I’ve been struggling to write about my experience of India, as I find that it is an immensely diverse and culturally rich country… and to put it all into words just feels next to impossible for me.
It’s as if, while in India, I’d been split in half and each of these halves are battling the other on whether or not India is a place where you really want to be. My appreciation of the bright and colourful culture of India was tainted by the boasting poverty and pollution. I was divided into two halves, each just as significant as the other.
The first half – the more, I suppose, realistic or even negative half of me – was paying keen attention to the disparity among the wealth – the rich gangster types in their AU$200,000 Audi 4WDs cruising leisurely passed the animal cruelty and poverty; Camels with nose piercings and the graphic road side slaughtering of caged hens and women asleep on the sidewalk cradling their babies. I was tugged at and begged for money by children as young as four in the middle of the night, in fact, if we walked past children and they didn’t beg us for money, their mothers would yell at them until they did… Then there is the rubbish. There is rubbish everywhere. I met a girl in Rishikesh, her name’s Kesa, and we spoke about how even though we ourselves put our rubbish in the bin we can’t guarantee it will actually be taken care of properly. For instance, the cleaner from the hotel I stayed at in Rishikesh emptied the contents of the bin from my room onto the hill beneath our room, which leads down into the Ganga. Which is, quite uniquely, crystal clear there, as it is right beneath the source. It was quite sad to see really, and it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, because the Ganga is so scared to, and loved by, the locals of most India… yet its surroundings aren’t being properly looked after, or kept clean. In Varanasi, the Ganga is filthy… so polluted, it was crazy. I loved Varanasi, it was such an incredible place to visit, but I really hope that the Ganga in Rishikesh stays as beautiful and clear as it is now… and never ends up like it is in Varanasi.
Now, the more romantic, positive half! So much colour! So much love and spirit. What I love the most about India was how strong and rich the culture is. I felt that in a lot of waysThe beauty, the bright colours, the friendliness. Honestly I cannot put it into words. So I’ll cop out on this one, and try something new.
So, here are some photographs that we took in India, I’ll add more if I feel it fit, and I might take some down if I feel like it. In any case, hopefully these photos can offer some sort of insight into how much I loved India for its colour, culture, beauty and diversity. India totally different from any other place I’ve so far visited. This inner conflict, in a way, made it all so much more interesting. For good and bad reasons… it was confusing, but it was exciting… and it was aggravating, but it was so enlightening. This visit really set me up for the rest of my travels, helped me gain a lot of perspective… and in some way, realise my place in the world. How lucky I am to be travelling, and how exciting the world really is.
Aight photo time!
I hope all this nonsense… sort of… makes sense. Okay bye!
Marley xo
inner-logue. 