While reading this article I felt as if I was on a completely different page than the author, Ryszard Kapuscinski. I did not get the impression that I was reacting to the same experience he went through. For me, the essay seemed all over the place and filled with small anecdotes that were not fully developed. There were several times when I wished I could have had a more in depth glimpse at what was going on. For example, the sunrise in Benares piqued my interest and I would have loved to know more about his emotions while being surrounded by something so unfamiliar. Perhaps the structure (or lack thereof- in my opinion) and organization of the piece mimicked Kapuscinski's feelings. I got the impression that he was completely overwhelmed in India and I too felt completely overwhelmed while reading his personal narrative.
As a journalist he took the step to immerse himself in a situation where he was out of his comfort zone and I found it commendable. However, his way of sharing his experience was difficult to follow. I never found myself wanting to hear more, nor was I "sucked in" by his story-telling. I would have loved to learn more about his relationships with the people around him and the culture he was in. His account of his surroundings was detailed, but not on a personal level. For example, the descriptions were choppy: "Singly and in groups. Entire clans. Columns of pilgrims. The lame on crutches." I like the detail, but due to the length of the piece I found myself skipping over these sections looking for a particular anecdote with more depth.
The personality of Kapuscinski shined on and off. As mentioned before, I could see this piece being more powerful had he focused on one or two events where his identity became very clear during a specific experience that had enormous significance for him. On the other hand, I can see how his way of telling his story (all of its pieces, all together) emphasizes how lost he was in this culture and his state of confusion. Kapuscinski's voice was not strong and well defined, I had a glimpse of his character and where he came from when he digressed into his life stories in Poland, but I never had a keen sense of who he was in India. Maybe he too partially lost his sense of identity when he was abroad?
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I have said this before, but I didn't like this essay. It was long winded, and to me, he made typical responses of people who go on study abroad. Really, in some instances I felt like he was whining and complaining about him being different. I wanted to know more of his emotional connections with the types of people he was encountering in India, and how he had to learn to adapt, which isn't clear in his writing.
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