Final thoughts on India

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We leave India in the morning. Today is a very long bus ride from Jaipur to Delhi along very non-scenic highway so we talk and reflect on our time here.

I expected to be more crushed in seas of humanity, choked by dirt and smell, and taken back by customs unlike mine. On the contrary, while there were crowds we worked through them quickly, the smells were not bad where we were, except in the village we stopped by. And the customs, well, this is a land a such contrast from even my brief glimpse. It brought us the Kama Sutra but disapproves of public displays of affection. The women should be covered modestly while the men urinate along the street. Cows, pigs, monkeys, dogs, camels and elephants all have as much right to the space as any human, and there filth is all around but people laugh and smile.

I'm so glad I came here to see for myself this bit of the world. As always, travel changes me in ways I don't even realize but I do know that I'm not taken back by their customs. It's part of who they are. They were not subject to the same puritan upbringing as we are in the states, so who am I to expect them to behave like me. They are spiritual, they love, laugh, cry and just try each day to do right for their family.

Everywhere we went there was a smile or a wave for us and that is what I'll always remember.

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Photos

Design blocking
traditional form of making design on textiles

offerings for the HIndu gods
people purchase on their way to see statues of gods