Diving in
Day 1 – 20th April 2018
Unlike many, I enjoy long flights. They give me plenty of
time to sit in silence and practice stillness.
And if not, I can always read or
watch a movie, listen to music, sleep or even have meaningful conversations so
each moment since we take off, including the in-between stop over, is part of the
package of unusual circumstances involved in travelling and removes the
expectation of being headed somewhere, since arriving there is just one more
part of the constant journey of Life.
Arriving in India, I must say, is always somehow unsettling.
Not necessarily in a negative way, for me. The first thing that strikes me is
the special scent – to me it smells of incense and varied spices always, and
this in itself has a powerful uplifting effect. It sort of switches on another
level of sensory awareness.
Then, it’s the amount of people. Always so many everywhere –
especially in huge cities like New Delhi! Nevertheless, I feel at home with people here. There is an intrinsic kindness I can’t quite describe, but it makes
me feel welcome anywhere I go. It’s like India opens its arms wide and receives me with a celebrating heart each time I get to touch its land.
Then, at this time of the year, it’s the heat. Today,
however, there is a soft breeze that lightly soothes the hot air - at least now in the morning.
Then, it is the noise out in the streets. Hooting traffic
and people speaking and moving all over. Different kinds of music playing and
mixing with each other. TVs going on and on like a record turning, playing
advertisements, bollywood series, news… All of this is overwhelming to me.
After a while I need to get away from the noise, just for a while, to breathe
deeply and get ready for more.
Then, it is the heaps of rubbish sitting on the sidewalks,
on the streets, basically anywhere one looks there is some sort of debris, be
it refuse or potholes, gravel, stones, never ending road works and repairs that
somehow often look shabbily unfinished… This is part of India and though it can
be saddening, I choose to accept it as it is. Hopefully, somehow, there will be
a gradual turnaround in the rubbish issue, as rag pickers keep earning their
keep collecting it for recycling and as more and more youngsters start creating
alternatives to the endless platic piles.
Then, it’s the intense colours. They are all around us,
creating a vibrant cocktail that almost tastes like a blend of tropical fruit.
Speaking of which, reminds me of the food stall vendors and the delicious
mango, banana, coconut… someone selling something everywhere. I believe India
has more entreprenurs per squate metre than anywhere else. There is always
something to trade and young men come from their hometowns into the big cities
to seek a better life by owning their own tuc-tuc or whatever else inspires
them to earn a dime, thus clogging the city with excessive population,
pollution, dirt and poverty, not realising that far out in the countryside,
cultivating a piece of land might have been a surer and more peaceful way of
putting food on the table. Homelessness and begging is rampant and the
fascination for the big city turns out to be a demise rather than a new lease
of life. But this happens anywhere around the world – the illusion that living
in urban clusters can somehow be lifesaving or lead to otherwise inaccessible
riches.
We had already booked a place to stay at today, which seemed
good and clean on the photos, so when we arrive at the metro station where we
are supposed to get off, we ask a tuc-tuc to take us there. It so happens he
says he knows where it is, but doesn’t really. No wonder! The name is not
exactly the one on Booking! On an unfinished street and in a seemingly
unfinished building we find it. It has been open only for a month so at least
it will definitely be clean. We wonder whether it is the place we booked, but
the hotel receptionist reassures us that it is and honestly we are hot and in
need of a cold shower and a short nap so we give in easily. The room is
acceptable, withing Indian standards, clean enough for one night, no
cockroaches in sight. Actually, last time I came to India I saw none, which
means my conscious choice for the best possible experience worked out pretty
fine :D
Today we have to go to the train station to buy our tickets
to and from Khajuraho. When we get there, lo and behold, there are hundreds of
people all over the place, sitting or lying on the ground, standing at long queues,
hustling and bustling to and fro. We head to a queue and stand there patiently
for a while, some men trying to cut in front of us but us not letting that happen,
many bystanders staring at us as if we are misplaced, until a kind man comes to
me and says we’re not supposed to be standing there because there is an
airconditioned office upstairs just for tourists to get their tickets! What a
mighty blessing! Choosing Love turns out to be a basic practicality of a life
significantly lived, in honour for each breath.
After getting the tickets – Sleeper to go (which the
assistant warns us has no AC and can get quite noisy – not recommended to
tourists) and 2AC to come back because these are the only places available (2AC
costs 4 times the price of Sleeper but has some very welcome amenities, such as
bedsheets, blanket and pillow). One way or another we view it all as an
exprience and have chosen to embrace it in its smoothest possible version, so for
us it is fine just the way it is.
We decide to go up to Conaught Place for a bit of sightseeing
and to grab a bite before going back to the hotel for an early night in – we have
to be at the airport at 4.30 am.
After a walk around, we buy a few local pasties –
sorry I can’t recall the names – and a shake and go and sit in the centre of
the round “square”, so to speak. A strong wind starts whipping up and the air
is so hot and polluted it becomes hard to breathe, the sun is dimmed by a
greyish haze and after a short while amogst the local youngsters, who are lying
and sitting on the grass, some playing music, others just hanging out with each
other, we decide it’s time to call it a day and head “home”.
I love this feeling of “home” being wherever we are. It’s
safe, welcoming and always the only place to be at any given moment. It
completely anihilates homesickness and it creates a bond with each place we are
at, now.
See you tomorrow…
Well, actually I have already told you about tomorrow in my
first post of this series, so see you the following day 😊
💙💚💛💜
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário