From Delhi To Duke: One Fulbrighter's Experience [Q&A]

Summer 2017 was full of rich conversations. On June 19, I had lunch with Joel Burt-Miller and we talked about his 9-month stay in India and his post-assignment adventures. He taught English at a Delhi school as a Fulbright Fellow after graduating from Brandeis in May 2016.

The 71 year old Fulbright program started under President Harry S. Truman’s administration. Based on a bill proposed by Senator J. William Fulbright in 1945, the program seeks to foster peace and international cultural exchange.

I applied to the Fulbright program a few years ago, but didn't get a fellowship. That's life, right? But hearing about Joel's experience was way more sweet than bitter.

At 23, Joel is currently pursuing a Masters degree in biomedical science at Duke University. He’s making strides towards becoming a doctor. His dream is to bridge medicine with his love of music.

Here are some highlights from our lunchtime catch up:

Why India?

“I chose India because there’s a family connection. Both of my parents are from Jamaica, but my mother’s ancestors were indentured servants from India in the late 1800’s and they were brought to Jamaica. So it was like retracing our family history. I was probably one of the few in my family to go to India after so many years.”

What was the application process like?

“Usually with many applications you should really think about the story you’re trying to tell and how that comes across. Also, if you go on the program’s website, every program has specific requirements that they’re looking for. The application was due in the summer. Every month [the grant coordinator at my university] would send reminders [for each step of the application process]. I had to write two essays, a personal statement and a statement of grant purpose. Both essays are one page long, single spaced. The personal statement - you can write anything about yourself. The second must talk about how this [program] applies to your future and what you are looking to to while in India.”

Let’s fast forward. How was the flight to India?

“I had previously done a flight to South Africa. And it was about 15 hours; it was very similar in length. So I had experienced a long flight before. But what was different was when I was going to South Africa it was pretty empty so I had a row of four seats to myself and I made a bed. The flight to India was extremely packed. India in general is just a very overcrowded place so this was my first experience. Everyone was crunched together and sitting on top of each other. So for 15 hours I was sitting straight up in my seat.

Any tips for traveling on long flights?

“ I have plenty of tips. First of all, you shouldn’t sit the whole time. You should get up get to stretch your legs and walk around. Just get the blood flowing because it’s possible for blood clots to form if you’re in one spot for too long. Also, I recommend if you have a favorite candy or sweet to bring that. It will come in handy when you have nothing to eat. In my experience they do a good job of feeding you very often...Even though I wasn’t hungry sometimes I would just take [the food] and have it with me for when I did get hungry. I love watching movies. I think time goes by faster that way and they usually have the latest movies out. [And] As soon as I get on the flight I always set my time to time of my destination so that I can start getting adjusted to it.”

What was your first impression of India?

“As soon as I got off the plane it was extremely hot. I got there on June 30 [2016]. It was over 100 degrees. It was really hot and humid. Instant sweat as soon as I stepped out the plane. When I first landed I was put in a car immediately and taken to my hotel so I didn’t really see much. Starting the first couple of weeks I started to get the sense that it’s really crowded. It’s alot of people. There’s no sense of personal space. People are literally pushing everyone to get to where they’re going. It’s like a New York times ten, but it’s so normalized in the culture. They have a metro system and people will force themselves in before letting other people come out.”

On getting acclimated to his new surroundings:

“I didn’t start working in the school until after a month. Throughout all of July we were acclimating to the culture. We had formal Hindi classes. We had formal English language training. We had orientation for a  week, got our phones, got our apartments. August 1 was my actual start date. I didn’t have AC in my school. I did have AC in my home so I would say my home was necessary because it was a break from the chaos outside.”

Did you have roommates?

“Yes. I lived with two other fulbrighters and we were all placed in different schools. There were 19 English teachers in India for the program. Five of us were in Delhi.”

What was the most challenging part of teaching?

“Classroom management was hard. Teaching in general was eye-opening for me because being on the other side I have so much respect for the teachers I’ve had. It’s not easy at all. I was working at an all boys school and I had eight classes. I had two groups of sixth grade. Two groups of seventh grade, two groups of eighth grade. One tenth grade class and one eleventh grade class. Most of my classes were 40 to 50 boys. I was also interacting with the older students as well. So I would be interacting with about 800 students a day. But I loved it. It was just that at the times you really needed to buckle down and have the students buckle down those were really struggle moments.  

How did you overcome the language barrier?

All my students we first and second generation learners, which means that they came from more of a deprived background. This meant that they spoke very minimal English...English in India is very classist.

For my younger kids - sixth and seventh graders - I did have another teacher who helped to translate, but she was more there for disciplinary measures. For my older students, if there was a gap, I would have a strong student help to translate... I started to pick up more Hindi so I was able to speak in “Hinglish,” which helped alot actually. I could definitely get around and get by. I would be talking to rickshaw drivers and be able to navigate my way around.  Now that I’m back i’m afraid I might lose it.

