First Day in India

i had a feeling when i was walking onto the plane to take me to india.  it took me a long time to put into words.  It was the feeling that if i were about to die, say in a few months, i wouldn't be doing anything any differently.  i am so happy.  It's a wonderful feeling to walk towards your dreams.  Even if you don't know exactly how they're going to turn out, or exactly what they look like.  But you know you're headed in the right direction.  i am so grateful.

My first day in india, in no particular order, i....bought silver sparkly bindis.  Got business cards made and whilst doing the layout had my first proper chai in 2 years ~ so sweet it made my gums inhale sharply.  Touched a cow in the street.  Tried on shoes in 3 shops and bought purple leather sandals with lotuses on them for under £2.50. Spoke hindi, nepali, french & english.  Rode in a rickshaw with stranger angels, a girl holding my hand and giggling and yabbering away to me in Hindi as we zipped and popped and whirred our way through the traffic.  i put a bindi on her forehead when i left - there was so much love flowing through her eyes (the family saved me at a busy subway station & lead me through a dark underpass which i would've been scared to cross alone).  Talked with 3 tourists in the street.  One, an american who's been living in Pahar Ganj for 3.5 years! Another a British guy living in Goa riding a motorcycle who helped me find a good money changer.  The last plonked himself down at my table as i was enjoying my first meal ~ momos!  He was from Siberia, so we chatted about that corner of the world.  Drunk a freshly squeezed pomegranate juice for >40p.    Organised being picked up from the airport in Goa the following day.  Took the uber-modern subway from the airport to the railway station down town & wondered if Delhi had changed, because the aiport is so chic & clean now, as is the metro.  "Wait for it" i told myself as i walked toward the exit.  "Wait for it" as i passed the gates...and WHOOMPH there it was the colours, the movement, the people, the colours, the smells, the heat, the noise exploded around me and rippled through every cell in my body.  Weaving my way through the passengers of the station, my backpack getting heaver with each step, eventually feeling unbearable after 30 minutes of walking, coupled with the brain drain of my neurological receptors adapting to the circus of india performing in the immediate space around my body, and spreading out through the furthest horizon.  Seeing the backpacker street, Pahar Ganj, and all the touts blabbering away with each footstep...it is all so familiar.  For under £10, i bought suncream, shampoo, conditioner, massage oil, 3 bars of soap (all are herbal, with essential oils & the creams are SLS and paraben free!)  Skyped Mum & Dad as men stood behind me in the hotel and stared at the screen.  Mum & Dad laughed as make shift ladders were past behind my head and motorbikes brrrrrrpapapapapd past the window.  Their old family friend joined them for her first ever skype & i spoke to this distant friend for the first time since i was a child.  i went to a costa coffee in a posh area to meet a Delhi photographer friend in the evening (who'd spent the last 2 nights with Antoine, who flew to France 5 hours before i landed in Delhi but is returning on Monday).  There was nothing to drink here without caffine or sugar.  And i didn't want either because i was running on zero sleep from the plane ride from Paris the night before.  A coffee or sugar hit could send me over an edge i'd be scared to cross in Delhi.  Bought the book, Cloud Atlas.  Saw a huge cockroach running in the street.  Tackled a ninja-quick mosquito who alluded me.  Showered (which means i threw small buckets of cold water over myself).  Realised the date i arrived 23 10 2013 is really cool, which i'll have to write when i register in every hotel.  Passed through customs, collected my bag which (as ever) i was slightly doubtful of it arriving, but it showed up in all its purple glory.  Listened to my friend's radio show, (yes, Lady Miss Emma your show has now been aired in India!) as i unpacked, repacked & organised a bag of warm clothes to be left in a luggage place.  i washed 2 pairs of knickers by hand.  whilst waiting for my friend in Costa i read the Hindustan Times cover to cover (sport & economics not included) but i couldn't complete the 4* suduko and could feel my brain protests at being used in such a way at 9pm after no sleep the night before).  Chatted with Vishal and met his friends who talked about the sexualisation of comic book heros and heronies and the differences in the potrayal of the two (at least i think that's what the topic was, it was pretty specialist and fast and hard to follow - kind of like new yorkers all jacked up on coffee & cigarettes debating uber-precise aspects of a niche topic).  They were super nice and very interesting people.   The THRILL of the day though (and family you may want to skip this bit) was the enfield ride to the subway.  Antoine and i met Vishal 2 years ago on his motorcycle in Leh - he's been riding all over the country & taking photos (some for National Geographic). i held onto the back as we left the coffee shop and he pushed the engine up up up...one of the most powerful engine ever built for an enfield and it's one of only 100 in the world, 5 of which exist in India.  Adreniline central.  So exhilerating and scary.  Let go and you die.  Something hits us.  You die.  Anything other than the plan and we die.  WOOOOHOOOO.  i can trust him driving like that.  It felt amazing & was over in about 3 minutes...like an indian rollercoaster.

(i'd like to add that i will consider using paragraphs & structure for future posts, but wanted to try to show some of the FULL ON-ness of india which never stops.  If i was being more authentic i wouldn't even have used punctuation because india barely allows you a moment to catch your breath.)