I must say at this point that I hoped I'd love India, and that this trip would be a fabulous adventure, but I have found out that I am a naïve Westerner, and I have been caught off guard by most of my feelings about it. I'm rather embarrassed that I can't just love it, and I know it's terribly politically incorrect to seem hard on places that don't have all of the Stuff we have at home, but that seems rather Colonial to me. I would never have come into a country where I loved the people and the life in all of it's original splendor, and tried to make it my own by making them Better while exploiting their resources for profit.
At this point in my life I know that I treat people well, and I try to be direct and open and loyal and thoughtful in my daily life, but I'm cynical too, and this journal of my trip is a reflection of all of those things. I am sorry that my experience is confined mostly to Delhi, and I've heard about many other parts of this huge country to visit, particularly far South and far North, that sound great. But this is a working trip, and it is limited by my need to be here, and these notes are a reflect that limitation. When Political Correctness was embraced by people like George Bush, it was a signal to me to try to avoid it whenever possible, without flagrantly hurting people's feelings, for I have no desire to do that, but a bracing dialogue is nice!
The bizarre nature of a blog being in a "public" space is that a bunch of strangers will hate it, but many of those who know the source will be intrigued at least. I know I can't stand all of the blogs about what stranger's kids do from day to day, but their friends and family love it. I wish we had an equivalent to Namaste, I feel silly using it here, but I'd like to.
Wendy - I love reading your posts, PC or non. Actually, the non-PC are more interesting. You write with such open-eyed honesty and breadth. I so appreciate being able to read your blog. Tell us more about the food!
Posted by: Steffen | December 03, 2008 at 08:55 PM