You may be missing India, when you ......

TimMakins · Jul 5th, 2006, 13:30

Well done, Greg - that's a brilliant thing to do!!!

Tim in Ireland - also a gardener

Bucket · Jul 7th, 2006, 00:21

I'm leaving in 10 days for my very first trip, and after reading all of these i am alternately terrified and unbelievably excited!!!!

dilbharatmain · Jul 7th, 2006, 09:35

these postings have me cracking up - love it...
What about when you totally understand what the station master means, when he says "Good Sir, the train is exactly on time, it 4hours late running." (head vigorously wobbling of course)

Nick-H · Jul 7th, 2006, 10:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucket

I'm leaving in 10 days for my very first trip, and after reading all of these i am alternately terrified and unbelievably excited!!!!

Be afraid! Be very afraid!

You'll love it

Wazen · Jul 11th, 2006, 07:04

When you smell cow fecies baking in the hot sun,
and suddenly you get that warm feeling all over again.

When you feel stuck in society and the tension builds up until you find yourself contemplating the issue of toilet paper in the heat of the moment.

When you cant get over eating with your left hand, no matter how socially acceptable it is.

Finding yourself speaking Hindi to people who are not Indian.

When no food is spicy enough to please your once intollerable tounge.

When you find yourslef thinking about how cute cows really are...

When you sit there with your chillum, dissapointed that you cant use it.

When your so depressed over western society, the only thoughts in your mind reflect using your American Citizenship to get rich and retire in India at 30.

When you smile at any homeless person to cross your path, because they remind you of the best friends you made while traveling India, and then long for the free feeling of being a dirty wandering hippe with nothing to loose.

When you feel like saying "namaste" to a cow.

When depression gets worse being homesick, over a country that isnt your home!

When your view of the world has changed so much, you realize that you have never been fully comfertable in this modern day society, and wish you had the warmth and acceptance of a culture down to earth with humanity.

When you realize in your heart, there are two differences between America and India:
One country obviously has more money, while the other is by far richer!

When your finnaly ready to sell your car and live without one, because your mind and heart has evolved beyond cars and back to walking, or being squished on an overcrowded buss full of happy people who treat you like family.

When you smile to a passing stranger and say "hi", only toget a bad vibe and no response from thier cold hearts.

When you go to a bar and see a cool person, and you walk over just to smile and say hello, and they tell you to "f*ck off", and then it hits you, your back in America....

When your willing to pay $25 for a Thali because your heart is heavy...

Walking down the road, you stop and sit on the grass to watch the world pass by, just like being back in India...
Only to get weird stares like its socially unaceptable, as if your homeless, loitering, and its not okay to just sit in public and be still...
Then as the $50,000 cars pass by, the people with nice clothing walking on smooth cement without the obstacle of litter....
And all you can see and feel takes the place of the moment...
The sight of dirt roads linned with Chai stands, the smell of animals, crap, spices, urine, homeless people laying around, Shiva Babas walking down the road in a trance like state, cycle rickshaws passing you by touting for pennies, Indian music on a crappy radio being blasted with static as you make way for a heard of cows being whacked by an 80 year old woman in colorful rags holding a stick...And the feeling of an old Baba touching your forehead and making a prayer, the sound of your own voice reciting Om Nama Shiva...
And suddenly you snap out of it, and all your left with is the out of place chant being softly spoken from your lips, in another world thats more foriegn than ever before....

Wazen · Jul 11th, 2006, 07:30

One more in my face....

When your playing fetch with your dog, and the ball goes into your neighbors yard, over the fence. And you realize, although they have been you freindly neighbors for years, this society is SO IMPERSONAL, that I actually feel wrong, and intimidated to hop the fence and retrieve my dogs toy. Because if the neighbors saw it, a thousands negative thoughts would flood thier heads, ranging from tresspassing to privacy issues.
Welcome to the land of the free and home of the brave.
And on another note,
why do we have so many neighbors, and yet barely know them? Why do people in this country drive thier little cubicle cars, into thier little cubicle gaqrages, and privately enter thier litlte cubicle homes, without any social contact.. Why are Americans so isolated.. Why do we deny ourselfs of this basic human neccessity? Why is this country so weird?...I miss India...

