Why India???

Indiamad · Apr 26th, 2006, 18:28

Not sure who said it, but the quote 'Those who return...never left' seems to be so true of India.

I spent my childhood years in the UK and had many Indian friends at school who'd always insist that after school I go home with them for dinner (HOW could I refuse?) so I came to love the Indian culture from an early age. I travelled through central europe in my mid 20's and although it was good at the time, I didn't come home RAVING about the place, feeling like I'd been on a permanent high like I did when I was in India. Europe seems so predictable, you have a fair idea what to expect when you turn a corner - when is this EVER the case in India!

I'm physically back in Australia after my third visit, but my heart and soul seem to be still in India somewhere....waiting for me to return

Vasko · Apr 26th, 2006, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by New-South-Welshman

I guess to some India is like beer. At first you hate the taste, but you try it again, and just get used to it, and just end up loving.

And in the end you're intoxicated.

Mangogirl · Apr 27th, 2006, 00:17

So true Vasko! People back home always ask me why I keep on going back to India. It's difficult to explain it to people that have never been to India. I went to India the first time in 1995 and since then I've been back 5 times. Sometimes I'll try to go somewhere else but it's not the same. Since 1995 I've been to Latinamerica twice and to Thailand and Cambodia. Wherever I go in the world and I meet people that have been to India more than once I feel that we have something in common. I have friends from back home that have been going to India every year for 20 years!!! Even now I'm in China and I should be more interested in things happening here but I cant help it that I want to know what's going on in India. I haven't been to India for 3 years and I miss it sooo much! My boyfriend (gbb) is teaching english here and when we discussed where to live in the autumn we thought about Spain or Latinamerica but after a while we just looked at each other and said: India!

Sama · Apr 27th, 2006, 19:43

As Peter O'Toole said as narrator of the movie Mystic India that I just saw yesterday..... "India....where the extraordinary is ordinary"....

that line resonated with me....

IVAN · Apr 28th, 2006, 04:56

So, why is India so addictive to some?

The usual answer falls into categories of variety, diversity and difference, but it is a dispersive one which misses the point.

The key to the answer lies in meaning.

When we move trough space, we don't just move trough the physical, we move inside meanings.
Meanings given and built into that space by its inhabitants. Meanings of those meanings for us. Meanings of us moving inside these spaces and meanings. Harmonies and confrontations of meanings. Degrees and depths of interconnection or disconnection between levels of meaning belonging to different dimensions of life, from material to transcendent ones, and passing trough various "other" meanings linked to diverse personal motivations.

In India, the beggar or the shoe repair wallah on the street, are not just the failures they would be somewhere else. In meaning they are connected to "another" meanings.
Every aspect of material life in India is connected to levels of "other" meaning that link the physical aspects of life to more fundamental meanings we give to life, meanings that are, we feel, at the hearth of our human condition.

So in India, there is no disconnection between material and "other" meanings.
They are all linked into a continuum of meanings from the physical to the transcendent.

This principle is, apparently paradoxically, reinforced by the Indian diversity of ways the physical is connected to the transcendant and core human meanings.
All these different aspects represent the same search, they are the various expression of the same search for "another" meaning, a "truer" meaning - a search for ourselves.
That Indian diversity expresses the same principle and envelops us from all sides. Wherever we look, we see "other" meanings, we see the unique search for "other" meanings in all its various facets.

This has a positive and negative side.

Tired of the disconnection between material and transcendent fundamental human meanings, the western traveller may feel that he comes home, to the place where everything exterior reminds him of his interior longings for a human meaning.
While it is good to be reconnected to our more fundamental levels of meaning, linking still doesn't mean integration.

When the "other" meaning is so strongly projected into the exterior, there is a danger to rely too much on that exterior meaning to confirm us in our meaning. There is the temptation to desire the return to the womb, as what is projected is our longing for an exterior meaning that will confirm our own meaning.
I believe that is also the trap which is the cause of a certain immobilism sometimes present in the Indian society.

However, besides being a potential trap, this is also a chance, a chance to be reminded enough of ourselves to finally realise that what we search is inside us, that it is ourselves, and that the true link between the exterior material aspect of life and another meaning that would transcend it, is the integration of life into our inner causality.

To go totally "outside" in our western lives, and then, to be reminded of the impossible dream of returning to the place of origin where the inner and external meanings were one, may lead us to grow to the level where things get turned around and the "other" meaning becomes the very inner cause that is unconditioned by anything exterior.
There, we realise that there is a true unitive meaning, a true transcendant meaning to all physical aspects of life, and that is ourselves, the inner cause that transcends and integrates all aspects of life.

