The sun is setting to the left of me over the Arabian Sea, with only the Braborne cricket stadium in between me and the cloudy waters of Back Bay in Mumbai. In an hour or so's time, I shall be running the gauntlet of negotiating a fair cab fare for the long drive north through the city's suburbs to Chatrapati Shivaji international airport. This is the end of my short trip to India.
It's been a useful time for me, time to get away and have some space to think, to relax; to not think, sometimes, and just go with the flow; to feel both privileged with the life I am afforded in the West, but also, on occasion, to wonder who has got it right, the peasant with very little, or me, with a whole host of "modern conveniences" but, conversely, precious little time in the hectic world I occupy back home.
India is a place that can shock, frustrate, delight, amuse and sadden you all within the course of one day. You will curse the heat of the midday sun, yet a couple of hours later enjoy the warm blanket of the early evening and an orange sunset. There will be crowds, but also space sometimes for peaceful reflection or a quiet conversation with a stranger, who will more often than not be genuinely pleased to take time to engage you in conversation and find out about your world. A smile here goes a long way, and you will find plenty in return.
It's been good to meet new people and make new friends, plus to see old ones, both in planned meetings, but also meetings of total and utter chance. For all these things, I am grateful, and they have certainly been the highlight of my visit.
It will be quite a change to leave the airport in Norwich tomorrow morning and experience cool temperatures again, after the heat of India, save for the occasional coastal breeze if I've been lucky. I will both miss, and enjoy, the lack of the constant cacophony of traffic noise that has awoken me each morning in the cities here. I will miss life as you've never seen it, from the poorest of the poor to the affluent
Mumbaiker who rides around in their top-of-the-range Mercedes, observing this vibrant city through designer shades that could be traded for enough to feed a slum-dwelling family for I shudder to think how long.
This is the ultimate land of contrast, and its possibilities are huge. India is developing at rapid pace, but I hope it retains its underlying values and does not get totally immersed in rampant commercialism, or prize possessions and wealth above all else, something I feel we are often guilty of in the world which we inhabit in the West. India certainly reaffirms to me the value of the gift of family and friends, if ever I should forget.
Until the next time...
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