I believe that people shouldn't come to India just in hope of learning things about India. Because what you will discover is that you end up learning more about yourself when you come to India...how is this possible I hear you ask? Well India is like a smorgasbord platter of life. On display (like the latest bestseller in a shopfront window) for all to admire.The problem or reality is that nothing has been censored or glazed over for you as the audience. It's like an R rated indie flick- full of all sorts of shocking surprises and not all of them necessarily pleasant.
But this is exactly where you start to learn more about yourself. If you had up till this point in your life never been exposed to some of these "unpleasant" truths about life you would have no formed opinions or thoughts on them. Even admitting that they exist and thus facing the reality of them is growing and evolving as a human being. And this is what India allows or forces (whichever you prefer to chose) you to do. I believe to truly open yourself up to this discovery of life you have to be prepared to delve into places out of your comfort zone. Places you would naturally like to pretend do not exist.
When I hear people saying (and admittedly they are few) that they have found it difficult to enjoy themselves in India I am firstly sad for them. Obviously they fear the less pleasant sides to life and humanity and have trouble admitting that they exist. Perhaps this makes them feel insecure or uncomfortable about themselves. Sometimes people feel guilt in justifying their own position and accumlation of wealth especially if they have underlying regret or shame. These people often flounder when confronted with the reality of life in India.
Another thing to remember is that most of the issues and situations in India are happening in many other countries in the world. But people prefer to believe that they do not...that it is only in far off dangerous places these "bad" things occur. These beliefs are enhanced and encouraged by our western media and even political governance. By hiding the poverty, abuse and disparity of social classes the media and our governments help us feel more comfortable, happy and secure. Allowing our economies to tick over very healthily. We all know that the happier and safer we feel the better retail markets fare. Thus it makes sense for many different industries to tell us "everything is fine" in our backyard. I feel better informed, educated and in the know to the reality of how the world works when I come to India. I learn how to reason and accept my own opinions on many different somewhat controversial topics. You will definetly not enjoy everything you learn out there in life but at least it's nice to know you are not being fed a pre-approved sitcom version of life. You can be a mature intelligent indiviual responsible for forming your own opinions on serious and important topics that affect your lives. And good on you. you have the right. So thank you India for trusting me to make my own decisions and form opinions on some of the most important things in my life. They are not always pleasant but I have the right to decide that for myself.
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