ON TRAVELING

As a traveler it's not only a matter of visiting places, it's also important to allow places to visit you. That takes time & patience and eschewing the hurried and frenetic pace which far too many people follow. Look, listen & learn. Sit at a sidewalk cafe, sip a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and let the place come to you. Travel forces a certain amount of knowledge upon a person whether he likes it or not. And, as with age, it may force a bit of wisdom on him, as well. Serendipitous experiences can be every bit as rewarding as those experiences which are engaged with deliberation and foresight. On the other hand, traveling has taught me that there are some experiences which one is better off for not having had. India has an abundance of that variety but, remains as the most fascinating country I've ever been to. As far as I'm concerned, no one, regardless of how many counties visited, can consider himself a 'world traveler' if India was not one of those countries. As an American, I can travel to Europe where there are a plethora of different fashions, cuisines, historical references, languages, etc. However, the common denominator is that we all share a similar rationale...two plus two equals four, parallel lines don't meet and so forth. In India, two plus two equals four on Mondays & Thursday. Other days it could be three or five or whatever. And, I swear, there are places in India where parallel lines actually do meet. They simply think differently. Varanasi is one of the holiest cities in India. It's where people go to die, be cremated and have their ashes scattered in the River Ganges. Sadhus, pregnant women and those who cannot afford the kindling wood for cremation are tossed into the river as dead carcasses. A young man I'd met bent down and scooped water from the river and drank it. He suggested I do likewise. I declined saying that the river was polluted with rotting carcasses. He was offended, insisting that the river was holy...the Holy Mother Ganges. Still, I remained skeptical. The young man looked at me pityingly and said he felt sorry for me. We talked for a while longer and I eventually understood why he felt sorry for me. We think differently. Where I come from the popular adage is, "I'll believe it when I see it." For that young man and so many others in India, the mantra is, "I'll see it when I believe it."
There's something to be learned from that way of thinking.
morganmcfinn.com