Thoughts on India

India. India. India.  It is funny becasue when we say the name a totally different image from reality comes to mind, a twofold image.  On one hand INDIA comes to means opulence, splendor, the terrible mystery of the Orient.  We think of the Taj Mahal and lavish saris.  We think of incense and carpets and harems.  We think of sadhu and mystery.  One the opposite hand we think of grinding abject poverty.  Starving children and emaciated mothers.  And while the actual India (Bharat) may be close to the later then the former, to understand India as a cesspit of human misery is a an egregious error.

I have only been here a week, but it feels like it has been forever.  I feel immediately at home.  I feel safe and a I feel happy and I feel pregnant with possibility.  This country far from being the "armpit of the world," is by far the most amazing and exciting place I have ever been in.  Walking across the street becomes a fight for one's life (hyperbole) and the crush of humans, animals, bikes, rickshaws, cars, buses etc can, at times be extremely overwhelming.  But I think it beyond AWESOME. 

There is far more to India then meets the eye and maybe it is that I am callow and can't see the true sadness of this place, but I have not been phased by the poverty or the filth or the smells or the Crush.  I look at it as an inevitable part of Indian society, of life.  I find it pointless to dwell on the sadness of the situation, because pity breeds only stagnation.  Instead I focus on the energy and vibrancy of life here.  I love this country.  This country on crack.  This "Wounded Civilization."