In a three-month visit to India, Matt Milligan encountered food poisoning, pollution, squalor, scam artists, and extreme poverty.
But the Groveland Township resident is glad he went and plans to return someday.
‘India is a very interesting place,? Milligan, 20, says. ‘It was very worth it.?
The 2003 BHS graduate spent last semester in India studying Buddhism as part of a program through Antioch College. The credits transfer to Albion College, where Milligan is a senior majoring in religious studies.
Milligan left for London Sept. 7, where he spent three days in orientation before he proceeded to New Delhi for more orientation. Upon arrival he found a very polluted and dirty city.
‘They have different levels of clean and the air is dirty,? he says. ‘Pollution is everywhere. The dirtiness got to me.?
Milligan became sick as he says his body tried to adjust to the foreign bacteria. He had other things to adjust to, also. In Delhi, he rode in motorized rikshaws, a three-wheeled mode of transportation. Although there are roads and highways, Milligan explains there are no lanes.
‘It’s just a free-for-all,? he says. ‘Rikshaws are jockeying for position. There are basically no rules. There are some lights, but they (the drivers) didn’t pay attention to them. The fact that I later came back to Delhi and thought it wasn’t that insane says something about the rest of the country.?
Milligan also learned to barter, and noted wryly that he was ‘always ripped off.?
In addition to bartering and transportation woes, on the first day in India, a man tried to pick Milligan’s pocket while he was standing in line to board a train. Milligan elbowed the man and he ran off.
After his three-day stint in Delhi, Milligan traveled to Bodh-Gaya in Bihar, the poorest province in India, 200 miles east of New Delhi. Bodh-Gaya is considered the most holy spot in all of Buddhism, it is where Buddha reached enlightenment under what is considered to be the tree of knowledge.

In Bodh-Gaya, he stayed at a monastery, rising at 5 a.m. every day and studied at Mahabodhi Temple, the mecca of Buddhism, learning the history of that religion, as well as receiving Hindi language training.
Communication wasn’t much of a barrier, as Milligan notes almost everyone he met in India spoke English, although to varying degrees of fluency. He was commonly asked to tea, but soon found it was to ask for donations, which he called ‘a scam,? because the money isn’t given to the schools or kids it is purportedly for.
‘If you call them on it, they’ll admit to it,? Milligan says. ‘They’re polite about their scams, they’ll apologize. They know a lot of Westerners see the poverty and want to help, so they constantly play the card. You have to make sure it’s a legitimate charity.?
The most surprising Milligan encountered during his trip was the amount of celebration. September and October is the biggest Hindu festival season, he says. Puja is the name for individual festivals and every day, there was a new puja. Indians were jolly, eating candy in the streets, dancing about in circles and lighting off fireworks, although Milligan says you never knew when they would explode.
‘It was like every day for almost two months was Christmas,? he recalls. ‘There is so much poverty and devastation it was amazing they still had hope and faith to celebrate all the time. I think that’s one way they had to escape the suffering.?
Milligan did not get to celebrate with them, however. He had been warned to avoid large public gatherings and the police as much as possible, because, he says, ‘If you go to jail in India, you’re there until they decide to let you go.?
Mostly, what Milligan did was work. He focused on getting academic work done and typed over 60 pages of his senior thesis in one week.
‘It was either that, or twiddle my thumbs,? he laughed.
Milligan and the other 35 American students studying in Bodh-Gaya didn’t have any recreation. There were no games or television or fun activities to occupy their time. Milligan says they developed nervous habits and were 100 percent on their work all of the time with a lack of relaxation.
There were no toilets, just holes in the ground and only two showers in the entire monastery for 100 people staying there. Milligan says there was a lack of hot showers because of the number of people.. When he first arrived in India amid temps of 90-100 degrees, they didn’t mind the cold showers, but as the temps dropped into the 60s and then into the 40s in late November and December, he says people were going for weeks without showering.
‘People were getting to the point where they just wanted to get by,? he said.
Still, Milligan, who wants to teach religion at the college level, says the entire experience has given him a well-rounded perspective and he got a lot of work done.
He also went on several field trips to holy spots, including Sanchi, a large sit in the center of India, with many stupas, a sort of tomb with Buddhist relics about 2,000 years old stored inside.
‘I didn’t attain spiritual enlightenment,? he smiles, ‘but a very human perspective… People do what they need to do to survive. The people I met in India were aware of their status, but happy and content. They were filled with joy. They were human. Not any more or less spiritual, just people.?
Milligan believes most Americans would be surprised to learn that Indian religions are similar to Christianity in the way they are practiced. The highlight of the trip for him was being able to look at religion as an anthropological and sociological phenomenon rather than a personal phenomenon.
Milligan arrived home a few days before Christmas.
‘I was very happy to get home and relax and watch tv and movies,? he says. ‘I don’t find myself missing India, but I’ll wake up and think I’m still there. It will take time to reposition myself in the world. It feels like a strange dream.?