Throwback to my Indian Safar

On my feels! Oh Goodness, let me tell you why October 24th is a special day for me. It was on this day about four years ago (I cannot believe it’s been that long) when I packed my bags and left Botswana to go on a voyage, ke tsaya loeto….to the unknown. I deliberately chose the word Safar for the title of this blog post because of it’s meaning, for it means ‘journey’ in Urdu language.

Anyway, back to the story….
A few months prior to this safar I had just come back from China and wanted to go back and live abroad. I applied for scholarships, Internships, jobs and all in between just so I could return to China. Time was running out, I thought… I was unsure about a lot of things but what I knew for sure was that I wanted to leave my country (which I love very much) for sometime. Because I’ve always been fascinated by Asia, I expanded my search and ended up getting an offer to move to India.

I was so excited and made sure I left as soon as I could. I remember at some point I was searching for direct flights to Gurgaon (well, I knew nothing about the NCR. lol) which was about to be my new place of sleep, work and play.

I remember the goodbye hug I gave my friend, Joy at Abu Dhabi airport where we went separate ways after traveling together from Gaborone via Johannesburg. She had one last connection before she could reach Pune, her final destination. For me, this was my last connection to Delhi.
I did not know much about where I was going. All I knew was that I will find people waiting for me at the airport and they will take me to the hotel which had been booked for me for the next two weeks while I was finding my feet. It was such a warm welcome. You can read more about this on my blog post about my first day in India.

I continued to have an incredible experience in this wonderful country of no in-betweens. It was either rich or poor, love or hate, and so on and so forth. A lot of those experiences can be found on this blog for your reading pleasure.

It was in India where I felt like I got a fresh start all over again and it was such a great and fulfilling feeling, I kid you not.
I found my families, friends and life long connections. I fell in love, got confused and tried all over again (not necessarily in that order).
I got a chance to live among the most amazing expat communities as well as the warmest locals.
I partied till I dropped, cried till there were no more tears, gave so much of myself till I had nothing left to give. Like I mentioned earlier on, no in betweens.

Four years later I am sitting at home as I type this, thinking about my next move. A couple of things aren’t clear as yet, but they will be with time. As much as this is the case, it gives me hope as I reflect on bold steps I have previously taken (such as the leap of faith of moving to India), and when I see where they lead me, it’s always been worth it.

Namaste!

LBB Experience Is 3 Years Old… Here Are 10 Popular Blog Posts

Yesterday morning during my not-so-busy Monday schedule I sat down at a pool terrace at one of the local hotels to unwind over a drink and plan for the week. After my phone picked up the WiFi connection, one of the notifications was from wordpress; my blogging site of choice. It was a reminder that it has been three years since I started blogging on this platform.

This actually brought back so many memories. From setting up the blog account back in 2015 and abandoning it till I found the courage to start sharing my travel experiences on the world wide web. Whoa! 3 years? I wondered. It felt unreal! It felt unreal because initially I did not know whether to blog about poetry or travel experiences… I guess it became clear over time.

In my quest to make the LBB Experience easy for people to understand and join me in this journey I came up with the following few words;

The LBB Experience is a feeling. It is what I see, what I feel, what I discover and what I experience throughout my travels. It is the essence of the people that I meet, and the soul of the places that I visit. It is a collective spirit of what it means to be a citizen of the world.

I would like to thank all my readers, supporters and visitors to my blog because had it not been for them clicking to read more and share with their networks I wouldn’t have reached readers from all the countries that keep popping onto read about my experiences. Some of the countries I did not even know existed and have read about them and look forward to visiting them in the future and even write about my experiences there.

When I navigated to the “Stats & Insights” part of the blog I came across an interesting discovery that I have not paid much attention to throughout my years of blogging; an analysis of popular / most read blog posts. I thought it would be fitting to share them with you as we go down memory lane and also give new readers a taste of what they have missed, also keeping them up to speed with has been going on at LBB Experience.

The Top 10 Most Popular posts on LBB Experience are as follows;

1. Botswana’s Best Kept Secret; Goo Moremi Gorge
2. Reverse Culture Shock
3. Top 5 Things To Do In Maun
4. Delhi Only! Favourite City In The World
5. How Do I Describe You To A Person Who Has Not Experienced You, Incredible India
6. Best Souvenirs from India
7. What You Won’t Miss After Leaving India
8. Travel Teaches Tolerance
9. Nyama choma, ugali, kachumbari na Tusker baridi – The Ultimate Kenya Experience
10. Caution! It’s A Touchy Subject

 

I have deliberately left the titles to the blogs with not even the slightest explanations because that is the kind of writing style I go by. I also appreciate feedback of any kind as it can only make things better moving forward.

