My last 35 days

The images of the trips are not necessarily the ones that I was able to captures on camera. I wish I could take a picture of the little shops: the one with just the space for the old shop owner and his sewing machine, an old black Singer as my grandmother’s one, the other next to it that sold from cell phone to battery and who knows what else, then the textile store and the carved statues of all dimensions. The most memorable are the markets, of a rare beauty of colors and abundance, the mini banana hanging all around the stand, and the flower stall close to the temple. Oh the jasmine smell is so incredible! I put some of my hair last night, and every time I was doing a head movement the smell come to me. Now I understand why all these women have it constantly as part of their hairdo. It is the appreciation for little things that makes Indians so special, their easiness to communicate, their smoothness in staying close to each other with gentleness, they refusing aggressiveness, they are amazing me! Going back to the Western world it seems really painful right now. I feel to connect to a level of humanity that seems so much more harmonious. Even the food in the plane is good and I just realize that you can almost judge a country by the quality of the food in the plane! (That’s say a lot about the US where now they don’t even serve you any food at all!) I could spend hours watching the people, and for some much the landscape has its interest, the cities have not. Small and medium size towns have grown in big city almost overnight without any rational urbanization, however they don’t have the feel of the city but little town attached to one another, with their little community and temples and neighbors. The man I was talking to at the airport just confirm it, wherever you live in India you are immediately part of a community, everybody knows you and you know everybody. So at the end it does not seem inevitable that as people become more urbanized they have to become more individualists. Probably young urban couples will not choose to share the household with the husband extended family as it is traditionally done but it doesn’t mean that they don’t do their outings together. The restaurants always set up this long table which means that large groups are common. My impression of India is that is a positive country and their attitude is contagious. The ex president died few days ago and he was considered such an inspiration that he was able to unite an entire nation, the number of posters I saw about him was unbelievable and it was decided an official day of morning with every school and office and most of shops and offices closed. They have a way of assembling a nation at a personal level. Politically their biggest problem is Pakistan, economically China, and internally the corrupted politicians. Everybody seems to agree on these three points. They know their country is moving forward, and probably their biggest asset is to have instilled in society that education is the way to move forward not only as individual but as a nation. I am fascinated by their mix of common sense, traditions and tolerance. In NY tolerance is translated in indifference, here is on respect for others. That same man at the airport tells me that they like to celebrate all holidays even the ones that don’t belong to their tradition or religion. That means something! I have to come back, I am not even gone yet but I have to come back.

Many of them

It is difficult to imagine a country as populous as India, 1.2 billion individuals living with their cultural, religious, language differences but feeling all very Indian. When I think numbers: if only 10% percent of the population starts traveling that's 1/3 of the US population, if there is a political gathering of Rahul Gandhi 250.000 people are expected, if only 5% of the population is highly educated that's basically more than the population of France. It is an indication of power, it is a lot of people who think, operate, work, get going, get by, pray at the temple and talk about good karma, and has a smile to share! However even big cities retain a certain village feel, people gather under a tree for a chat, there is that kind of interaction that you only see in small communities. The power of India is in their unity.

Rajasthan stays with you

At the end of this tour in Rajasthan my best memories besides the impressive forts are the messy markets, the unpaved streets, the colorful saris, the animals walking undisturbed and the desert with his harshness and beauty. When just few hours of rain changes the color of the land and the spirit of the people, you know that you are in a different part of the globe with other priorities and other values. I don’t quite get the Indians with their obsessive sense of having good karma, however karma is luck but also harmony with the rest of their surroundings. As any proud cultures they seem very pleased when you value theirs but they are curious about yours and very amused when they realize how different the West is. They think they understand the West because of colonialism, tourism and the many Indians emigrants but I don’t think they realize the depth of our differences in looking at life. Now I understand why the Indians stick together in their community in the US, what really can they share with an anglo culture?

The mother cow

It is really true that Indian cows are different, they have regalia! I thought I would have seen some very skinny cows, and there were some in the desert and some roaming through trash, but mostly they were heavy, beautiful creatures been part of Indian life. I have never seen so many varieties of cows however they all share that gentleness and that serenity as if they knew that they will not be someone's dinner. I resent that nobody explain me when I was a child the reasons why that even if at that time many Indians were probably starving they would not eat the cows. There is a very logical explanation, the cow will give me milk forever so it is the mother of this land! The cow will ensure the survival of humanity so Hindus consider them sacred because they simply are. In India I start loving cows too, I start looking at them with another eye, with another degree of appreciation.

Kids in India

I have never seen a kid in India throwing a tantrum or for that matter crying and this is the good part; however there is a bad part to it: kids are little men and women with responsibilities and sometimes real jobs. Even if our driver tell us that the government makes real efforts so that every kid attends school and they give money to the family if a girl attend school until 16 years old and they also distribute free lunches. In the desert I saw kids walking in the dunes 7 km to attend school with 50 kids per class but carrying a very neatly written notebook. I also saw the kids working as our guides, it was deplorable and I had to be vocal about it with the person in charge, that besides the human side it was also bad business. However, those same kids were going to school next day, surely a bit tired but those kids are no kids. They are already grown-ups taking on themselves life difficulties! However they had smiles on their faces and we played on the dunes and in that moment they were kids again in need of a playmate and a mom.

I also like the trash

The first thought arriving here was "Oh my! I also like the trash", my friend Stefania says because it must remind us of the Southern Italy of our childhood where not everything was so polished and the markets were a bit disorganized and certain streets were not paved. In the States trailer houses and trash irritate me because I see solitude behind it, here it feels like it doesn't affect people's spirit. Those little stores one after the other are nothing like strip malls, there are real community of people that watch out for each other and nobody care if there is nothing fancy around but they provide what they are supposed to provide. Clearly this is not the perfect country but it is my kind of imperfect!

India's lesson to the world

We are visiting a fort after another, powerful in their style, a temple after the other, extremely peaceful with people swarming around like butterflies. The temples won this country its dignity, the forts eventually proved their inefficiency. Gandhi was great in the sense that he conveyed the message to the West; the East was ready for his philosophy. The simple Namaste, peace be with you, it doesn’t translate as I see you later or I hope to see you soon or bye … it means wherever you go be in peace with yourself (and with others). It is not about the individual relationship of two human beings, it is about the relationship with the universe. According to Indians be happy can only be a common experience and not an individual one. The women feed the cows from their hands and the cows don't try to get more from the pile of grass that is right there, it waits for its fair share ... also the cows know.