On the sweetie’s recommendation, I’m reading Adriatic by Robert D. Kaplan, and the author starts by saying how much travel has expanded his bibliography: “I travel in order to read.” I would alter that slightly to say I travel in order to learn. And already, with just two of our six major #GapYear trips completed, my life is bursting with thrilling new books, movies, podcasts, music… and most importantly, new eyes, new maps, and new curiosities.
For example, after five weeks in India, recent Google searches include: labor organizing history in Kerala, stepwells, horse statuary of Tamil Nadu, differences in British colonization in India vs Nigeria, Indian Ocean trade routes, and the rise of Modi. While there, I read Arundhati Roy’s marvelous and devastating The God of Small Things while on the backwaters of Kerala, where the novel took place. At my urging, Steve read it on the plane back to NYC. These new bibliographic entries join the many items we bought, downloaded, or borrowed after our time in Mexico… and of every trip we’ve ever taken before that!
The desire to visit India was planted nearly 20yrs ago when I experienced Angkor Wat in Cambodia. While the main wat (temple) is absolutely stunning, my favorite was a much smaller nearby red stone temple built in an architectural style influenced by India. Right there, a new worldview opened and continued pursuit of these complicated histories, architecture, culture and ritual finally brought us to India: the big cities of Mumbai & New Delhi, ancient caves of Allora & Ejanta, magnificent forts and palaces of Rajasthan, rice fields & towering Hindu temples of Tamil Nadu, and culminating in the verdant tea plantations, backwaters & communist enclave of Kerala. We traveled in north, central, and south India, enjoying landscapes that varied from urban cities & desert to farmland & seaports.
As many have said before, India is a feast for all the senses. I’m from Nigeria and so thought I had experienced splendiferous beauty & color before but the heightened aesthetics of India absolutely stunned and overwhelmed me in the best possible way. Imagine walking barefoot down a narrow street with stalls on either side selling flower garlands (for the gods & your hair), bushels of green herbs (for the cows & good karma) & aromatic culinary treats (for you & the gods)... while visiting a temples elaborately carved in red or yellow stone, covered in white marble inlaid with jade, rubies & onyx, or featuring riotously painted and draped statuary of Shiva and his consorts, or other gods. And then add to this, 100s or 1000s of worshippers dressed in red, yellow, pink, blue, gold & bejeweled saris and more as they paid respect to the gods, just as their families had done for generations at this same exact place. And the palaces & mausoleums were just the same. For one, the Taj Mahal exceeded every expectation… the delicacy, the beauty, the art, the (problematic) love… the queen to whom the mausoleum is dedicated died while giving birth to her 14th child. I had an awe-filled aesthetic and emotional experience almost everyday of our 5wks in India, especially in Rajasthan & Tamil Nadu.
Speaking of beauty, history & heritage, one thing struck me more than most during our Indian travels: the number of school groups we witnessed visiting and interacting with their heritage in situ. While the museums we visited and a comment by one of our guides suggest that India too suffers from too many ancient art objects ending up in western museums & private collections, they have an incredible architectural history that remains on the land. Everywhere we went, kindergarteners to high schoolers were visiting museums, palaces, and other heritage sites in large & excited groups. One lovely afternoon next to a hillside temple near Madurai, we observed several class groups from one middle school gathered for lessons under the trees. One teacher even asked Steve & me to pose with her class as an additional memento of their day. As a Nigerian, I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like for young African students to enjoy their cultural heritage right where they live, not thousands of miles away. The powerful cultural, psychic, aesthetic, spiritual, emotional, and cosmic reverberations would be incalculable and all-encompassing. Every time I remember that 95% of Africa’s artistic and cultural heritage is in western hands, my heart breaks and my rage burns hot. I thank India for reminding me why we must keep fighting for repatriation of our art, our heritage, our self-knowledge, our things. #GiveUsBackOurThings
Yes, I travel to learn, to feel, and to E X P A N D my worldview. India was a wonderful and wondrous gift.
If you want to see more photos or read brief missives on different areas we visited and things we experienced, please check out my instagram posts from February and early March. You can also read about some of our incredible culinary experiences in Steve’s upcoming post!
Thank you Kemi, it was utterly delightful to read your report and remember many of the exact same feelings and experiences. You really nailed it!!