To my existing readers and followers I hope you enjoy this as you exercise your brains and go down memory lane, To the new readers, thank you so much for giving us a click, we are looking forward to more visits.

Here is to three more years and beyond awesome experiences.

Love and Light!

Weird airport experiences

Weird airport experiences

Airports are places filled with a million emotions, not only for those travelling but for everyone there. Human emotions fill airport terminals, and these emotions are experienced in their raw state. We can easily conclude that airports are one of the happiest yet saddest places on earth.

 

For this post though, I would like us to move away from the joy and agony a little bit and focus on the weird experiences we have come across at airport terminals, especially during security searches.

This comes after a conversation I had with a couple of frequent travellers I bumped into a few weeks ago. We met at one of the cafés in Gaborone and this topic came up during our chit-chat. Experiences shared ranged from awkward moments during border security searches to confiscating of rasgullas and goldfishes and many more.

Below are some of the experiences I shared with them;

Dreadlock search/exam

Check in time at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China

So I had dreadlocks for close to seven years before I decided to shave them off  early last year just for a new look, you know. The experiences I used to have at airports always differed from one demographic to the other. I honestly never knew what to expect.

I remember in 2014 while at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai when I was checking in to return back home, I got what I still think was unnecessary attention by the airport security staff. When it was my turn to go through security search they literally paused and had all eyes on me as one of them searched me. It was like they just saw something they have never seen before (maybe dreadlocks yeah but ….. ) I was slowly becoming agitated and just when I was about to ask them if they had no work to do, one of the passengers shouted from the back of the queue “Quick! Quick! We are going to miss our flight.” That was when they woke up from their ‘dreams’ and got back to work.

The other time I had three different men from airport security carefully inspect my dreadlocks individually. During all this, they kept asking if my hair was ‘real/original’. It felt weird but I decided to keep my cool when I thought of stories about drug smugglers using the dreadlocks technique at the time.

Travel buddy; Octo-Bobo

Outside IGI T3 Airport in Delhi, India

We all have travel buddies and articles and they come in different forms and also differ from one person to the other. My travel buddy is Octo-Bobo, the yellow octopus seen on the photo above.

“Doll, toy, funny” and many other names coupled with weird looks and finger pointing are some of the things I experience when travelling with Octo-Bobo. Well, I have no idea what goes through their minds when they see me holding a bright coloured octopus across terminals and into the cabin. Air hostesses, potters, security personnel are usually amused and curious and also ask a lot of questions about my choice of a travel buddy.

During one of our travels as we checked in for our Gaborone bound KQ flight from Jomo Kenyatta International airport in Nairobi, they passed Octo-Bobo through the security scan machine about six times. I just stood there as they took turns pressing and holding poor Octo-Bobo through the machine as they spoke in Swahili. They also finally snapped out of their ‘dream’ and we proceeded to the boarding gates.

For a bit of a break down on Octo-Bobo; It was a gift specially made by a good friend of mine, Santa from Latvia. We were both living in New Delhi, India at the time and she gifted me one of these awesome artworks of her. In her facebook page she explains them as follows “Octop. is such unique and friendly creature. It makes yours house look more cozy as a interiour element, It helps you to relax after long day, It is always waiting for your hug and attention. As you see, Its not just a soft-toy, but It has its own personality and feelings.”

If you are interested in getting yourself a travel buddy like mine, you can visit the octop website by following this link .

Those are the two experiences that I thought I should share since they are quite unique.

Please feel free to share yours 🙂

Tour Guide – Yay or Nay?

Do I really need a tour guide? I guess this is a question you usually ask yourself when sightseeing especially when visiting places you are not too familiar with. As you might already know, in simple terms, a tour guide is a person who has been employed to show tourists around places of interest. These people might be employed full time at these establishments of tourism like national parks, historical monuments, temples and so on and so forth while some might just be doing it on freelance basis.

For those travelling on a budget, getting a tour guide is usually out of question especially in instances where they are not included in the fees paid upon entry at places of interest or if they have not made bookings through a travel agent. Well, these are some of the things people who travel on a budget hardly ever settle for either.

In Botswana, which is my home country and a place where I have visited many places of interest I have come to realize that most of the tour guides are actually employed by the establishments they are based at. Most of them under the employ of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks under the responsible ministry. The only exception is usually when you opt for a self drive at game reserves and national parks.

In India, it’s a whole new ball game. One of the first things you would notice as you approach entry gates especially at historical monuments (apart from street vendors and beggars) is men and women posing as “tour guides”. They are usually enthusiastic and target individuals and smaller groups. Being “foreigners” is a an extra for them. They will do all they can to twist your arm and may even go as far as saying “just let me be your guide, you will only pay if you are satisfied”. From my experience all I can say is, do not fall for that.

