Prior to my first trip to India, I had expectations and perceptions of what it might be like… I guess we all do until we actually visit a previously unvisited destination. I knew India would be busy, I knew to expect poverty and I knew I’d love the food. But India is the planet’s most populous nation and I was over simplifying things; homogenising in my mind’s eye a richly diverse experience like few others on earth.
We all grew up with images of extensive slums, impoverished children and Mother Theresa caring for people with leprosy in Kolkata. And don’t get me wrong, these images still exist- I’ve actually worked them in Kolkata and most recently in Jaipur, so I can testify to this but India is also so much more than that. One of the biggest changes I’ve noticed in my time visiting India - and we hear it all the time - is the emergence of a middle class which has grown to 31% of the population – still low by Australia standards but numerically that equates to half a billion people! The fact that desperate poverty exists along some of the coolest bars and remarkable restaurants is part of what makes India an assault on all five senses.
Our morning routine in Jaipur is a classic example of how these disparate worlds, somehow magically coexist. We were fortunate enough to stay in an old colonial style hotel, well insulated from the daily chaos of the streets outside. At around 6am we would emerge to run/ walk a kilometre through the still waking street as the frantic hustle and endless horn blowing (common to any Indian streetscape) to arrive to Jaipur’s Central Park. Here a surreal sanctuary of gardens with a surrounding jogging track and exercise stations, envelope sporting fields, group exercise classes, a golf course and even a polo field FFS!. The vibe was one of Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens or Sydney’s Domain with groups of Indians in leisure wear walking, bantering and laughing as they got their daily step count in. Here, you are bizarrely transported to another time and or place where the outside world is temporarily forgotten and you realise not only does India defy cliché, but the things that unite humanity are so much stronger than that which divides us.
We all need to take time out of our busy schedule to recharge and refresh and a trip to Bali can help recharge the battery and a trip to the Italian Riviera can be a wonderful change of scenery but for me travelling to India is a journey of self-discovery and no two trips are the same. India for me is a destination that rejuvenates the body, nourishes and spirit and leaves and indelible mark on the mind and heart.