India is like the childhood to which you return, the naked original relation to life. The place where you started and also the place where things started to go wrong.
When the full circle is done, you return to the place you began, and reconsider the whole thing. Then you integrate it another way, realising that the way is not to get the universe to confirm your meaning, but your true meaning, your true cause inside gives the meaning to the universe.
The unity is realised once again, but this time, the other way around, the true way of the fully realised individuality.

katyrafi · Apr 28th, 2006, 05:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merchant

Soft landing--everything appears to be difficult and challenging (heat, sanitation, food, trains, etc.), so you get a real sense of personal accomplishment by traveling, and yet you hardly realize how soft the landing is. People are generous and hospitable. Octavio Paz, Nobel laureate and Mexico's former ambassador to India, wrote that "Indians practice the ancient religion of friendship."

First encounter with developing world--India is often the first or only so-called Third World country that people visit, so they have little experience with the enormous challenges of the developing world: overpopulation, massive urban centers, environmental degradation. Traveling in India gives the visitor a one-on-one encounter with some of the world's poorest people, and for some strange, perhaps mystical, reason, these people will invite you in for tea.

India culture is unironic--we in the jaded West have an instinctual refusal to be embarrassed, showy, or to extend ourselves too much. But India riotously and joyously thumps along to a Bollywood soundtrack, featuring a cameo of a Michael Jackson lookalike from his "Thriller" days. This, for some reason, is refreshing.

It's cheap--the dollar has held steady against the rupee, despite the dollar's fall against other world currencies.

I haven't even read the rest of this thread yet but Merchant you have hit the proverbial nail on the head. India invites you in and throws everything at you at high speed and in full technicolour and before you know it you're married to an Indian and every dream every night is of the madness and the chaos and the love that you found there.

Ok, maybe that's not everyone's experience but for me no journey to another country could possibly have the impact that India had on me and I've been to a few (including other 3rd world ones).

23rd June - destination Kerala to see my husband again after 5 long long months and I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then he will have to adjust to the tupperware skies of the UK for a while til we can get back to India, cos, as Nick puts it, it's my second home - no, if I'm honest it's the only place I can call home

the chaos and the Karma, listen to the lizards

nanstallon · Apr 28th, 2006, 13:33

India is not always comfortable, but it is never boring. So much to see that I have been tempted in the past (before marriage and kids) to just sell up and take the proceeds to India and live there for a long time. UK seemed so dull, and long distance travelling was what life was all about.

But I have to say that when I came back to UK, I did enjoy the Sunday roast! Now, after a great weekend in northern Scotland, I realise that it is wrong to say that India is better than UK or vice-versa. Everywhere has its good points and it is best to make the most of wherever you are, while being open to new experiences.

Regards

John

aadil · Apr 29th, 2006, 16:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by nanstallon

India is not always comfortable, but it is never boring. So much to see that I have been tempted in the past (before marriage and kids) to just sell up and take the proceeds to India and live there for a long time. UK seemed so dull, and long distance travelling was what life was all about.

But I have to say that when I came back to UK, I did enjoy the Sunday roast! Now, after a great weekend in northern Scotland, I realise that it is wrong to say that India is better than UK or vice-versa. Everywhere has its good points and it is best to make the most of wherever you are, while being open to new experiences.

Regards

John

That's true John, every place has it's advantages / good points and probably sucks like hell too!!! Every coin has two sides to it. It is just how you look at it and make things go your way too!!! I visit as many places as possible whenever I travel and it is not just in foreign lands but in my own country (India) too!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

Apr 27th, 2006, 19:43	#34
Sama a pain in the asana Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: the India inside my heart Posts: 5,434	As Peter O'Toole said as narrator of the movie Mystic India that I just saw yesterday..... "India....where the extraordinary is ordinary".... that line resonated with me.... __________________ *My India, 2005-2008* BE THE REVOLUTION