From my experiences with these so-called tour guides in India I could write an entire collection of stories ranging from “Our camel ride in Agra” to “The misinformed tour guide”. A similar feature among these stories boiling down to a collection of rip offs. We can only laugh about it now since it’s in the past but believe me, it has not been a pleasant experience.

So, when visiting this part of the world (or anywhere else where the same rules apply) do not decline the help of a tour guide thinking that they come at an extra charge.

It’s also not always a case of money or lack thereof. Sometimes you are visiting for the second time or more and just want to take photographs of the place. Sometimes you feel like you have seen enough of the videos on television or online and just wanted to get the feel of the place. Also, you could be on a solo travel mission and just need someone to photograph you as you pose around at a tourism hot-spot.

So really, getting a tour guide really depends on quite a number of reasons. The best to do before making a decision is to assess your options as well as your situation before you decide; tour guide, yay or nay?

 

Delhi only! Favourite city in the world

 

I recently had a conversation with a friend about best cities in the world and why. This conversation took place at an upmarket restaurant in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana over sun-downers. A couple of cities I have fond memories of came into mind, in no particular order; Cape Town, Maun, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Hyderabad, Francistown, Nairobi, Shanghai and before my memory sent me any further, Delhi! Delhi came to mind!
Delhi is the city I have lived in longer than my home city; Gaborone. It is a city I have hated and loved all at the same time. I keep trying to explain this and people do not get it….. unfortunately for them. I even find myself pushing limits in explaining it and I call it a “bubble’ for lack of a better word.

The first kiss
I remember it all; the day I stepped out of my flight from Abu Dhabi at Indira Gandhi airport. The noise that welcomed me as I stepped out of gate number six. My ears vibrate as I type this down, as is always the case when I re-live that moment. “Taxi! Bhaiya! Sir!” ..and a cocktail of other different words in different languages with the underlying melody as non-stop honking. That was me the first time I kissed Delhi. I’m convinced it was on the lips but I’m not sure if I enjoyed that very first kiss.
The folding of hands followed by the utterance of words “Namaste” at the lobby of Ibis Hotel in AeroCity, not so far away from the airport was a signal that the kiss was over and I had gone back into a bubble. Yes! Bubble, I was in a modern three star hotel.
At that particular juncture I did not know that I will need to live in this bubble time and again. For what reason? To escape realities of this city? Not sure. To protect my sanity? Maybe! Can you tell if you have fallen in love just from the first kiss? Maybe I had already fallen in love. I can bet a thousand Rupees these are questions that rush through the minds of foreign nationals arriving in India for the first time.

Fast forward to six months in the mix. I had already seen it all… well, almost. The daily metro commute from Malviya Nagar to Gurgaon by day. The dusty roads under construction with auto rickshaws packing over twelve men to Sikanderpur metro station. The beautiful, paved walkways of CyberHub, yuppies everywhere. These are experiences that would make me pinch myself and try to wake up from a dream, only to relaise later that it actually was far from.
I would get back into the rapid metro which will call us to attention to disembark just as I was trying to take it all in. The modernity! The sophistication! The efficiency! Goodness! Then bam! All of a sudden they were pushing me once again. Sikanderpur! Gurudronachrya!……nap!
“Agla station, Malviya Nagar hai!” were words that would prompt me I was home daily. Then the momo stands, the auto wallas, the beggars, they were all back, reminding me that there is another reality! Bless them!
That was before I started trips to Old Delhi! Goodness me! Tears would sometimes just be on a free flow. But that’s what love does right?
Sometimes it hurts, but you still stay.
Nights in hauz Khas village, Aurobindo market, Connaught Place, Vasant Kunj, Noida, Rajouri Garden. My! My! My! I think those were times for orgasm! The crescendo!
More often than not I found myself wondering if we flew out to Kinshasa, Paris, Ibiza, Bogota, Washington, Moscow, Berlin, Nairobi, Johannesburg and all these other party capitals.

At this point in time my friend is looking at me while I rumble and mumble in a laguange he definitely does not understand. Then I remembered, he has never been to India, let alone Delhi and I’m going on about these stories and I have not even afforded him a chance to ask, assuming that he understood.

“Delhi only! Delhi itself! That is my favourite city in the world.” I concluded.
After a moment of awkward silence and noticing that his glass was now empty while mine was still filled to the brim I asked to be excused and quickly rushed to the bathroom like I was about to catch the Noida bound blue line metro at Rajiv Chowk.

Fashion Forward India

Of all the countries that I have been to I’m sort of drawn to a conclusion that India is perhaps one of the most fashion forward countries under the sun. I will tell you why, but before I do let me try to put a couple of things into perspective so that we are all on the same level of understanding.

