stretchable Time. Later, we were told by India's District 3200 GSE chairman, Dr. J. Balavenkatasubramanian (Dr. B), this is the country's biggest problem.

Although we saw only a small portion of this diverse country, for four weeks we immersed ourselves in the culture by staying with host families, not only eating the food but eating with our hands and being up for anything.

FAR FROM HOME

Some may be thinking that this was a month-long vacation, but the GSE experience is not one that can be easily explained. I can best describe it as a trip taken by a political figure - filled with stops, greetings and photo opps.

Our time was divided into Rotary club presentations (11 club presentations), sightseeing - landmarks and Rotary projects - vocational visits, time with hosts, eating (probably the largest chunk of time) and some free time. A trip like this is not for one accustomed for pampering - there's no time for hair, nails and makeup - and little is in your control.

At the same time, we had few worries. Our visit proved hospitality is in Indians' blood. All our meals, travel and day-trips were provided by Rotary District 3200.

With each host, we became a family member wherever we stayed - I was auntie (what all close family friends are referred to by children) to one of my host's daughter who I got to call Ammu, which is her pet name (a name only used by the family and is like a nickname). Bob also greatly enjoyed being called uncle.

ROTARY TIME

We were required to be at Rotary meetings to give a presentation to each club on central New York, our Rotary district, our careers and our family.

Many members took away from our presentation a new understanding of life in America. Many were surprised to learn that we included several photos of our families and felt that family was important to us. We heard on multiple occasions that it was nice to know that family is valued because this is an important focus in India. In fact, the norm is for Indians to live in joint-families.

An American stereotype held there is that once a child is 18, they are out the door and on their own. Indians see the American dysfunctional family in popular films and thus concluding all Americans are this way.

I jokingly responded in these cases, “Your life isn't like a Bollywood movie?”

Instead of reinforcing other American stereotypes, I changed many Indians' minds. “I picture Americans as blond, tall and wide, but I see you and my mind is changed,” said Madhu M., club president of Cochin, referring to my nearly black hair and petite size. This may sound humorous, but he was being honest.

Many other questions and comments had this same approach.

I was scolded for my lack of appetite, told I must be the shortest journalist in the world and even asked if I was a spinster. Due to a language barrier, I came to understand I was being asked if I was single.

Bob shattered the perception on men when he told of his cooking ability, and Penny, a tall blonde, joked, “No one thinks I look Indian.”

Beth, 31, and Brenda, 30, were bluntly asked, why they were so old and so unmarried. Later at an all women's college after an open discussion revolving mainly on love marriage versus arranged marriage, both were approached and, through giggles, asked how many boyfriends they've had.

Such exchanges were always a learning experience, teaching us not only about another culture but on how we as Americans are perceived in another country.

ROTARY PROJECTS

We saw several projects of District 3200. We visited a number of Rotary schools and vocational training centers, hospitals and crematoriums.

Our last Rotary visit was to the Sankara Eye Care Institution, an eye hospital in Coimbatore. During out tour, we saw surgeries and met village children receiving care. The center's Gift of Vision Rural Outreach Eye Care Programme is said to provide high quality eye care at the door steps of rural India by sending out doctors and volunteers to remote villages on weekends. During the week, buses are sent out to pick up villagers needing care. As of Sept. 30, 2007, the center did 6,126 weekly eye-screening camps, according to the hospital.

Funding is partly provided through Rotary. We are told for $30, one poor villager can be treated thus regaining their vision. Dr. R.V. Ramani, the managing trustee who showed us the facility, said doctors here perform thousands of surgeries a week. We were able to watch as villagers entered the building in one group, another filled rows in the waiting room, yet another were given drops to dilate their eyes and others, whose drops had taken effect were being led into an operating room. By this point, other patients were being bandaged and led out of. It was assembly-line surgery.

The visit is one that brought tears to our eyes because of the many lives the hospital has helped. We met with poor children whose vision was restored thanks to the hospital and learned of villagers who were treated and able to continue working.

CUSTOMS

The experience gave us a personal look at families and customs. I awoke several mornings to my hosts performing pooja, a religious ritual performed by Hindus. In each home, a room or section is set up with Hindu gods, statues and paintings. Each morning, fresh flowers are picked from their yards and then placed on each god. Prayer is done by chanting. I usually awoke as my host began these chants. Pooja basically involves making offerings to a chosen deity(s) to seek their blessings.

In addition we were exposed to classical Indian dance and music along with being treated to a Bollywood movie, “Jodha Akbar.”

CLOTHING

The saree is a colorful dress still warn in much of India. Under the sari a blouse, like a halter top, is worn and a matching under skit made of thicker, solid material. The saree is wrapped around this skirt and then tucked and pinned to it to hold it all together. Many married women were a saree daily but it is often worn on special occasions.

