India

India

So, Dhanyawad was the first word I learnt in hindi, from Ranjana, at her apartment in Delhi right after I set foot in India, meaning thank you.

I met Ranjana on the plane right after take-off from Schiphol. She was sitting next to me reading a book on Reiki so there was no doubt we had to have a conversation sooner than later. She was born and raised in India but has been living in Amsterdam for over 22 years with her family: also Indian husband and 2 kids. I heard so many great things about them that I am really looking forward to meet them next time I am in Holland, must be an amazing 4.. well, if they are anywhere close in kindness to the mother, it must be a therapy to spend time around that family.

After the flight-long conversation this angel convinced me not to take off for Rishikesh right after arrival to Delhi at midnight, but wait for the morning instead, to avoid any “problems” that might arise in the middle of the night during the 7 hour ride. She offered me to stay at her apartment in the centre of Delhi, a gated community that was something similar to the apartment I lived in KL. Actually, I had some weird flashbacks feeling the 30C, crazy humidity and pollution, ghekkos running up and down the walls, and with the horns of trucks and cars and rikshas, it seemed to be a louder and dirtier version of Kuala Lumpur. And the first curry, orka with chapati – yumm it was tasty.

A few (3) hours later I was on my way – and the mix of the lack of sleep, the travel-stress and the long journey put my head into a different universe - riding through the outskirts of Delhi it really felt like I was watching Slumdog Millionaire, the live version. The suburb definitely took over the 1^st place from Manila as the poorest spot I have seen so far, super-pollution, gazillion cars, roads so bad that sometimes they just dissolve: when you see a truck coming straight in your lane towards you on a 2x3lane road, you know that there is no pavement on the other side of the fence, for a few hundred meters at least. An hour into the trip, looking towards east I finally saw the sun, so surreal like a dream, the only thing that was good to look at, such a colour that I made my driver stop the car and tried to take a photo. Later when it got light I saw cows hanging out EVERYWHERE, horrible dirt and filth, a dentistry that looked so disgusting that all your teeth probably would have fallen out by the time you made it to the dentist’s chair, stray dogs, fat monkeys, kids in their best (probably only) set of clothes waiting for a ride to school, food stalls on the side of road – metal containers, to be more specific in the middle of piles of rubbish – their owners sweeping round, like it made any difference.

And you could see those wide and honest smiles and a lot of kind faces; love I guess, that keeps everyone going.

:)