No big deal when you're in a modern country. Then, here comes an elephant down the street, so we dodge that. The next thing we see is an oxcart carrying a load of computers. Then along comes a camel, and then a Mercedes Benz motorcade. And all the while, kids are begging at the bus window.
Life happens right there on the streets.
You start to see, too, where political science professor Kathy Hochstetler is coming from when she says she's taught about India for years, but never fully understood it until going there. Westerners don't tend to think of children as productive members of the family, says Hochstetler. But in India you see kids working very effectively as beggars, dancers, peddlers. It's so removed from our experience that, without seeing it, it's hard for us to understand the role that children play. Once students see that, it helps explain why India's population is so large and continues to grow.