Tell me about the “head nod.” I notice it watching alot of Bollywood movies.

“The head nod is interesting. It can mean many things. It really depends on the context. [If someone] moves their head fast, that means “I really agree.” Slower can mean “OK.” It can mean pretty much anything. I was told when I had some friends visiting that I would do it without even knowing. I did pick it up. Talking to people you don’t even have to say anything. You just move your head to show that you’re listening or you agree. I think I stopped after having people call me out on it.

Did you have any interesting experiences regarding race?

“I cut my hair before I went to India. When my hair started growing it was like an afro. Maybe people would ask “Where in Africa are you from?” They just didn’t know. I guess when I started speaking [Hindi] people got confused a little bit. And as my hair grew out it became curlier; people were really confused. Sometimes they even thought I was from South India. South Indians tend to be darker skinned and have curlier hair. My students just knew I was black. It can be a racist thing, but I guess in terms of my students, they knew I was black but I guess our relationship got way passed that. I never had any outward racial [discrimination]. Staring is a consistent thing in India regardless if you’re White, Black… It’s just like an intense staring culture. It may make some people uncomfortable, but you just have to realize it’s not you, it just the culture. It’s like they’re staring into your soul when they’re looking at you.

More on race:

In general, I have friends who have had outward racist moments happen to them. Actually Dehli has a high population of Africans living there. And also people who have come for school, for work. One of my friends from here and is of African descent. He was not teaching. He was working. I met him there. He had some racist comments happen to him constantly. I didn’t personally experience it. But I’ve heard stories of violent acts against Black people in India.

Movies do give a glimpse into the cultures they depict. I see alot about honor, marriage, family and tradition in Bollywood. Did you see that played out?

“I think that is a big part of their culture -family, tradition, honor. They are really big on community. I had many conversations debating arranged marriage versus love marriage. And hearing their perspective is interesting. They really want the whole family involved. And if the family doesn’t support it it won’t happen. But in terms of community, our neighbors were our close friends; they would have us over for dinner. Celebration is big. Period. There would always be festivals throughout the whole school calendar. They would celebrate every god... But one specific memory that I have is when it was Holi. The whole community got together in our little community garden. You just saw old people, young people all dancing. Music is a big thing. They just welcomed me, my family, my friends [who came to visit me]...In terms of festivities and cultural traditions, they are very lively and colorful. Everything is just so extravagant. I went to a couple weddings and everyone was dressed to the tee.

“It’s also a very religious nation. Hinduism is the most popular religion, I would say. Alot of the [school] staff were Hindu… There’s one particular celebration that they do in schools called Saraswati Puja. This is when they celebrate the goddess of learning. For their celebration, they decorated this whole room. They put an idol of the goddess in the room and they have a prayer service and celebration. It’s like a reunion time and there would be food served to everyone.

On religion:

“From a Christian standpoint, I approached it just like an area of learning. Trying to figure out what they believe and why they believe. Never judging because we believe in different things. I would go to religious ceremonies and just observe. And it was interesting because it gave me more of a view of the world and how different it is. It was the first time I was ever exposed to something like that and to see how devoted they were was really eye-opening. I never tried to impose my beliefs. I was just open to listening to what they believed... I did also go to a church once in a while and to see them mesh the cultures was interesting.

Tour of Southeast Asia

After teaching English in Delhi, India through the Fulbright Program, Joel and a few friends traveled to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

What are your top three takeaways?

One is that kids are kids no matter where you are in the world. My students reminded me of students I went to school with growing up here in the Bronx. They love to have fun. They love to laugh. They love to play. I played cricket with them, made jokes. Another thing, the more I see of the world, the more I realize just how similar we are. I also did a lot of music while I was there. Despite where I am music is universal. And despite our language barrier, through music we were able to communicate with each other, which was really powerful for me to see. Because I do see music and medicine coming together in my future. And [third], my mother was able to visit while I was there. It was cool to see how her trip reflected some things she saw growing up as child in Jamaica. For example, she would see some rituals that they would do with goats, but she didn’t realize the significance [back then].

What now?

After [Duke University] I will take my MCATS and then apply to med school. And that could land me anywhere. I’ll apply next year this time and that would mean I’d be enrolling, God willing, fall of 2019.

On his future work:

My plan now is to go to med school and probably become a primary care physician and work in different underserved communities here and abroad, but I have seen and I do see all the time music’s ability to help heal. And through our stories and words we’re able to find a sense of healing and support and build community from it. So I want to find a link between how that sense of healing and music can be used in my medical practice. I don’t know exactly how that looks now, but i’m excited to explore it and figure it out.

On traveling:

I think it’s important to be able to understand someone who’s not like yourself. You don’t even need to get on a plane and go out of the country to experience that. I would say engaging people who are different than you speaks volumes and it’s very important to open your circle and talk to someone the you would probably never talk to. You can do that right here in New York, in the Bronx. You’d learn so much from someone who’s different from you.