This year, I unexpectedly celebrate my birthday in India. I thought I would spend the whole winter at home on my beloved Lesvos, but instead of warm tea and crackling fireplaces, I find myself sweating in the hot Indian climate.
I’ve already had one six-month trip to India behind me, and similarly, this year’s journey is filled with a mixed emotions and experiences.
India is beautiful, colorful, but also raw, loud, and at first glance, even cruel.
India is a whole world in itself and always fully absorbs you.
The population of India is still divided into castes and sub-castes. In today’s modern world, each part of India deals with this division differently, creating much confusion. There are huge differences between castes. With India’s growing economy, the number of rich to very rich Indians is increasing, who like to resemble the West. They wear short (atypical for Indians) clothing, are overweight, and travel for recreation.
They love their country, and so 99% of their travels are within India, and probably around 90% of tourists in India are Indians themselves. So, actually they don’t need us – white people any more 🙂
One of my destinations this year were the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located far from India in the Bay of Bengal, just about 100km south of Burma. There are nearly 600 islands here, of which 36 are inhabited, but only 9 are accessible to tourists. The rest are still inhabited by indigenous tribes..
These islands are a paradise full of beautiful white beaches, turquoise sea, and dense, diverse jungles.
Unfortunately, from another side of the island it may look like this:
But back to the natural beauty, which is truly breathtaking in India.
My favorites are the trees called Banyans. These trees are national symbols of India and can live for 200 to 500 years. However, the Banyan also represents “eternal life” because it has ever-expanding branches and so-called aerial roots that emerge from the branches and descend into the ground.
Another uniqueness is that the Banyan has a relationship with a certain type of wasp that has evolved with it and can pollinate it. And the largest Banyan, located near Indian Kolkata, covers around 14500 square meters of land!
I didn’t take this picture because I’ve never managed to photograph a Banyan to show how massive it is…
Exploring the natural beauty is the more enjoyable part of traveling in India. But even on beautiful islands, you can’t escape the real India.
What does that mean?
Traveling through India always brings to the surface topics that need to be processed and subsequent tests to check if they really were processed. One of my big topic this time was accepting the world as it is, with its beauties and cruelties. Yes, the duality of the world that is talked about a lot.
It’s hard for me when I see animals in suffering state, and that’s something you encounter at every step in India. I had to work hard on that so it wouldn’t pull me down into states of pity and sadness… At every opportunity, I saved food and give it to the dogs.
My strongest experience was meeting a tiny, emaciated puppy I found near a luxury resort. It was so thin that it could barely stand on its legs. I fed it, and it looked at me with huge eyes, in which I saw so much gratitude and love that it’s indescribable… It’s like I knew those eyes…
Accepting that it just is like that is incredibly hard for me…
But what can I do?
Can I change something?
I got the answer a few days later when I was feeding other puppies with yogurt, and an Indian standing nearby with his masala chai (tea with masala spices, sugar, and milk, which Indians drink several times a day) observed me, then went to the stall, bought a biscuit, and broke it for the dogs. And that really warmed my heart.
That one biscuit won’t change anything?
It will at least change the attitude that this Indian has… slowly… step by step.
I personally do it because it’s my nature, and I don’t have to think about it at all. On the contrary, when I try not to do it, I go against myself and immediately don’t feel good.
Whether it’s about a puppy or a child… we all live here together and are one, which means we feel mutual empathy and behave accordingly. And I believe that sooner or later, everyone will feel this…
What do I take away from this journey? Greater strength to accept the world as it is but with greater hope that change is possible and is actually constantly happening and a more open heart to help as much as I can and as it is natural for me…
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
