Margaret Cook and I are partners in this venture; each of us bringing our extensive backgrounds and love of India to India Journey with Grace Inc. Our website is under construction, meetings have been held with lawyers, accountants and bankers and we are well on our way to putting into place those unique experiences that will make ours an experience to be treasured.
We get a lot of different reactions when we talk to people about going to India. The range from "I would never go to India." to "When do we leave?"
So why India?
India is REALLY different - culture, food, history, religions, customs- it stretches the mind.
Elephants walking along a road with trucks, buses, bicycles, rickshaws, tuk tuks, donkeys, cows, cars and motorbikes give new meaning to the word "traffic".
Women working in fields, besides rivers and on construction sites wearing colorful saris and moving with grace and ease gives a different slant on women's liberation.
Worshipers in temples, mosques and churches expressing their faith in the ultimate goodness of God in unique ways.
Food prepared with a palette of herbs and spices to delight your senses.
Music and dance from a tradition stretching back thousands of years and colorful Bollywood movies reflecting the challenges faced by modern Indians.
Beauty all around, in people, in crafts, in architecture, in the land.
And yes, there is poverty - not always hidden and sometimes in juxtaposition to great wealth. And there is often an acceptance of the vicissitudes of life that makes it seem less onerous. There is injustice and a fight for the rights of all people. Struggles we as Americans can relate to.
So why India?
When I am in India I smile outside and inside.
Maybe you would too.
We get a lot of different reactions when we talk to people about going to India. The range from "I would never go to India." to "When do we leave?"
So why India?
India is REALLY different - culture, food, history, religions, customs- it stretches the mind.
Elephants walking along a road with trucks, buses, bicycles, rickshaws, tuk tuks, donkeys, cows, cars and motorbikes give new meaning to the word "traffic".
Women working in fields, besides rivers and on construction sites wearing colorful saris and moving with grace and ease gives a different slant on women's liberation.
Worshipers in temples, mosques and churches expressing their faith in the ultimate goodness of God in unique ways.
Food prepared with a palette of herbs and spices to delight your senses.
Music and dance from a tradition stretching back thousands of years and colorful Bollywood movies reflecting the challenges faced by modern Indians.
Beauty all around, in people, in crafts, in architecture, in the land.
And yes, there is poverty - not always hidden and sometimes in juxtaposition to great wealth. And there is often an acceptance of the vicissitudes of life that makes it seem less onerous. There is injustice and a fight for the rights of all people. Struggles we as Americans can relate to.
So why India?
When I am in India I smile outside and inside.
Maybe you would too.
