One of my friends has just pointed out in an email to me that some of what I'd written in my last entry could be perceived as offensive (or, more specifically, it was kind of offensive that a friend of mine had said India could be considered a "country from hell"). Of course, people who don't like India can go to one building, called the airport, and gladly leave the place behind. That I agree with and have considered doing that myself in retrospect of all that has been going on with me in the last six weeks.
The point was that I AM a spoiled, bourgeois, American product of my society. That’s why I write (facetiously) “Poor me.” The first lines of my last entry should be seen as self-pitying in that my background is thwarting my very ability to understand a culture.
Of course I am dealing with some other stuff right now, like a mini-mid-30 crisis and mini-career-crisis, which has led me to ask questions such as, “What am I doing here?” and "Why Am I Doing This?" but these blog entries are really my passing thoughts, like the tumbleweed title that one holds.
But in the last week my luck has actually not improved. I’ve been sick at home for two days; have lost my keys and have been locked out twice; burned myself in the shower from the over-zealous hot water heater; and have done a few other absent-minded things. I’ve been shat on by two birds in two consecutive weeks. So things can only get better from here…unless I have an intestinal parasite. More on that later, but anything is possible at this point. One must be open to live, right?
In good news I may make it to the Swedish crayfish party here in Bombay which takes place in two weeks' time, if they allow me the late RSVP. Until then I am resting and trying to manage my more trivial tasks (and survival).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hey I am glad that you are speaking your mind on your blog. It was interesting reading your experiences in India.
I myself have difficulties adjusting whenever I am visiting India but then its just a matter of time and I settle in quite smoothly. The trick is to not to compare India with anything, just take it the way it is and you will immediately see the nice and humble India. For instance, there is garbage everywhere on the streets and people don't recycle there garbage but then the smallest of the crap is recycled. This is done by those poor people carrying sacs.
What I am trying to say is India is COMPLICATED. But once you dissolve in, there is so much happiness and comfort around. I never took my canon 400D on a ride there mainly because i was scared of loosing it. So sorry for your Nikon.
--AC
Hi Anne,
Really enjoying reading your blog - a real eye-opener!
I think that's the beauty of a blog, that you can simply toss out ideas as they occur to you and see what happens. Of course, everything is subject to interpretation, but of course as Westerners we do tend to take for granted so many of the conveniences that we have at home. But then I remember the refugees I used to work with in Scotland who kept on reminding me that the system there was non-sensical as well. I guess what I'm saying is that everybody needs time to adapt, whether you've just moved from Göteborg to Mumbai or from Kinshasa to Glasgow. Everyone has a right to that get out of jail free card!
Anyway, I should talk, I'm complaining to anyone who wants to listen about the criminal lack of toast racks here in Sweden: do they not like their toast crispy here? Honestly!
xo
Stef
Post a Comment