Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Cello Cello!

I'm back home in the states after a relatively un-eventful journey halfway back around the globe. I'm relishing in the quiet and sane driving conditions and splurging on cheeseburgers and mexican food. I'm confused about where all the people went...there's no one around in America! The fiscal cliff was just avoided and another year is here - life isn't so bad in the good ol' U.S. of A.

In what little time I've had to reflect on my journey, I think India taught me two main lessons:

1) America is a lovely place. Its natural beauty is unparalleled and comparatively very well taken care of.  It is a generally organized, efficient, and honest country. We still have lots of work to do to catch up to the high ground we claim to stand on, but I think we have to pat ourselves on the back for creating a nation that is the envy of most of the world. 

2) In a place like India where there are so many people, so much trash, so much noise - just so much of everything - and so few resources, so little direction, so little order - just so little of so much - it can seem overwhelming to the point of frustration, pity, and disgust. Accepting the extremes that make India the place that it is, one can find endless beauty in its passionate people, its grandeous mountains and rivers, and its rich and storied mythology and history. It takes a lot of perseverance and a strong immune system, but India is an incredibly rewarding place with hidden treasure after hidden treasure. The more you learn to love India, the easier it is to feel the intense love that Indians have for their country. Once you begin to view the place through a lens of tough but unwavering and deep love, you realize why everything is possible in India!!! Amazing!!!


My last sunset
Picture taken from where it all started...the Red Chilli balcony over looking the Mother Ganga

One final note: I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for reading and following this blog. I want to apologize for my sometimes long, unorganized, and floudering prose and the endless spelling and grammar mistakes I'm sure I made. I realized early on that I had to forgo my nit-picky historical editing style in order to finish the blogs in a timely manner (or finish them at all!). Since my first published post, this blog has recorded over 1,850 clicks...holy smokes! I hope you will join me on my next holiday or even better, on a river in California this summer!

All the very best...lots of love,
Coop