Epilogue

No hurry, no worry, no chicken curry!

Shiiiiiiiit I just found out yesterday that I’ve lost somewhere around 5 kilograms here in India in only 3½ weeks time. I need to do some serious de-dieting back in Finland… Just goes to show how much my body is able to adjust to India.. and I’m not alone.

I have also started to think about this trip as a whole. What it has given me and how did I like it.

Once again, along the trip I have met several people that I really enjoy being with. These friendships are kind of “ad hoc”, but I feel there is more to it, since we always have the memories of sharing something special. And if we ever visit the country of one another, we would of course get together and do some cool stuff together - networking, good stuff! Also, I met a lot of Indian people, who, excluding the ones who are trying to sell something to you, were interested in me and showed deep respect and taught me a great deal about the customs and ways of Indian people. While speaking to Indian people I also have been able to understand how vastly different cultures are involved in the dialogue.

By talking to Indian people, by seeing how they live, by witnessing the cruel sides of the society, by eating the food, by seeing and hearing the buzz of the society and the lack of personal space of Indian people, by experiencing the climate, by witnessing the kindness of people, and by understanding how little it is the people are able to come by with, by seeing how western culture brings along changes in an age-old culture, both good and bad, by understanding the Indians’ attitude towards environment and sustainability, and much much more…. I can finally say India is a land of controversies compared to the western countries – at least here it is much more visible. It seems India made me sick: I had diarrhea multiple times and felt generally weak. Why does a country do that? Maybe it is the combination of heat, food and the lack of hygiene which does not suit a person accommodated to western lifestyle. I witnessed amazingly beautiful and historical monuments, beautiful lakes and mountains, annoying and lovely people, amazingly delicious food, and also food that made me sick. I saw people living their lives without knowing of anything better – I guess in many cases “knowledge adds pain”. How could they demand for something better if they have been living the way they do their whole lives?

I think India is in that phase of the development, where materialism is very much appreciated and even praised. It’s a bit like China, although in some way more unevolved in my opinion. External values are very important for Indian people, at least judging by the television and the way people seem to be interested in material goods. OK, it might also be only the different culture – I might be seeing things through my own cultural lense. When it comes to the women outlook, it is controversial. TV is filled with model-sized beautiful women advertising all kinds of beauty products.. while at least the older Indian women seem to appreciate being to some extent… large. It’s kinda like Europe in the beginning of 1900s: being big for a woman means wealth.

Indians do not seem to care that much about making things in a way that would last in long-term, neither do they seem to care about the environment. As long as they get what they want. It seems Indian are a bit impatient about things: they have to have what they want immediately. That is visible in restaurants, in traffic, and so on. At the same time they treat their guests as kings (or queens) and are always willing to help no matter what. It’s even hard to distinguish if someone is just being friendly by habit or if he’s trying to sell you something. Mostly though it is the latter option.

At some places and times I loved what India has to offer me. Many times I also hated the way people behave and how India made me sick, and how hot it was. This all forced me to contemplate my own views and how I see the world. Sometimes travelling India seemed more like a challenging experience, working if you will, than a place one would come for vacation. At least the locations I visited and with the budget I had. It can be an extremely teaching experience when travelling India in backpacker-mode, especially alone, since one is responsible for oneself and one’s own interests: being on time in places, getting to places you want to go to, tolerate a lot of pushy people, learn to be calm in difficult situations, learn how to bargain in a good way, communicate with people from multitude of backgrounds – essentially learn to be a “world citizen”. Mostly I think I learned a lot about myself: what kind of a person I am like, what things I appreciate and what things not so much. Above all, I think I now am able to appreciate so much more what I already have in Finland (and around the world), and I feel it gives me more perspective to lead a happy life, knowing there is so much more to life than what we as westerners are used to. I hope I will be able to live a life which is not bound to any set of ways, whilst at the same time I hope to come up with my own ways which I will happily pursue.