Travel Writer, India: ‘One day you could be attacked by a monkey and another day driven in a taxi to the middle of nowhere’

India has changed my life. Frustration, disappointment, anger, joy, laughter, realisation are only some among the things I experienced in India – a land of both richness and poverty. The complexity of the Indian culture and society brings a state of enlightenment in which you change the way you view the world.

Up until now, you thought that everything you needed was in the West, wealth in the materialistic meaning of the word. But life is not only wealth. There are millions of people living in destitution crying out for help. We don’t see them so we forget about their existence.

In India everything is visible. In India you walk through the streets and see people sleeping on the pavement wearing torn clothes and covered with thin blankets to protect their bodies from the cold of the night. Wandering through the streets of New Delhi, you see street vendors who call foreigners to their stalls filled with the colourful and the less colourful accessories. Life for survival like in the old times described in historical books. People in Europe or America have a different perception of life. I won’t call it worse or better. It’s different.

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Indian society has everything that it needs to build a wonderful value system. Religion is an inherent element of the Indian culture. A great diversity and coexistence of religions such as Hinduism, Islam and Christianity are one of the many things that shock and marvel when we experience India with our whole heart.

Suddenly, everything seems easy. It doesn’t matter what god you believe in. Today I chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare in Bangalore. Tomorrow I enter a Hindu temple to participate in performing pooja, and the day after I take in the beauty of the Roman-Catholic Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica in Kochi, a town with Dutch, Portuguese and British influences. Yes, these countries knew the value of India. There is no other place on Earth as fascinating as India. In the southern part of the country is the place where Vasco Da Gama anchored his ship in XV century after having found the sea route from Europe to India making the spice trade between the two continents easier.

Simplicity and ordinariness in the positive meaning of the words are the characteristics of the everyday life here. For some this is not enough, for others this world brings enlightenment and possibilities. For me it is the world of possibilities where you can learn life. Because life isn’t always easy and problem free. More often, life is a challenge. Every day is filled with difficulties we must surmount. Just like the colours of beautiful Rajasthan overshadow the littered streets of Jaipur, the smiles and serenity of the locals can alleviate the obstacles encountered on your path. This serenity turns out to be the medicine for the chaos of everyday life.

Nothing is easy in India, yet every moment is valuable. One day you could be attacked by a monkey and another day you can be driven in a taxi to the middle of nowhere. What to do in situations as bizarre as this? Keep moving forward, step by step continue your journey towards your destination. You may not reach it but I guarantee you that something else will happen, something that will change your life forever.

[ Irish Times Amateur Travel Writer Competition ]