Culture and fashion go hand in hand, so let’s start by their definitions. Culture has been defined as ‘the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively’ while fashion on the other hand is ‘a popular or the latest style of clothing, hair, decoration, or behaviour’. For the sake of this write up, we will focus on the element of clothing when we talk about fashion.

Before I proceed to elaborate on the fashion forwardness, let me take you through my personal experience with fashion while living in India. I remember a few years back when I arrived in India for the very first time with my mostly western influenced sense of style. That’s what I knew, what I was comfortable with… or at least that’s what I thought. I was the t-shirt and denim type of guy on weekends and shirt and formal trousers one during the week.

After sometime I had to check out the local markets to see what I could feel comfortable in. The choices were influenced by the predominantly hot weather which made light fabrics first preference. It made sense because it was around the summer season.

Being a resident of South Delhi meant that Sarojini Nagar, Lajpat Nagar central and the Paharganj markets were the most accessible and best bets because of variety as per recommendations of locals and those who have been living there before me.

Before I knew it I was slowly moving away from denims to pajama kurtas,  which are basically two piece clothing for males with variations of tops that are long loose garment like a shirt without a collar together with lose comfortable trouser like bottoms. Other alternatives became harem pants and the likes. Nehru jackets, sari, salwar kameez, churidaar, lehenga, dhoti, sherwani (to mention but a few) are more of the choices available depending on gender, occasion and other factors.

It did not end there, the influence grew as I traveled across the subcontinent from the foot of the Himalayas range where inhabitants of those areas are usually in warm, heavy clothes because of cold weather conditions…. to the hot places in south India like Chennai where men walk freely wearing their sarongs (lungis). Trying out more and more of these pieces of unique garments felt so liberating. Personally I tend to prefer them over ‘normal’ pants because of the way they would allow more than enough air circulation and freedom of other body parts if you know what I mean.

The cherry on top about most of these garments is that they are one-size fits all which makes the shopping experience easier and quicker. You end up buying more anyway because of the pocket friendly price tags at the markets. Negotiating and bargaining skills will get you even more.

I do not consider myself as fashion forward or anything of that sort but India, with its fashion forwardness definitely contributed to my  sense of style and freedom of expression in fashion.

This fashion forwardness is coupled with the liberal element that comes with all of this. I find it quite admirable how a country like India managed to hold onto the fashion sense that comes from as far back as the Mughal era and how such trends coexist with the rest of the fashion trends from all across the globe. Look at it this way, it’s in India where you will find young ones dressed up in skimpy clothes like those on the Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan music video alongside others draped in saris and lungis, coexisting side by side on a normal day. Of course this would be exclusive to metropolitan cities like Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore and others.

It is no doubt that fashion power houses such as Manish Arora, Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal and others are still unsurpassed in their class. Surely they draw inspiration to produce world class designs from their past and present which remain relevant up to now.

The other interesting factor is that modern times have come with the standard practices that govern fashion somehow. Look at how we are all expected to wear ‘formal wear’ at the workplace which is simply the western way. So for me (and many other people from outside India I want to believe) it’s so good and super fun to be able to wear almost anything from such a wide variety of clothing items and not feel weird or judged in any way. Imagine wearing any of the clothing items from the images below at your home country, the question is usually “What’s the occasion?” which can be annoying at times.

Wearing Indian clothing at an India themed gala dinner

 

Wearing Kurta pajama, Nehru jacket and Punjabi jutti at a wedding

Myself on a kurta pajama and flip flops with Baba Ji on a kurta and lungi (sarong)

 

Wearing colourful harem pants and a headscarf while sightseeing in Hampi. Pairing such clothes with any other clothing times is an easy job as you can see.

In fashion forwardness, you are doing very well India, Bahuta baṛhiyā.

 

Reverse Culture Shock

Travelling can be a lot of fun! I choose to believe that most of us agree with that. We travel for different reasons and for varying duration of time. The excursions do come to and end at some point and we have to eventually return home.

There are realities and new discoveries that you discover upon your return and they could be shocking. That is what known as Culture Shock.

Picture living in a different country for almost two years with no trips back home in the middle of it all. Does that sound familiar?

This for me was a shift from Botswana, a country about the same size as France in Southern Africa with a population of just over 2 million people.

Now imagine moving from here to country with so much activity. So much activity that you get confused at the beginning, then in the middle of confusion comes hate, and then love when you least expect it. From there it all becomes parallel; a love hate relationship. Well that was my life in India. I have tried to explain it to those who haven’t experienced it and failed dismally. (Click on link below)

How do I describe you to the person who hasn’t experienced you, Incredible India

But thankfully those who have experienced it agree with me. Well, most of them.

The reality is after you get to move about and see other places you get to see that it is your reality because you had nothing else to compare it to, and that’s how it became safe, comfortable. That’s what you feel when you haven’t experienced any other reality.

Now let me take you through my experience with reverse culture shock.

