10) The Chaos - Though at times it was hard to handle, we will miss the craziness that defines India, the chaos that has charmed us so thoroughly during these past six years.
9) The Heat - Delhi does have a brief winter, but it is known more for its heat. Though it was downright oppressive when it approached 50 degrees Celsius, we will miss the excessive sunshine that dominates Delhi weather for much of the year. In general, our family prefers to sweat than to shiver.
8) The Traffic - We will miss the Indian roadways, the perennial stage of the weird, wild and wonderful. It is pure magic and madness. Unfortunately, the skills we have learned here will be totally lost in Canada and, if we value our safety on its orderly (and boring) roads, we will have to thoroughly unlearn them.
7) The Deliveries - we will miss the convenience of being able to order, by phone, almost anything from groceries to medicine to train tickets to light bulbs to McDonald's french fries, and have it delivered to our door at no extra cost.
6) The Pampering - we will miss the shaves and waxing and massages and all the other very affordable luxuries that we have gladly become accustomed to here.
5) The Notoriety - there's something very special about the way Indians treat foreigners. Even after years in India, we often feel like celebrities with the attention we get. In addition to that general feeling, we will also miss the unique opportunities that came to us. We have modeled for national clothing brands, acted in TV commercials and in Bollywood films, and even had our flat featured as a filming location for a recent movie. Not to mention all the interesting and important people that we've been able to meet.
4) The Big Chill - we all love Indian food, especially home-cooked, but we will also miss the best of the myriad of Delhi establishments that cater to the taste buds of the emerging globalized culture. The Big Chill is the unanimous pick for our family's favorite restaurant in Delhi.
3) The Chai - We will miss the beverage itself but more the value that people in India put on slowing down and sharing a hot drink together. It is a very relational and hospitable culture, which is seen clearly in the ritual of chai.
2) The Friendships - we will never forget the people who welcomed us to India with open arms and quickly became our friends. More than anything else, it was our friendships that made it possible for us to love living here.
1) The People - more than a billion of them. Beyond our close friends, we will miss the acquaintances and strangers who offered their smiles so freely and who reminded us over and over again that God has deposited his precious image in abundance here in India.
1 comment:
After thinking about this list again, I kicked myself for omitting "The Religious Diversity" as one of the things we will miss most about India. I guess it's become something we've taken for granted in some ways. I know it has featured heavily in some of my other posts on this blog, and it's definitely something that attracted us to India even on our earlier visits. We love not just the plurality of religion here but the freedom with which people talk about their faith in God and their spirituality. Since our faith in Jesus is so central to our lives, we have come to feel very much at home in a culture where religion is so vital to everyday life. I've written elsewhere about the differences, subtle and not so subtle, between religion and spirituality, and I am still a strong believer in the pitfalls and limitations of religion itself. But we've found India to be a place where people respect our faith in Jesus and our lifestyle of devotion to him. And we have been so enriched by our friendships with Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and even free-thinking agnostics. We have thoroughly enjoyed the ongoing religious dialogues and the opportunity they have given us to learn and share and question and have our own faith deepened. Thank you, India, for this too.
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