For all my friends/family that aren't on Facebook - wanted to post the video I made of my experience in India here for your viewing pleasure - hopefully :) So, turn your speakers up, and enjoy!
Namaste!
11 April, 2011
13 February, 2011
INDIA!!! (part one)
FINALLY! I sit down to write about my time in India: Two weeks… Four cities…. Four friends… One amazing time that I will cherish forever.
To be brutally honest, I thought I knew what I was getting into – having heard so much about the country, cultures and experiences from all of my Indian friends at Thunderbird. For over three years now, all I could do was “wish” I could see India, and experience it for myself. But last month – that wish came true, and I set off on one of the most incredible journey’s I have experienced.
Nothing – and I mean absolutely nothing – can prepare you for the stimulation to every one of your senses in India. The sights, the smells, the people – my god. It’s so vain of me to actually think I can capture the sheer breadth of the country in one blog post, or one visit for that matter. There’s so much to this incredible country. I have seen just a glimpse of it, in my opinion, and long to go back and experience more.
I would consider myself a pretty well travelled individual – but I have not experienced anything like this before. In general, India is loud, dirty, crawling with people and stressful. But, amid the chaos, the country exudes serenity unlike anything I’ve felt before. The juxtaposition of the country – lies in its ability to be assault tourists senses – yet offer them glimpses of beauty, peace, stillness, and sheer awesomeness with hospitality that leaves them yearning to experience more.
Few countries I’ve seen offer visitors such an overwhelming (at times) array of people, languages, foods, dress and cultures and landscapes. The country, enriched with history absorbed the best and worst from its occupiers, immigrants and natives – all of which have emblazoned upon the country something unmistakably elusive - something I have not experienced anywhere else in the world. It’s a country of over a billion people, with millions of gods, thousands of unique cultures, and one experience that cannot even be overshadowed by the Himalayas to the north.
To understand India completely – would be akin to being indifferent to it. There is no middle ground in India – it’s all extremes… it’s a place of mystery, of beauty, of pandemonium, of tranquility. It’s a place where your wildest dreams are actually reality! It’s quite simply – inconceivably extraordinary
Now, don’t get me wrong. During my time there, I definitely got frustrated, questioned processes and was annoyed with the chaos. I got sick, I got delayed in traffic, planes and trains, was pushed around and stared (sometimes glared) at. India, to me, is a country that doesn’t reveal it’s magnificence immediately and to just anyone, like the beautiful European countries. No, it takes time to see beyond the nuisances of everyday life there – and to appreciate truly all that India as to offer its visitors.
India, to me – was much more than just a trip. It was an epic experience. And in the next few blog posts that follow, I hope to capture the essence of the few cities I visited – Mumbai, Alibaug, Delhi and Agra.
“So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.” ~Mark Twain
To be brutally honest, I thought I knew what I was getting into – having heard so much about the country, cultures and experiences from all of my Indian friends at Thunderbird. For over three years now, all I could do was “wish” I could see India, and experience it for myself. But last month – that wish came true, and I set off on one of the most incredible journey’s I have experienced.
Nothing – and I mean absolutely nothing – can prepare you for the stimulation to every one of your senses in India. The sights, the smells, the people – my god. It’s so vain of me to actually think I can capture the sheer breadth of the country in one blog post, or one visit for that matter. There’s so much to this incredible country. I have seen just a glimpse of it, in my opinion, and long to go back and experience more.
I would consider myself a pretty well travelled individual – but I have not experienced anything like this before. In general, India is loud, dirty, crawling with people and stressful. But, amid the chaos, the country exudes serenity unlike anything I’ve felt before. The juxtaposition of the country – lies in its ability to be assault tourists senses – yet offer them glimpses of beauty, peace, stillness, and sheer awesomeness with hospitality that leaves them yearning to experience more.
Few countries I’ve seen offer visitors such an overwhelming (at times) array of people, languages, foods, dress and cultures and landscapes. The country, enriched with history absorbed the best and worst from its occupiers, immigrants and natives – all of which have emblazoned upon the country something unmistakably elusive - something I have not experienced anywhere else in the world. It’s a country of over a billion people, with millions of gods, thousands of unique cultures, and one experience that cannot even be overshadowed by the Himalayas to the north.
To understand India completely – would be akin to being indifferent to it. There is no middle ground in India – it’s all extremes… it’s a place of mystery, of beauty, of pandemonium, of tranquility. It’s a place where your wildest dreams are actually reality! It’s quite simply – inconceivably extraordinary
Now, don’t get me wrong. During my time there, I definitely got frustrated, questioned processes and was annoyed with the chaos. I got sick, I got delayed in traffic, planes and trains, was pushed around and stared (sometimes glared) at. India, to me, is a country that doesn’t reveal it’s magnificence immediately and to just anyone, like the beautiful European countries. No, it takes time to see beyond the nuisances of everyday life there – and to appreciate truly all that India as to offer its visitors.
India, to me – was much more than just a trip. It was an epic experience. And in the next few blog posts that follow, I hope to capture the essence of the few cities I visited – Mumbai, Alibaug, Delhi and Agra.
“So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.” ~Mark Twain
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