I remember that cold night sometime in May when Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi touched down at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone. I had mixed feelings. I was excited and anxious. I didn’t know who was waiting for me at the airport.  As I walked from the aircraft to the terminal building I saw my friends wave at me from behind the clear windows. My heart was filled with joy as I raised my hand to reciprocate.

At that moment being back home became more real. I felt it from within, I was home. The thing is, home felt different and guess who came to mind; The same person that touched down at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi about two years ago was going through the same thing he went though in India. That’s me! I was extra observant. I started asking about a lot of changes I noticed as we were driving home. I remember asking about the benches along Western bypass, cleaner roads (or maybe this was in comparison to India) and more. I remember at some point my uncle just told me to stop asking too many questions, that nothing has changed.

It was after midnight anyway. Thankfully I could only see so much with my naked eyes. So I got home and started asking lots of questions till I fell asleep. What happened to this? What happened to that?

The next morning arrived, days became weeks, and that’s when it started to hit me even more. I knew this place but I felt like a stranger in it. I felt like everyone moved on with their lives, not meaning I didn’t expect them to. Just that it felt a bit hard because part of me was expecting somehow things would be back to normal. My normal.

That’s the thing! I was feeling naïve all over again.

It felt like I expected everyone who texted me when I was in India to honour their “we should link up” promises”. Little did I know.

I started to ask myself too many questions day by day, including the following;

Why am I paying too much?

 I had been using Rupees, the legal tender in India and got used to it. The cost of living there was quite affordable meaning that I could buy a lot of things for a cheaper price at an already lower currency and now I have come back home to a different reality. One Pula (Botswana Currency) is equivalent to somewhere between six and seven Indian Rupees. Do the math.

I had this thing in my mind of constantly converting money when I was supposed to pay. I always felt like punching myself on the face. Why am I paying so much money for just a drink, fruits, this cocktail? I avoided going to the shops at all costs. I did not end up far of course.

What Convenience?

Here I am back home from India where I could just perform any transaction from my mobile phone. Where I could order a taxi especially Uber from the mobile app if I needed to go anywhere and now here I was ….constantly shouting at the cab driver from the local cab companies because they kept me waiting for too long. To make it worse, they would ask for directions to where I am exactly. I would just go berserk!

Alternative options for transport were even far from my thoughts. I wanted to see auto rickshaws everywhere. I found myself postponing most of my errands just so I could collectively run them when I had a car.

Part of this was fueled by the fact that internet packages are just too expensive, not to mention credit that mysteriously disappears from my phone. Goodness!

It was during these times that I missed those times when I could just easily access the internet from my phone without any bugs. I could even do online streaming while on my way to work and not worry about any extra charges. Now I had to get used to the struggle of limited connection. I still we had those affordable Blackberry internet packages.

Mother Nature, are you this beautiful?

I would feel very uncomfortable when I found windows closed at home. I would open them wide and think to myself why not allow fresh air inside the house. This for me was luxury in Delhi because of pollution. I started going out a lot and appreciating all the things mother nature has to offer in their undisturbed state.

It’s too quite around here! And where are the people?

 I remember the first apartment I moved to in Delhi was along Shivalik main road in Malviya Nagar near the main market. It was a lovely location but the noise was just unavoidable especially during peak hours. Chai wallas, auto wallas, garbage collectors the list is endless. They would all shout different catch up lines to get the attention of their customers and some of this would happen when you are trying to sleep. This is what I was used to. Now I was back in Gaborone waking up every morning to pin drop silence. Traffic jams were the order of the day in India, here it was so organised. It felt like I was experiencing all of this for the first time.

No noise! Complete silence! Very few people.

I started thinking of those wedding processions that would pop up on a busy road anytime and the band with those speakers producing sounds that could be heard all they way in Mukherjee Nagar.

Did I greet?

India has a population of over a billion people. Imagine how many people I met daily. For example getting on a metro daily meant that I met thousands and thousands of commuters who also used the Delhi metro which meant that greeting them was a daunting task. Unlike here in Botswana where greetings are a thing you do naturally. You might meet the same person more than two times in a day. Well one may choose not to greet others but with a population of just over two million that means we all know each other somehow. Coming back to this reality was a constant reminder of the reverse culture shock that I am talking about.

That was part of my share of culture shock coming back home, and of course there are more that could be added to these above illustrations but I will just stick to those for now.

 Reverse culture shock makes it seem like what used to be our comfort zone now feels uncomfortable somehow. This is why it is easier when it’s just culture shock because then you can just learn because it is first time experiences unlike reverse culture shock.

With that said, there is something beautiful in all of this confusion. It makes us more aware of our surroundings, ourselves and makes us grow wiser.

