Good bye for this time India, you will always be in my heart!
I have now landed in Sweden again and I must say it feels good to be back home.
But I'm already missing crazy India. I'm missing all the colours and smiles, sounds and fragrances.
India is a country where all your senses get a brutal awakening. You have to be constantly present or you'll be hit by a speeding rickshaw or ripped of by a charming salesman.
But when you are present you'll also see all the beauty of the country. The women dressed in thousands of colours, their black hair hanging in long plaits down their backs. The hardworking men with their big smiles and big eyed curiosity. The brown eyed children with their bright coloured laughter. The breathtaking nature, from the impossibly green rice fields to the mile long sandy beaches, from incredible views from the mountaintops to the vibrant ever flowing holy Ganga, from the small intimate villages to the intimidating big cities.
India is the country where the impossible becomes possible. It seems like the rules of nature seize to exist in this vastly crowded country. You'll find more people crammed into the same tiny rickshaw than you thought virtually possible. You'll find that traffic somehow flows seamlessly though you anticipate an accident at every turn. Nobody follows the rules, but they use their own unwritten rules instead. You'll be standing so close to people on a train that you can feel their breath on your skin and their bodies pressing at you from every direction, and still more people manage to get on that train, hanging halfway out of the doorway if need be.
You'll see women carrying big bundles of twigs, construction workers carrying bowls of stones and men carrying huge packages, all on their heads, held high and proud. These small and skinny people carry more than twice their size on their heads without any struggle or complaint.

It is also a country of contrasts. With such a densely populated country some intimate actions become not so private, especially in poor environments where people live very closely together. For one thing, peeing in public is totally acceptable, even for women. There are very few public toilets, so inevitably people need to relieve themselves somewhere. Then on the other hand it's not allowed to kiss or wen hold hands in public, it doesn't really make sense, does it?
When the Indians drink, they never touch the cup or bottle with their lips, they simply pour the liquid into their mouth, but then they gladly eat with their hands, hygienic or what?
It is not appropriate with any kind of touch between man and women unless you are married, but then there so many people so you'll inevitably be crushed against other bodies in queues, trains and markets, how should you avoid touching and possibly offending someone in such a situation?
This is one of the loudest countries I've been in, horns constantly honking in traffic, music always blasting on full volume, men selling stuff and shouting in their loud nasal voices. But then the many cows leisurely lumbering down the heavily trafficked streets never make a sound, not a single moo. And the kids hardly ever cry or make noise, even though they are carried around wherever their parents go and are exposed to all the sounds and craziness.

This is the country of moustaches and shirts. Men old and young, working as a taxi driver or construction worker or shopkeeper, they all wear shirts. And most of the men also proudly grow a moustache, young boys with wispy things covering their upper lip and old men with extravagant curved bushes almost hiding their mouths.

When I told people I was going travelling on my own in India I heard from so many that I should be really careful. But I haven't encountered any uncomfortable situations. Yes, it's irritating to be attacked by a bunch of aggressively persistent rickshaw drivers when you've just woke up and are dropped of from your night bus in the middle of a still dark city. Yes, it is tiring to repeatedly decline offers of tour guides, shop owners, taxi drivers and tourist traps. Yes, it brakes my heart every time I don't give money to a sad eyed beggar. And yes, I'm scared for my life half of the times I get into a rickshaw. But nobody has ever treated me bad in any other way than trying to get a little share of my money and frankly, it's the tourism that has made the people act like this. And like it or not, I'm one of the tourists.

It is a crazy country in many ways but I love it and I'll define be coming back for more craziness soon. People are so honestly curious here. They'll stare at you with open mouthed curiosity and then crack up in the biggest smile if you give them just a hint of a smile. They simply mirror your own frown and reflect the smile if you shine one at them. People have given me open mouthed stares, laughed out loud at the sight of me and commented on my hairstyle countless times. It's impossible to walk around in your own little bubble, people will remind you to smile at the world at every turn. Back home I would probably get irritated by this kind of treatment, but it's just the way Indians are, so there's nothing else to do than smile and move on.

Something I'll miss is the food. If there's something the Indians really know, it's how to cook food. And also, even though I'm usually a very clean and tidy person, I love to eat with my hands. You can really feel the food you eat and the whole sensations just becomes more. With more senses involved, you are not only using taste and smell, but also touch.
Of course along with the food comes chai. I'll miss the chai, the street chai most of all. The Indians love their tea and you'll find it at every street corner. You'll get served in tiny cups or glasses, because the Indians drink chai many times a day they don't want to have it all in one go in a big cup.
Yes India is a colourful, crazy, loud and smiling country and I'll miss every inch of it. I'll miss the big eyed cats, lazing in the sun, I'll miss the cows that will stand calmly in mid traffic and let the world pass by as they go about their own business, I'll miss the stray dogs sleeping all day to go roaming in the black of night and I'll even miss the rats that scatter across the street when you least expect it. I'll miss all the millions of Indians who somehow manage to live in peace despite that they're pretty much living on top of each other. And also, I'll miss that power you feel when you cross a busy street and just put out you hands as a stop signal and the traffic will just miraculously swerve past you. It's how India is most of the time, it may seem impossible until you get out there and just walk calmly, letting everything fall into place around you.
Thanks for this trip, it has been amazing! Namaste Indiaॐ