1.4 Billion

The general election in India began on April 19th and is slated to end on June 1st.  It will encompass seven phases and is the largest election in world history.  After the final votes take place, the numbers will be tallied, and the results announced on June 4th.  Of the roughly 1.4 billion residents of India, 970 million are eligible to vote. 

Political power is fought for, in India, with the same enthusiasm as the US; however, unlike here, the expected outcome of the prime minister race seems obvious.  The incumbent prime minister, Narendra Modi is poised to retain power for his third term in office.  He has a bit of a cult following, driven by his nationalist views and policy-driven commitment to Hindu power. 

Even though at first glance, the overwhelming size of the election and fact it takes 44 days to administer is attention grabbing enough, it only serves as a small window into the complexity that is India.  It would be impossible to chronicle the history, culture, politics, diversity, and breadth of the country in a thousand pages.  India is, simply put, an amazing place. 

On a recent trip there, I asked a friend how they would describe India to someone who had never visited the sub-continent.  With some pause she responded, “India overwhelms all of your senses”; I couldn’t agree more. 

India is known for its cuisine, and it lives up to its billing, at every turn, it will delight your palate.  Whether you like spicy or mild, you’re in for a treat when you sit down to eat.  In a country that has a large population of vegetarians, most menus are evenly split, as they distinguish sections between vegetarian and non-vegetarian.  The spices used, the care given to preparation, and the pride in what they serve deliver a special experience.  But as you would expect, with a country of this magnitude, their food preferences are regional.  Depending on what part of the country you are in will dictate the customary food served and the level of spice.  At first it is a bit like the US; but the similarity to America is small.  Different regions of the country reflect various cultures, and different languages that are diverse and hold strong histories that define them; their food reflects their past.

If your taste buds aren’t alive enough, what you will see will have your mind spinning.  There are unlimited temples, mosques, and gardens; vibrant colored clothes, painted elephants walking the street for weddings, massive spice markets, elaborate wedding receptions, cows meandering up and down the street free of any fear, and countless sights that still cause me to pause.  I will never forget the evening we watched, from a boat on the Ganges River, Varanasi’s open-air crematorium.  I was humbled to witness the sacred Hindu cremation ceremony; it was sad, and beautiful. 

What didn’t strike me as beautiful was driving in India.  A small city in India has a million plus people.  They are tightly compacted and seemingly always on the move.  I am sure they have rules, but it was hard to see evidence that many followed posted signs.  I heard it said, “In the US they drive in the right lane, in Britain the left lane, and in India we drive in every lane.”  No truer words could have been said.

Despite that, while I was there, I never witnessed an accident.  One would think it would be common for there to be problems; but that doesn’t seem to be the case.  Further, people are driving in a chaotic nature; mopeds, motorcycles, personal cars, tuk-tuks, vans; they are all darting and diving in and out of traffic.  It is wild.  I remember thinking how it all seemed so normal to the people who lived there and how if this madness happened in the US, given Americans short fuse and the number of guns in cars, we would have daily shoot outs throughout the country. 

India feels like chaos on a continuous loop; and yet it also seems to work.  It never occurred to me things were out of control because they weren’t.  It was controlled bedlam and even though off-putting, comforting to watch hordes of people living in close quarters, without anxiety or emotion. 

And the infrastructure necessary to serve that size population is at a scale we don’t appreciate in America; and at times, it seems cobbled together.  Walking down a small street is a small example of what I mean.  The electrical wires connecting each apartment, loft, or house are so intertwined with each other that it would literally be impossible to figure out what wire belonged to what location.  It looks like a suspended plate of spaghetti.   

Since returning home, I have tried to organize my thoughts about my trip, the place I visited, and how I should talk about it.  And I have concluded that is an impossible task.  India is too complex to easily describe.  I am sure there are other places in the world that also would challenge my ability to convey what I saw and felt; I am sure they are out there; I just haven’t seen them yet.

As a child, I never dreamed of traveling the world.  Travel wasn’t a part of my family’s history.  We were local people with a local focus.  As I got older, my view changed, and I began to think those who don’t travel miss out on so much and have a narrow mind.  Today, I don’t know if that is true or not.  Said differently, I believe you can never travel and still have an expansive mind about the world and its inhabitants.  I hope that is true.  In my view we would all be better served if we allowed ourselves to imagine the world with awe and inspiration, even if others live differently.

I have been told that visiting India is a life-changing event and I think it can be.  However, I don’t think you have to travel to India, or any place like it, to recognize the beauty of this world.  Think about it.  As I write this, a country of 1.4 billion people is voting to elect their next leader, they are going about their daily work and routines, they are provided for each other, and they are functioning together in what could be described as chaos.  A beautiful chaos it is.  And a testament to the human spirit.  A spirit that is mostly shared throughout the world. 

And yes, there is poverty, extreme poverty.  But there is also hope, and love, and happiness, and smiles.  With all the imperfections that come with any society, there is also a comfort that Indians draw from the knowledge that this society of a few thousand years, has and will progress and thrive.

I am forever touched by India; it overwhelmed all my senses and heightened them. 

To those of you have been to India, I hope the memory of your time there will present itself periodically to positively impact your day.  For those of you who haven’t been nor never will go, I hope the knowledge that the world is big enough to hold 1.4 billion people in one country, who can find common ground amidst very different backgrounds, will guide you to occasionally think about things beyond our sheltered world.

And to all of you I say, Namaste.