Surprise! We didn’t go to
Varanasi after all and ended up staying in Rishikesh for another week. We
were unable to get the train tickets to Varanasi for the time we wanted so we
decided to alter our plans a bit.
***This is where I would add pictures of us rafting, hanging on the beach and other sites of Rishikesh however the internet is too slow right now and I don't have the patience to even upload one picture. Maybe I'll be able to go back and add them later. Or you'll be able to see them on my Facebook page at some point.***
With us no longer going to Varanasi, we had to consider the best option
for getting to our next destination, the NGO in Nepal (NCDC). NCDC is in Ilam,
Nepal which is on the eastern border of Nepal with India. Instead of taking 44
hours worth of train and bus rides to get there from Rishikesh, we decided it would be a better investment
to pay a bit more for a flight from Delhi to Bagdogra, India (close to the
eastern border of Nepal) and then only travel about 90 km to get to NCDC. Overall,
this will be a much smoother ride and will make our travels a lot easier.
Our time with NCDC does not begin until October 12 so we still had
about a week’s worth of time to kill before we had to be in Nepal. We also had
no desire to travel anywhere else in India and had no desire to be in a crazy
Indian city again. So we simply decided to stay in Rishikesh for another week until
our flight left.
Rishikesh Activities
Since deciding to stay in Rishikesh a week longer, we’ve continued to
have a lovely time. We decided to go
back to the ashram we stayed at for one yoga session with our friends
Hannah and Brooks on Saturday; Steph saw
a music performance with Hannah and Valentina (I wasn’t feeling well) on
Sunday; we went rafting again with
Hannah and Valentina and had to say goodbye to Valentina on Monday; and then we
hung out on a white sandy beach on
Tuesday. Wednesday however, we weren’t very active and actually stayed at one
café/restaurant, Nirvana, for 13 hours. I was quite productive though and was
able to get a lot of logistical things figured out so I still felt
accomplished. Thursday countered Wednesday’s laziness where we shopped for
necessities for Nepal, said goodbye to Martin (sadly), went to the beach and tried two new cafés, one of which was a café in a
tree house.
Even though Varanasi is a
fascinatingly old, holy city that is considered one of the “go-to” places of
India, I am happy we ended up not going to this city. I think I am tired of
being in busy and chaotic Indian cities and I’m ready to move on to Nepal. In
addition, I still feel a bit caught by Rishikesh because this place is timeless
and brings much calmness to both Stephanie and I. I will be ready to leave
though once it’s time to leave for the NGO on October 11.
Recent Thoughts
Since being in Rishikesh, one of the most valuable things I have
learned is the importance and the benefit of “being in the present” and not
allowing the past and future to become a heavy weight. While I have made great
progresses in trying to stay in the present, which helps my mind stay clear, I
also sometimes can’t help but think about the future. Of course, most of these
thoughts are relating to my own life such as which professional career I should
pursue, where I should go to graduate school, where I will live, etc.
Other thoughts that creep in my mind, however, are regarding the future
for this earth and more specifically, how humanity will proceed to live from
here. Especially after being in China for about a month and India for about two
months, I have thought a lot about the way humans have developed differently
across the world and how it has shaped the world we know today. For example, throughout
the last century we have seen much of the Western World develop into an
incredibly consumptive society. More recently, we are now seeing larger
countries, such as China and India, try to morph their own culture into a consumerist,
consumptive society which may be increasing the global economy, but is also straining
the earth’s natural resources. In addition, it has also created a huge waste
problem throughout the world, especially in India and China, where it is
increasingly becoming more difficult to manage the amount of waste we produce.
These are the sorts of issues I worry about regarding humanity’s future
on earth. Earth’s resources and the waste that we leave here even as our
population continues to increase exponentially.
We have seen a “green wave” pass over the world, where “sustainable”
and “eco-friendly” have become required buzzwords in new projects these days.