Apr 28th, 2006, 04:56	#35
IVAN status unknown Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Croatia Posts: 685	Meaning So, why is India so addictive to some? The usual answer falls into categories of variety, diversity and difference, but it is a dispersive one which misses the point. The key to the answer lies in meaning. When we move trough space, we don't just move trough the physical, we move inside meanings. Meanings given and built into that space by its inhabitants. Meanings of those meanings for us. Meanings of us moving inside these spaces and meanings. Harmonies and confrontations of meanings. Degrees and depths of interconnection or disconnection between levels of meaning belonging to different dimensions of life, from material to transcendent ones, and passing trough various "other" meanings linked to diverse personal motivations. In India, the beggar or the shoe repair wallah on the street, are not just the failures they would be somewhere else. In meaning they are connected to "another" meanings. Every aspect of material life in India is connected to levels of "other" meaning that link the physical aspects of life to more fundamental meanings we give to life, meanings that are, we feel, at the hearth of our human condition. So in India, there is no disconnection between material and "other" meanings. They are all linked into a continuum of meanings from the physical to the transcendent. This principle is, apparently paradoxically, reinforced by the Indian diversity of ways the physical is connected to the transcendant and core human meanings. All these different aspects represent the same search, they are the various expression of the same search for "another" meaning, a "truer" meaning - a search for ourselves. That Indian diversity expresses the same principle and envelops us from all sides. Wherever we look, we see "other" meanings, we see the unique search for "other" meanings in all its various facets. This has a positive and negative side. Tired of the disconnection between material and transcendent fundamental human meanings, the western traveller may feel that he comes home, to the place where everything exterior reminds him of his interior longings for a human meaning. While it is good to be reconnected to our more fundamental levels of meaning, linking still doesn't mean integration. When the "other" meaning is so strongly projected into the exterior, there is a danger to rely too much on that exterior meaning to confirm us in our meaning. There is the temptation to desire the return to the womb, as what is projected is our longing for an exterior meaning that will confirm our own meaning. I believe that is also the trap which is the cause of a certain immobilism sometimes present in the Indian society. However, besides being a potential trap, this is also a chance, a chance to be reminded enough of ourselves to finally realise that what we search is inside us, that it is ourselves, and that the true link between the exterior material aspect of life and another meaning that would transcend it, is the integration of life into our inner causality. To go totally "outside" in our western lives, and then, to be reminded of the impossible dream of returning to the place of origin where the inner and external meanings were one, may lead us to grow to the level where things get turned around and the "other" meaning becomes the very inner cause that is unconditioned by anything exterior. There, we realise that there is a true unitive meaning, a true transcendant meaning to all physical aspects of life, and that is ourselves, the inner cause that transcends and integrates all aspects of life. India is like the childhood to which you return, the naked original relation to life. The place where you started and also the place where things started to go wrong. When the full circle is done, you return to the place you began, and reconsider the whole thing. Then you integrate it another way, realising that the way is not to get the universe to confirm your meaning, but your true meaning, your true cause inside gives the meaning to the universe. The unity is realised once again, but this time, the other way around, the true way of the fully realised individuality. __________________ Humor is Freedom Check my Links -> http://www14.brinkster.com/jnana/links.htm cum grano salis

Apr 28th, 2006, 13:33	#37
nanstallon Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cornwall, UK Posts: 42	why India? India is not always comfortable, but it is never boring. So much to see that I have been tempted in the past (before marriage and kids) to just sell up and take the proceeds to India and live there for a long time. UK seemed so dull, and long distance travelling was what life was all about. But I have to say that when I came back to UK, I did enjoy the Sunday roast! Now, after a great weekend in northern Scotland, I realise that it is wrong to say that India is better than UK or vice-versa. Everywhere has its good points and it is best to make the most of wherever you are, while being open to new experiences. Regards John

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Apr 26th, 2006, 18:28	#31
Indiamad Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Queensland, Australia Posts: 175	Not sure who said it, but the quote 'Those who return...never left' seems to be so true of India. I spent my childhood years in the UK and had many Indian friends at school who'd always insist that after school I go home with them for dinner (HOW could I refuse?) so I came to love the Indian culture from an early age. I travelled through central europe in my mid 20's and although it was good at the time, I didn't come home RAVING about the place, feeling like I'd been on a permanent high like I did when I was in India. Europe seems so predictable, you have a fair idea what to expect when you turn a corner - when is this EVER the case in India! I'm physically back in Australia after my third visit, but my heart and soul seem to be still in India somewhere....waiting for me to return

Apr 27th, 2006, 00:17	#33
Mangogirl Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Sweden Posts: 106	So true Vasko! People back home always ask me why I keep on going back to India. It's difficult to explain it to people that have never been to India. I went to India the first time in 1995 and since then I've been back 5 times. Sometimes I'll try to go somewhere else but it's not the same. Since 1995 I've been to Latinamerica twice and to Thailand and Cambodia. Wherever I go in the world and I meet people that have been to India more than once I feel that we have something in common. I have friends from back home that have been going to India every year for 20 years!!! Even now I'm in China and I should be more interested in things happening here but I cant help it that I want to know what's going on in India. I haven't been to India for 3 years and I miss it sooo much! My boyfriend (gbb) is teaching english here and when we discussed where to live in the autumn we thought about Spain or Latinamerica but after a while we just looked at each other and said: India!

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