~the bright colours and the grey shades~

Thursday, 16th January 2003

well it looks like the culture shock finally reached me… it washed over me the day before yesterday, when i just felt like going to my room to lie down and rest. there was no special reason for it, it is just that India is so intense, so deep, so heavy, so moving… it just gets under my skin, and i need some time outs every now and then...

and i haven't even been to the darker side yet - i am taking it slow and really am still amazed by the friendliness and warmness of this country. i had expected the travelling to be harder, to be more of a hassle - but it isn't, it rather is the opposite way, at least so far.

i met a tour guide who took three hours to explain every single painting and room in the city palace to me ...
and then took me on a ride to a Shiva temple about twenty kilometers from here to show me the countryside and the little villages that are so very different from the city life.

and we sat at the lake at the temple and had a Chai tea and talked about Hinduism and Buddhism and the Western and Eastern ways of the world.. it was amazing. one of the things he said that really impressed me was:

"you know, life didn't give me many opportunities to travel, but i do a lot of mindtravelling"

and yesterday i went to a shop and the shop owner really went out of his way to help me.. and i thanked him and told him about my surprise.. and he said: "it is because of yourself. you are smiling and so i am smiling. India is really just reflecting your heart." and i was amazed again. you don't really expect to have that kind of conversation when you just go into a shop ~

but that is so like India is ... you can just sit anywhere and watch the life on the streets, because there is just so much life there... and let your mind travel. and in everything you see, there are so many aspects.. i added a picture just to give you an idea.

the bright colours and the grey shades, the beauty and the poverty, the earth and the water and the sky, all just one step away from each other.

~bright shady smiles~
Do

next: just me here...