Living abroad or spending longer time far away from the home-comfort-zone can do some good to your personality. After I had spent eight weeks in India I returned home as a different person and it really is a challenge now to be normal part of the Western society again. Probably I don’t even want to be part of the classic Western consumer society anymore. I might risk to be excluded, how knows. For now let me share the most important things I learned in the ‘School of India’:
Yoga – Goa
We want to carry joy, health, love, energy – and fill in the blank – into the new year and try to avoid bringing sorrow, sickness, hate and negativity through from the past year. We are pushing and pulling and taking and dropping at a mental level and hoping it won’t have a physical effect on us. Because we don’t like to physically carry things.
But it’s way not the case when you come across some of the master transporters in India. They are literally doing all kinds of circus when it comes to moving something (or someone) from A to B. Let’s kick-off the year with a short recap on how things are carried through at this part of the world where seemingly everything is possible.
1.
“But how are we going to carry this home? Don’t worry dude, I already have an idea!”
Passing by steep valleys, robust waterfalls, colorful roadside shacks and the greenest tea plantations the drive from Thekkady to Munnar is mind-blowing. In Munnar everything is pretty much about tea, the city itself is not so impressive but the surrounding area is something you don’t come across with everywhere.
Do not miss the junction – tea estate junction sign, Munnar
Being in India after a few days made me come up with different new survival routines. I’m staying in a residential area in Bangalore to get a glimpse into the locals’ everydays. One thing is sure. Life is not at all easy out here. What we take for granted in our western comfort society is not always unequivocal this part of the world, to say the least. Being a temporary visitor I’m facing issues from a different angle, which might be pity problems in the eyes of the locals but coming from the ‘everything is a click away’ side of the world some things for me are quite challenging to cope with.
When you just know you have to take that next step. When life starts to kick your ass and have to take the challenge knocking harder and harder on your door. When you know you can’t fiddle around in one place anymore and life anyway will sort the rest out.
Returning home from a journey is always another journey. Here are 5 reasons behind the secretly awaited moment:
We are all waiting for something. Always, ever. We are waiting to be 18 and we are waiting to finish high school. We are waiting to get to university but soon after waiting to graduate. We are waiting to get a job and we are waiting for a promotion. We are waiting for the perfect relationship and we are waiting to get married. We are waiting to set up a family and we are waiting to buy our first home. That’s how we stroll through life. Waiting can be exciting but might also turn frustrating. Sometimes we have to wait only for an hour or two, e.g. when at the airport, but it can be longer when we missed our connections. This is the frustrating kind of waiting. Life goes on out there and what we do is just sit and wait, because
“what else can we do”?
Too much waiting in life is like a slow killing poison. It gets into our home, our workplace, our everydays, drags us down and slowly takes control of our life. When waiting too long the moments of present are missed. Slowly we get completely disconnected from the reality since all we do is sitting idle. Either literally or at the back of our mind. When an unplanned event happens, that turns our life suddenly upside down, people tend to say
“time will sort things out”.
But how much time? How long we have to stand still for time to sort our things and let us live our life again? Shouldn’t we just be more flexible and take things as they come? Not that we should take everything easy but just a little more flexibility? Shouldn’t we just let us go with the flow sometimes and cherish every little moment of our precious life? Why do we want to turn 18? Isn’t it better to have a carefree life? What’s the problem with high school? It’s so much fun! Uni is a cool place, so many interesting folks you get connected with. When waiting to get our first job or just lost our job the lots of free time can be used to live for something we always enjoyed doing or always wanted to do. And the list goes on. Working towards our goals is important but instead of the void waiting game you are better up living, breathing, exploring and enjoying.
journeyfiles musings & tidbits on travel:
