“How was India?” is the most common question I have gotten
since returning home. Friends, family,
and even strangers all ask. I always
answer with “It was great!,” which it was.
In reality, my answer should be “I have no clue.”
I have no clue how to summarize 3 ½ months of my life into
one engaging sentence. I have no way to
put India’s overwhelming sights and smells into words let alone one
sentence. I rode elephants, climbed
mountains, wrote, took pictures, ate my weight in rice and sambar, rode in
consistently-unsafe autos, got very ill with a myriad of bugs, and drank buckets
of chai. This list could go on for
paragraphs.
Without question my favorite part about India was
experiencing something new every single day.
I never knew what to expect from India, but I knew to expect something
new, whether it was trying goat for the first time, exploring a new city, or
meeting new people.
The generosity of the people whom we met in India never
failed to impress me. Indians are
hospitable to total strangers. Indian
families and professors welcomed us into their homes and hearts with cups of
chai and steaming samosas and gave us parting gifts of jewelry and saris. Never before have I experienced the same
boundless and indiscriminate kindness.
India has many flaws – its medical, political, and
educational systems to name three. (I
could say the same exact thing for the United States of America.) Despite their myriad of woes, the Indian youth
whom I met had an excitement and hope for the future, a hope many disillusioned
Americans have lost. In the face of
crushing poverty and economic uncertainty, India’s youth dream and invent with
an unparalleled entrepreneurial spirit.
The United States has lost its drive to succeed and rise. India, though realists might warn against
growth without regulation or infrastructure, is experiencing the same increase
in relevance and economic growth the United States faced at the turn of the 20th
century. It builds hopes of Superpower
status at the same time that political analysts predict the fading relevance of
the United States.
I have so many places I want to go, people I want to understand,
and languages I want to learn. Next on
my list of “Places to Go” include France, Chile, Peru, Thailand, Jordan, and
New Zealand. I do not know when I will
go to these places, but I will do everything in my power to go there. All 7 continents by the time I am 30, right?
Until the next Adventure!
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