Farewell My India

It is time for us to leave India and journey onto our next destination, Thailand, where we will spend over a month and will be meeting Justin's uncle who is also visiting at the same time with his Thai wife. We even tracked down the date of the next infamous Full Moon party in Ko Phangan (October 26) where thousands gather on the white sand beach and party for five nights under a bright full moon.

This past month and a half here in India has drastically evolved our thoughts on traveling. Originally we had plans to be in the glory of the Taj Mahal, trek in the Himalayas, visit Mumbai (Bombay) and other "must see" tourist traps. Instead we took a spiritual journey to Pune and a yoga course, while allotting ample time to spend with Justin's extended family, dine at local restaurants, hone my blog writing skills, play badminton in the backyard, go grocery shopping, and participate in Navratri, one of India's biggest festivals. We also got to see first-hand how India with all the ingredients of modernism has one foot dipped in a high-tech society and another firmly planted in the old world where you still see women carrying big pots on their heads - a country that is simultaneously straddling several centuries. We were able to truly live in India not as site-hopping tourists but as honorary members of their society. Furthermore, being foreigners sometimes gave us special benefits even though rickshaw drivers and street vendors always charge more for non-Indians. For instance, when we attended Malu's dance performance, we walked past rows and rows of seats and were escorted to sit front row in the VIP section where our pictures were taken just because we were foreigners. We also went to a popular restaurant for lunch where the wait was two hours long, but Justin's aunt walked right up to the host and said we visited all the way from America. We were seated within seconds.

Although we didn't get to check off any of those items on our now-defunct itinerary, the enriching experience and cultural lessons we are taking back with us are infinitely more meaningful and memorable. It is like the difference between studying abroad while staying with a host family versus backpacking for the summer. I'd much prefer the former option because you get to be totally immersed in their culture rather than stand in front of some revered monument with your picture taken. You also eat where the locals do and not what Rough Guide recommends, adapt to their lifestyle rather than impose your stubborn ways on others wherever you go. This to us is what traveling is all about...

Here's our photo album, a final look at our journey to India:



L: Gandhi Ashram where we got to relive this nation's father's lifelong struggle to bring independence and peace to India.
R: Monkey in our backyard - I've seen a menagerie of animals wandering the streets here without even stepping foot in a zoo.





L: Our painfully long 15-hour train ride to Pune - the train seats become beds and the impoverished take dumps on the railroad tracks where they live nearby.
R: Statues of Ganesh being sold on the street - they are not only used for prayers but also a popular way to transport drugs.





L: Fruit market selling fruits I've never even heard of (like custard apples and sweet limes) which we enjoyed every day - even mangoes come in hundreds of varieties.
R: Enjoying a home cooked Indian meal where we use steel plates and eat with our hands.



L: Justin playing a game of carrom with Baba and Shimul. Carrom is a tabletop game and also a popular pastime in India.
R: Neighborhood kids I've befriended showing me the temple they built in the parking lot. They were later told to build it somewhere else because it occupied a parking spot.



L: Three cute little girls dressed for Navratri
R: Our final night in India where we danced for hours