For the love of India.
Every time I mention that I plan to go to India with my best friend, I hear snide comments about being a pretentious bobo (bourgeoise-bohemian), a confused-soul in search of some form of spirituality, or any number of variations on that theme. That is so not right. I’m only half-confused, and a smidgeon of bobo.
It is such an effective myth, created by hippies and the like. But I don’t buy it. Or rather I choose to ignore it. I think India deserves better treatment since it is absolutely huge and multifaceted. I will try to prove this myth wrong by dissecting some of Alanis Morissette’s Thank You song lyrics. So here goes:
“Thank you India, thank you nothingness”
India is full of everything and anything, everywhere and anywhere. If you want nothingness, go to Saskatchewan.
“how 'bout stopping eating when I'm full up”
I don’t think so. The whole country is an all you can eat buffet. The bryannies, dals, achards, curries, naans, not to mention ice creams and oh, halwas, you’d be nuts to stop eating.
“how 'bout getting off of these antibiotics”
What’s wrong with pills? It kills the pain. Besides, you need a large variety of pills to survive India as a tourist: vaccines, malaria pills, sleeping pills, cypro, and maybe a little tranquilizer in New Delhi. If you go into a stomach ache fit and have to be hospitalized, or get covered in insect’s bites and end up spending the rest of your life being fed by a tube, then maybe your doctor was right: take your pills.
“how 'bout no longer being masochistic”
Pfft. Sweetheart, spending time in Calcutta is by itself a masochistic gesture.
"Thank you India, thank you thank you silence"
Are we still talking about India? You might be confusing it with your California yoga class. With a population of over 1 billion, silence is not this country’s strong suit.
Anyway, you get my point. I'm glad Alanis found inner-peace and a shrinking waistline, but let me tell you why I plan to go there: the loudness of the streets, the nauseating fumes of Old Dheli, the fabulous clothes and gold jewelry, glamorous movies sets, 5-hour movies, never-ending music shows, 5-day weddings (so we can be pretty in saris), sleep deprivation in trains. It's not about tranquility, spirituality or letting go of carbs, but about self-gratification, gluttony, vanity, excitement, chaos and just taking a vacation.
I can't wait.
It is such an effective myth, created by hippies and the like. But I don’t buy it. Or rather I choose to ignore it. I think India deserves better treatment since it is absolutely huge and multifaceted. I will try to prove this myth wrong by dissecting some of Alanis Morissette’s Thank You song lyrics. So here goes:
“Thank you India, thank you nothingness”
India is full of everything and anything, everywhere and anywhere. If you want nothingness, go to Saskatchewan.
“how 'bout stopping eating when I'm full up”
I don’t think so. The whole country is an all you can eat buffet. The bryannies, dals, achards, curries, naans, not to mention ice creams and oh, halwas, you’d be nuts to stop eating.
“how 'bout getting off of these antibiotics”
What’s wrong with pills? It kills the pain. Besides, you need a large variety of pills to survive India as a tourist: vaccines, malaria pills, sleeping pills, cypro, and maybe a little tranquilizer in New Delhi. If you go into a stomach ache fit and have to be hospitalized, or get covered in insect’s bites and end up spending the rest of your life being fed by a tube, then maybe your doctor was right: take your pills.
“how 'bout no longer being masochistic”
Pfft. Sweetheart, spending time in Calcutta is by itself a masochistic gesture.
"Thank you India, thank you thank you silence"
Are we still talking about India? You might be confusing it with your California yoga class. With a population of over 1 billion, silence is not this country’s strong suit.
Anyway, you get my point. I'm glad Alanis found inner-peace and a shrinking waistline, but let me tell you why I plan to go there: the loudness of the streets, the nauseating fumes of Old Dheli, the fabulous clothes and gold jewelry, glamorous movies sets, 5-hour movies, never-ending music shows, 5-day weddings (so we can be pretty in saris), sleep deprivation in trains. It's not about tranquility, spirituality or letting go of carbs, but about self-gratification, gluttony, vanity, excitement, chaos and just taking a vacation.
