I don’t think I’ll ever forget my parents sitting me down and telling me that they were moving to India. And since I was just graduating college and at a transition in my life, I was invited for a few months. Not your typical graduation present, but I’ll take it.
Then, if you will, imagine a montage of us selling the house, cars, and pretty much everything in them over the span of a couple months. We packed about 12 suitcases and shipped 2 boxes of essentials that would start our life in India.
Now as we skip the atrocious account of the flights from Dallas to Dubai to Delhi, I’ll let you in on what most people say about India. “That place seems so interesting, but I don’t ever see myself traveling there.”
Yes, not a shocker that India doesn’t get included on the romanticized list of destinations like France or Italy. But I find it confusing how people listen to my family’s stories and look at our photos, and they just marvel at it all - but India still doesn’t make the cut.
I rode an elephant to the entrance of the Amer Fort that’s over 400 years old. I have seen the sun rise on one of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal. I stood in the waters of the Arabian Sea with a beach void of people because Goa, India isn’t on the top of anyone’s list. And that doesn’t even get to the really good stuff.
I think the root of the issue is that India makes people uncomfortable. It’s like traveling to a different world that has intense poverty, food that may upset your stomach, and is, for the most part, void of English. But may I say there is a huge difference between visiting India and living in India. Our first week (or so) we stayed in a hotel. We went to different sites, ate at tons of restaurants, shopped at local bazaars, etc. etc. And it was lovely. Yes, there’s jet lag and the food may still get you. But it’s worth it. And the culture is so intoxicating.
It’s when we moved from the hotel to the condo that life became more difficult. It was like this huge shift from visitor to outsider. We didn’t know the customs or the language and we hit a lot of bumps those first few weeks. We had an electrician quit because he was so frustrated by us. And we had no idea what was going on. Even trips to the grocery store were stressful. I think we spent almost a whole day searching for an ironing board. It was the day to day things that were exhausting. But when you’re just visiting in a hotel, you don’t have to go through that. You don’t have an electrician and no need to go to the grocery store. Everything is brought to you on a silver platter.
I’m not saying that India won’t make you uncomfortable. But I am saying it’s worth a visit. And in this series of blogs, I'll tell you more about why an Indian Customs stamp should be on any world travelers passport.
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