Sticky in Chennai

 

We have been back for a few weeks now but with having to pack all of our stuff up, and then quickly unpack everything, and starting a new job at the same time, it has only been in the past few days that life has resumed any sense of normalcy.  It’s time to digest my India experience.

A while ago I had the realization that enjoying a truly rich life requires the ability to never stop developing.  By development I do not mean learning another language, or moving onto a better job.  (Though these are great things to do.)  Real self-development is when you are able to tinker and work on the basic fundamental building blocks of your personality.  Kind of like a city planner exploring how the infrastructure of a metropolis could be changed to serves its citizens better.  And when you identify an old building that’s blocking a major piece of development, you have the guts to tear it down to make way for something better.  But in this case we are not talking about buildings but values and emotional mechanisms. 

Continual self-development requires a tireless amount of flexibility and a profound sense of humility.  It takes a lot of humility to admit to oneself that one of your core values, perhaps a foolish notion that has guided decades of your life, is simply just wrong.  For many people it is far more preferable to lapse into a deep denial about past folly rather then incur the steep psychological cost of having to re-invent oneself. 

As one gets older the inner voice imploring us to settle down into a comfortable routine gets louder and louder.  And as middle age sets in the strength of this voice becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.  But, unfortunately, routine is the enemy of development.  The very basis of routine is a state of zero growth, zero surprises, and zero change.  Routine feels very pleasant, but it slowly numbs people into leading a life that is little more than a walking sleep.

In retrospect what I appreciate most about our months in India has little to do with India, and has much more to do with the need to fight the continual growth of walking sleep in our lives.  

But enough with the dime store psychology.  Let me make a few sweeping comments about India:

-         India is bursting at the seams.  There is a rapidly growing educated and highly ambitious middle class that just can not be supported by its infrastructure.  When its infrastructure does finally catch up with its people, watch out baby!  I think we have no idea how truly super this growing power is going to become. It’s just a matter of time.  India is truly today’s land of opportunity.

-         India in a whirlwind of change, cultural and economic.  India is experiencing economic growth at a pace and scale that has never been seen before in the history of the world.  And its culture, for better or worse, is being altered at the same lighting speed.  Microsoft engineers rubbing shoulders with Brahmin priests.  The Park Hotel’s Leather Bar, packed with young cruising professionals, getting shut down because, egads, there were public kisses after midnight.  An actresses’ endorsement of condoms to prevent AIDS sparks violent protests.  A young man earning in one month what his father earned in his entire lifetime.   

-         Polytheism rocks.  Many years ago in school I was taught that monotheism was a triumph of human development over polytheism.  It turns out that civilizations do not always march forward.  Sometimes they take detours, and at times they even take a step backwards.  Monotheism plants the idea that there is only one God, so, naturally, there is only one set of right and wrongs. Polytheism, a far superior religious world-view, if you must have one, openly endorses lots of different ways to be right and wrong.  In modern times William James re-invented this notion under the name “pluralism.”  But like most new age ideas that have found fertile soil in the west, the Indians were there first many centuries ago.  Let me say it again: polytheism rocks.    I have acquired a deep appreciation for the tolerance and pluralism to be found at the very heart of Hinduism.  (Yes, they have their bad apples too, but happily they are the exception.)    

-         They are happier than we are. Indians are poor, especially by US standards, but, somehow, they seem a lot happier than we are.  They just smile a lot more, laugh more than we do, and seemed generally more content with their lot.  Reach your own conclusions. 

-         Indian food is amazing, but it will kill you.  I never knew why Indian food tastes so good. The explanation is that it is all cooked in a super pure form of butter called ghee.  Yes, it’s simply all soaked in fat.     

-         Whitey can go loco in India.  Despite all of the great points above, India is not for everyone.  See my previous post “The Bloom is off the Rose.”

Lastly, I am happy to report that we are not done with India.  My current position demands periodic return journeys, a responsibility I am more than happy to accept.  I already plagued by some serious cravings for a dosa from Saravan Bhavan.     

 

Btw, we are toying the idea of launching a new blog: unstickyinnewyork.  There are some really zany things to document here.   Right by our apartment hordes of obese Americans wait on amazingly long lines to purchase bucket sized portions of ice cream at a minimal cost of $5 a portion. (230 rupees)  Strangely, they do not seem to be enjoying themselves. Is there such a thing as too much opportunity? Too much milk and honey?