I can't wait.
posted by Kine at 12:50 PM
9 Comments:
OK, I get it now. Going to India isn't going to be one of those soulful journeys that naive white kids take because they have romanticized visions about seeing tigers and being 'with the people' in a society untouched by the excesses of modern culture.
I think those kids get a rude awakening when they see someone taking a shit on the sidewalk for the first time. Or understanding that there is a caste of people who clean up that shit so that they can have fuel to cook their evening meal. Now that's romantic.
If you understand that that's what you're in for, then I get it: after all, that's what I find mind-blowing about going to the Third World: having bizarre experiences in the middle of a complete Malthusian train-wreck of a society. But soulful and relaxing it ain't.
Il a fallu que tu écrives sur notre voyage en Inde pour qu'enfin je voie ton blogue (mea culpa) et je dois dire que je suis franchement impressionée! Ça fait du bien de redécouvrir ton talent pour le dessin et de voir que tu as aimé un film coproduit par Cinémaginaire. And your English is darn good!
Franchement, tu as énuméré toutes les bonnes raisons de partir en voyage. Et c'est vrai qu'il n'est pas question de partir en quête spirituelle de quoi que ce soit ou d'être une bobo prétentieuse. Anyway who cares? We are doing the trip for ourselves, to become better persons, to live new experiences and to learn or re-learn that wherever you go, it is so good to see that if ways of thinking and seeing the world are different, human nature is the same around the world.
And, most of all, vacations are always welcome anytime of the year. ;o) We just chose not to spend it in Florida.
By the way, Jeff, I wouldn't say that India is untouched by modern culture. They are a modern culture, it just not the same as ours! ;o)
J'aime moi aussi l'Inde mais pour d'autres raisons. L'Inde est la source du blé d'Inde et du cochon d'Inde.
Par contre il semblerait que le cochnon d'Inde ne provienne pas d'Inde. Certaine personne ont même dit que ce n'était pas un cochon. Seul le "d'" est authentique.
Comme le dirait Bernard Landry, il y a de quoi en perdre son latin...
J'aime bien l'Inde mais plus dans les livres qu'en réalité. Je suis peut-être trop "chicken" pour y aller... Une chance que les Hindous sont pour la plupart végétariens.
Claude
Kine, you sound totally grounded in reality and ready for a fantastic voyage. When do you leave?
Wow, Kine, je te souhaite de partir pour l'Inde très bientôt. Comme le dit notre cher Alain de Botton, la satisfaction face à nos voyages est en grande partie déterminée par les attentes que nous avons face à ceux-ci. Et tes attentes me semblent très réalistes car tu connais bien ce pays que tu veux visiter depuis longtemps. J'aime ton analyse du texte d'Alanis, je ne l'écouterai plus jamais de la même façon!
Merci tout le monde pour vos commentaires inspirés et inspirants.
Manue: J'ai hâte de confirmer mon penchant matérialiste avec toi dans un marché de bijoux en or.
Mat: Un pèlerin Beatle. Quelle fabuleuse idée. J'espère que vous aller changer d'idée et passer par là lors de votre voyage autour du monde.
Claude : Moi j’aimerais ça que Claude commente plus souvent sur mon blog.
Jeff : Of course you get it: you know what it feels like. But I’m still expecting a rude awakening, especially when I come back.
Michèle: Late 2006, if Mercury is not retro. :-)
"bourgeoise-bohemian"
I totally bet that comment came from Jeff! Rocci told me they had a convo about that at the PL.
You should make a t-shirt that says that in pretty little velvet letters. and wear it travelling.
Hey Kine!
bonne fête en retard! ;-)
tu devrais parler avec David, il a passé six mois en Inde. Quand est-ce que tu pars faire semblant de chanter des "om", à la manière de Patsy et Edina?
chanceuse! Moi je rêve d'aller faire du yoga à Goa...
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