Half Planned Travels Are The Best

Half Planned Travels are the BEST

It’s the beginning of the year and most of the vagabonds, travel junkies and whatever else they call themselves are excited about travelling more this year. Some of these upcoming trips are planned and some will just be spontaneous. Whatever the outcome, some things will be ticked off the bucket list and there is no greater feeling than that.

Some people on the other hand are saving up for that end of year vacation and already planning, or some just pay their travel agents and just wait to be shown the itinerary. To each their own. Personally I do not like those group tours very much. For a simple reason of the way in which they are designed; wake up, hop into the shuttle, get dropped off at a certain location and later come back to assemble at the pick up point. So not my style.

Whichever travel excursions, it is important to note that planning is vital. Planning is vital to all the aspects of our lives and travelling is not an exception. During my years of undergraduate studies at the University of Botswana, during my tenure in AIESEC, during my days working at a radio station, also as a PR practitioner and Event Coordinator I have learnt the importance of proper planning and how essential it is. Just that with travelling you do not have to dot the t’s and i’s perfectly or tightly!

I am writing this post to share with you my thoughts and why I think half planned travels are the best. Bear in mind that I totally agree that planning is essential, just know that it is not supposed to be set in stone.

Last Christmas holidays I was living and working in India. After a hectic year of continuous work and tight deadlines I deserved a break from work. I had learnt the hard way the year before that Christmas holidays meant very little to a largely Hindu community especially in north India as I was living in Delhi. I then decided the time had come for me to go and explore the south, for the second time.

I had a plan, and it was of course half. All I knew is that I had booked a flight ticket from New Delhi to Hyderabad. No return ticket was booked and I did not know for how many days I was going to be in the south. Part of the plan was spending new year’s eve in Goa and the rest would be spontaneous explorations with whoever I meet along the way, or even alone.

I had buzzed my friend, Ona that would be spending time at their clubhouse in Hyderabad and we could all catch a bus to Goa for new year’s eve. It sounded like a plan. Early morning on Christmas eve I was on a plane from New Delhi to  Hyderabad. I touched down at the Rajiv Ghandi Airport and I was quite impressed at how clean the city was. It was more organised than most airports I have been to in India. Transportation system from the airport was seamless with taxis lined up nicely and no bhaiyas fighting for a ferangi to make a killing for a fare to the city centre.

Hyderabad airport. I was impressed by its cleanliness and how organised everything seemed to be

Everything went according to plan until the time came for us to spend Christmas. This was my second Christmas away from my family with no solid plans and it turned out to be a fun one. My friends and I spent it at an amusement park with local families we met there. It turned out be fun after all.

Spent Christmas with children at a park in Hyderabad

Time passed, we did all the things touristy in Hyderabad till we hopped on that Orange bus to Goa. It was a cool trip in a luxurious cabin with loads of snacks an Bollywood movies.

All set for an overnight bus ride from Hyderabad to Goa. Watching Bollywood in comfort

Then we arrived at the destination of the second planned activity of my trip to the south west; Goa! For those who don’t know Goa is basically like the coastal party state of India. We did all things crazy we even lost track of time. Imagine the beach, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, long walks along the coast, enjoying fresh sea produce any and every time you want and riding motorbikes to hop from one beach to the other. Well, not forgetting partying till the sun comes out and magnificent sights to see like cathedrals, forts and more. That is Goa in a nutshell. Fun and relaxation.

A glimpse of Goa. Shot at Arambol beach

 

We welcomed the new year in style with friends from all over the world as planned and now the time had come for people who had planned their trips ‘fully’. They had to proceed to either next destinations or return to base. I remembered how I had not booked my return ticket to New Delhi and honestly did not feel like going back so I stayed another night. It was during dinner that night when our recently acquired friends who were on a round the world trip mentioned they were driving to Chennai to drop one of theirs at the airport. The thought of travelling around a thousand kilometers from one end to the other excited us. We were game!

We reached Chennai safe and sound after a roller coaster of a trip. Minor car break downs, numerous police stops in sought of bribes, crazy traffic jam in Bangalore and more. My ticket to Delhi was still not booked and prices were going up. I was definitely not taking a train to Delhi from Chennai. Maybe if I had all the time to myself but more than thirty hours on the rail tracks was not an option at that time. What did we do instead? Booked train tickets to Hampi. It only felt right. It was not part of the plan but some serenity and explorations were needed after all the fun in Goa.

Outside Chennai central railway station. Enroute to Hampi

Doing the Namaste from Inside Virupaksha Temple in Hampi

Hampi was all about visiting beautifully constructed sites especially ancient Hindu temples. We also got a treat of vegan food, Tibetan music playing in most restaurants and meditation and yoga all around.

Fun was had and I finally booked my flight ticket back to the capital.

