Two Years Ago Today

Water bungalow

Bangles for sale

Beach crowds

Boys on the beach

Monkey

Two years ago today, I met India for the first time. By all rights, it should have been a match made in hell.

--Snow-lover in the land of searing heat and perpetual sunshine.
--Feminist in a patriarchy rife with eve-teasing, dowry, and female infanticide.
--Solitude-craver surrounded by a billion people.
--A skeptic of the institution of marriage, in the land of relentless arranged marrying.
--Obsessive picker-upper of discarded gum wrappers, amidst streets used as garbage dumps.
--Someone for whom "spicy"means "mouth on fire," in a land where it's not considered edible unless it has chili peppers in it.
--Agnostic in a land where religion and life are inseparable.
--Happily single, in a society where " unmarried" is an aberration.
--Mosquito magnet in mosquito hell.

But as they say here about arranged marriages, "the love comes later."
And it did, for this arranged marriage. Or at least, the "like" came, and it was sooner rather than later.

What has India shown me?

--The astonishing, boundless energy of life at its rawest.
--The humbling resourcefulness of human beings with few resources.
--The stunning view of the ocean just outside my window, which still takes my breath away, daily.
--Exuberant colors, in sarees, flower garlands, bangles, temples, and even trucks.
--The quirkiness of monkeys, cows, and pigs amicably mingling with their human neighbors.
--A Kodak moment on every street corner.
--Warm, shy, and contagious smiles of both children and adults.
--Feeling at home in the vegetarian majority.

My friend Mary says that we are put in situations that challenge us so that we can stretch and grow. If so, I've been doing a lot of growing these past two years!

Peanut vendor, Mumbai

Santhome Cathedral

Cyclerickshaw in Agra

Wedding band

Children at play

Comments

[weez]

This is very good. I remember you. And I am happy you are having such profound adventures.

[DonnaK]

Two years--Find out what the residency requirements are for India. After two years you might be able to ask for permission to live there as an Indian citizen.

[shannon]

When you have to leave, I am not sure if you will be as sad as we , your readers , will be! Your growth has also been for our growing benefit! I hope you have touched others that are your readers that might have not known so much about a beautiful and diverse country named India!

[nooneneedknow]

Are you very busy at work? Or on a holiday perhaps? You have just one entry till now (in September)?!
I can't very knowledgeably say that `India is really an experience!" because I have travelled nowhere else. But, there is one thing - I never feel inadequate because I haven't.
I appreciate your finding something positive in everything you experience! Keep at it Basia!