I Love India

I love India!

I know, I know, enough already, but just give me today and tomorrow to express some more of my love for India. I have to get it out of my system for the time being, and then I’ll be all set till the next visit.

I’m often asked out of all the places that we’ve lived (there have been many: El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, India, China, and now Hong Kong), which one is my favorite. While I always say each place has been special, hands down I end with India. I say, India has a very special spot in my heart. I also say I could expatriate to India believing I could live there forever. I simply say, I love India. (Yes, I am definitely on my way to feeling a strong fondness to Hong Kong as well!)

Don’t get me wrong. India is a terribly tough and brutal place. It’s extremely dirty and even more poor. It has very backward ways and is abundantly, no overly populated. It’s intense, can be brutal on all the senses, and is pretty much a hardcore spot in the world.

Yet, India has a people that are so gorgeous. The people cause me awe. I love India because I love its people so much. They are kind and respectful. They are nice and welcoming. They let me in with a wobble of their head saying, Yes, I see you, I hear you, I get you. I’m always treated like a maharani queen while I’m there. The men stand when I enter a room, and I never have to carry a bag. The women are humble and soft spoken, yet the very moment I give them my smile, I’m in; they easily return it radiating their bright smile right back. Oh, and the women’s dress–well, the colors and textures amaze. Then the little children….they are so precious, yes so poor, but also just so cute and shy and eager to let me give them my love.

Believe me when I tell you I can remember the day I fell utterly in love with India. We were (safely) witnessing life from our car in a tortuous traffic jam (they can be pretty epic in Bombay!), and life was completely buzzing outside: rickshaws, cows, tons of cars, even more pedestrians, beggars and then children beggars. We were in Juhu so we could see the sun setting on the ocean with a wildly crowded beach and the light was hazy but glowing–it should be called Indian light. Maybe it has already been claimed. It was at this moment that I realized something very important that I carried with me while living there and still believe it to this day. India is beautiful because of the chaos; it is the chaos that makes India so beautiful. That’s when my love affair started, and it still remains.

I love India. I love the people. Their warmth and kindness is always felt. I love the chaos. Somehow it all just moves and flows and works together. I love how energized I fell when I go there. I find myself smiling in awe at so much. Once I’m in India after a few days and giving my own attempt at the Indian head bob, I feel home.

Until next visit….but come back tomorrow for plenty of pictures of India’s beautiful people!

This moment was so sweet. Indians are very stoic when in front of a camera. I finally got this mamaji to smile alongside a gorgeous student who I could tell loved the Indian people as much as me.