Good morning from the domestic terminal!

We are all checked in and ready to fly to Port Blair to continue our massive Ganges watershed investigation. Despite our early morning, we are happy. 

Last night we had a lively discussion about Delhi—a complicated place, for sure. Framing the day amidst the remnants of the Moguls in the peaceful Lodi Garden then ricocheting through Old Delhi created a certain sense of the contradictions inherent in urban India. How can one city house over 24 million souls and still manage to keep functioning? Where do we fit in the rabble? 

As is the inevitability we often refer to on these trips, what we do here raises more questions than answers. These questions are meant for us to explore for much longer than these two weeks. Sometimes they spark senior projects. Other times, they need to marinate far longer. Maybe they creep back in on an early morning commute ten years down the line. Maybe one of us will find ourselves back in Delhi for work, fondly remembering the cycle rickshaw ride we took with Akbar, thinking less about the smog in the air and more about the wonder at how Old Delhi stays electrified despite the impossible tangle of partially-insulated wires overhead. 

These trips are truly about those quiet moments in the future. We are building those questions now, hoping they turn into actions or thoughts or deeds—maybe even deeper questions—further down the line. In the meantime, we’ll do what Rilke said; we’ll live the questions. 

While we are living the questions, we may have spotty internet. The Andaman Islands are a remote (and stunning) locale. Please assume the best and know you’ll hear from us as often as we are able.