India is never nothing

Namaste, my friends. Six days in India and already, I can barely remember how Switzerland works. This place is incredible in every single way. And while it was more than overwhelming for the first couple of days when an absolute overdose of Indian craziness washed over us like a wild river and left us gasping for air, we have settled into the Indian life now with an ease that surprises and amazes me. We let the current carry us from one magical moment to the next and let the power of coincidence guide us... it has served us well. My friend and I fortunately have a very similar travelling style: We listen to intuition, let little things amaze us and ignore the hassle as good as we can.

India is different. India is loud, pushy, dirty, chaotic, crazy, intense and challenging. But India is also full of magic and wonder, so colourful, beautiful, surprising, seducing, hilarious. We have learnt not to expect anything while being prepared for everything. India is polarising and challenges us to get involved and live as much as we can. India is always either this or that but never nothing. It always either smells like heaven, of fresh mangoes, curries, saffron, sandalwood and herbs, or like absolute crap, which could be sweat, garbage, urine, cow shit or a mix of all of the above.

India is funny. It still makes me smile to watch the complete traffic chaos that dominates the cities: Cows share the streets with rikshas, street vendors, cars, beggars, little kids, stray dogs, cars, bicycles and sometimes also camels and even elephants. It also makes me laugh how cunning a lot of the people are, although this can no doubt be annoying at times. But we have become street wise in no time and now know what things should cost and that if someone tells us that the hotel we want to go to doesn't exist anymore or that he can sell you a 100% pashmina scarf for 4 dollars, he's probably lying. Those things can be tricky, but they now make me laugh. I listen to my heart and don't take too much advise of people on the street- if they insist on telling you a better way, they often have hidden motives.

India is beautiful. The colours are stunning- I absolutely love how the red, green, pink, orange and yellow saris of the Indian women turn every place they grace with their presence into a happy place. I love the spice stalls, the colour of the bazaars, the incredible old buildings with their light blue colour peeling off. I love the smiles of the kids that run around on the street, the piles of lemons on the wooden carts, the narrow little streets, everything. India has certainly taken my heart by storm.

Chanting chanting shanti shanti

I know, I know. My track record on this blog has been absolutely shocking lately. And I don't even have a great excuse, other than the usual boring one: too much else going on.

Things are great though. Work is busy and challenging as usual, but I still adore what I for some reason continue to call "my new job", although it's been more than six months now - I think it's because time has just passed so incredibly fast. I really did score the jackpot with this one, I think. Who would have ever thought I would be so happy working for a regional newspaper? Not me. But I am, and I love it. I just had my staff appraisal today with my boss and he heaped so much praise on me that I came out of the meeting rather overwhelmed. He said he couldn't stress enough how lucky he felt to have me on the team and that he wanted to do anything to make me comfortable and make me stay (and no: I did not ask for a raise then, although it does sound like a good moment. But it's still early times). He said he felt I made a really positive impact on both the content of the paper and the team in general. And that he thought I had great potential and he could see me taking on some leadership responsibilities when the time was right. So yeah, a great success on the whole line.

What else? I'm going to India this Saturday for a good three weeks. I cannot wait. It's been a dream of mine for so many years that it feels absolutely surreal that I'm actually going now. I would have preferred to go for longer, three months would have been nice - but we don't want to get greedy. The three months gig is just not a possibility right now, so I take what I can get and I'm still stoked about it. So if you notice someone chanting "om shanti om" while standing on one leg and eating a curry at the same time, it will probably be me. I'll try to say hi on the blog at some stage over the next three weeks if possible but don't hold me to it. Namaste!