I burst into tears yesterday when I realized that I how soon I am leaving... again (you'd think that I would have gotten used to it by now... but no!) I have taken to reading travel journals of Westerners' journeys throughout India and was in the middle of one woman's account of finally boarding a plane home to Sydney after two years here. At first I thought, "I want to go home!" and then I realized, "Ten weeks is not possibly enough!" At that moment I found myself desperately homesick, for both America and for this place that I have grown to love as a second home.
A few nights before I left, Mom and I had dinner with a couple who have spent a number of holidays traveling throughout India. I was in solid freak-out mode, but the Grant's stories calmed my immediate nerves and made me more excited about my trip than afraid. Mrs. Grant told me about witnessing Mr. Grant after he returned from his first trip to India. 'He simply stayed in bed for hours, then would suddenly bolt up and begin speaking rapidly about his trip. I had never seen him in such a state.' Eventually she joined him on a trip to India and began to understand.
India is a land of extremes, particularly when it comes to love. Bollywood movies portray ridiculous heroes who pine for the beautiful heroine of their desires; music mournfully longs for passionate affairs; restaurants are lit by candles and dim torches to encourage romantic rendezvous... all of this in a culture of carefully negotiated arranged marriages. Perhaps it is because reality so rarely allows for such fantasies to consume life and as a result India demands to dream. If one cannot spend eternity with a soul mate, then you spend this incarnation in love with India. I know I am.
A few nights before I left, Mom and I had dinner with a couple who have spent a number of holidays traveling throughout India. I was in solid freak-out mode, but the Grant's stories calmed my immediate nerves and made me more excited about my trip than afraid. Mrs. Grant told me about witnessing Mr. Grant after he returned from his first trip to India. 'He simply stayed in bed for hours, then would suddenly bolt up and begin speaking rapidly about his trip. I had never seen him in such a state.' Eventually she joined him on a trip to India and began to understand.
India is a land of extremes, particularly when it comes to love. Bollywood movies portray ridiculous heroes who pine for the beautiful heroine of their desires; music mournfully longs for passionate affairs; restaurants are lit by candles and dim torches to encourage romantic rendezvous... all of this in a culture of carefully negotiated arranged marriages. Perhaps it is because reality so rarely allows for such fantasies to consume life and as a result India demands to dream. If one cannot spend eternity with a soul mate, then you spend this incarnation in love with India. I know I am.
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