Is it just me, or other people, after one trip, obsessed
with India? I was there two years ago, for little more than
month, and have since been to China and Russia, and yet I
cannot seem to escape from the pull of India. The memory of
walking into a hot Bombay night at 2am, feeling the whole
city waiting for the rains to come, the sight of cows in
downtown Bombay and elephants on Dehli streets, the Taj, the
basillica of Bom Jesus, Elephanta caves, conversations on
trains, the heat, the rain etc seems to haunt me. Is this
normal. I am desperate to go back, and have volunteered to
teach there, just in the hope that I can recapture these
feelings. Is this possible? Is it normal? Will I ever cease
to be such an Indophile? I am in your hands, people- is
there a cure? (if not, stories that will stoke my desire
will do- I am like one of those teenagers who can never here
enough about my beloved.)
Paul
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only one thing to do man--head back!
Paul
For those that the India bug has bitten I'm afraid there is
no cure.
I've seen some people where family, career, mortgage etc has
dampened it down for a while but just mention the sunsets in
the Thar desert, the taste of a good masala dosa, the call
of a chai wallah at 3 am and the lust for India rises
quickly in their eyes.
Now lets see 17 years and is it 9 or 10 trips later I'm here
on the net still wanting more.
I hear you, man. Most of my friends here have traveled all
about; Central America, China, Russia, etc, but I'm the only
one who's been to India. They stopped talking about their
trips long ago, but I've been back 2 years this month and I
still can't shut up about it. There's no cure, and it's no
madness, just a peculiar form of xenophilia. It's nice to
know there's others, though...
Not everyone has this reaction, but definitely it affects
a few of us. Does't have to be a particular country though.
Sometimes it's India, sometimes it's somewhere else.
Sometimes it's just the fact of travelling at all in other
cultures, countries. If you're bitten, that's it.
You either get out there and see some more, or spend your
life wishing you did.
If India's the place for you...the 'cure' is to go back.
Nope, no cure. Going back just makes you sicker. Home-sicker
for mother India. But it's a great way to go.
Especially with stupitstar. 'The India bug' is completely diffirent from the traditional 'travel bug' frequently discussed on these pages. When my friends ask me: 'Why India? What's so special?', I can only answer that is the maddest place I've ever been to, it is like another planet. All other countries seem in one way or the other comply with our way of thinking, fit into our system. You will never comprehend India and its people. What amazes me most of all is that when you think that now you REALLY experienced something special the next day you face an even more amazing and crazy situation or person. It just never ends, every day is unbelievable. Also, travelleres in India are COMPLETELY different from those who only go to S-E Asia f.ex, they are much more interesting. Does India change people? Another thing I've noticed is that I remember EVERYTHING about India. I mean I can close my eyes any time (like now at work) and I will emmidiately feel, see, smell and taste India. I remember the lights, the colors, the faces and so on like I never did in any country. What is it? Don't you think it gets into your blood somehow, you get infected? I never missed any country so much, looking at pictures and knowing I won't be there for a while (but only for a while!) causes unbearable pain. Thanks to all of you, see you there.
I think one big reassuring thing about India is that you
know it's immune to the relentless Americanization of the
rest of the world. Sure the big cities are getting some of
the trappings of western urban cities but most of the
country is unaffected. When I was sitting on the Ghats in
Varanasi, it felt to me like the scene I was viewing was the
same as from that spot a 1000 years ago and will be the same
in another 1000 years. India feels like another planet. I
was barely conscious of the existence of the rest of the
world while I was there. The madness and the feeling that
you never, ever know what's going to happen next is so
appealing. Words fail...
I am not trying to be a boor, but I think Kat has
raised a subtopic when she say that the people who
travel in India are "COMPLETELY different from
travellers to other parts of the world, eg. they are
more interesting." I do not find this to be
particularly true and a quick look through the rest
of the dialogues presented in thorntree/ind/ will
prove it. But that's is O.K., because it proves that
the bug for India can bite anybody--not just
extraordinary travellers.
India.. Once bitten still itching.
India's like a drug, after I've been there for a few months
I can't wait to get away ... but as soon as I'm on the
plane & it's taking off, I desperately want to get off & go
back!