My travel companion for this trip; Karma Cola by Gita Mehta

While at the airport paging through the last pages of the book I was reading at the time; Karma Cola by Gita Mehta, awaiting to board my flight to Delhi from Chennai I reflected on the whole trip and though of what could have been had I planned all of this fully. I had no answers of course but what I learnt is that half planned trips are definitely the best.

All I knew is I was going to travel to the south of India and explore, discover and experience it all.

#LBBExperience

 

 

 

Travel teaches Tolerance

Travel teaches Tolerance

One of my favourite quotes about travel is by Alcee Hastings. It goes like “Not just Christians and Jews, but also Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and the followers of many other religions believe in values like peace, respect, tolerance and dignity. These are values that bring people together and enable us to build responsible and solid communities.”

The truth is quotes like the above mentioned one by Hastings did not really so much to me before I started travelling much and living away from home. Of course I was involved with awesome organisations like AIESEC among others which taught me about tolerance. I grew up in an even more wonderful structure; my family which taught me a lot about tolerance too. I grew up in a Christian family, Catholic church to be precise which has its teachings about tolerance. I also grew up in Botswana, a country which is predominantly Christian.

Before moving any further into this I would like to explore what tolerance is by definition. Just to make sure we are on the same level of understanding. According to the Miriam Webster’s learners dictionary, tolerance is defined as willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own.

For us to understand tolerance further we should know what is the opposite of tolerance. These include prejudice, disapproval and narrow mindedness among others. I hope you get the picture.

Let us also remember that the above are just definitions from different sources with different meanings. What we should understand more than anything else is the fact that we most probably all have our definitions of tolerance. We will use the ones already noted as a guide.

As I grew up from that Christian family setup there came I time when I had to start exploring and travelling. Frequenting our neighbouring South Africa, moving up to Mozambique and nearly reaching Angola and Namibia at the Caprivi Strip. Exploring China  and the east as well as living in the Indian sub continent.

Initially I used to have so many questions in my head. So many criticisms, so many judgments. I am not saying I do not have those anymore, all I am saying is I am more aware and as such I try very much to be more understanding and more receptive because at the end of the day I choose to do exactly that. I am looking forward to more travel experiences all around the world anyway. So the only way one could enjoy all these and feel at home away from home is when they are more tolerant.

I am going to be honest with you, I sometimes find myself choosing sides that people expect me not to choose because we make up a majority. An example is usually when the topic of discussion is about a group of ‘outsiders’. Recently I had a heated debate with some of my friends about Christianity being the best religion in the world. I was of course opposing this viewpoint. What I saw as unfortunate was the fact that the very same people I was having this debate with have not gone out there to experience other religions or even read about them in depth if they were really passionate about such debates and holding such viewpoints. They just appeared to know the little that they see on the media with their own agenda.

I on the other side have lived with Muslims, Hindus, Atheists in the same house and have also interacted with Buddhists, Jews and many others on a daily. Something I found very eye opening and enlightening. Daily interactions with such people is a never-ending process. Imagine coming from a family where you join hands and say grace every time before sharing a meal to such a setting. What do you do? Do you ‘force’ everyone to join you in doing this before every meal? Or you just say grace in silence? Do you follow your Muslim housemate every time they whip out the rug and go for the Salat? For what purpose? Do you criticize the lovely Muslim females for wearing the hijab? Making jokes about them? Why? Do you not attend a friend’s wedding ceremony because it’s an arranged marriage? Do you go there and keep nagging about how their right to choice has been denied  or you attend to appreciate culture  different from your own? Too many questions, right? I know!

Living in metropolitan cities with people from all across the world gives us an opportunity to interact with them and learn more about the world. What do you then? Avoid a chat with Russians and Eastern Europeans because they are ‘cold’? Brush off fellow Africans because they are ‘not liked by many’? Or avoid interactions with Arabs and Persians because they are ‘suicide bombers’? Do you not want to be associated with the French because they are ‘snobby and judgmental’? Or stay away from Hispanics and South Americans because they are ‘a bunch of druggies’?

I had such questions pop up in my mind almost each and everyday. Being the curious person that I am, I approached these kind of people after spending time with them and gaining their trust.  Or at least I though. The idea behind all of this was to ask as many questions as I could about things I did not understand and  also give them insights about my culture as well for mutual understanding. Learning in motion! I remember how my Indian colleagues used to laugh at me when I told them in my culture the groom’s family are the ones who pay the dowry. I laughed at them because they did it reverse. You see? Different realities.

Funny thing is, even back home in Botswana there are so many cultural differences. As much as I learnt about them during my school days and also heard about them growing up I got the realization that it’s real during my just ended journey which covered over a hundred villages and settlements in the country. I remember the Herero tribe in Makunda (a village just outside Charleshill) telling us about how a traditional Herero wedding was performed. The bride is clothed and decorated like all the other brides but is kept indoors during the entire celebration while the groom and his family camp outside the yard observing the celebrations as well. Guests are welcome to the house one by one to hand out gifts to the bride.

