Ten incredible weeks ago, tired after my flight from London, I stepped off a plane in Srinigar. Like me, my bike box battered and on its’ last legs from the long journey.
Venturing out into the hot humid afternoon air and back on the streets of India after 40 years, nothing prepares you for the sense of overload that quickly washes over you and envelopes you.
In those early few days I was apprehensive, my initial goal, the ferry to Sri Lanka. The next stage of my big adventure, so very far away. Way too far for my overloaded brain to comprehend.
With out an idea of what was to come or where I would stay day by day, very little of the journey had been planned. I knew I wanted to wind up to Leh and then to visit Manali before heading down to Mumbai. I’d heard good things about Kerala and so it made sense to keep going down the coast to the tip of India before heading up the east coast to Nagapattinam for the ferry. Even the ferry in question. Was it running or not?
Every day has been fresh and those early few pedal strokes as I start on the road each morning, full of anticipation for the adventure ahead.
I remember the warmth and kindness from 40 years ago. It very quickly became apparent, that the warmth and kindness is alive and well. Indeed with many more people, it seems to me, as I leave its shores that the warmth has been multiplied and turned hot. Red hot like the chillie that infuses the delicious food.
Yes, the country is changing. There’s far less visible poverty, much of where I travelled has running water and modern sanitation. Motor bikes and scooters have replaced bicycles and for much of the journey I was a lone cyclist. Oxen have been replaced by tractors and mechanisation. The roads are mostly good and it’s easy to find accomodation. Access to mobile networks and the internet is widely available. Only in a few remote areas did I go off grid. Banks and ATMs are widely available. The country is truly transformed.
In short, India is a much easier place to travel on a bicycle than 40 years ago.
After reaching the southern tip of India, and while cycling up the east coast I have talked to so many people on motorbikes. Some brief “you from?” To which I reply “England” others more in depth.
One morning nearing my final destination at the ferry port of Nagapattinam, a man started a conversation. Quickly apparent that he spoke good English, the conversation broadened and with in a few minutes he knew I was a software engineer cycling through India, starting in Kashmir and I knew he was an IT teacher. Then he asked me to come and talk to his pupils about my life. Jumping at the opportunity and excited, I followed him off the road and down a track to his school, Sai Srinivas Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
I met some of the teachers and then was taken to an outside space where all the pupils came to line up. A truly wonderful experience, me talking mostly about curiosity and its importance in the modern world, with the teacher whose name I’m still trying to find, translating and filling in. After which I asked the pupils if they had any questions. Silence for a few minutes while people over came their fears. The girls first and the boys started with many questions.
What an inspirational teacher to pull someone a bit different off the road to talk to his pupils. I hope I left something in the minds of some of them that helps along the way. A very uplifting morning and one that will anchor the positive memories of India firmly in my mind and heart.
I leave India with a profound sense of gratitude. I for ever will remember all of the people that have helped me along the way. The kindness, the wonderful food, the culture, music, the different languages and peoples. It certainly is not perfect. But what in this world is perfect? Is it really important? I think not and hope that as it continues to grow and develop over the next 40 years that it holds onto what makes it great and special. I hope it continues to be a beacon to the rest of the world. Different religions, peoples, cultures, languages, a multitude of diversity, existing together.
For me personally I think a conversation I had with Nanda after a yoga class back in Kerala, when we discussed my journey. His thinking is that journeys don’t change us, but it’s more that the rich experiences and interactions with others helps us to reveal our true self. It certainly feels like something like that has been happening to me over the last few months as India has cast its magic mysterious spell over me.
I commend India to everyone. If you’ve been before hopefully you have a sense of what I’m talking about. If you haven’t been before it should be high up on your list. Get off the beaten tourist track and venture into the unknown. You will be welcomed and looked after at every step.
It really has been an adventure, one far beyond any expectation that I had when I stepped off that plane in Srinigar and tentatively took the first few peddle strokes.
Love and peace from India and Sri Lanka.
That’s such a wonderful and interesting read, and the images are beautiful. I feel that from my cold autumnal house I have been drawn into India, with its kind people and welcoming culture.