When
I first arrived in India, the bright oranges, yellows, reds, golds, pinks,
blues and greens stood out to me as I passed by women walking down the road,
draped in the sari, worn traditionally by all married women. The contrast of the blast of color
against a backdrop of grey streets and cement buildings was enough to fix my
gaze. The common, everyday wear of
the Indian woman appears to me as an elegant piece of fashion we might reserve
for special events in my country; this fact, that I felt like it was Halloween,
also fixed my gaze.
Although
I am still mesmerized by the beauty of Indian women in their saris, I realize
that it has become much more commonplace to me. Today on the ride home from our tour of the Pink City
palace, we passed by several spotless white horses adorned with beautiful
saddles intricately made of gems and cloth of all colors that covered most of
the horse’s back and sides. Atop
the horse sat a well-groomed man dressed in a striking purple suit with a
matching turban. The pair was slowly
making their way to a wedding – the horse would provide the entrance for the
groom.
I
love horses, and under normal conditions, when I see a horse, I stop to take it
in, in all its powerful glory.
Under normal conditions, upon seeing this royal white horse and her
princely rider, dressed to the T for their wedding appearance, I would have
stopped to take in the combination of power and beauty and wondered why these
two were so ornately decorated.
Today however, I did no double take as we passed by.
It
suddenly became apparent that my horizon of expectations about reality had
expanded tremendously in the past month.
Every day, some new sight, some new experience, pushes the limit of what
I thought possible for this life, this world. Goats walking along the side of the road are not such a
spectacle after seeing cows meandering on the street amidst the auto traffic,
laying in the center divide, let out to pasture on the garbage heaps. These cows suddenly become normal after
you see a camel pulling a rickshaw next to the tuk-tuks and motorbikes, not
just once, but every time you hit the streets. The incredible size of the camel shrinks drastically when
you pass an elephant, its trunk beautifully painted in pastel green, pink and
blue, rider sitting in lotus position on top, on their way from… on their way
to…
These
sights push the limits of my imagination to new heights, stretching and pulling
my brain, reorienting it to the unimaginable possibilities of life.
A
United States reality: getting
yelled at for riding my bicycle on the shoulder of the road, going the opposite
way of the auto traffic. Not
wanting to disturb the peace, I make my way over to the right side of the
road. Life goes on.
An
Indian reality: tuk-tuks, cars, bikes, and pedestrians sharing the road with
goats, cows, horses, camels and elephants going in all directions. Life goes on.
The
beauty of travel: the exposition
of different and new realities to the traveler.
The
challenge of travel: returning to
a previous reality, knowing that other ways are possible; feeling that other
ways might work better. Returning
to a previous reality that feels constricting.
A traveler returned home Left,
Somewhere in between Existing
In one reality, But
Aware of other realities, Wanting
To blend them To
Create his ideal reality Left
Unsatisfied.
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