Why India?
I don’t know… and I can’t think of anything grand to make up.
If anything, I guess I am your stereotypical “adventurous” American college chick, who is, unsurprisingly, a self-declared yogi. Nothing beats laying out a mat, lighting some candles and straining to bend your limbs right before the brink of a medical emergency – all in the name of relaxation.
But yoga, you know, comes from India – so, that’s something. At least I have a small, spiritual connection to India, right? No, I doubt it. I don’t think any part of the yogic tradition would claim me.
Yet, there has to be something more that draws me to India other than yoga and candles.
I wish I had a better explanation to offer or at least a moving self-realization, but all I have is this image in my head: I’m stepping off the plane in India, looking left then right, hands on my hips, and thinking, “Huh. It really does exist. Mumbai: they weren’t making this stuff up.”
So… it looks like I’m just baffled – I’m baffled by the idea of a city, separated by time zones, that’s awake while I sleep and asleep while I wake. I’m baffled by the idea that I’ll get on a plane for a few hours and then end up somewhere completely different from where I started. It seems so simple, yet so mind-boggling to me! India is a country has been the background to the books I’ve read or the movies I’ve watched, but I never thought I’d actually get to go to. And now it’s just a few days away!
I don’t have any expectations so far, other than I’m silently hoping the experience will write itself, and I’ll be posting about it on this blog. Keep in mind, I’m never the type to pick up on life-changing events or extraordinary happenings – those kinds of things usually go over my head. But I am a collector of small observations, experiences, and thoughts, and I look forward to sharing them with you here.