S: India

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I cant say that I'm a big fan of flags - but still I got really impressed by the Indian flag. Not how you see it everywhere (that feels rather nationalistic), but the way it is built up. It's like the nature of the country: green (like rainforests) in the south, and orange (like desert) in the north. It really makes sence - the only thing I cant understand is the white stripe in the middle. But since it is the first flag I EVER saw that made any sence, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of international counsil forbidding India to have this logical flag and making them add at least one unlogical thing ('"like a stripe in colour that doesnt exist anywhere in your country" I can hear them say) and an emble of course. In that way no one would get it, the whole logic of the indian flag - but ha, they couldn't trick me!! 😊

My other impressions of India, after seeing big parts of the country (and thereby understanding the whole green in the south-orange in the north thing), spending a lot of time on trains (and also some buses) and being here almost two months - is like a folded paper. First you see all the amazing things, how different (and exotic!) it is from what you are used to (different than the rest of asia that we saw on this trip - and even more different from back home). It is a bit like a fairytale accually, all the things you heard about (and saw pictures on) but never experienced. All the colours, how they put an emphasis on beauty and estetics - all the handpainted signs, the decorated cars, the beatifully dressed women (with fresh flowers in their hair) and the men with skirts and colourful turbans on their head. Men holding hands! And the diversity - all kind of people living together, with mosques, churches and temples side by side.

But then you unfold the paper, and you see all the things that makes you remember that fairytales are cruel. It is so cruel, and so horrible that you almost loose hope in humanity. Because here, where all this beautiful people live side by side, they also harass and discriminate and torture and simply kill each other brutally. And I don't really know what a proper reason would be (if there is anything like that), but maybe it would still feel better if they would have some kind of other reason than just looking down upon (and feeling superior to) people that happend to have a different religion or gender or be born into another family than yourself. There is so much grading and hierarchy between the people - and it is affecting everyone all the time, as I already said, in the most brutal way.

However, this isn't things you see right away - but what you see right away is all the people living on the streets, and the big difference between the rich and the poor. It makes me feel hopeless and confused that I don't know what I can do about it - or against anything of it (the hatred and the hierarchies and the discrimination and murders and the big differences between all the people living on this earth). And I feel guilty about living such a good life, about having everything I need - and even more.

That's all about my picture of India so far - and I feel it is still kind of shallow. But the time is up, and in just a few weeks our big trip is over and we are going home. It feels nice (I'm tired and don't feel so enthusiastic any longer about seeing new things all the time) and scary (afraid to get caught in everyday life again) in the same time. I'll start by visiting some friends in central Europe, then my parents and then - watch out- I'll be coming to Helsinki in the middle or end of May.

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