Going Home

Today is my last day in India. Tonight at midnight my plane leaves Delhi.

I purposedly had nothing planned for today. I wanted to pack (yeah, it all fit in the big backpack) and just have time to relax, read, write before I went back to my daily routine.

The title of the Rohinton Mistry book that Dana recommended I read before I came here has never left my mind these 2 weeks, "A Fine Balance". What a fitting title. Ordinary Indians are in their daily life masters of some sort of balancing act.

Driving in here is a such an example. To my eyes it is sheer insanity. Cars, buses, trucks, rickshaws, motorbikes, bikes, people, cows, buffaloes, the occasional camel and elephant, are all thrown together in the streets. All you hear is the constant sound of horns announcing that one should stay clear and move out of the way. Yet I am surprised that I did not witness any accidents during my stay. They do happen, of course, but not as much as I would expect.

On my first day here I was horrified when I saw on the road a family of 5 crammed on a motorcycle - son up front, then the father driving, followed by daughter, and mother (in sari and all) seating sideways at the end holding a baby. How's that for fine balance! (And I have not mentioned the state of the roads yet. ) This would be something I would see many times over during my stay here.

And this allegory I suspect applies to many aspects of daily Indian life. Perhaps I could say that the trip has changed me. It probably has in many ways but their effects will not be clear until sometime down the road. Once I have been able to digest what I saw, heard, smelled...

Right now all I know is that I am still craving for that orange and drinking water that does not leave a weird metallic aftertaste - they add chemicals to 'purify' water that is bottled. Can't wait to run again. It has been more than 2 weeks since the marathon.
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