And I do keep going back ... I expect I will for the rest
of my life!
People always ask me "why? why India?" and I can't answer
that. Even the unique aspects of India described above can't
answer that question for me. I'm reduced to paraphrasing
"The Bridges of Madison County" (of which I was an unwilling
viewer) --- "It's an obsession. Obessions don't need
reasons." Sukriya, Clint Eastwood.
Sorry, I probably put it wrongly. I know I generalize. It's
just a personal observation that there is another 'type' of
people going to India than to other countries. An example:
Do you know many people going back to Thailand or Indonesia
5th or 6th time? I don't. But there a plenty of them in
India.
Nice topic and surprisingly, no flames. At least not yet.
Hope LP keeps this thread on for a while.
I' ve been to India twice, and hope to be back there soon.
When people ask me what I liked and didn't like about
India, I never have problems finding horror stories, but
seem to be incapable of explaining why I love this place.
Odd, isn't it?
Now, I didn't have any kind of "spiritual awakening" over
there, I didn't find my true self, I didn't even suffer
that much (I like to have an attached bathroom), I was just
there, being alive and enjoying myself, being proud when I
got from point A to B on a rickshaw without stopping at a
shop on the way, and wondering how I could have reacted
better when I got lured by a shopkeeper. Go figure.
Paul,
If you want to teach in India, you must checkout this site,
www.eklavya.org. Eklavya is a not for profit organisation
started in Ahmedabad. They're doing great work and looking
out for peopole.
Thank you everyone for confirming that my disease is, as I
suspected, incurable. I think what I feel in love with was
the "timelessness" ho-de-ho noticed, but also the sense
that, however much India changes, it will always be India
(cows in Bombay, elephants in Dehli = not very "western"
cities). And also the people. I think I liked everyone I
met, even the people who were trying to rip me off (not that
there were as many of these as there were in China) were so
nice about it, I could not help but like them, even as I
paid grossly inflated prices for marble coasters. (A word of
warning for those on Indian tours to Agra- being ushered
into the back room of a marble/tacky plastic souvenier shop
is not a great honour- it means you look like you've got
money to spend. If this happens, hold out for tea before you
even look at those ashtrays, and see if they won't throw in
a tacky Taj model for free). I hope to see some of you
people in India when I get there again (probably June/July
next year).
Paul
Just the thought of those 2 months I spent in India 2 yrs
ago is enough to send me to a high. I loved the place, the
people, the experience, the everything!! I will definitely
go back in the near future. Hold on India - I'm coming!!1
Well, to all those India-lovers, welcome! I hate to say
this, but it doesn't help the population explosion. Just
seems to add more chaos to the already confused lot. But
welcome anyway. You bring in the money, I guess!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they are both same. They are just just different ways of
looking at them.
There are somany things a person can do in India, but for
people who are accoustumed to western luxuries it would be
difficult to stay there beyond a point....
we all know the feelings all too well.
I meet up with the ppl I met out there and we do nothing
but rant on and on about it, then have vivid dreams for the
following week.
India is fab and Im dying to go back
I have experienced this also in other places like Mexico and
Russia, however there you have to speak the language to
really dive into the culture.
Maybe the amazing about these countries is that the "grey
men" (from "Momo", M. Ende) haven't been there yet, telling
people that time = money.
:-) achim
I've been fascinated by India all my life, and have
travelled to lots of other places, but have saved India for
this year, when I have more time then usual. A friend said
to Me "I went for six week, stayed a year", when I asked him
did he love it that much, He said "Sometimes I loved it,
Sometimes I hated it, It's India". I already sense what he
means, but very soon I'll KNOW.
Living here in the US after growing up in India, i always
noticed that something seemed to be missing here (not just
my family - i stayed away from home for abt 7 years b4 i
came here). Not just that. Also noticed that the indian
community here too behaved/lived (dont get the exact word),
very differently from most other immigrants here in the US.
Anyway, i ended up having this curiosity to find out more
abt 'what' constitutes indian culture, in an effort to
understand india better. Read this book called 'Foundations
of Indian Culture' by Sri Aurobindo. Got to recommend it
for the more serious minded among you....esp to those of u
trying to get a grip or define more precisely that
'timelessness','difeerence' etc that have been mentioned in
ome of the posts above. This book is just incredibly well
written and offers a great perspective abt the differences
btwn India and the West. The author is undoubtedly one of
India's greatest spiritual seers and philosphers.