But I do not believe we will change the world’s consumptive patterns until we
are able to alter the behavior of individuals. While it is good that there are
people out there that will buy the green-labeled things rather than the
non-green things, there is still a bigger mindset that needs to be changed.
Instead of having the central question for a consumer be, “which
product should I buy next?” I suggest it should rather be a two-part question “how
can I reuse what I already have?” and “how much do I really need of a new
product?”
Furthermore, I suggest that before these central questions can become a
priority among all consumers, an increased sense of community accountability is
required across the world. I believe this has to start at the local level and
now I’ll go on a Utopian-like rant. Neighbors caring about neighbors can lead
to a neighborhood taking responsibility in the health of their local surroundings.
Neighborhoods could then develop pride
not only for their own land but also for the land that future generations will
have. They could then collectively create a set of agreements such as having a
limited amount of trash and set energy consumption limits. The key is that
there is a sense of community accountability where there is mutual respect and
awareness among all community members.
And now this is where my worries for the earth as a whole come back to
me and my future career. As of now, I would like to contribute to
community-building projects in my future career as an engineer. I know this is
a rather broad statement and I would like to say “community-building only in
developing countries” but there is also plenty of work that is needed in the US
and other Western countries. I feel like this isn’t a common thought or goal
for many engineers today, but I do think I can be some sort of valuable link in
future work. I hope to spend my future work with a variety of professionals
because I also believe that collaborative work from a variety of ideas will
produce the best results.
I know this future career idea is quite vague, but I think I like it
that way. As long as I have a general sense of where I want to go, I don’t have
to have to be confined by my own or other people’s expectations. I also think I’m
stuck with this “community-building” idea because I never knew my neighbors
growing up and I wish I did. My parents knew their neighbors and so did my
grandparents, but my generation has witnessed a lack of community awareness and
this bothers me quite a bit.
As most are aware, we as humans have great potential to change the
world in a variety of ways. My greatest hope is that my generation will come
together, from a variety of professions, and try to leave the world in better
shape than we entered it when we were born.
I know what I just wrote isn’t incredibly clear and has a few holes
missing, but it is all that I’m willing to write right now. It took long enough
to try to develop those thoughts in a somewhat clear way and now I’m tired of
fussing with it. So (kindly) take it or leave it! I also bash consumerism quite a bit in this section and I do sound like a bit of a hypocrite because I'm not the best example of a completely sustainable, green, eco-friendly blah blah blah but I am trying to move along this path little by little.
Here’s a video I saw that made me want to start writing this section. I
think it’s a bit dramatic but still makes people stop and think a bit.
Various Comments
·
The weather in Rishikesh has been perfect. It’s
slightly chilly in the early morning and late evenings where it’s cozy to wear
a light sweater and the rest of the day is sunny with a clear sky most every
day. Basically my dream weather.
·
I never realized how much I enjoy be near water
until I came here. I knew I liked it, but here I realized that it is a trigger
that sparks some sort of internal happiness. Especially when I cross the
pedestrian bridges, I love feeling the breeze over the water and looking at the
view on both sides of the bridge.
·
So long, India. Sometimes you swallow foreigners
up (which happened to me last year), sometimes you bring out the best in
people. I’m happy to say that this year, I feel like I’m leaving India a more
joyful person than I was two months ago.
·
Nepal, here I come! I’m so excited to see your
incredible beauty and be with your beautiful people!
Caroline’s Song of the Day
1-Oct Diablo Rojo by Rodrigo y Gabriela
2-Oct Faust Arp by Radiohead
3-Oct The Good Times Are Killing Me by Modest Mouse
4-Oct Holst: The Planets, Op. 32, H 125 - Neptune, The Mystic by Leonard
Bernstein: New York Philharmonic Orchestra
5-Oct Homecoming Heroes by the Head and the Heart
6-Oct Strawberry Bubblegum by Justin Timberlake
7-Oct All About That Bass by Megan Trainor
8-Oct All Star by Smash Mouth
9-Oct Hot Like Sauce by Pretty Lights
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