When I was reflecting on what it was that I loved so much about my last experience in India, back in 2010, I realized that part of it was the surprise. The surprise of never knowing what each day or moment would bring. I recall life in Delhi, a global metropolitan center, as a continually new experience. The path that I took to work each day could change at any given moment. One day you might find an impromptu alter set up in the middle of a sidewalk. Another day you might find yourself walking side by side with a man holding exotic leashed monkeys. That element of unknown challenges you to experience your environment more fully, to question your own existence, and vision of life. As I settle into Darjeeling and move past the anxiety surrounded such a huge move, I’m beginning to open my eyes to these elements. I hope to use this blog to share some of those experiences.
Walking in the rain to work the other day brought one of these moments. As I walked through the main market in Darjeeling, Chowrasta, I noticed a man carrying long metal rods through the rain with no umbrella or rain jacket to shelter him from the elements. I paused under an awning to put my own rain jacket on, leaving him to forge ahead beyond my immediate line of sight. Shortly afterwards, I caught up with him again on the smaller walkway down the hillside – it’s a path that offers amazing view of the Himalayas on a clear day. I spotted the man again along the path, noticing he was now walking with another man who was sharing his umbrella with the man, shielding them both from the rain. I remember thinking to myself that they appeared to come from such different places – their dress and belongings indicating different positions in society. I wondered to myself if they knew each other and how. As I passed the two men and continued on my own path, a woman with no umbrella signaled to ask me if she could share mine as we headed in the same direction. Letting her under the cover of my small umbrella, we walked in relative silence, but companionship. It was then that I realized the two men may not have known each other. This place, this community, simply fosters a sense of sharing that’s different from my world back in San Francisco.
Another one of these moments happened just as I was sitting in my apartment, listening to music, and starting to write a blog post on a different topic. Suddenly music began wafting in from outside my apartment. Stopping my own music and walking to the door, I realized someone was in the hallway playing an instrument and singing. The melodic rise and fall of the man’s voice, the sound of cymbals, and other unfamiliar sounds awakened me again to the surprise beauties of this place. I hope you enjoy it as well.
