Having just returned from my first trip to India, I was given so many different insights, gifts and experiences. What to share? Where
do I begin? How do you concisely summarize such a wild journey?
Overall, it was an amazing adventure with all of my senses being fully switched on and often into overdrive. Sights, smells, tastes and hyper-vigilance caused my being to become electrified with excitement. India is such an incredibly diverse place with rich history, vibrant colors set against a deeply embedded spiritual backdrop.
It has a busy-ness to it that is uniquely Indian and what appears to be untamely chaos, seems to flow smoothly in its own rhythm. As we traveled along the often pot-holed roads, catching glimpses of camels, cows, donkeys and the odd elephant, it gave me good time for reflection.
I often had the feeling of how fortunate my life is…not just through abundance, but primarily through having choice. It’s my ability to choose how I live my life that really struck me. I saw creatively industrious people, working all angles to find a way to earn money often with the aim of simply feeding their family. My impressions of a male dominant society had me reflecting on how I am able to choose to create my own business as a woman. People would ask my husband what he did for a living, but wouldn’t ask me what I did, perhaps assuming that I didn’t have a career other than looking after my husband (which is quite a traditional and valued role in Indian culture with people we came across).
I realized that if I do work hard I can make a difference in my socioeconomic reality, that I’m not necessarily born into a role that I have to stay with throughout my life. That my choice for education is abundant and varied. I can become anything I set my sights on…I didn’t necessarily get that impression with the people that I met along the way.
I left India feeling as though it gave me the gift of remembering and recognizing my many blessings. That I have been given opportunity in my life that is unheard of in other lives.
Thank you India…I look forward to returning to learn my next series of lessons.
