Gushy India Stuff

Things that are liked easily are rarely appreciated with the same magnitude as those that take time and patience to understand, and, in time, respect. hI speak of, of course, India, this is not to say that India takes its time to seep into you and establish its definitive position. India, who cannot be bothered with trivial pleasantries, slaps you in the face with a sweaty, stinking, dirty palm, leaving you disoriented, dignity and intelligence wounded, and you kinda like it. Your brain is overexposed to the rich scale of elements, and I fear my senses will fail to register duller, less exciting cultures in the future. Everyone warns that India is a shock to all five senses. Unpleasant poverty is accompanied and balanced by glorious richness. There is no room for blandness, silence or passivity. All is vibrant, loud and rapid. There is the incessant presence of local open public toilets that carry foul smells throught othe streets, but there are also large burlap sacks whose edges are rolled down to expose fragrant mounds of coriander powder and tumeric. "One rupee? One rupee? One pen? Hullo?" wailed by forlorn children with flashing eyes are drowned out by the wails of forlorn lovers and twangs of flashing sitars pushing out of every radio. A spike of sweetness from a pistachio dessert can easily give way to a slow flood of heat over teh tongue from a particularly potent batch of mali kofta. While cities are brimming with zooming rickshaws and honking motornikes, villages impassable streets are congested with ambling worshippers whose murmurs roar together with the sounds of drums and chanting. The heat that debilitates all movement save for the continuous flow of sweat from your pores in the dusty deserts can be washed away in an instant by a sudden downpour of one of India's famous monsoons. But, of course, I fail to do India justice. See it, taste it, smell it, touch it and hear it for yourself. Travelling to be humbled takes a lot of hard work. Leave those cushy european playgrounds! Abandon those predictable hamburgers and cappucinos! Throw aside those asanine assumptions and dive in with your eyes closed like a trustworthy child would. Embrace your stupidities, because from bad decisions comes experience.