You don’t go to India to Vacation…You go to Challenge your Perspective

I have been meaning to write a blog post about India for ages because it had such a profound impact on me. India is a deeply rich and complex culture, being there for  2.5 months, I didn’t even scratch the surface but I got enough of a taste to know that it was unlike anywhere I had ever been. Despite getting dengue fever within the first 2 weeks there, I stayed on for another 2 months and I can’t wait to go back! Lucky for me, I have a 10 year visa 😉

If you are called to go to India then you absolutely must go – I will attempt to share some of my anecdotal experiences and observations but just know that you have to go yourself 😉

There is shit everywhere: LITERALLY…cows and stray animals roam free in the street and as a result relieve themselves wherever and whenever they feel like it. A friend of mine who I met in the Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training I did in Rishikesh put it well, the shit is symbolic for how the culture deals with what society deems to be ugly. It’s on display for all to see! In the US, we “hide our shit.” Everyone and everything appears to be more put together than it actually is. While in India it’s in your face and you have to deal with it. You have to find a way to navigate all of the shit. It makes you more resilient. It makes your stronger. It makes you face the reality exactly as it is.

Find peace in the chaos: It’s interesting because out of the people I met traveling I met two kinds. Those that LOVED India and those that HATED it. Didn’t really find much in-between. The ones that hated it were extremely uncomfortable with how dirty things were, how loud everything & everyone is, and frankly their nervous system was in shock. Of those that loved India, the commonality I saw was that they had all surrendered to the chaos, the unpredictability, & the lack of control. You have to learn how to trust in the universe and know that everything will work out.

After recovering from Dengue Fever I decided I wanted to go to the beach to relax – I had originally planned to go to New Delhi but given my condition I thought it best to forfeit my plane ticket and adjust. The first beach I went to wasn’t for me so I stayed one night and then decided to go North to the beaches of Goa. I wasn’t sure exactly where to go and was chatting with this very kind Indian man on Couch Surfing, who I am still friends with, and he was suggesting various beaches. I still wasn’t convinced but decided to catch a train anyway, still unsure of where I would go.  I got off the train at the main station and spotted a western couple in the distance. We locked eyes and started talking. They asked me where I was going and I said I was not sure 🙂 They were heading to a hostel in Anjuna. I ended up going with them to their hostel and loved it! I stayed 4 nights. If I had left life up to my plans, I never could have imagined up such an outcome!

My friend James and I had made a reservation to go to Dudhsagar Falls. Of course the tour company changed the time of the reservation at 11pm for the following morning, changing it from 7am to 6am meaning that we missed the bus. haha James was quite worried as we were trying to figure things out. I had already been in India for a month+ at this point so I wasnt stressed. I went and had breakfast while he paced. Sure enough we ended up getting a private taxi for the same price and getting our own private tour for the day. We started the tour around 10:30am. Sometimes you just have to embrace the unknown and things somehow end up better!

Everything is negotiable:  ANYTHING! Its actually super fun once you get the hang of it. The Indians I encountered were very dramatic, which I loved,  they frequently put on a dramatic scene about how it would be impossible for them to go any lower. Then once I walked away, most were ready to start negotiating and at the end of the ordeal, everyone was smiling again. I found it to be all about getting comfortable with the discomfort. I learned not to take things so seriously. Emotions change with a flick of a switch in India but from my experience the constant is that Indian’s have huge hearts. In fact, I have actually never experienced such love and support from strangers as I have in India.

Eating with hands: Thanks to the beautiful Indian man Tony, who I met in Nepal and subsequently hung out twice with in India, I volunteered at an orphanage in Bangalore for a little over a week. I had the best training ever on eating with my hands as I carefully studied how the children ate and after they saw how hopeless I was with the task, they helped me! Eating with your hands is actually an art and yet another lesson on letting go. There is a technique to it but again you can’t be rigid and if you aren’t relaxed because you’re worried about making a mess, you usually make more of a mess (at least that is what happened to me). I subsequently found that eating with my hand helped me be more present with my food and actually helped me connect more to its qualities (i.e. taste, texture, temperature etc.). I would say its a mindful practice. Plus is super fun! As a child I had to eat everything with a knife and fork, even pizza! And when my parents were not home I would secretly eat the weirdest foods with my hands – like a fried egg haha So I’ve always been drawn to eating with my hands.

Feminine Qualities are Embraced – although there are certainly issues with gender inequality in India, I found that feminine qualities were embraced in both genders. It is very common in India for men to express emotions to each other. I witnessed men holding hands in the street and embracing. I also saw men going out in packs together and dancing, like women in their 20’s do in the states. I also had the privilege of having an Indian partner and I have never been treated in such a nurturing way by a man, he took on many of the tasks that in western culture are typically performed by the female.

Natural & Architectural Beauty – As I was wrapping up the blog post, I realized it would be a travesty not to mention the astounding beauty of the Taj Mahal. It was surreal and is 100% worth the travels in getting there. I entered the Taj grounds at sunrise and stayed all day staring in awe at its grandeur. It was so beautiful it almost didn’t look real. It was hard to process which is why my friend Juhi and I stayed all day.

Although there is a lot of pollution and trash in most part of India, I was blown away by the natural beauty of the untouched jungle and backwaters of Southern India. The backwaters of Kerala specifically was gorgeous, peaceful, and romantic. I highly recommend renting a boat and spending a couple of days out on the water.

India was such a rich experience for me. I leaned into the culture and met so many locals along the way, they gave me the gift of a new perspective. While India is huge, I also experienced how small the world is. I ended up meeting up and traveling with three different friends I met in Nepal which was so cool! I also made deep new connections in India. Three of my new friends, I have already seen since when I stayed with them in their hometowns of Melbourne & Perth Australia. Traveling brings people together and forms close bonds in short periods of time. India also deepened my relationship with yoga, which I am seeing now is changing the course of my life (more to come in my upcoming post on whats next!). Undoubtedly I will be back to India soon. There is so much more to see, learn, and so many more experiences to be had 🙂