So my trip to India has come to a premature though not unwelcomed or sad end. The crew and I have decided to cut our losses and head to Malaysia about 2 weeks earlier than planned. Originally we bought tickets flying out of New Delhi on November 12th directly in Bangkok. However, we all decided it would be a better decision to just buy new tickets to Malaysia and get out of India earlier. There are a few reasons why I am happy with this decision. Now I am no hard hearted, frigid person, but neither am I Mother Teresa; the zeitgeist of her time in this area. However, I think for my emotional well being it is better to leave a place that so openly profits from its suffering masses without any qualms whatsoever. Personally, I am tired and emotionally exhausted at having to be rude and almost downright mean to children and toddlers aged 2 through 12. This has been one of the harshest realities I have had to deal with here. No child should be alone on the streets at night by themselves begging from money or food to eat. No child should have to lie down on a cold pavement peppered with the fecal matter of all manner of animal and rodent from rat through horse and human. No child should have to be shouted at by any adult whose heart is being bleeding, who is trying to come to terms with the morals they have been taught and who is grappling with their conscience and the disparity between what is safe and what might be ethical. An adult who given the opportunity and right circumstance would help in any possible way, but who also knows that this is neither safe nor intelligent, since they would immediately be swarmed upon by dozens of other kids and permanently be on the radar of said children who roam the streets and could quickly turn to harassing, violent mob if not appeased. Hunger and desperation forces people to do certain things that most of the “civilized, cultured, above poverty level” masses would rather not think about. So these kids did what they had to do, and so did I. I kept my mean mug and used my most bitter, scornful voice dripping in distaste and condescension when saying NO , in the pathetic hope that the child would leave me alone so that I would not have to twice perform the ACT. No child should have to deal with this. It’s tiring , it’s exhausting and I’m sure wanes and detracts from the humanness of all parties involved. So goodbye to that. That I will never miss, and will hopefully forget with time. . .though I doubt it.
I will also not forget or miss the smog and pollution that covers India like a thick blanket. The eye burning, skin coating, allergy, sniffing, sneezing, coughing causing fumes that make breathing hard. Seriously how is it even legal to do this ? I was perusing my pictures of India recently and realized how many of them seem blurred, but not as a result of my camera lens but rather the smoke and smog that’s in the air. Today , we are staying at a hotel with a roof top restaurant and pool. I cannot even enjoy the stars because they are impossible to see even on a cloudless night. Yes it is that bad. Beautiful sunsets should not come as a result of toxins in the atmosphere.
Lastly, I will not be missing the number of accidents and bleeding people I have seen here and that is all I am saying on that matter since I would rather not call to memory those occasions.
Enough of the bleak no? So what will I be missing? The beaches! The warm , inviting waters of Goa and Kerala state. Ohhhh … they seem to call to you, day and night with bars and huts intermittent along the water’s edge filled with their expats, Diaspora and locals. So many fun memories. The food . . .chappattis, idlis, naan ( buttered, plain and garlic) , chicken tikka, tandoori, afghani, pannier palak , alu gobi, jeera rice, chicken biryani, papad, pampadams, shahi paneer, matar mushroom masala , paneer lababdar, navratan korma , dahl ( green , red, yellow and black) , masala chai tea and maybe a lassi plus all those other meals I can’t pronounce or never learned its associated name. *sigh* yes I will be missing this. I will also miss our long and sometimes eventful train rides. Just a few days ago, trying to catch a train from Jaipur to Agra we somehow got on the wrong train and went 4 hours in the wrong direction and finding ourselves in Ejmir hahaha. I will also miss asking someone the price of something , then dividing by 3 and subtracting 79 to find out the actual price I should be paying. I will miss arguing with said people who told me these prices. I will always cherish, being able to see the Bengal bay, the taj, the forts, the palaces , hearing the stories of the Maharaja and seeing histories in painting. I will miss observing this culture, the good and bad because I no longer think they are mutually exclusive. However, time passes and life moves on, moments become memories and future becomes the present, with that said myself and the crew will be in Malaysia soon and I’m looking forward to the memories I will create there too.
Love,Dee
PS I'm too tired to proof this, read and forgive :)