More common is the salwar kameez with a dupatta. The salwar is pajama-like trousers; the kameez is a long shirt, and the dupatta is a scarf, which can be worn in several ways. It is usually worn over the bosom for modesty. Each piece of the outfit is made of cotton and could be the same pattern or in a matching set. In shops, women will pick a set of fabric in a design of their choice and then have each piece made. These outfits range from a simple cotton piece to elaborate designs with beadwork or embroidery.

These two styles are most common. Only occasionally did we see “western” style outfits or jeans.

All children wear uniforms to school and younger children wear more western ware or matching tops and skirts for girls to be dressier.

Men simply wear slacks and button up shirts. For special occasions or business meetings, they wear a suit and tie. But if they were to be traditional, they would wear a kurta - a long tunic top with pajama-like bottoms.

But for lounging around, many wear the traditional dhoti - the same concept as sweat pants but there's no resemblance. Beth came up with the best description to explain it to her students - “it's like a bed sheet wrapped around the waist.” Underwear is worn underneath, but a pocket is attached to these undergarments so men can easily carry their wallets.

MEALS

As a guest, every meal was a feast. We never went hungry and tried everything. Indian food is quite spicy, but every host was reminded by Dr. B to go easy on us. Food was kept more bland at the beginning and got spicier as the trip progressed.

Common in Tamilnadu and Kerala are coconuts and rice. But each is not eaten in the way you may expect. We drank coconut water, ate coconut chutney and consumed rice that had been ground up and formed into a steamed bread or iddly. An iddly served with coconut and tomato chutney was common for breakfast.

Lunch could be several items and is the largest meal Indians consume. Many dishes in the south are gravies (sauces) eaten with dosa, a crepe. Meals end with curd or raita, yogurt with red onions, cucumber and Indian spices.

Dinner for us was always another lunch, as we were guests. But usually dinner is a smaller meal eaten late in the evening.

And all items - except for yogurt or desserts - are eaten with your hand. The rule is to use your right hand only.

One host began, “I was asked once, 'why don't you eat with a fork?'” said N.K. Mahesh or “Mac” from Ooty. He responded, “Why would I eat with a fork that has four prongs, when God gave me a hand with five fingers?”

And there is a technique for this. The trick is to use your four fingers as a scoop to hold the food. Next shove the food into your mouth with a push from the thumb.

REVELATIONS

While riding in the Dream Palace, a rented van we traveled in for three days with “occasional” air-conditioning, Beth had an epiphany.

“In New York City, I will never ride in a taxi with any driver except for an Indian,” she blurts out.

“Where are you from,” she pretends to ask an approaching driver. “Pakistan. No thanks, I'll wait for the next one.”

“Do you see the driving here, this is the best training in the world,” she concludes. “I now know why Indian cabbies can get through traffic so quickly and so calmly.”

In India, traffic of two lanes often stretches into three to five lanes swelled with large trucks, smaller SUVs, cars, mopeds, bicycles and autorickshaws. Other obstacles are cows, goats and roaming dogs. Often the only thing moving in this mess is the motorbike. And the sight of a family of four on a moped is common - none wearing helmets.

We all agreed that this is likely the last year that India will appear this way though. The biggest change coming is the introduction of the a $2,500 nano by Tata Motors Ltd.'s. Known as “the people's car,” it will be sold at half the cost of the country's current cheapest car.

The nano is geared for city driving. The reason for this is most roads in India lack maintenance. Paved roads filled with pot holes, some that stretch into missing sections, wind through villages, cities and countryside meeting up with dirt paths.

It is also intended for middleclass families - those currently relying on a moped.

According to Mr. Tata at the Nano unveiling ceremony held in January, he built the car with this scooter-riding family in mind: “I observed families riding on two-wheelers - the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family.”

According to a Wall Street Journal article, Tata plans to roll out about 200,000

units of the car next year. The Nano is part of a global race to lower the prices of entry-level cars for millions of new developing world consumers. While India's population is more than one billion people, only around one million passenger cars

were sold in the country last year. By contrast, more than seven million motorcycles and scooters were sold.

This nano is 20 percent smaller than the next car on Indian roads but will still be safer than mopeds.

Let's fast forward to 2009. With a million more nanos on the road, current roads, even city roads, will not be able to keep up. This will also increase pollution and smog, and I can't even imagine parking.

If the harmony of traffic is to remain, change is the only way. Anger by new drivers due to road conditions and traffic, in my opinion, will be the spark for necessary changes. Thus this tiny car could restructure much of the India we saw.

In the end, I took away this fact: despite doing things differently, we're basically all the same.

And, short jokes are universal.

Lake Life editor Ashley Hanry can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 220 or ashley.hanry@lee.net