That apart, dont however expect india to not modernise and
carry on with its age old forms, some of them corrupted,
utilityless, and even harmful today. If there is anything
that distinguishes india from other nations, its this
plasticity in terms of adopting and assimilating new or
modern forms/ideas but never giving up or atleast
consciously losing its great underlying spiritual ideals
and the time tested fundamentals of its culture. It is this
that hasnt made india a country without a culture or
meaning even after centuries of complete foriegn rule. Dont
forget that a lot of the above posts have probably come
from many of u who have had the chance of seeing india at
various times, probably spanning decades! Surely there's
more modernization in India now than 15 years ago, but
somehow the essence of this culture percieved at very high
spiritual levels lingers on. As it will, years hence, even
when the net/cell-phones probably reach every home.
Ok, that was my attempt to put to words the india 'bug'
that u people seem to be grappling with.
Btw, my last 18 months in the west have greatly helped me
undesrtand my culture better.....thanks!
I've been 'home' almost 3 weeks. Any mention of India and my eyes will glaze over as I remember the sheer joy of having no choice but to dance in the universal flux. Thanks for this topic, helps to keep my day dreams alive.
India cannot be understood by logic... obviously god was
palying dice when he created india....
All these messages make me very proud to be an Indian. I
discovered this website yesterday and have already spent
hours on it. I've lived away from 'home' the last three
years and can't wait to go back even though I've been back
thrice. Friends here wonder why I don't want to live in a
more developed country full of luxury and lifestyle, why I
want to live in a country with high population, pollution,
poverty, rubbish heaps... I'm glad some people, like you
all, appreciate the goodness it is filled with.
Every country and culture holds within it a certain aspect
that draws you closer, but, call me biased, I'm proud to
belong to India.
...India is the Best" to quote the song. I cannot agreee
more with everyone here. India blew my head off and put it
back on all strange and beautiful. I will never get enough
of the place. I was to spend 8wks, and did 8mos instead. I
had lived and worked (peace corps) in Africa for a year- and
it too is extraordinary but more secreted and difficult to
know- but India was a traveler's dream. The opportunities
(usually via the astoundingly generous and sound Indian
people) to participate in the culture abound and are so full
on and genuine that you cannot but be changed by them. The
place is truly a lesson in suspension of disbelief,
destruction of former views and overcoming of the ego.
love it!
In 1994 as a naive young thing, something made me
decide to go to India. I had a wonderful boyfriend
who I adored in London and possibilities of
promotion at work, a job I was lucky enough to love!
But something made me buy that fateful ticket and I
left it all behind, never to be retreived. I
travelled for eight months, mostly alone, yet never
felt the loneliness and paranoia that I have
experienced whilst trudging solo round Europe. To
cut a long story short, having returned from my
second trip I started a degree in Hindi and the
history of South Asia. I'm going back this Summer to
study for a year and I'm so excited about being able
to really converse with people who aren't part of
the tourist scene.
So Paul, you're not alone! The best of luck to you
inreturning to India.
This is the only page where I can find a brain. Other
people are worried about Pretzels and Prostitutes.
Join the club folks. I have lived in India for about six
years. I am not there anymore but only the grand
dissolution willkeep me away from there. The Ghats at
Varanasi, the cows in Mumbai the dust in Delhi and the tram
cars in Calcutta. They are all close to me.
The thing about that place is that you can never really fit
in unless you grow up there. In the US and in other Western
countries, all it takes to fit in is an accent and a hang of
the system. After that it does not matter where you are
from as long as you are doing everthing that is the social
norm. You go to work, you have two cars tec.
It's all about cracking a system. But India abides by no
system. There is not one way to live, think and be. It
challenges everything we have been taught and yet works and
crawls along among its confusion.
Being Indian is not a matter of knowing how things are done
as it is about having an Indian state of mind.
I fell in Love long ago and maybe someday some of us can
travel together.
Keep at it and don't recommend it to anyone who worries
about their Pretzels. (I'm still dizzy after readind that)