Feb 07 2008
Meet the ‘New Age,’ Same as the ‘Old Age’
[Welcome to India, man! And yes, that IS "Freedom Rock"!]
I promise this will be (among) the last of the derogatory comments I have about my visit to India so far. That being said …
I understand I cannot justifiably classify an entire country after having visited only a tiny portion thereof — especially one swarming with foreign tourists. Agreed. I mean, to do so would be akin to someone criticizing the entire United States after having visited only Las Vegas.
Err … forget that analogy, but you get the point.
But to those people (many whose opinions I truly do respect) that say I need to visit the 'real India' in order to understand 'the magic' of the country, I say bullshit. I have ventured out into the boonies and cities, and I say 'Bullshit.'
Yes, India IS a bit different from other countries. Yes, India DOES have a remarkable history. Yes, it DOES have some great food and an extremely diversified culture. But there are amazingly different things in just about EVERY country worldwide (for now that is, until Starbucks and McDonalds have completed their takeover of the Klingon Empire).
I don't want to come off as hating India — because I don't. Indeed, there are some very interesting aspects of Indian culture, and I don't think it's really ALL that bad here. However, this blog, by necessity, is a distillation of my recollections and experiences about my travels. I cannot write about everything I see. It's just not a practicality. Instead, I must write about those things which affect me the most … in the moment.
I write about what I 'get' from India as I experience it — the hippies, the crowding, the poverty, the misogynistic culture, the frantic pace, the greed. And these things … they're not for me. Indeed, I fled from many of these same things also existing back in the States. Only in the U.S., there was indoor plumbing and less air pollution (if you can believe that).
I will say this much, however: I HAVE learned some things about myself since my arrival here. Not from the country or its people, but in how other Westerners view them both. As one commentator here noted, there are a HUGE number of Westerners who have never visited India and have a romanticized idea of the country — believing the entire countryside is not strewn with garbage, and believing Indians are ALL spiritually enlightened.
Man, they're just people trying to get by. Just because they've got different religions and philosophies does NOT mean they're any closer to grasping the meaning of life (if any) than you are — especially the meaning of YOUR life, dipshit!
Yet many foreigners here seem to continually propagate that illusion — actively blinding themselves to the reality so they can justify their continued search for answers in a place they've seen romanticized in movies as the birthplace of 'spiritual enlightenment'. You can see it in how seriously they take themselves and the whole concept of 'India.' They've all seemingly forgotten that the minute you start believing your own bullshit is the minute you lose touch with the questions you initially sought to explain.
Ironically, I got a shot of this reality this morning seeing a funny quote on the side of one of the Starbucks cups used by a local coffee shop (not in violation of any copyright laws, I presume):
chances are you are scared of fictions.
chances are you are only fleetingly happy.
chances are you know much less than you think you do.
chances are you feel a little guilty
chances are you want people to lie to you.
perhaps the answer lies on the side of a coffee cup.
you are lost.”
-david cross
comedian, writer, actor
Indeed.
ha! hey, even I hate India sometimes, and to me it is a second home…..I could not wait to get back from this trip.
but what is the “real India”? one does not have to stay in a flea-bag guesthouse to experience it. one can stay in a $200/night hotel and walk out into the street outside the front door to experience it when a beggar with half his face eaten away by leprosy comes up and asks you for money. I am not one of those travelers who buys into the myth of the “real India.”
but the one thing I have learned in India is that people are the same wherever you are, with the same hopes, dreams, desires, hates, and loves.
it’s true that westerners romanticize India. as I said in a post, just read an Indian newspaper every day and your rose colored glasses will fall off very quickly.
just stay away from goa, dude. now THOSE hippies would scare even me!
Of all the things you’ve written, this is my second favorite.
just FYI, dude — named you as one of my fave blogs…..
Well, that was very entertaining. I just wish I had the nerve to do it. The wife and I do have a plan though. Here is wishing you a safe and happy trip.
Hold the fucking phone. You mean to tell me that all this time I’ve been telling Kristine that one day you’re gonna come back through the states and teach us how to expand our spiritual horizons, but instead you’re just as bitter and cynical as when you left??? I swear to Captain Kirk, you better crack open a fortune cookie and take some notes or I’m puttin’ foot to ass.
You’re sleeping on the floor.
Great post. I went to India in 2000. Same impression as you and the same shit. I see nothing has changed … enlightenment-seeking loser westerners believing they are closer to Nirvana than anybody else and a bunch of hippies wanna bees. What a shithole. Come to Krabi dude… let’s do some climbing.