I am now sitting in my filthy hotel room in the backpacker area of Paharganj in Delhi trying to reflect on my time in India before my flight to Indonesia. It is hard not to be affected by the heat and humidity of the room as well as the stains on the walls and yelling both from the halls and the narrow streets. However, when I consider my time here along with the experience that I am having now, then I feel that it is actually perfect because India is a place that you both love and hate.

India is a place of experiences and extremes and was a test of my patience and senses, which caused me to at times hate the place but in the span of thirty seconds another experience would come and I would absolutely love India. Here, I have had the most painful experience of my trip thus far, the experience of greatest peace, the most embarrassing experience of my life, tasted the best food, had my longest period of sickness, seen the most beautiful building, been agitated at the sight of the most squalor slums, witnessed the most moving sight of devotion, seen utter defilement, watched the wheels of economic progress, seen the effects of uncontrolled pollution and trash, watched a flamboyant display of dancing, singing, and country pride, and witnessed beggars with purposely broken and amputated limbs just to make an extra couple of coins for their owners.

My Buddhist teacher in Leh told me that India is the place where "anything is possible" both natural and supernatural, and I completely believe it. There are stories of a statue of Mary crying blood, and also a statue of the Hindu god Ganesh (resembles an elephant) drinking milk through its trunk. There are also stories of a man putting a mortgage on his wife in order to pay for their marriage and then he left after the wedding and the money lender claimed the "property" and made the wife his personal servant for several years until she was finally able to set herself free. Finally, there was a story that a guru had convinced a man's wife that her husband was actually her brother from a previous life and the wife would no longer have sex with the man because it was too awkward for her.

Having re-established nearly all the superlatives of my life in the course of two months and heard incredible stories makes India hard to describe and even harder to reflect upon because it seems more like a dream than an actual experience. However, India is a wonderful place because it is different and bizarre, and my experience in India has made me more tolerant of nearly everything. Returning from my dreamlike state of reflection back to my squalor hotel room, I find that it does not disturb me like it used to, and I now truly understand the words of the Dalai Lama on tolerance:

"The person who has a tremendous reserve of patience and tolerance has a certain degree of tranquility and calmness in his or her life. Such a person is not only happy and more emotionally grounded but also seems to be physically healthier and to experience less illness. The person possesses a strong will, has a good appetite and can sleep with a clear conscience."

In all, maybe my India overload may have made me more numb to the external influences on my being and emotions, but at the same time I feel a greater empathy for the situations of other people. So, now I am veering off track to Bali, Indonesia to attend a summit on microcredit (giving small loans to the poorest people in the world) along with many Presidents of poor countries, leaders from the World Bank and IMF, as well as many practitioners and other well-known people who spend their lives trying to make the world a better place. I am not sure if this is the area for me, but I intend to follow Mahatma Gandhi's words: "Be the change you want to see in the world." Till next time, cheers.