I think uncomfortable learning was about being in India after Williamstown, you know, experience after theory. And again, a couple of people bungled in the first week and other people didn’t really enjoy it, which was again understandable. I think the tense time for people – probably like in other experiential learning – was at the very beginning where the concept was confronted by the reality. Frankly, the Williams kids were abhorred by the poverty and the beggars. It was the confrontation of these liberal views about India, particularly in the post-Nehru era, with the reality of people clawing at you as beggars and kids in rags being run by gangs to beg from you for gain. It’s pretty rough stuff.

You can’t predict how people will react to an experience like India. The people you might most think would enjoy it might be abhorred and the people who you think, “ugh, there’s a problem,” they might be quite relaxed with it. Again, it’s a lot of drama and shock and theater. But you have to get over a lot of pretty ugly stuff. You know what [Samuel] Johnson said, “When you’re bored with London you’re bored with life.” I doubt anybody could be bored in India. They could be horrified but they couldn’t be bored.

Bill Loomis '71