Another notable observation was how polygamy is still commonly practiced in the Okavango area in north western Botswana and other parts of the country. It is so normal and widely practiced to a point where you would feel as if the monogamy you are practicing or advocating for is abnormal. Then a lot of questions come to mind. Is it wrong? Is it right? According to who? Such questions will keep coming to your head until you realize that tolerance is the answer.

Always remember the definitions of tolerance and what tolerance means to you when you find yourself is such scenarios. I always do. This does not mean that I agree with all of the ideas and practices to a point where I would want to implement them in my life. I would be heading nowhere else but to leading a very confused life.

In conclusion, I am not saying that people who travel a lot are more tolerant than those who don’t but I can testify that those who travel are more likely to be tolerant more than the ones who don’t because travel does teach tolerance. So, go out there, travel, explore and learn.

Love and Light!

Picking fresh Indian minds on Independence day

 

The 15th of August marks Independence day for India, one of the most important days in the country’s calendar. The question is, what did Independence day mean to me as an expat in India? You might have guessed right, it meant taking advantage of the 50% off offers on shopping. It meant; dry day. It also meant a day off work.

Naturally, conversations around this time are around the independence of India. Thie day means  lot of different things to Indians. Male or female, old or young, Hindu or Muslim. As a Motswana who lived and worked in India at that time,  I had the chance to be part of the buzz. I decided to pick young, fresh Indian minds. I was curious to know how significant this day was to them. I wanted to know what dreams and aspirations they have for this beautiful country of theirs. I wanted to know more than dry days and offers.

In my pursuit to balance the outcome of my inquest, I had to be smart about it. In a society that is already divided according to caste, religion and other related elements, the outcome of this inquest had to inclusive.  At the end of the day I was aiming for diverse opinions. And oh boy! I discovered how united Indians really are in their diversity.

Don’t you for a moment think this was done with those university style methodologies with lots of questionnaires and intense interviews. No! I was just doing it for myself. For me to appreciate the reality that was different from what I grew up to. It had to be simple.

I initiated chit chats (as always) on the Delhi metro, on my shared auto rickshaw rides, at the local market, at the workplace, at the malls. Even at the parties and other social gatherings. Interactions and conversations varied from different set-ups. From chai breaks in the canteens to noisy pubs in Haus Khaz village and CP. Holding bottles of Kingfisher and glasses of Old Monk while Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan was playing in the background.

The beginning of conversations sometimes began with complaints about why it is a dry day, blockage of roads leading to the Red Fort, or even about trending topics on social media.

At the end of it all, outcomes are what made me see things in a different light.

One conversation with a group of ladies and gentlemen on a metro led to ‘what if the Kohinoor was discovered post-independence?’. I keep wishing I could meet that group of students from Amity University again so we could re-open the debate and talk about Lesedi La Rona.

Another short conversation with a lady at one of the pubs in south Delhi while on a queue to the bathroom was about being free to just go out at night alone and not fear being harassed or raped.

I still remember one gentlemen about my age. He mentioned he was from Maharashtra. In our discussion he talked about how there is nothing to celebrate as a university student. He said even though he was pursuing a degree at the Delhi IIT he was uncertain of his future. He kept throwing the line ”The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer” throughout the conversation.

Something very interesting that I picked up from these conversations was the pride displayed by these young Indians I had the pleasure of interacting with, picking their minds. Most talked about the element of belonging in such a diverse country. That made them very happy.

They talked about how proud they are looking at what their countries has achieved since independence especially in terms of education. The inventions they are proud to call their own and proudly Indian.

The pride in the faces of those who started mentioning what their fellow Indians are doing out there in other countries. I could actually see that they are proud of their achievements.

Most even mentioned time and again how they are the biggest democracy in the world and how that is something to be proud of.

I recollect vividly a young man I met at Vishwa Vidyalaya metro station, who in the middle of our conversation quoted famous speech by Nehru while beaming with pride

”The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?”

Writing this now, a year later, I had to google it to get it verbatim because he spoke too fast for me to get it all together in one take.

As I sit comfortably at home in Gaborone, Botswana right now typing this, I cannot help but re-live those moments. I recount how colourful the shopping malls, office blocks, shops, restaurants and all are that are colourfully decorated in saffron, white and green colours. Even the auto rickshaws and chai points are usually beaming with the same. I’m quite sure this year is no different.

At the end, what I can say is that I wish all Indians a happy independence anniversary. I wish you all the success and prosperity and more in what you are doing towards making your country a better one for you and for the rest of the world.

Happy Independence day. Jai Hind!