A letter to India

Dear India,

You're beautiful you know? Yes, you are. And this is a firang saying this. Someone, who's been trying to understand you for the past two months... but every time I feel like I've understood a concept... I just get to see it from a whole new perspective... And it just slips away... And I have to start all over again...

It would be easy to say that you are not meant to be understood. That India is a land of contradictions, that you're like a stubborn mule that wants and doesn't want to conform at the same time.

Its so hard to define you. Because even though you could call your 1 billion inhabitants 'Indians', I feel like I'm in a different world, with every different group of friends.

Its very easy to define India as being a country full of diversity... but I dare anyone to define that diversity in tangible terms....

And even though I am just scraping the surface... What I write in this blog is my attempt... Because I know many people are waiting for me back home to try explain how it feels like to live here... and I want to do you justice.

I want to say This Is India as I know it...

And yes, This is the India that I Love...

***

India,

you're allowed to be beautiful, it's nice to have so much diversity and, believe it or not, it's amazing to have all your different cultures.

please...

embrace them,

tell your people to stop trying to be the West.. because you're not... and it's a waste to not be You. It's a waste to not explore your full potential... I've seen a tiny bit of what you can do...

And I believe in you, India... I really do

Food!!!

I decided to change Bangalore's name.

To YUMMY.

When I was piling on weight during the stressful exam period, I kept reassuring myself that I would definitely lose it in India...

My lovely diet plan worked quite well for the first week I spent here... since I was living in my NGO, where healthy veg dishes and plain rice are served three times a day, everyday. But to my dismay, I found I loved the traditional dishes.... and together with all the rest, I'm enjoying butter naan and butter chicken masala and paneer this and butter that and lots and lots of naan everyday. Needless to say, I'm piling the pounds back on....

And I love it....

The food here is delicious. We're nowhere close to having tried everything, but we do try :) Food is one of my pleasures in life. For that, I give India 5 stars!!

YUMMY!!!!