Almost there

Zachary Morrow

Our trip is almost at an end and yet I feel incomplete, I feel unfinished and my questions are unanswered. In Jaipur one moment stuck with me, my rickshaw driver asked me "What is the one thing that is not possible in India?", Josh Roberts and I both had no answer, "Nothing is not possible in India, anything is possible" he said. His answer made me puzzled because many people in India are very restricted. Many  women cannot travel outside and when they can they are to be with a man, many children grow up as orphans on the streets with no education always hungry for food, many young girls must leave school early to pay for there dowry at their future wedding, it seems that, for some, in India nothing is possible.

On further thought the rickshaw drivers statement has merit. The NGO's like Future hope, Free set, The Jungle Crows and the Magicians that we have visited throughout the trip have showed hope for all in Indian society. Future hope gives orphans a home, an education and is developing the future leaders in Indian society. Free set allows women to leave prostitution, live a better life and still support their children. The Jungle Crows and magicians both use sport to install good values, empower young women and make sure they receive an education. These NGO's are what make anything possible in India but there are 1.3 billion people in India and not enough organisations trying to fix India's problems.

India doesn't make sense, I ask myself how can this country function, because after what I have seen there should be thousands of crashes in each city everyday yet I have seen no crashes during my entire trip. Millions and Millions live in poverty and yet they can find happiness in the small things that many of us on the trip ignore or forget. 

Yesterday we traveled into the worlds third largest slum, Dharavi, while walking through it we saw the equivalent of a recycling plant in which everything that could be recycled was or it found a different use. The experience was incredible but also humbling, in the western world we could find many uses for our "rubbish" but in general most people choose, myself included, to simply throw it away. While some of it is recycled much more is buried in the ground to rot away. I have to add that India is by no means a leader in this field but this slum community in my opinion was.

I have loved traveling through India and I am saddened by the thought that my journey through India is about to end but I am also missing New Zealand and will be ecstatic to step onto NZ soil again. I also feel that this country so far has given me no time to stop and think about what I have experienced, so I am looking forward to reflecting on India in Goa.

Sent from my iPad