After years of travelling the globe, Mother India was increasing her mysterious nudges telling me that I've avoided her for far too long and a return journey was overdue. In the past, my travels have been mainly trekking expeditions to mountainous Himalayan regions like West Bengal, Kashmir, Zanskar, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. I decided traversing the lower altitudes of the subcontinent from south to north - Kerala to Rajasthan - would satisfy my wanderlust whilst respecting India's beckoning. After all, she was right, I could no longer deny that I was longing to be cradled and mesmerized by her warmth and magic.
The lovely, seaside city of Kochi (colonial name, Cochin), in the state of Kerala, is where my trip begins. Vasco da Gama beat me by about 525 years. The Portuguese explorer was the first European to reach India by sea when he set sail from Lisbon and landed near here in 1498. Walking along the shores of the Arabian Sea, I recalled how at age 14, while studying the faraway voyages of the earlier explorers, I had an idea that perhaps one day I too, like Vasco da Gama, would seek adventures by travelling afar. And so here I am.
It was in Saint Francis Church in Fort Kochin where Vasco da Gama was first buried in 1524. I say, "first" because his remains were taken back to Portugal in 1539 and where his body rests in Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon.
While some scenes, like the giant ancient Chinese fish nets echo back centuries, graffiti in support of Palestine liberation is an expression of a contemporary social justice consciousness.
After being thrust into the initially overwhelming kaleidoscope that is India, I am always struck how quickly one can shift into the local sensibility. In part the overwhelm is a result of the sudden cultural change that happens because overland travel to India has largely been replaced by the jet airliner. There is no graduated transition to ease the traveller from one world to another. Still, what at first can seem so jarringly different, with just a modicum of openness, flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity, acceptance of differences and genuine interest to learn - very soon becomes "what is" and before long, one smoothy slips into the massive flow of humanity. There is so much here to explore that many trips, if not lifetimes - are needed to grasp, appreciate and understand the beauty and complexity that is India.
The Taj Mahal is arguable the most visited and therefore most photographed site in all of India. The day I was there, the air quality in Agra had reached an air pollution rating of "Severe". In fact it was the world's most dangerously polluted city in the entire world while I was there. If you wish to see an unobstructed view of the Taj, I'm afraid you'll need to Google it! What you see here, is what I saw, and why I coughed for two weeks after I came home.
India is deservedly recognized as one of the world's truly sacred destinations. Temples, ashrams, seekers, rituals - the devotional energy of the people is expressed in a myriad of forms. Garlands made of marigold flowers are sold everywhere to be taken to religious shrines on nearly every street corner. Barefooted, ash covered sadhus walk the streets. Paintings and statues of multiple- armed Hindu divinities are regularly encountered in brightly-coloured billboards or in intricately carved stone temples many thousands of years old. Ganesh - the beloved elephant-headed god of good fortune graces everyday consumer products in supermarkets or smiles back at you from the dashboard of a tuk-tuk (auto rickshaw) as the driver treacherously races along super-crowded narrow streets.
In India, as in neighbouring Nepal, even the casual greeting that people exchange when meeting or parting is a small prayer. It's not, "Hey, Max - howzit goin"? But with palms held together in prayer, and a bow - we say, "Namaste" to one another. "I salute the divine within you." I can't help but wonder, how our social order and inner peace would differ, if we would universally adopt this recognition of one another's Inner Christ or inherent Buddha Nature each time we encountered another person.
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| A temple monkey enjoys a discarded marigold garland. |
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| And the next road begins ... |