Sama · Jul 11th, 2006, 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wazen

why do we have so many neighbors, and yet barely know them? Why do people in this country drive thier little cubicle cars, into thier little cubicle gaqrages, and privately enter thier litlte cubicle homes, without any social contact.....

wazen, I've wondered the same thing ever since I moved to white bread suburbia, I felt that way long BEFORE I ever went to India....didn't feel that way back in my ethnic neighborhood of Chicago....
I call garages "decompression chambers" because people drive in, and you watch the door slowly shut behind them, and they're not seen again until the garage door slowly opens in the morning....

I live on a cul-de-sac with 5 houses, everyone knows who everyone is. The night before last Thanksgiving I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, sirens screaming. Do you think anyone ever asked my husband what happened, knocked on the door when I was in the hospital for 3 days, or showed any interest or concern whatsoever?

when I got back from India, my husband told that he could have been murdered in his bed one night, not seen for the entire month I was gone, and not one of our neighbors would ever have a clue until they smelled the stench....

as my friends told me when I returned from India the first time, welcome back, but I won't say welcome home, because you know where your home really is....

jw46 · Jul 11th, 2006, 09:30

"didn't feel that way back in my ethnic neighborhood of Chicago"

Yup knows the feeling... Back of the Stock Yards, Chicago.. everyone knew everyone.. one big family, way back then...

On the other hand you couldn't do anything without the whole world knowin...

Wazen · Jul 11th, 2006, 09:37

...Home is where the heart is...

In Hardiwar, after Nepal, I met a french man in his 40's..
He has been living around Manali for many years. What he said I can never forget...

"back home I dont feel like myself, but in India I can be who I really am"..

Never really hit me until returning to Hawaii. Now, sadly, its all too understandable.

Aloha Yogagal

Sama · Jul 11th, 2006, 10:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by jw46

Yup knows the feeling... Back of the Stock Yards, Chicago.. everyone knew everyone.. one big family, way back then

oh my god, my mother's side is from Back of the Yards....

and it wasn't all that long ago for me....

Nick-H · Jul 11th, 2006, 11:42

That's astonishing, YG

I've had the same feeling about the new development areas we've seen just outside Chennai. Beautiful, affordable houses, sea two minutes down the road --- and the feeling that no-one goes out the gate with getting the security man to check that the road is empty first.

Mind you, there is a high percentage of the population (the old brahmins) in this street that have taken no notice of me in 18 months...

cdrake · Jul 11th, 2006, 11:56

Quote:

Mind you, there is a high percentage of the population (the old brahmins) in this street that have taken no notice of me in 18 months...

bet they know every last detail of your yesterday's supper. They just look uninterested. you're living (abhiramapuram) in the boiling hotbed of chennai's gossip circuit.

lez · Jul 11th, 2006, 20:55

[quote=yogagal60510]
when I got back from India, my husband told that he could have been murdered in his bed one night, not seen for the entire month I was gone, and not one of our neighbors would ever have a clue until they smelled the stench....

QUOTE]

your lucky.

when I got back from India My back door had been smashed down causing £1500 worth of dammage, by the Police because the old bat next door hadn't seen me from behind her net curtains foe a few days

a very

lez

Sama · Jul 11th, 2006, 20:57

well, there's always a middle ground, isn't there?

Nick-H · Jul 11th, 2006, 22:00

cdrake, you are right. And we know a bit about our neighbours too!

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Jul 7th, 2006, 00:21	#317
Bucket Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2	I'm leaving in 10 days for my very first trip, and after reading all of these i am alternately terrified and unbelievably excited!!!!

Jul 7th, 2006, 09:35	#318
dilbharatmain Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 108	these postings have me cracking up - love it... What about when you totally understand what the station master means, when he says "Good Sir, the train is exactly on time, it 4hours late running." (head vigorously wobbling of course)

