Rebuilding your life

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Try undoing your life and rebuilding it again. As we apply for membership to certain organisations such as medical aid, pension funds and cell phone companies, you never really think that you will have to undo what you have just done. I’m discovering that I have to undo what took me years to set up. And then realising that I have to build it back up on the other side.

Today has been a mass of paper work and admin. I find myself filling in masses of forms to apply for something I will need, or filling in forms to stop something that I will no longer need next year. Thank heavens for Shalini who is dealing with the visa side of things and our visit to India next week. Just from what we need to give to her, I can tell that it is one complicated process. And this is just to visit India. Applying to live there is a whole other ball game.

I am bombarded with information on India. DVDs, books, stories, blogs... they all say one of two things. India is a filthy, noisy, ‘spicy’ and shocking place. The volume of people is staggering and women are bound to be stared at. If you’re not careful, you could get taken for a ride within the first 10 minutes of arriving in India. Don’t eat food off the street and don’t, I repeat don’t, ever drink the water unless it is in a sealed bottle.

The other side of the coin is that India is a diverse, friendly and exciting place. If you’re willing to relax your expectations a little and go with the flow, you are bound to find adventure. Wearing some traditional clothing will help you to blend in and not be stared at quite so often. Barter and negotiate your way around India otherwise you will be taken advantage of. Expect chaos and seemingly strange things to happen; traffic will come to a grinding halt if a cow is in the middle of the road.
There are still a few issues to be thought over. For example, I am thinking of studying again next year. Initially I was going to study through Unisa, but because I need to write exams every 6 months, we thought it might be best to study through a University in Ahmadabad. After a little digging (nothing is very clear), I discovered that I would probably have to study Sanskrit and Hindi in my first year. Um.... I think not. So our visit to India next week will involve a lot of investigating and exploring to get the best idea of what life in India will be like.

It is the undoing of things that seems to get me down. But Gordon keeps reminding me that it is not the end of things, but the beginning of building something great; The future.

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