There are certain trends that pop up on every travel website or in every travel book you pick up on India. The population explosion, the hectic traffic, the garbage in the streets, poverty, the delicious food, the diversity of cultures and languages and landscapes, the beautiful architecture, and the fantastic textiles and spices. It's impossible to actually conceive, though, just how wonderful and beautiful this country is though, unless you get the fortune to visit for yourself. India is an exercise in overstimulation of the senses, but there is a certain magic here that I've never experienced in another country. There are things that would stress us out in the United States that are handled with charm and casual acknowledgement here. Yesterday, I sat in an un-air-conditioned bus driving down a path that was barely one lane, and watched my bus squeeze next to a passing bus in between small huts. No one freaked out (except the Americans on board), but even then, our time here has taught us that magical things happen in India, even in traffic.
In Bhubaneswar, where I am spending most of my time, India is in the throes of the monsoon. I teach about monsoons and their importance in my world history classes, but even then, I couldn't have expected the magic of the rain. Before we arrived, people here were concerned that the rains were late, that they wouldn't be strong enough to prevent draughts. However, they arrived, and as I write this, I am listening to the pitter-patter of rain on the tin roof of my covered patio (it's a rough life!) and somehow, rain that I hate in the US has become magical here. It is hot and humid and your hair won't ever look the way you want and you will probably feel sweaty and sticky even in the AC. But, the rains allow the world to look green and lush and like something out of a novel.
I haven't yet been able to find the source of this magic - I'm fairly certain that I never will. But what I can say is that the things people warned me about in India are not here. I am not naive - all countries have problems, even our own. However, allowing these problems to overshadow all that this country has to offer is a tragedy. I cannot wait to come back to India, and I haven't even left - and that is a magic that is rare.