(18) let’s take the rickshaw
Gujarati scenes from a trip to India and some thoughts in written format
I have complicated feelings with movement.
I grew up in a desert city where being on the road constantly is the sane way to live.
Going away to feed your sight, coming back to let it sink in and ultimately feel at ease.
I love movement but I need ease.
India just goes and goes.
The noise doesn’t stop.
Why is everyone honking? When are you supposed to hit the horn?
They make noise to let you know they’re behind you. Around you. By your side.
There are no lines. It’s a free space.
Get in the rickshaw. Feel the warmth, the air, the dirt, the noise.
In Ahmedabad I fed my sight. I was still, observant and quiet. The city was as it was.
As soon as I stepped foot in this country, familiarity haunted me.
I’d never say I’ve seen it all and I wouldn’t say I wasn’t surprised, it just felt like scenes from a longtime dream.
Look up.
Nature is free to grow.
Look around.
Animals walk past by you on the streets.
Look down.
Symbols surround you.
The company I had made it easier to roam around, to navigate every place without doubt. They showed me their home and let me be part of their sacred territory.
The first day I arrived to India, it was for a wedding. I knew I wasn’t emotionally prepared for so much euphoria. I had terrible feelings at the beginning, so many highs didn’t balance it.
Ahmedabad brought me back to something I hold very dear: ideas.
Ahmedabad balanced me out with its people, with its places, with its food. This place was witness of a spark igniting in me.
India is movement. I get lost very easily in movement, I get fearful when nothing is stopping. I didn’t have the courage to enter India with composure but now that I’m out I see how it moved me.
Hello, I got so inspired that I thought I didn’t need an intro but here we are… I just wanted to say hi to everyone who has suscribed in the past week, thank you for reading me. I have a lot of footage and media from this trip I made to India, overall it was a 10-day journey from London to Indore where I attended an incredible wedding, then to Ahmedabad where I visited my partner’s friends and this amazing city in which she lived for a while, and then back. I’m posting most of it on my TikTok account (@virgosdontcry) to have as memories and you can go ahead and enjoy it as well :)