Here's 4 from a post on Medium. what other reasons should be on the list?
Source: https://medium.com/stories-from-india/4-reasons-to-travel-to-india-40b43814c36e
In India nothing ever works as you want and when you want, ever. And because of that, India gives us a huge lesson on how to wait, how to stop and learn that now is not always the best way. In western big cities we value speed, everything must be now, in an instant, making us a little bit less humans, always rushing somewhere. A friend of mine usually says: “You have to learn to wait to be a peaceful person”, and I think that its absolutely accurate. From indians I´ve learn that even in the middle of a noisy traffic jam you can still be calm and accepting what you must go through. I also learned that in a chaotic situation, the most important thing is how you react.
In India you will realize that smiling, taking time to enjoy food, praying, meditating, having family time and singing are not supposed to be done in a rush, we have to take time to live and breath, to be patient and enjoy the way.
Lets generalize. We are spoiled, we are comfortable and -sadly- we have to put effort in order to have challenges in our daily lives. In most of our cities things work properly, but you´ll have to travel to India to even notice this. I´m telling you.
India teaches you that you have to adapt, to think out of the box and make your way through it anyway. One day you´ll have to go to work fighting with a small monsoon flood, some other day you will have a 10 hour power cut, discuss on the price of the rickshaw fare, or deal with monkeys in your balcony. When you face the street, you will be challenged by bicycles everywhere, people carrying sofas in the motorcycles, cows, traffic and all kind of awesome things that will demand an effort. A really rewarding effort to overcome what you are not used to, and learn a great deal in the way.
Like the Boy Scouts, India gives the lesson to be “always ready”.
“Like the rest of this country, don’t try to find method in the madness. Anyway, have fun”, says the book “Around India in 80 trains” by Monisha Rajesh. This quote really reflects how I see India. I believe its a country that puts you through tests every day, measuring your intelligence and your tolerance, but its a country meant to be loved and not understood.
Might sound like a cliche, but after a trip to Gandhi´s nation you will experience a new perspective on life. After spending some time there, your thoughts, attitudes and priorities will be slightly different than the ones you had back home. Facing poverty, pollution, the caste system and heart breaking situations in the streets, will change your perspective, or -at least- make you wonder about your life. You will realize that most of our daily “problems” are not such, that there is no point in living in a rush, and that even in the worst of times there is space for showing kindness to others.
In India everything is intense. Life in the “subcontinent” is a treat to every single one of your senses. The spicy food, the colorful saris, the way they live their spirituality, the hectic traffic, the beat of Bollywood songs and the smells in the street will make you feel, taste and experience a new flavor of life you didn't know it existed.
If you want to have vibrant experiences, go to India, where your senses are going to be continuously surprised. Follow the smell of spices, they will lead the way. Enjoy.