Jul 11th, 2006, 07:04	#320
Wazen Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wahiawa, Hawaii Posts: 264	When you smell cow fecies baking in the hot sun, and suddenly you get that warm feeling all over again. When you feel stuck in society and the tension builds up until you find yourself contemplating the issue of toilet paper in the heat of the moment. When you cant get over eating with your left hand, no matter how socially acceptable it is. Finding yourself speaking Hindi to people who are not Indian. When no food is spicy enough to please your once intollerable tounge. When you find yourslef thinking about how cute cows really are... When you sit there with your chillum, dissapointed that you cant use it. When your so depressed over western society, the only thoughts in your mind reflect using your American Citizenship to get rich and retire in India at 30. When you smile at any homeless person to cross your path, because they remind you of the best friends you made while traveling India, and then long for the free feeling of being a dirty wandering hippe with nothing to loose. When you feel like saying "namaste" to a cow. When depression gets worse being homesick, over a country that isnt your home! When your view of the world has changed so much, you realize that you have never been fully comfertable in this modern day society, and wish you had the warmth and acceptance of a culture down to earth with humanity. When you realize in your heart, there are two differences between America and India: One country obviously has more money, while the other is by far richer! When your finnaly ready to sell your car and live without one, because your mind and heart has evolved beyond cars and back to walking, or being squished on an overcrowded buss full of happy people who treat you like family. When you smile to a passing stranger and say "hi", only toget a bad vibe and no response from thier cold hearts. When you go to a bar and see a cool person, and you walk over just to smile and say hello, and they tell you to "f*ck off", and then it hits you, your back in America.... When your willing to pay $25 for a Thali because your heart is heavy... Walking down the road, you stop and sit on the grass to watch the world pass by, just like being back in India... Only to get weird stares like its socially unaceptable, as if your homeless, loitering, and its not okay to just sit in public and be still... Then as the $50,000 cars pass by, the people with nice clothing walking on smooth cement without the obstacle of litter.... And all you can see and feel takes the place of the moment... The sight of dirt roads linned with Chai stands, the smell of animals, crap, spices, urine, homeless people laying around, Shiva Babas walking down the road in a trance like state, cycle rickshaws passing you by touting for pennies, Indian music on a crappy radio being blasted with static as you make way for a heard of cows being whacked by an 80 year old woman in colorful rags holding a stick...And the feeling of an old Baba touching your forehead and making a prayer, the sound of your own voice reciting Om Nama Shiva... And suddenly you snap out of it, and all your left with is the out of place chant being softly spoken from your lips, in another world thats more foriegn than ever before....

Jul 11th, 2006, 07:30	#321
Wazen Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wahiawa, Hawaii Posts: 264	One more in my face.... When your playing fetch with your dog, and the ball goes into your neighbors yard, over the fence. And you realize, although they have been you freindly neighbors for years, this society is SO IMPERSONAL, that I actually feel wrong, and intimidated to hop the fence and retrieve my dogs toy. Because if the neighbors saw it, a thousands negative thoughts would flood thier heads, ranging from tresspassing to privacy issues. Welcome to the land of the free and home of the brave. And on another note, why do we have so many neighbors, and yet barely know them? Why do people in this country drive thier little cubicle cars, into thier little cubicle gaqrages, and privately enter thier litlte cubicle homes, without any social contact.. Why are Americans so isolated.. Why do we deny ourselfs of this basic human neccessity? Why is this country so weird?...I miss India...

Jul 11th, 2006, 09:30	#323
jw46 Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: USA Posts: 82	"didn't feel that way back in my ethnic neighborhood of Chicago" Yup knows the feeling... Back of the Stock Yards, Chicago.. everyone knew everyone.. one big family, way back then... On the other hand you couldn't do anything without the whole world knowin...

Jul 11th, 2006, 09:37	#324
Wazen Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wahiawa, Hawaii Posts: 264	...Home is where the heart is... In Hardiwar, after Nepal, I met a french man in his 40's.. He has been living around Manali for many years. What he said I can never forget... "back home I dont feel like myself, but in India I can be who I really am".. Never really hit me until returning to Hawaii. Now, sadly, its all too understandable. Aloha Yogagal

Jul 11th, 2006, 11:42	#326
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 25,853	That's astonishing, YG I've had the same feeling about the new development areas we've seen just outside Chennai. Beautiful, affordable houses, sea two minutes down the road --- and the feeling that no-one goes out the gate with getting the security man to check that the road is empty first. Mind you, there is a high percentage of the population (the old brahmins) in this street that have taken no notice of me in 18 months...

Jul 11th, 2006, 20:55	#328
lez Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: liverpool Posts: 270	[quote=yogagal60510] when I got back from India, my husband told that he could have been murdered in his bed one night, not seen for the entire month I was gone, and not one of our neighbors would ever have a clue until they smelled the stench.... QUOTE] your lucky. when I got back from India My back door had been smashed down causing £1500 worth of dammage, by the Police because the old bat next door hadn't seen me from behind her net curtains foe a few days a very lez

Jul 11th, 2006, 20:57	#329
Sama a pain in the asana Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: the India inside my heart Posts: 5,204	well, there's always a middle ground, isn't there?

Jul 11th, 2006, 22:00	#330
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 25,853	cdrake, you are right. And we know a bit about our neighbours too!

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